Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1914-02-27
TASTE OR DUTIES TO
REGULATE COSTUMES
ZTT HIGH OF the Five points" Of
Wv dress do you take into consid-

Wv dress do you take into consid-
Grafton when you buy your clothes7
Your duties, your pleasures, your
income, your tastes or your complex
ion?
Most women think only OF the last
three and add to them point which
should not be taken into consideration,
yet which Is more often than not
made the main factor in the case, and
that is what other women wear
The lure of the finery, as seen on
the figures of other women; the envy
of their costumes and Jewels has with
In the past year wrecked more wom-
ems lives than one cares to count up.
Branded as shoplifters, as having rob-
bed their employers or as having
sought shame in their desire for datn-
ty clothes, scores of young girls and
women have gone down upon the
crime records of the various cities,
their lives ruined by that feminine
lust for finery.
And out of this has grown the novel
campaign of certain men to regulate
the costuming of women, which Is rails
Ing such a storm of protest in the
feminine world.
Up in Pittsfield Mass, more Than
half the members of graduating
class are preparing to strike and do
without diplomas unless the order
passed by the board of directors that
no girl shall spend more than S. for
her graduating dress is rescinded.
. hn ~,
the order was made so that there
would be fewer heartburnings among
tie poorer girls, who cannot afford
elaborate clothes, and that SIS ought
10 be enough for white dress,"
anyway. To this the girls reply that
many have ordered dresses costing s25
and over, and that they are going to
wear them.
Who is right? The gills or the
men? And what is the point Of view
that a woman should take in such a
mooed question?
OF course, sentiment says that
since the class should be one at grad
uating time 1t seems more fair to Sc
lect a style of costume that even the
poorest of the girls could emulate;
yet, here again the lure of finery
comes in, and the richer girls cry,
why should we wear plain and shah
by frocks just to soothe the feelings of
one or two girls?"
And so it goes. But the war Of
clothes is by no means limited to
Massachusetts. In New York one of
the great life insurance companies
has recently issued a mandate order
ing all women employed by them to
dress as "befits work in an office, :"
and have put the ban upon paste jew
elry, cheap lace. picture hats, velvet
shoes and all the tawdry finery that
women love.
And, Of course, here, too, the WON.
en- are up in arms Why they de-
mand. should a company that en-
ploys our time attempt to regulate our
personal appearance and tastes?
Perhaps they have no right, too,
any more than they have the right
in other cities to regulate the length
Of hat pins, Or the wearing OF harem
skirts, or extreme hobbies, or wom-
ans appearance In mems garb. Blu
! the only right they exercise is that
raised by the demand of good taste,
and it seems to me that if, when wom-
en- bought their clothes they gave a
thought as 10 their appropr iateness for
office wear instead of dreaming OF
making a hit" on the streets, there
would be no need for the fast spread
ing masculine campaign against wom-
ems costumes.
/ What do you think?