The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-03-22
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC }. HAsKIN. DRESSES.
Washington. d. O.
THE WoRKING GIRLs CLOTHEs.

poor. surprised working girl in so
many American cities has made no
] impression upon New York: Here
working girls can still wear what they
| please. Their employers have laid
j down no stern and arbitrary rules for
| them. When Chicago department
stores frown upon bobbed hair and
rouge for sales girls, and when New
ark banks forbid rolled stockings and
/ peek-a-boo waists in their formal pre-
cincts. New Workers merely shrug
their shoulders and smile a. superior
sort of SMILE So far, they have de-
veloped none of these prejudices.
Short skirts and bobbed hair have
nothing to do with morality and eff
Cheney" declared the head of a large
New York mercantile house when
questioned on the subject. whether
the skirts of our employees are SIX
inches or twelve inches from the floor
does not concern us. We stress neat
ness and dignity, but aside from that
there is no effort made to influence
or coerce our workers. Dress Is a
matter of taste and habit. Wearing
the hair short or long is personal
matter which has to do with the in
dividual and no one else We feel
that our people have the same right
to exercise individual taste in ques-
tions of dress as the debutante or
the society woman
Yes" Joined in his Junior partner,
disgust in his voice, "all such prohibit
tons are nonsens9-sheer nonsense
Business women should be permitted
to dress as they please, just as men
do. We do not object to bobbed hair
for our saleswomen any more than We
object to bald heads or side whiskers
on our salesmen- In fact, when you
come to think of it, bobbed hair is not
half so offensive as no hair at all. is
it?" And he smiled as he stroked
his own sparsely-covered scalp. Then
the question of dress is a sensitive
one, with women. They won't stand
much criticism on the subject. They
are apt to get sulky and develop
grudge. and an employe with a grudge
is worse than no ernploye at ALL
Suggestions, Not Regulations
There is one department store in
New York, employing about $500
women. which does have certain req
ulations concerning dress. but they are
.tactfully offered as suggestions rather
than demands. An advisory commit
tee on this important matter, elected
from among the saleswomen them
selves, does the advising, when neces-
sary. Girls who wear thin waists, for
example. are gently informed that it
would be in better taste if they con-
fined themselves to inconspicuous
underwear, and girls who appear in
quested to desist. Otherwise, the ad
visory committees seems to possess
rather liberal ideas.
Not even these limited restrictions
are placed upon the 4tVUU klElS ana
women who are employed by a large
insurance company in this city. When
questioned as to this seeming lack of
discipline, a business executive of the
firm asserted that the company was
concerned entirely with the efficiency
of its employees and not with their
clothes.
IF the girls want to wear short
skirts or wear their hair bobbed or in
Mary Pickford curIs. they may. Some
~ Ie a NJ nfffrfa1G NJ
have their individual prejudices., BY
the way, a, funny incident happened
here the other day which You might
be able to use in this connection A
girl came in to apply for job as
stenographer in Mr.. oven call him
SMITH Smiths office. She was the
regular flapper type, with short hair
and short skirts and her face streaked
up like an Indian squaw. Smart, tho;
and took her dictation without a
hitch.
Smith. you see. is one of the old
fashioned kind that is raising all this
howl about the new girls and their
clothes, and here was a splendid ex-
ample of alIhe disapproved of asking |
him for a job. We could see that he |
was impressed by her efficiency, tho, |
so we hung around waiting to see
what he would do. After a long ST |
lence he finally said, I'm sorry. but
cannot employ you and I am going |
to tell you why. You may think me |
old-fashioned, but I want people with |
some degree of dignity near me while |
work Now, with your abbreviated |
hair and skirt
Transformation Lands Job.
"'oh, is that alp asked the girl in
a relieved voice. Well, that is a. de- |
feet easily remedied. Longer skirts |
are easily acquired, il you insist upon |
them, and if you will only watch pa
tient1y for a few seconds can shoy |
you that my hair is not really bobbed !
at all Saying which. she took out a |
few hairpins and removed the whole /
neatly arranged in a soft, flat coil at |
the back-as dignified looking a Golf
fure as even Smith could desire. Smith /
was so surprised at first that his |
mouth fell open, and he had to cover /
up this loss of dignity by giving the Il
girl long lecture on her artificiality /
Then he hired her at a good salary"
This view that business women i
should dress simply and ihconspicu-
ousiy has long been voiced with I
mighty eloquence by various groups
FOR various reasons but it has re-
NAMED for a few bankers to come
right out bluntly with the great OBJ
tecuon-namely, the fact that frivoI-
upon the male employee.
Girls who wear gay clothes to |
business are too distracting to the
young men in the office" said one of
lhAS BEOups we are leltlnS Inem out
as fast as awe cam
This view is sharply challenged by
Mary Alden Hopkins. in an article re-
Gently published in The New Repub-
lie. in which she says:
why shouldn't she (the business
Sirl) wear as pretty, silly clothes as
the girl who stays at home to help
her mother Earrings and strapped
toes and high heels and strings of
barbaric beads and everything else.
IL you put il on the ground OF
for all girls and all women
why, that's another matter. Maybe |
30 and maybe not so. But the idea !
that red and orange and nasturtium 1
yellow and aster puppies belong to
the girl whose allowance comes from
her father, while navy blue and dark
brown are the colors for the girl |