The Dress of the Business Woman.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXIII, Issue VI, 6 August 1904, Page 63

The Dress of the Business Woman.

(By a Business Woman.) Much sense, as well as not a little nonsense, has been written lately in the newspapers regarding the dress of the business woman. Some of the sense may have been written by women who go out to work, but not a little of the nonsense must have been penned by ladies who sit comfortably at home, lookers-on who in this case do not see most of the game. After all is said and done, what can a lady, whose time is her own, who never goes out of doors unless the day is fine, who dresses in comfort at home for an evening function, know how the business woman should dress whose time is her employer’s, who must turn out in all weathers, and who must dress in the morning for an evening party? Indeed, the average business girl of to-day has a marvellous knack of combining her working garb and evening gown, and one wonders how these same home ladies who anathematise the methods of dress of the business woman would manage if placed in the same position. One of these ladies suggests that the commercial woman’s dress should always be severely plain, that there should be no “fal-lals” and no jewellery. In other words, the working girl is to be deprived of all the harmless frivolous etceteras which she herself delights in. What business woman would agree with you, madame, in the matter? Few, very few. Another lady, who even in these days of the trottoir skirt, prefers her own walking gowns of a graceful length, declares that the business woman should always have her skirt clear of the ground. What is the business girl to do, my lady, if she has to don her evening gown in the morning, go through her day’s work, and then go on to a social gathering? No, the girl at business cannot always wear her skirt to clear the ground, however desirable it may be. A third lady speaks contemptuously of the cheap gloves and ill-fitting boots of the girl clerk. Can the city typist, with a small income, afford expensive gloves and perfect-fitting boots? These are serious items enough in her expenditure, and the business girl has found out by experience that she may as well wear out a mode-rate-priced pair of gloves when swinging on and off ’buses and trams, or opening railway carriage doors, as gloves double the price. She has discovered, also, that shoes purchased at a reasonable cost suit her as well as more expensive foot gear, and that they last as long. These ladies are no doubt well-meaning, but they write on a subject regarding

which they know little or nothing. The opinions, therefore, of a business woman may perhaps be of interest to those placed in her position, and may show to the general public how the dilliculties of dress are overcome by the working girl of the middle class, who, like her sister at home, delights in pretty things, who is of a social turn of mind, and who endeavours to satisfy her feminine weaknesses and at the same time manages to dress suitably at business. Sham Jewellery. A woman is a woman all the world over, whether she be princess or peasant pretty or plain. She has an inherent weakness for the small things of life, and the woman who has a mind above all feminine trivialities is the exception that proves the rule. Therefore, the fact must be borne in mind that the clerk in the pay of a business firm, who lunches at a city restaurant conspicuous in velvet blouse and cheap imitation pearls, has the same love of clothes and jewellery as the princess, in the pay of the people who lunches at the Guildhall conspicuous in velvet gown and rope of pearls. The princess is fulfilling her business engagement just as her humbler sister is; yet the latter is almost prohibited from satisfying her feminine failings, while to-morrow's newspapers will chronicle the fact that the popular princess was suitably attired in velvet, and wore an exquisite rope of pearls at the City luncheon. Notwithstanding the undoubted right of the girl clerk to her beads, one feels that the wearing of jewels in the daytime by the business woman is not desirable from the onlooker’s point of view. And, yet, why should this be? The velvet blouse and imitation pearls do not incapacitate the girl from efficient service; still the feeling of repugnance remains in the average mind. A few months ago a smart typist presented herself at the office of a business firm with a letter of introduction from the writer. Before the manager had even read the communication he observed the girl wore a collarless blouse, and round her throat a string of large paste beads of enormous size. When next the writer inquired of the business man as to the interview, his remark was, “What makes her wear these ugly looking pearls? 1 didn’t like that at all.” The city woman’s hats are a subject of perennial interest to her, and here she feels that, as she does not wear her headgear at actual work, she may indulge in wreaths of roses in summer time and in bright-hued ribbons in winter. Usually she wears becoming hats, and leaves the floppy brims to the lady

of the velvet blouse and imitation pearls. Again, however, the business girl is somewhat restricted, although even she cannot refrain from framing her face in what, from a masculine standpoint, may seem garish at times; but her tact steps in when she manages to combine what she knows is not annoying to the eye of her employer, what is pleasing to her own eye, and what is becoming to her style. Many people are more observant regarding the feet of the business girl than her hats, and in this matter every woman should be somewhat fastidious. Her feet should always be comfortable, else health and temper may suffer. Some feet are more comfortable in rather pointed toed shoes than in square ones, some prefer rather high heels to low ones, some are happier in shoes than in boots. Let each girl find out for herself what kind of footgear she has most ■comfort with. Too often the average girl is careless about her boots and shoes, and too often one sees slipshod, down-at-heel boots on the business woman. This is not as it should be, and the city girl should see that whatever condition her hat may be in, her shoes are water-tight and comfortable. The subject of the business woman’s dress from hats to boots has been touched upon, and it only remains to say that however hardworked and tired she may be, the commercial woman should keep her underclothing, as well as upper garments, in good repair, adding gradually to her wardrobe, so that she may not discover one day that it is nearly empty and requires thorough replenishing. Man has the advantage here. He goes out to business by day, but is not expected to devote any of his evenings to mending and darning. Some kindly woman undertakes the task for him, and it is a blessing doubtless, for man is but a poor mortal in such economies. The business woman, married or single, carries her burden of patching and mending, if she is conscientious, and often while

the man is reading his evening newspaper and smoking his pipe of pcaee, the woman is putting in stitches here and there which are always calling for attention.. In conclusion, physical and moral cleanliness are necessary to the business woman's success, and she sometimes finds it hard enough to keep herself unspotted from the world. Every day she breathes the smoky atmosphere of a city or large manufacturing town, and “blacks” play havoc with her skin and clothes. She breathes, it may be, a tainted atmosphere, and different “blacks” try to lower her high ideals of manhood. All honour, then, to the business woman—and their name is legion—who keep themselves physically and morally clean, and who, whatever happens, are known in their homes and in the commercial world as true women. Husbands, Note This! There are few right-thinking persons who would deny that business men ought to confide in their wives. First of all, a woman cannot feel that her husband has given her his whole heart when he keeps from her the whole course of his business life. No doubt, it is generally done from a good motive. The husband thinks he is saving his wife worry and trouble, but in most cases he is doing the exact opposite, for every wife with right feeling would gladly lessen her husband's burdens by sharing them. Nor does a sensible woman care for the left-handed compliment that her pretty head was not meant to bother with figures. True marriage is a true union in everything where all is open, and the griefs and the sorrows of each are shared by both and comfort drawn from the mutual sympathy. A man who does not confide in his wife deliberately shuts himself out. from his chief consolation.