The Washington herald., 1917-11-28

One OF the interesting and Valuahle
lessons that the war Is teaching us
is the effect that clothes have on US.
| As regards clothes. people have
mainly been divided into two classes
those who held that the purpose
OF clothes was merely to cover their
nakedness and keep them warm in
winter and cool in summer. and 1t
was a matter Of small importance
how they looked; and those who be-
lieve that the purpose Of clothes
was to minister to ones vanity and
that neither comfort nor use mat
tered so long as they were beautiful.
! The result Of this controversy has
been that part Of our fellow creatures
have paid too little attention to their
clothes and have gone about slouchy
and sloppy and looking like human
ragbags, while others haye paid too
much attention to their clothes and
have spent too much time and thought
and money turning themselves into
living fashion plates.
Both the underdressed and the over
dressed have thought Of clothes mere
| ly In terms of their bodies. They
have not considered the way they
dressed as 1t reacted on their char
acters. and yet the moral effect of a
! coat or a frock on a woman is far
, more important than whether the
garment becomes his or her COM
plexion. 1t has been said, 'as a
man thinks, SO is he" 1t may be
said with equal truthfulness that as
a man dresses, SO will he be.
We could have no more vivid H.
lustration of this than has been
afforded by our volunteer army, who
| by the mere putting on of a uni
form appear to have acquired au-
ItOmatically strength, stamina and
backbone-al of those intangible
qualities that we Jumped into the
world manliness.
So great has been the transfor-
nation wrought by a suit of khaki
that we have actually failed to rec
ognize at first sight boys with
whom we have been acquainted all
of their lives.
! There was Jimmie Johnson,
round d-shouldered and fatchested,
and whose knees always appeared
to wabble as he walked. Jimmie's $
clothes always looked as II he slept
in them. and he had a general air
of going to seed and of being too
lazy and shiftless to care If he did.
But Jimmie in his new uniform is
a butterfly emerged from the chry-
sails. Trim, trig and taut, buttoned
up to the chin, with polished put
tees and every buckle shining, he
has squared his shoulders, stuck out
his chest to live up to that soldier s
coat he's got on.
And there's Percy Perkins who has
always been a sissy sort Of a chap
who ran to silk pajamas and four dol
lar neckties and embroidered things
generally. and hadn't spunk enough
to say SCAT to q cat. Somehow
Percy's foolish little artifcialities and
sentimentalities dropped from him
like an outgrown garment when he
put on his soldiers uniform,
There's just something of sweat and
blood, strain and struggle, heroism
and high endeavor and danger and
death that IL SO interviewer into the
very fabric Of that dull brown cloth
that 1t puts courage and grit into the
weakest spine and the poorest spirit
OF the man who puts It on.
OF the well known and irresistible
effects Of brass buttons and uniforms
on the female sex it Is unnecessary to
speak here. Women have never been
able to resist them and the record
breaking crop Of war brides is mere
ly another illustration of the psy-
chology Of clothes. Girls who have
said no" thousand times to suffers
in business suits, golfing toys, sport
clothes and evening dress have said
yes, and thank you kindly the very
nrst time their lovers popped the
question camoufaged as gallant SOL
der boys.
Further proof Of the effect that
ones personal appearance has on
ones morale also comes from the
'front.' where we are told that even the
men In the trenches, who are forced
to live In incredible filth, are urged to
shave every day and to weep their
uniforms as clean as possible because
IL DUCKS q man up and gives him
courage. Also we are told that the
omcers hnd that they have more con-
I trol over their man and inspire more
respect II they are always turned out
spic and span as IL on dress parade.
| Certainly one finds 1t easy to be-
lieve this because It matches ones
own personal experience. All of US
90 pay Difference to good clothes. All
OF US are impressed by them and
there is not one OF US who is not in
tangibly braced up and given more
courage by feeling that we are suit
ably attired.
The hrst subtle indication that a
man or woman is slumping, that he
or she has let go and has given up
the night. 10 shown In his or her ap-
pearance. When a man ceases to
shave and black his shoes, when he
lets his trousers bag at the knees he
| b on the toboggan slide. So IL q
woman when she leaves on her cor