WEARING STOCKINGS IN GOVERNMENT OFFICES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 12, 4 February 1942, Page 2

WEARING STOCKINGS IN GOVERNMENT OFFICES

NEED NOT BE WORN

Recently in some Whitehall offices the following notice appeared: "At the request of the Director-Gen-eral of Civilian Clothing of the Board of Trade, women staff are informed that in present circumstances stockings need not be worn at the office." The position in Government offices in Wellington is that there is no ban on women coming to work without stockings, according to information given by the Public Service Commissioner, Mr J. H. Boyes, who said that the question was left mostly to the discretion of the permanent head of each department. He could see no objection to stockings being discarded, said Mr Boyes, particularly if the staff were not in view of the public, but the question was also one of individual preference. Only in a few eases so far were stockings not being Avorn. Girls still seemed to be able to obtain stockings, even though lisle might be more in evidence than formerly. Some wore tennis socks.

There had been no request by the girls for permission to come to work without stockings. All the women members of the Staff of a Wellington bank are still wearing stockings and the manager said that no thought had been given to the question. If stockings became unprocurable, lie said, consideration might have to be given to allowing women staff to dispense with stockings at work. 'There are legs and legs," said the staff inspector of another bank in support of his view that some women would be unwilling to appear without stockings. "We prefer our staff to have stockings," he said, "though if they were unobtainable we would have to agree."