, 1891-05-17
AS TO BUSINESS WOMEN.
SHALL THEY WEAR A DISTINGUISH
ING STYLE OF DRESSl

What do You think of the proposal to
invent a distinctive dress for business
women? Would you wear it?'
"Oh, l won't commit myself. I'll wait
and see what it is first, was the laugh
ing reply.
Yes; there is a proverb about taking
a horse to water. l should certainly re-
bel at a divided skirt"
We were in a down town restaurant
in New York where there are tables
reserved for ladies, and where hundreds
of business women take their lunch every
day-a good place to observe the charac-
t~eristics of the species, in dress and other
matters.
A glance around the room inclines one
to believe that business women are o
particularly different from other women.
Colonel Tredennis might nave picked
out ''the woman who supports her fam
lily OF her salary and the one who buys
her ribbons with it," but as a rule they
do not acquire any of what George Eliot
calls ''epicene q-ueernesses," and they APP
pear to dress in good taste and to. like
pretty things when they can get them as
well as other people.
And why not2 I'm sure the business
woman needs them quite as much. Her
surroundings are not generally festive,
and are often gloomy and ugly, and she
cannot take it out in looking at other
peoples pretty things, as a saleswoman
might, since her work generally takes
her among the half of humanity that is
doomed to cropped heads, stiff collars
and derby hats.
at strikes me" says Prima, stirring
her chocolate, that the light of nature
Is as likely to dictate sensible dress to Il
business woman as to any one else"
YES" says Secunda, but if they
could invent something to keep the mud
off ones skirts, | for one should be CRATE
full. 1t hasn't been so bad this season,
but do you remember last, when it rain
ed every day? How sick and tired !
used to get brushing mud off my skirts.
I'm sure l carried home enough to make
a small farm, and when | reflect that
real estate in this part of the city is al
most worth the gold that would cover it,
/ have an underlined feeling that ought
to be richer than l am"
But, my dear, why cant you hold up
your dress?'
81 don't know why, but l can't. Some
people have II gift that way-I haven't.
And then it is such a bother to carry a
waterproof and rubbers when it isn't
raining that l often go without them and
u the risk of being caught"
Then what you want is a rainy day
bag. Amy one who has had a pair of
muddy rubbers on her hands to get
home when it has cleared up in the af-
ternoon would appreciate this. The
pockets you get with rubber cloaks are
not big or durable enough, and, oddly,
they generally come with the cheap
ones, not with the good, but these latter
commonly have a hood, which you have
probably discarded as absurd. Take
this and rip it up, or cut it close to the
seams, and you get q yard of striped
rubber cloth to match your cloak. Make
a bag about twelve inches square. Put
a piece of black ribbon or silk across the
top for a finish and to put a casing in.
Put strings of cord or narrow ribbon.
When you a to dispose of your rub
beers it is such a comfort to pop them
into this and roll them up, instead of an
awkward parcel with two or three thick
nesses of paper. Ordinarily you keep it
packed with YOU rubbers and cloak,
your elastic strap and some safety pins
to hold up your dress evenly, and a
thick veil. On a threatening morning
all you nave to do is to slip it over your
arm and it leaves your hands free, for
there is room to crowd in a book or par
Gel. | hate to carry things in my hands"
But, pray" interrupts Tertia, ''does
this remarkable bag hold your umbrella
into the bargain"
mot quite, but have a chain for my
umbrella and it hangs from my belt. l
carry a small one, for, after all, an UNI
brella only keeps your hat dry"
well, for my part | wouldn't give a
fig for a waterproof. 1 think they are
hot in summer and cold in winter, and
clumsy always. Stormy weather is gen
orally cool enough to make an ulster
comfortable, | pin my skirt up under
my ulster, and my ankles are still yelled
from vulgar eyes"
Somebody explains, speaking of elastic
straps, that they are no good if they are
loose. Three-quarters Of a yard is gen
orally enough, of stout, inch elastic.
Have it well up, not down around the
knees; pull the skirt through evenly and
pin it to be fiat.
There is great comfort in an extra
pocket or two. This sounds impossible
to people who are contented TO go with
out any; but make up your mind to
have them, possible or not, and serve
notice on your dressmaker to that effect.
Have pockets in your understands at any
rate, and you can carry your overshoes
in these if you are a despiser of water
proofs.
By many business women sateen is
voted the dress par excellence for sum
mel wear. 1t is delightfully."- cool and
light, sheds the dust and makes up into
wonderfully pretty costumes without
being too dressy. Another material that
possibly outranks it is what was afore-
time known as debeige. | suppose the
same thing is made every year with a
different name. 1t ONE in pretty
shades of gray and brown, has light,
cool and dust shedding qualities, and,
being wool, is safer to wear in changeable
weather.
Speaking Of sa~teen," says Secunda,
who has a well developed bump of econ
omy, tell 'em it has a strong constitn-
ton. At the seaside last summer Maria
Smith fell into the Atlantic ocean in "A
sateendress, and the next morning she
wrung it out and it was as good as ever.
Ladies, Do Not Injure the Skin
And oOmplayinn with nampbor and