New-York tribune., 1910-03-06
College and Clothes.
Is the Pa tn of Learning Made Easier by Frills !
No. Graduates Answer.

Those who come to college with the idea
that clothes are an all-important matter
soon learn to think otherwise. l remember
6 wealthy Western girl, who. in describing
one of her classmates in her freshman
year, said: Oh. YOU know the kind of a
girl she is-the kind that has her clothes
made at home by a dreSsnaker.' 4 couple
OF years after her graduation 1 found her
king a gown for herself with the help
of a seamstress
But if overdres.ing is condemned,
that does not mean that slovenliness and
carelessness are tolerated The girls who
think that college Is a place to wear out
old clothes find out pretty soon from their
friends that that isn't the case. As far as
have observed. the girls get more care
ful rather than indifferent about their
looks IN their four years stay"
The Barnard graduate expressed similar
views
We have CID saying at college. Re
member TO represent Barnard on all occa-
sions' - she said. ard take it to heart
ye.y seriously a times although we gen
orally make fun of il. as you do of any
fackreyed old phrase. That is why we
are quite particular about the clothes the
students wear BY that ! mean We poke
fDD al me girls VINO wear eAiitIlE, itfSsN
things. and we censure the girls who become
too siovenly. When one of the girls dashed
in from the gymnasium clad in a sweater
with no waist underneath she was taken
to task severely by member of the stu
dent council, The governing body. The
same treatment is accorded to the silly
little freshmen Who think it smart 10 dress
in extremely short skirts and to wear their
1,.i-
given to understand pretty clearly that
even infant prodigies have TO look ana act
with a certain amount OF dignity by the
time they get 10 college. If these lectures
don't result in adding several inches to
the skirts the offenders get 'horsed' in the
funny shows until they comply with the
requirements OF college convention.
The only instance of clothes playing
part in elections which | can recall was
in the case of a girl who lost one of the
biggest positions in the college because she
wore pearl earrings TO the Junior ball
Though earrings were in style at the time,
they were considered too fast by some o.
the fastidious."
All the yassar graduates whose views
were obtained thought that the only
clothes problem of college lay in trying TO
ments with the least possible buttons and
hooks. that you could slip into easily and
which would stay put At commence
ment time. they said, each class passes
resolution TO forbid trains and anything
that is not washa Bile, But you can't really
control that sort Of thing. one of them
added, because if a girls mother wants
her 70 have an Ella borate creation she won
he deferred by any undergraduate Tegua-
tons commencement day brings out the
most wonderful congIomeration of cos
tunes. from the wedding dresses OF the
girls who will soon eei married and low
neck, trained ball gowns to shirtwaist suits
And all this at II in the morning. But,
then. it's the last day, and We feel as
though we were passing from an academic
10 g more social sphere, where clothes are
Of more account.
No. indeed clothes have nothing 10 do
with prominence. emphaticaily stated the
Bryn Mawr graduate. Why, the pTeSI-
den: of my class year was the Stop
piest girl in the place. She had an aruSuc
fenperanent so we forgaVe her for wear
ing baggy sailor suits and her hair tum-
hing down over one ear most of the time
But you can't make any general state
r?ents about the clothes Of college girls,
she concluded.
There are slovenly girls, well dressed
girls and strictly up-to-date girls at college
as well as anywhere else, and If they doh |
90, any sense about what is hefttlng and
proper While they're there they never Will