The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1918-06-28


again. They are agitating for the
standardization of women's dress as a
war measure of equal Importance with
the conservation of food. Rumors of
frocks all alike, cut by the millions
and placed on the market for the col
onel's lady and Judy O'Grady, so that
they may become sisters in their attire
as well as under their skins. COM
ments fashion authority, reach us
from time to time through the Sec
tons of the daily press devoted to
women's affairs.
Sometimes the arguments are quite
learned. The French revolution is
freely quoted as being the event final
ly responsible for the Standardization
Of mems dress. To be sure, one of
the first things that Napoleon did,
when he reached the position Of being
able to set the fashion, was to make
mems clothes as gorgeous and as COM
pick as they had been before the abo-
lition of the Bourbons. But the effect
did not last long. "Sans culottism"
had taken too firm hold on mems af-
fections. They soon went back to
that dignified but ugly garment, the
long trousers, and they have remained
faithful to them ever since.
Students of the history of costume
cite this as an example, and tell us
some hopefully, some regretfully-that
the present Armageddon will do the
| for uyO Dn3 hon
ers-students, too, but students of the
human nature back of the clothes,
rather than of the clothes themselves
and they give an emphatic No! to
the whole proposition.
"The Standardization of women's
dress has gone as far now as it ever
WILL" is their contention.
Easy to Get Into.
Very busy women-and what other
kind is there at present-may make
lnsistent demands for clothes that are
easy to get into. Easily adjusted,
madam" will sell more gowns this
season than the catch phrase, "This
is what they're wearing" Coats and
suits and one-piece dresses will main
tain their popularity; "shirtwaists"
that launder like a mans shirt will
refuse to be ousted. But there will
always be more variety in women's
dress than there is in mems, and wom-
en- as whole will continue to be more
preoccupied with the question Of
wherewithal they shall be clothed.
One reason for the continuance of
variety in feminine attire, in spite of
wars and rumors of wars, is the fact
that women as whole are rested by
change of occupation. So the bust
ness woman, on her return from her
office, is quite willing to sit down to
stocking darning, so that she may con-
tinue to wear the thread-bare hose in
which her heart delights; she sits up
late to run ribbons in her lingerie !;
she will wash out and iron her own
neckwear in order that she may make
her serge suit or frock more becoming
by softening it with frills at the throat
Did anyone ever hear of the man who
washed his own collars? He will pol
sh his own shoes-tradition says that
he will perform this operation more
willingly and oftener than any woman !;
he will brush his clOthes-but there
his sartorial measures of preparedness
end. So he is naturally restricted to
a form Of garment which is easily
kept in order.
Mans lnsensibiIity to Temperature.
Another reason is the average mans
absolute insensibility to changes in
temperature-at least from the wOm-
ans point of view. He declares that
there is a vast difference in warmth
between his winter-weight blue serge
and his summer weight, but no wom-
an can see it. To her he is mys-
terry as he goes to his Office on a
boiling August morning, clad complete
ly in wool, with high-starched collar