Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1913-05-19
MEN DIsLIKEyTo DRESS UP.
After Days Work They Are Tired
Dressing Recreation for Women.

just the same:
Take me like this, and I'll go;
but 1 won't wear evening clothes!"
why not?" she demands fearful
ly.
Because I'm tired" he answers
positively.
well, so am 1, but I'll have to
dress"
81 wouldn't mind dressing if I'd
been sitting around all afternoon in
one of those things" This with a
wave of his military brushes toward
her lace-trimmed negligee. 1--WE
been on duty in a stiff collar since
$3.50 a. M, and I'll be hanged if I'll
stuff myself into a claw-hammer
coat to go to a concert. l like mu-
sic, but l don't enjoy it when wear
evening clothes"
Whereupon she burst into tears,
punctuated by remarks about how he
disgraces her and the family by re-
fusing to dress, removes the traces
of tears with eau de cologne, puts on
simple gown instead of the white
satin and crystal creation she had
laid out and sits through the concert
martyr to her husbands business
suit!
in, a
average American home where the
mans evening clothes are more apt
to be moth eaten than to show shiny
seams from hard usage. Admitting
that we men are a trifle selfish in
matters of personal comfort, father
does not realize that he has spoiled
mothers evening by his refusal to
be trussed UP in a claw-hammer coat,
and he would certainly take issue
with an eminent divorce judge who
has said that mans defiance of the
conventions of dress has often caused
wifely affection to cool. Nonsense!
Everybody who knows them knows
also that he has a dress suit, and
the rest do not matter!
Women's joy in evening attire and
mems dread of it present one of the
curious contrasts of married life for
which there is no psychological reas-
on. The wife will spend almost any
amount of time and endure almost
any amount of discomfort if her din
ner or dancing gown strikes fire
against the envy of other women;
but her husband rarely outgrows the
belief that a claw-hammer coat is the
natural grating of a straitjacket on
clowns blouse. Dressing is recfea-
ton for a woman; punishment for a
man. A man buys new evening
suit because there may arise occa-
sions when his business or profess
sional interests would be advanced
by wearing them. A woman strokes
her new satin dress with loving,
appreciative hand. A man regards
the evening clothes she has laid out
for him with a fishy or vindictive
eye. Which brings us to the psy-
Geological reason for these widely
different viewpoints.
In a household whose master can
afford to possess evening clothes the
wife has some leisure, some oppor-
tunity during the afternoon to relax
and regain energy for the social
events of the evening. The husband
pays for this leisure in unremitting
effort, concentration of thouht and
nervous energy. Under existing eco
nomic conditions, comforts, luxuries
and leisure for the wife mean the
| husbands triumph over competition.
He does not regard this as a sacri-
flee. He does not pose as a martyr
Rather the prosperous appearance of
his wife is added proof of his sue
cess. He is proud of her, fond OF
her; but he thinks that she demands
too much when she asks him to be
continually dressed up for her. He
has toiled all day with hand or brain
that she may outshine the lilies in
their social pastures, and he feels
that he has earned the right to relax
and enjoy himself when the clock
strikes 6. And he holds that it is
utterly impossible to relax or rest in
a "claw-hammer' coat