BEAUTY UNADORNED.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XLV, Issue 12063, 27 May 1920, Page 2

BEAUTY UNADORNED.

The decision of fifty-seven Auckland ladies to reuonr.ce the pomps and vanities of tins wicked world as far as dress is concerned, will meet With much sympathetic approbation, not only from their own sex ; hut also from many put res familiarom or fathers of families. We hope their example wiU he widely followed. It is worthy of imitation. To renounce the hat at ten guineas, a milliner’s creation of a wisp of straw and a feather, and choose one at the modest price of fifty shillings that has no other merit save that it suffices the purpose of a hat and keeps off sun and wind and rain, speaks volumes for the spirit of selfdenial that has actuated these modern Pyrrhas in their desire to bo “simplices muuditis” —plain in their neatness. When men wanted to economise in headgear they formed a hatless brigade, and went without hats altogether. It never entered their heads to sign a solemn oath not to pay more than fifty shillings for a hat, which only shows how much more intuition a woman has than a maw. The woman who used to pay ten guineas for a . hat saves eight ponnds by her economy, whereas the man who used to pay twenty shillings would only save a sovereign hy his masculine ideas on reducing the cost of living. The woman thus saves seven pounds more than he did. No costume is to be worn which costs more than ten gnineas. This probably means that skirts will be worn fuller, tor women’s dress is peculiarly subservient to that law nf political economy which tells us that the less there is of an article the higher must lie its cost. The decision not to pay more than ten guineas Hr a costume will he welcome news indeed to the worker earning four pounds odd a week, and who has hitherto found a difficulty in making ends meet. Gloves are to be abandoned altogether. The modern man is too wide-awake for damsels to earn gloves in the somnolent manner of the Victorian era, aun the cost _of gloves has risen out of all proportion to their actual worth. Boots and shoes are to be cut down to two pound five a pair, and this means that the heels will he lower, for the price of women’s shoes is in direcs ratio to the height of the heal. No stockings are to oe worn at a higher cost than eight shillings and six pence. They will be thicker and warmer, and will serve the purely utilitarian purpose of protecting the part they are designed to protect. This seems a pity, for it does away with one of life’s conundrums as' to why a woman should deem it necessary to mend a hole in what she calls her open work stockings. Crepe de chine and georgette are no longer to be used for whatever they are used for, but this purely feminine dictum will convey nothing to the average man. With all these sacrifices and economies the worker’s wife ought to be able to cloths herself cap-a-pie ■ for very little over twenty pounds, : This ought to go far to allay the ! present industrial unrest, and_ it speaks volumes for the public spirit of our women when they are willing * to face such heroic sacrifices in the | common cause of economy and thrift ; —Auckland Star |