Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-24
MARTYROOM OF the COSTUME
WOMEN DEVISING A DRESS
FOR AERoPLANE WEAR.
Ladies Leave Out Of the Question
the Matter Of Comfort-Style
and Sensation Needed.

From the London Chronicle.
The ladies' papers, always up to date,
have been devising feminine costume
for an aeroplane. 1t is something with a
suggestion Of trousers, and a head cover
ing that lacks the pin-prick of the current
feminine hats. Fully dressed for an aero
plane excursion. our fashionable woman
would, take it (she has just been pho
tographed). distantly resemble the Eskimo
ladies, who can scarcely be distinguished
from DR.. Cooks eXcursionists to the
north pole. She would wear trousers.
and a sort of gaberdine: but-and now
one comes to the eternal quarrel between
the dress of man and woman, which must
have started in the Garden of Eden-it
will not be comfortable kit.
1t will not contain pocket. for in
stance. For We have lately had WON
ans exhibition at Olympia, and all man
ner of women's products were shown.
from babies to wrist-bags. The finest
wrist-bags came from Greenland-wrist-
bags made from leather, and sewn with
colored strips. and designed to open four
square at a touch upon the metal fasten-
ing. Up in Greenland on a frosty day 1t
must be a slippery and lengthy walk for
the woman who wants to shop. You
would think she would have achieved the
capacious pocket with the trousers. But
no. She carries the wrist-bag. makes the
finest wrist-bags. and carries her pemmi-
can as her Bond street sister carries her
coin-in wrist-bag.
Dress and Discomfort.
You would conclude that the women OF
the world have achieved the last word in
the matter of dress; that the initial split
in the Garden of Eden has led to the hor-
rid contest between the man who wears
silk hat and the woman who wears
what-by courtesy-we call a picture hat
But, speaking as man, / must congratu-
late women on their acceptance of dis
comfort. For centuries they have been
dressed by men, and l Should imagine
that when Adam and Eve first discussed
the question of dress Adam foresaw that
1t was necessary to train his wife to a
reasonable amount of discomfort. Now
adays we Zee the result of this, and one
bows in respect to the woman who, fol-
lowing the fashion, must be uncomforta-
BILE from hat to toe. The other day, Oy
the way. lady was rescued by man.
Her four-inch heel had caught in the
interstices of seaside landing-stage. But
you will note that the admirable temper,
the delightful competency. the splendid
achievements Of women must have been
due to her careful training in discomfort
which can hardly be beaten-except in
China-by anything but the four-inch
heel
And looking at women, the daughters
of Eve, in an omnibus. for example. re-
fleet upon the subtlety of man, who has
got round finance, trained his womankind
to buy the most uncomfortable things at
bargain sales. From the seat Of the male
cannot understand how woman-even
an addressed woman-can keep her tenn
per- To begin with. In the omnibus or
her hat picks up distractions. And. with
out entering into the more intimate de-
tails, should think that from hat to zoe
the average Woman's dress must be ex-
tremely uncomfortable. She has not
such is the subtlety of MANTLE command
of finance, and her pocket is always ar
ranged on the Greenland method Slung
over the arm, with the watch, the UNI
brella, various other commodities-the
handkerchief. the powder-puff. and the
library books and q packet OF cigarettes,
a woman will carry. Then you wonder
that women lose the wrist-bag. in which
they carry a few odd thousand pounds Of
which men have imposed upon women Is
the skirt.
The skirt is the final test that man has
imposed upon woman. and as she can do
her work therein, she has my sympathy
my admiration. The Roman man wore
toga, you may remember. and cast 1t
about himself as he staggered in the
Roman streets. But when he went of to
annex the world he shed his toga, and
emerged In breeches. with two legs, free
and unabashed. The men Of the world
have shirked the discomfort of clothes
when little extra labor has been put
upon Them and even the Highla nders,
the only petticoated men in the United
Kingdom wear their skirts very short and
very seldom. They prefer trews.
The Sweet Temper.
But the woman is trained to discomfort,
and her usual good temper is evidently
due to the subtlety Of the man who for
generations had expressed q delight in
her preposterous clothing. She doesn't
know what 1t is to suffer from tight shoes
or a hat that will not fit into q cab, or
waistband that will protest aginst
dinner or life at large, with the Green
land device Of wrist bag. She Is so used
to discomfort Imposed upon her by the
sons Of ADAM that she can keep her
temper In circumstances that would drive
the man to fury.
And the man in the omnibus contem-
plates the woman opposite who cannot
lean back because Of her hat, cannot find
her fare, since she has forgotten her
wrist bag. and must dig into mysterious
regions for a penny. The woman in the
skirt. The woman with all manner of
puffs and buzzas of frippery that may
| catch the chance obstruction-and the
skirt. But she does it. Does 1t! And
Do ST. over against neT ana TeHGCt,
respect her for her triumph over dis
comfort. We are watching each other
nowadays, men and women: and there
are competitions between us-such as
beauty shows. How would we like to
appear to the others? What are the wom-
en- that men want. and what are the
men that women want? The final question
Is the skirt. l think. Personally I would
not like to wear a skirt. though 1 adj
mire them when worn on the proper fig
ure. and wonder at the agility Of the
people who wear them.
But in the omnibus the competition
attracts me. Do men like skirts? Do
women like silk hats? Coupons to be filled
up and returned. And the man who
his legs and feels grateful that the wom-
an opposite has been taught to sit up
straight. keep her feet under her skirt
and her temper sweet.
A Peculiar Cantilever Bridge.