The silver messenger., 1907-01-01
ELbow Sleeves for Society.

counting is never mingled with bust
ness. Sentiment and business, in Ger
tain aspects, are irreconcilable. They
do not belong together A young
woman may be vastly the superior OF
her employer in all that constitutes
good breeding. She may, on the other
hand, be his social inferior. Which
ever she is has little bearing on the
case. AS woman under salary and
working during certain stipulated
hours, she is an integral part of the
business in that particular shop. She
is there to do her work. Nothing in
her dress or demeanor should have
the faintest tinge of coquetry or hint
that she is girl, young, pretty and
fond of wholesome fun in its proper
place.
Equally inappropriate with elbow
sleeves are low shoes with high heels
open-work stockings and display OF
jewelry. A business dress should be
comfortable, simple and somewhat Sc.
vere Shirt waists of white muslin
have the advantage of being readily
laundered and they are suitable in
every season. Skirts, preferably black
in color, and short, clearing the
ground with ease. tidy, well-ftting
shoes, in good ord er as to heel and but.
tons. trim toque or sailor hat and
a jacket selected in it's season for
either heat or cold, complete the cos
tune of young woman who daily
goes to business.
Young working women constitute
an important asset in the management
of business in our period. A mighty
host of young people, of both sexes
set out every morning, and return
every night, to and from great cen.
ters of industry. The street rings with
the resolute tramp of their march, as
without thought of complaint or a
murmur of dissatisfaction, they un.
dertake heavy tasks and strenuous
toll. All honor to the business WON.
an who asks no odds of any one and
is conscientious and brave-hearted in
carrying out her portion of daily toll
Generally, this means daily bread, not
for herself alone, but for parents
5AOWiil5 OlN vi llLllC UIOlnSIS anu SlS'
ters whom she is helping to elothe,
feed and educate
No class in our midst compares in
generous unselfishness with our work.
ing girls, and none of their contempo.
raries surpass them in real goodness.
honesty and stability of character
They do themselves a wrong when
their dress or occasionally their be
havior in public conveyances lays
them open to the charge of needless
friYolity. Most of them are at the
age when they have a right to be friv.
olous, provided they have finished
their tasks and are free for the rest
of the day. They then have precisely
the same right to enjoyment, to pretty
dress and to any bit of pleasure that
is safe and legitimate that the daugh.
ter of wealth and the belle in society
have in their respective places.
A girl should leave business behind
her when she leaves the office, and if
she can lay aside the uniform of bust
ness and assume smarter and daint'
Ter toilette for her home evening, put
ting on here a ribbon and there
flower, she is doing what every daugh-
ter of Eve has a right to do. Home
toilettes should be beautiful, and they
may be so without being costly OF
loud. A loud toilette can never be
beautiful. Colors that shout at each
other, styles that are extreme, and
fashions that throw the wearer in
the shade by their peculiar emphasis
are not in good taste, and are becom
ing neither to the rich girl nor her
poorer sister
The point of my plea is that elbow
sleeves and what they stand for are
appropriate in hours of recreation, but
not in the business day.
Copyright. 1906 by Joseph b. Bowles.l