NAME AND GARMENT BOTH WRONG.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXVI, Issue 13333, 23 March 1911, Page 6

NAME AND GARMENT BOTH WRONG.

It appears that the term “harem'skirt,” which has come 'so iii'uth into vogue of late, 4 s not only a misnomer, but an insult to the cohritry to which it is supposed to allude; and it further appears that the garment which is passing muster witli''"the British nation, and over -which so much fuss is being made, is not even a rembto approk-iriiation to the article of attire it is intended to copy. This information - is supplied by Mr K. Mockbclj, of Elizabeth arid Pitt Streets, Sydney. Mr '' Mockbell is an EgyptianT,uTk,” and lias a thorough persorihl Itnowledgc of what ho talks of. The proper pronunciation of the word the English call “harem,” says Mr Mockbell, is “harr-ime” (roll the r’a and accentuate the second syllable).. Harr-ime, in Turkish, means a woman. Therefore, harrime skirt is a woman’s skirt. : The nearest approach to onr pronunciation “harem” is “harram,” meaning' the dress of a certain class of Persian women.

The garment which passes muster with us as the Turkish skirt, says Mr .Mockbell, is really a caricature of the-Circas-sian women’s - dress, and does not even distantly resemble the Turkish garment. “The Turkish “hafr-ime skirt,” contends Mr Mockbell, “is a beautiful garment. It consists of trousers which are very wide down to a little below the knees, and drawn in tight at the boots; while over this is a moderately close-fitting • skirt coming so low that only the tips of the boots are visible. To cojnplcte the Turkish woman’s dress, a veil is worn over the head, leaving none of the face visible except the eyes.” The Turkish -woman, Mr further points out, is very modest, whereas he regards the; garment which the British makers are trying to pass off as the real Turkish dress as flagrantly immodest. Both the garment and our word “harem,” with its close app/oxiination to the word “harram,” are, life says, gross insults to the Turkish nation.