Our Ugly Fashion

Shannon News, 27 December 1929, Page 1

Our Ugly Fashion

"De-hosed" damsels trooping, by the dozen, along the streets, morning and evening, bare-legged beauties tapping at typewriters in offices, unistockinged Trilbies thronging the' railway stations and the quays. Those" are some of the "sights of Sydney'' brought into prospect by the possibility of emulation of the new, "fashion" of Belfast typists, who have adopted the habit of discarding their stockings in hot weather, says the Sydney Sun. Fortunately, or unfortunately —it all depends upon the point of view—Sydney is hot likely to see sucih sights. "Official" opinion, as expressed in brief interviews with representatives of leading city business establishments, is "agin' it." Thus once again does Sydney lag behind in the march of progrcsi^! i Mr HNT. Armitage (Deputy Governor of the s>immoniwealith Bank) broke into unrestrained laughter wthen he was asked whether he thought that Australian might feel inclined, to follow the fashion of the Belfast typists. • "I'm afraid that I cannot pose as an authority on sueh a subject," he said. The chief lady officer in one of the big banks, however, ventured, "without official authority," that such an innovation in hot weather, was '*mot in Slight" in Sydney, as far as she could see. 1 And she has" charge of matters' ' relative to uniforms, etc., worn by i scores of girls. .Women in charge of the army of girls in Sydney's big houses declined to discuss, the proposition. Speaking personally, however, one ventured that the Belfast plan "wo<uld be all right in the summer; but;" she added —it was rather cold when she was speaking—"l don't know about the winter time." "We would never think of allowing such a departure," declared the head typist of one of the big pastoral houses "We would not sanction it, in any weatheT." . . {

On the staff of the A.M.I'. Insurero Society there are approximately 120 girls, "The Belfast idea has certainly no chance of being adopted here," said Miss Simons, who has charge of the uniforms of the girls. ''l should oppose it, mainly on the ground of api pearance. It would not add to the comfort of the girls in this weather." The president of the National Council of Women (Mrs. Bernard 'Muscio) thinks it is purely a matter of convention. "There is certainly no question of morality involved," she says. "If the discarding of stockings proved to be convenient and comfortable, the fashion would probably be adopted here. However, it is an ugly fashion and the degree of comfort gained would hardly warrant it becoming univer sal." "Not a Nice Thought." No nurse at the Prince Alfred Hos pital will dare to diseard her stocking? in the hot weather. Their matron, Miss Bossier, strongly disapproves' ot the baa-e-legged fashion. "There simph wouldn't be a nurse in the hospital if the fashion were started here," she said, when questioned. "Legs for thr most part, are extremely ugly and arc much better covered. We see million:;of them here, and I can truthfully say that only one woman in a thousand ha.: nice legs. It is no pleasure for us t> look upon them- Anyway the- stock irgs these days are' so attractive and 1 ca.n't see that we could have anything cooler. There is a possibility, too, thai bare legs,will perspire and tend to coJ lect the cW—mot a nice thought." Miss Grace Scobie, one of the In- ( specters of the Department of Labour and Industry, says:—"lt is " just it freak idea, and will not catch on. It is not likely to be adopted by sianemiinded women and girls. Moreover, stockings are prettier than most legs. "I should certainly not like to be confronted with bare legs in trams; trains, and buses," was the comment of Mrs. Goodison, organising secretary of the Racial Hygiene Association. "There is no reason why girls should not appear without stockings in the streets, but I object to .ugliness facing me continually. Legs are such ugly things don't you think? Hygicnicaily; the fashion is sound enough, especially if sandals are worn, as they are in the Tropics."