The Washington times., 1919-12-28
Dr.. Edith Hall Smith, of Wellesley Col
Short Skirts, Too Thin Waists,
Too Bare Backs and Other
Suqgestiue Fashions Attract
O,,Iu the Worst Kind of Mates
and Describes Her Experiments
That PrOUe 1t
By Dr.. Edith Hale Swift,

-! By Or. kossh aAse S~tr
Medical Examiner ~ Wellesley College
vt Is time to adopt new and better modes
of dress because the old ones have
1 tailed OF their purpose.
The girl who sets forth wearing trans
parent chi6ons, bare backs snd Knee
length skirts on her mission Of husband
hunting finds that her smmunitioa ID faulty.
Thus equipped for hunting she bags the
lesser- man.
SAe may land husband. but be Is at
best poor imitation of The kind OF mate
she wants. She can attract worthwhile
man By the candid ps1ade Of hsr physical
ensrms, but only on the lesser side. She
cannot hold him
She can lead him By chiffon scarf to
the 4altar-but no further.
Every girl more OF less consciousH
dresses with one object That 10 To set
husband, When she finds that the kind
Of clothes she Is buying secures for her
only a second or third or fourth class
companion on the jog Of life, hope she
win abandon the indecent forms Of dress.
Recently at the International Confer
ence OF Women Physicians, held At the
National Board Of the Young Womso's
Christian Association headquarters In
New York, I occasioned controversy By
these statements.
Mrs. Beatrice Forbes Robertson Hale
dissented from my views.
She said women dressed for class. Her
view was that cooks sartortally try to
initiate queens.
am willing to grant that the desire to
rise in the social scale is factor In the
dress OF mature women. But the big. con.
trolling factor In the dress Of most women,
particularly Of the younger members Of the
sex. Is to win the male Of the species-
uttered my warning ct the conference
OF doctors because have learned In my
confidential practice and my observation
of life that young women are fsiling In
their primary and worthy purpose. They
must find another means Of gaining that
purpose
They must stalk their prey from another
side.
:I,have had occasion to DO Ereat deal
Of talking to girls Of many classes. In Bos.
ton I have addressed college girls and the
wards OF the charitable organizations. The
intermediate grades Of business and pro-
fessional women have been IN my audi.
euees. From all have drawn the admis.
sion, that expensive and. IN the matter Of
weight and covering, ineoandersble cloth.
ing Is chosen because men Ike II.
Girls whom have persuaded to be frank
hsvs said:
I'VE would rather wear sensible, dur.
sbie. clothes. But when We do the men
doa.t notice Us. When We wear silly,
thtn-sspsper blouses the men SIT up and
take notice. Il never fails."
> asked some Of the girls for whom, !
an friend and counselor 10 make the ex'
pertinent
"fry another point Of attack ! said.
"The sex interest is ephemersL He has
many other deeper and more enduring In.
tefests. Learn to play good game OF
tennis and talk to him about tennis. Read
the newspapers and talk about the news"
The girls followed the plan faithfully.
OF that there can be no doubt. They ap
piled themselves diligently to the solution
Of the problem. II they could attract the
male and hook husband without undue
outlay Of their earnings or allowances and
more display OF person than modesty per
rnItted they preferred to do 20.
But after due trial they reported failure
"The girls who wore the flesh-colored
blouses SO. like tae skin that you couldn''
tell where one ended and the other besar
got all the attention" they told me.
THE girls who wore their skirts up Il
their knees grabbed all the partners al
the dances. There was a girl who hat
painted her mouth until It looked like &
cherry that was ready to drop to the
ground. She had three proposals Of mar
Rage At one weekend visit"
DtscourasinS. but not hopeless.
I asked the EiSis 70 describe the mel
who were tSss easily hooked. They wer,
youths who lived oa Yemittances or VIII
earned s1au salaSSss- Those whose name
sisAified ssythias hadn't made them sig
nificant- They had Inherited the signifi
eaAee. They vsrsAt even strong. physi
eslly 1T men. They had not distinguishe,