Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1891-05-23
A WOMANS BUSINESS DRESS.


Editor Mary f. scymour's Idea Of . Cos
tume 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
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
such 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 are compelled to work for their
living they cannot afford to expend their
strength recklessly. The greatest diff
Guilty which business women have today
is to select the right kind Of dress. Now
, my suggestion would be, in the first place
to wear short skirt, one that would
3 reach to the tops of the shoes. One OF
I the greatest drawbacks of the long skirt
which business women wear at present,
next to its weight and clumsiness, Is it's
tandency to drag in and catch hold of the
I mud in the streets and the dust on the
floor. The short skirt would do away
: with this
Awoman with both arms full of papers
e or packages could step boldly across a
street, no matter how wet or dirty 1t
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
y silk is preferable to heavy wooden goods.
g 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
n wont to have, l would suggest heavy
Il Turkish trousers. These would be great
7 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
I trousers.
IS 1.-THE objection will probably be raised
" that such a short skirt will expose the
i foot in an undesirable way. 1t is true
II that women have big feet, and nothing
A. makes them look bigger than a skirt
x, which exposes the entire shoe and moth.
W ing more. To remedy this l would sug
e, gest that fancy leggings be worn, which
T. extend from just above the toes to thre'
es or four inches above the shoe tops. Thes
a. would conceal the line between the sho
N. and the stocking, and, besides having
To- pretty effect, would make the foot loo
M smaller than it really is
Is $50 much for the lower part. The wais
N, should be as simple and as comfortabl
phi as the dressmaker's skill can make it.
nd once designed dress for myself whic
Z, embodied all my ideas of comfort an
n convenience. The waist consisted OF
ii Jacket and a vest in one piece. TIL
u Jacket was in reality nothing but tw
Is long lapels which covered part of tn
O body of the waist. In the vest were fou
pockets arranged just as they are in
mans waistcoat, two in the upper an
two in the lower part. On the outsid
of the two lapels were two pockets sim
for lar to those on mans coat. In the BAG
IT. drapery were inserted two oblong pool
he ----.:.... % hitch ,,,ara A., u
3D. cts, eHo oPoni5' VI
Id together by elastic cord. Under one {
ar the panels, on the right and the left side
art had long pockets"
as, The reporter next asked Mrs. Lii
$50 Devereux Blake what she thought of Il
}. idea of a business womans costume.
81 think" she said, ''that one Of Il
greatest strains that business wom'
3. could put themselves under would be
dress out of the fashion of the day.
T.. shrink from any suggestion of dress +
ned women that would I1aKe the We4rer %
at spicuous and an object of ridicule. Bul
eet, nesa women more than all Others a
u dependent upon the favor of the publ
ann and for them to wear garment tn
TER would make them ridiculous would
ork almost suicidal.
"a 81 believe that comfortable dresses C
-. be made within the lines of fashio
20 They should be perfectly loose and cas-
and not too long-three or four incl
~, above the ground would be plenty. T
its most disagreeable and uncomfortal
the part of a woman's dress is the ba
use, around the waist. This can be obviat
' nnr in a degree by wearing the waist and
of skirt Of one piece. That is, the lining
{ In the dress is all one piece, and the drapt
ON "a mt ON IN Of according tn the fashion
nate 49, 81 g. ,
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