Evening star., 1924-11-23
By MARY MARSHALL.

~ 70 train to sweep the floor
tSN no bicycle skirt in busi-
NJ ness hours to display the
color Of your shoe tops
Good advice this, written
a generation ago for the benefit OF
the girl who through dire necessity
or perverted choice went to work IN
business offices. To display the color
of the shoe tops would apparently not
only be lacking in maidenly modesty.
but might mean the losing OF one
lob, for men did not want loud WON
en- in their employ. The dress OF a
girl in an office. according to TINS
counselor. should be perfectly unop-
trusive, chosen merely as a modest
covering of her body. She might be
neat-that apparently by way OF
single indulgence.
Much gratuitous advice was given
in those days to the girl who worked
in businesS-but it was all OF the
same tenor The pursuit Of fashion,
the attainment OF smartness. appar-
entity were not for her. But even
then the bestowers OF good aoVice
lamented the fact that business wom-
en- did not heed the good advice.
often, said one, the girls employed in
Offices looked more as if they were
dressed for Mrs. Astor's ball' than
for humble employment as a STE
nographer or bookkeeper. The large
class of young females" signs one,
"who earn their own subsistence are
so addicted to the love Of finery as
often to omit the substantial and COM
Portable articles of apparel
Well, the young females have
changed but little-only public opin-
ion toward them has changed lot.
There is less particulariZed advice OF
any sort-possibiy because the ad-
visers found it did precious little good
to give it. And, honestly, to give uni
form advice regarding dress to all
young women entering business
would be like advising all young men
about to go to work to wear gray
tweed suits, black socks and red
necktics.
The trim, washable, high-necked
shirt waist. navy blue skirt and low
heeled black shoes that women used
to consider most appropriate for their
husbands stenographers, somehow
didn't prove to be any more condu-
Give to success than a more becoming
costume For one office position low
heeled shoes may still be most ap
propriate, and one girl may find plain
tailored wash blouses most desirable,
but another girl may select high
heeled opera slippers and navy blue
georgette tunic - still with perfect
impUnity.
:: :: = *
THE situation now that any one
u must face in advising the busi-
ness girl regarding her clothes is
that in very considerable stratum
of our American society the girl who
works is better dressed and may rea-
sonably spend a larger amount on
her clothes than most women at
home. Merchants recognize this, and
likewise the men and women who
write the advertisements for these
merchants. The business woman may
spend less time shopping and may
come to quicker decisions-because
she has less time to devote to this
pastime-but generally speaking she
demands better materials, better
workmanship and is more exacting
regarding style of the clothes she
buys. And though she may omit the
substantial and comfortable articles
of apparel" she does this from choice,
not from necessity.
women's dress always comes out
strongly against the separate blouse
and skirt for the girl who works.
She considers the time-houored navy
blue serge skirt and shirtwaist most
fnadvisable. She has too often seen