DRESS TECHNIQUE FOR OFFICE

Wairarapa Daily Times, 21 October 1937, Page 4

DRESS TECHNIQUE FOR OFFICE

SMART BUT NOT ARRESTING. There is a special dress technique for the girl who works in an office. She does well to master it if she is anxious to “get on.” Those desirable secretarial and supervising jobs invariably go to the girls who manage to look efficient, as well as being efficient, without over-stress-ing the business-like nature of their clothes and appearing to ape masculine fashions. In the matter of wrong dressing for business, there are two extremes. First we have the girl who seems to think anything will do for work and wears her old clothes in the office, keeping her better ones for leisure hours. j Then we have her opposite, the girl ! who dresses herself as though she was about to set out to enjoy her “dayoff.” i Happy Medium. I The correctly dressed girl strikes the happy medium and presents a perfectly ! well-groomed appearance with clothes that are smart but do not provoke at- ■ tention. j Whether women do or do hot dress ' themselves to please men is an old controversy, but where the office is concerned, it must generally be admitted that it is wise to consider the 1

taste. Prejudices about colour, for example, must be pandered to. It is a mistake, however, to think that only dull and drab shades are suitable for business garb. If the truth were known, most men like a spot of light colour about the office to brighten things up. On the other hand, where there are a number of girls working together, the distracting effect of mixed colours, some of them in violent opposition, is naturally disliked. Hence the rule in many business houses that overalls must be worn by women workers. Smart Smocks. With regard to overalls, while some girls resent them, because of the idea that they are “uniform,” they can be pretty and smart enough to please anyone. Smocks in pastel shades with artists’ bows in a darker tone look charming. Girls in one bank wear lavender blue smocks with dark blue bows at the neck. Newer than smocks are the “frockoveralls” that have recently made their appearance. These are really dresses but cut roomy enough to go over other frocks. They are not opened as an overall, have topped sleeves so that dresses with sleeves of similar cut can be worn beneath. Overalls are of most value, perhaps, at this season of the year. The problem of what to wear in the office is always more acute in the summer. In winter, women’s clothes naturally tend to more practical styles and darker colours. “Fussy” Fabrics. If you are choosing, a business frock that is not to be concealed by one of those useful garments remember that the flimsier fabrics are not so desirable as the firmer more substantial form of cottons and silks. For one thing, georgette, voile and similar materials demand a certain amount of frills and fussiness in making up. Linen, spun silk and the numerous cottons and art silks that lend themselves to ‘ ‘ tailored ’ ’ styles can well dispense with trimmings of the ultra feminine kind. Dainty Touches. In aiming at simplicity though, do not err on the side of absolute severity. Few men like to see women attired in masculine garb. Suits, which are always practical, need not, for this reason, be unattractive. I They are not to be recommended in every office, but where they seem appropriate and where the wearer desires to retain as nearly as possible the masculine cut and line they may be made different. .Collars should, never follow the stereotyped shapes worn by men. In the matter of ties, few women have so little sense of colour that they cannot choose a tie that is reasonably gay without being garish.