, 1891-04-24
4 wom MS BUSINESS DRESS.


Editor Mary ?. SEYMOUR Idea OF a Cos
tune That Any Woman Could Wear.
The resolution in regard to sugges
tons for q business costume for women,
adopted by the recent national council of
women at Washington, has created a
deal of discussion among women in all
parts of the country.
Miss Mary f. Seymour, editor of The
Business Woman's Journal, in an inter
view with a reporter Of the New York
Sun, expressed herself on the subject as
follows:
Laying aside the question whether
sucha costume would be advisable or not,
there is no doubt that women who are
engaged in business are greatly ~hampered
by the style of dress now in vogue. 1t
takes twice as much exertion in a woman
TO walk as in a man, and you know when
women ara compelled to work for their
living they cannot afford to expend their
strength recklessly. The greatest diff
Guilty which business women have today
il to select the right kind Of dress. Now
my suggestion would be, in the first place,
to wear a short skirt, one that would
reach to the tops of the shoes. One of
the greatest drawbacks Of the long skirt
which business women wear at present,
neIt TO its weight and clumsiness, is its
tendency to drag in and catch hold of the
mud in the streets and the dust on the
floor. The short skirt would do away
with this.
"a woman with both arms full of papers
or packages could step boldly across a
street, no matter how wet or dirty it
might be, without being compelled TO
stop, transfer her burden to one arm, or
hold some of it between her teeth in
order to lift her skirts. This skirt should
not be of heavy material; cashmere or
silk is preferable to heavy wooden goods.
The weight of heavy garments, distrib-
uted as it is in the skirts of woman's dress
today, exhausts the vitality. Instead Of
having the many underskirts women are
wont to have, l would suggest heavy
Turkish trousers. These would be a great
deal lighter than the number of skirts
which would be necessary to give the
same warmth, and, besides, would leave
the limbs free to move. The skirt would
then do nothing but conceal these
trousers.
"The objection will probably be raised
that such a short skirt Will expose the
foot in an undesirable way. 1t is true
that women have big feet, and nothing
makes them look bigger than a skirt
which exposes the entire shoe and moth
ing more. To remedy this l would sug.
gest that fancy leggtngs be worm, which
extend from just above the toes to three
or four inches above the shoe tops. These
would conceal the line between the shoe
and the stocking, and, besides having a
pretty effect, would make the foot look
smaller than it really is.
80 much for the lower part. The waist
should be as simple and as comfortable
as the dressmaker's skill can make it. l
once designed a dress for myself which
embodied all my ideas of comfort and
convenience. The waist consisted of a
jacket and a vest in one piece. The
jacket was in reality nothing but two
long lapels which covered a part Of the
body Of the waist. In the vest were four
pockets arranged just as they are il a
man waistcoat, two IN the upper and
two in the lower part. On the outside
of the two lapels were two pockets SINH
lar to those on a mans coat. In the back
drapery were inserted two oblong pock-
cts, the openings Of which were drawn
together by elastic cord. Under one of
the panels, on the right and the left sides,
had long pockets"
The reporter next asked Mrs. Lille
DevereuI Blake what she thought of the
idea Of a business woman's costume.
81 think, " she said, "that one of the
greatest strains that business women
could put themselves under would be to
dress out of the fashion of the day. /
shrink from any suggestion of a dress for
ome that would make the wearer con
%spicuous and an object of ridicule. Bust
ness women more than all others, are
dependent upon the favor of the public,
and for them to wear a garment that
would make them ridiculous would be
almost suicidal.
81 believe that comfortable dresses can
be made within the lines of fashion.
They should be perfectly loose and easy,
and not too long-three or four inches
above the ground would be plenty. The
most disagreeable and uncomfortable
part of a woman's dress is the band
around the waist. This can be obviated
in II degree by wearing the waist and the
skirt of one piece. That is, the lining Of
the dress is all one piece, and the drapery
is put on that according to the fashion Of
the day or the taste of the wearer."