Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-01-04
DOROTHY DIX TALKS
BY DOROTHY DIX
The Business Girls Clothes
Copyright. 1920. by the Wheeler Syndl-
cate, Inc.
CLUB Of business girls asks me II l
will tell them how they snoulo

n dress.
To this question I can only reply, in
general way, that the business girl snoulo
be so perfectly dressed that all you remem-
her about her clothes is that she had on ex-
actly the thing that she should have had on
Something that suited the time, the place
and the girl as nothing else would 10.
The first essential OF the business slrL
clothes should be comfort. No girl can o.
good work unless her body is at ease: NO
girl can keep her mind on her work II her
corset is so tight that she is suffocatlng 1or
air, or her shoes hurt her so badly tnat sne :
feels that she is all feet instead OIL Drain:
When a salesgir1 clings desperately Win
one hand to her counter and refuses TO even
turn her head to see if she has the thing
want, or when the naughty goddess VINO lakes
my order at restaurant snaps my mead OH
when I have the temerity to remind her
that ordered lamb chops and peas instead
of the corn beef and cabbage that she brought
me, I do not get angry with them ana re-
port them. 1 take one look at the SHOES.
two sizes too small for them, and propped~
up on stills, that they are wearing, and know
that for hours they have been undergoing the
suffering of the damned, and I realize that
no human creature could be expected to look
pleasant or be agreeable while enduring such
agony.
That women are able to accomplish as
much as they do while they are enduring
such physical discomfort Is one OF the mar
wells of nature. If you would dress man
up in a straight-front as uny1eld1ng as
coat of mail; if you put on him skirt SO
tight that he had to plat his legs around
each other as he walked; if you would strap
on his feet instruments of torture left over
from the Inquisition; If you would put
hair mattress over each ear; II you would
smear his face with kalsomine and cover his
lips with goo of nauseous taste and door,
and send him forth to do a days work, he
would collapse on the office floor before noon.
Yet millions of girls try to do mans WORK
with this sort of handicap, and then wonder
why they don't get along as fast as men DO.
Women will never, never be able to hold
their own with men IL business until they
learn to dress as comfortably as men do. No
woman can climb the ladder Of success In
Georgette blouse and spool heel shoes.
The business girl must learn to dress SEN
sibly because her health largely depends
| upon her clothes, and her ability to hold
down big job depends on her health. NO
sickly neurotic semi-invalid is Of any value
in an office, matter how much ability she
has The daily grind Of the business mill
must go on, and employers must have sub
-ordinates who can be counted on to be at
their posts. 20
Therefore the girl who is always telephon-
| ing down to the office, or store, that she is
sick with heavy cold, or laid up with
headache, or can't walk for the rheumatism,
need never expect to get bigger pay en-
velope than she is getting, to rise to any
position of trust. She is her own undoings
| because she is not dependable.
| Now girls like to speak of Ill health as If
| it were some mysterious affliction OF Provl-
| dence for which they are not responsible, but
| in their secret souls they know that they
| bring nine-tenths Of their sickness upon
| themselves by the way they dress. They
! spend the money on silly finery that should
| go into good warm flannels. They buy
party dress when they need a good cloak for
| everyday wear. They mince through sloppy
snowy, muddy streets in silk stockings and
| paper-soled slippers, and wonder how they
caught cold. They sit up and shiver, and
shake, in thin silk skirts and lace blouses
that are open down to their wishbones, and
can't imagine why they have cough that
keeps them feverish and dull and heavy.
| If women didn't have as many lives as a
cat, not one of them would survive a winter
with the fool way they dress. They must
have ten times the stamina Of men to get
away with it, and when they learn to wear
sensible clothes, employers will prefer them
to men because they will lose SO much less
! time on account of being sick.
The business girl should dress appropri-
ately. An office is not drawing room or
dance hall. 1t is a place in which to work,
and a girl should dress accordingly. Fluffy
ruffles and gew gaws, decollette and elabo-
| rate coiffeurs are out of place, and brand
| the wearer as not knowing what's what, and
when to wear it.
| To succeed in business a girl not only must
| be competent, but must look the part. You
WOulu never trust Cu0 judgment ana 6IllCl6n-
cy of man who came down to business in the
| morning wearing his dress clothes. Neither
| more does any employer ever feel that it is
worth while to train girl for a higher place,
no matter how bright she seems if she comes
| to business all dolled up as If she were going
| to a party. It's the girl who is dressed as
| is she meant business and was ready to do
| any kind of work, who climbs up from cash
| girls to buyer, and from stenographer to pri-
| vate secretary.
The business girl should remember that
cleanliness is next to goodness in the woman
| who works with men, and that being we'll
| groomed must be part of her religion. Men
are more particular about personal cleanli-
ness than women are, and a man will forgive
| a woman anything quicker than he will
soiled finery and unkept hands, and hair
that needs shampoo. Therefore, whatever
| else you do, never economic on soap and
water and the laundry.
| The business girl should dress comfortably,
sensibly, appropriately, preferably in dark
| clothes without jingling ornaments or jew
| elry, but she should make herself look as,
well as she can, and have as good clothes as
| she can possibly afford. Men like to have a
| pretty, trim, trig, smart-looking, girl about
| them. Someone who is easy on the eyes.
No trump need ever apply for good job.
| Furthermore, it pays woman to be we'll
dressed in business, because we all Judge a
fellow creatures ability by his or her earn
| ing capacity, and we expect to see that reg
istered on his or her back. So to succeed, q
the business girl should dress like success
the solid, substantial kind Of success that
can draw money out of the bank on It's face