Lady Denman’s Views on Modern Dress.

Huntly Press and District Gazette, Volume 2, Issue 66, 28 November 1913, Page 4

Lady Denman’s Views on Modern Dress.

All over the world there is an outcry against , the present fashions. The majority of the complainants say that they are immodest ; many {ministers have gone further, and have said that they tiro indecent ; some authorities ha/e even declared them outrageous and have had the wearers of split shirts and transparent blouses sent to gaol. The question of interest to us is : Are the dresses the woman of Australia and New Zealand are wearing to-day either startling or shocking? To obtain authoritative views on his question, the editor of “ Every lady's Journal ” recently sent a representative to interview a number of notable people, and the summary of their ideas is that it is only in their j extremes that the modern fashions are objectionable, and that of our woman the number who adopt these extremes is very ! small indeed. Lady Denman, wife of the Governor-General of the Commonwealth, said, in answer to to the question. “I certainly think that the fashions of to-day ! are very sane, and much in i ; advance of their predecessors, j Women of good taste and refined feeling will invariably utilise the best iu any fashions and leave the other qualities for those who The hobble skirt is extremely ugly, but the split skirt, if kept within certain j hounds, certainly has its uses. Dr Carr, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, has i been rather shocked by the scantiness of modern draperies, and he said to the interviewer j that “ any womon who, by the | scantiness or transparency of her dress, seeks to attract attention or provoke temptation, is guilty of a grave sin or scandal ”. Among those who give opinions on the question of dress in the ! current issue of “ Everylady’s Journal ” are Mr Fred Niblo, the the wMI-known American actor; Miss Madge Titherage ; the Rev. T C. Spurr ; Dr J. W. Barry ; Dr. ( ’lark, A rchbishop of Melbourne ; and Miss Vida Goldstein. Another interesting feature of this number, and one that is of practical order, is an article on stencilling. This is one of a series of articles which the journal has n “:■ : ■ tries that Pay.” This particular irticle i of special value because it is illustrated with a large number of very excellent Stencil patterns, specially designed by Australian artists who have used A istralian subjects. There is some very clever 1 writing in this number of “Everylady’s Journal" but the crowning feature in the fiction line is the second instalment of “ What Happened to Mary. ” Mary is one of the most remarkable characters in modern fiction. In America her stories have been sold by the | million. She has been used as the subject of innumerable songs, st >ries md pictures. Her tales have been published b • the greatest magazines, and have been shown on the screens of | thousands of picture theatres. . She has invaded England and is carrying all before her there, C t 6 to Australia, and “Every lady’s Journal” ! has secured the exclusive rights ' ! of her stories. Each oi these adventures is a separate story in ! itself, but they dovetail so per- | fectly that, as a whole, they make j a fascinating tale of modern i life. We venture to think that ' Mary will make as biga hit in this country as she lias done on the i other side of the world. "Everyj lady’s Journal ” is on sale locally for sixpence, and is a magazine '