LASTING LINGERIE

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 487, 17 October 1928, Page 16

LASTING LINGERIE

EXPERT EVIDENCE N.S.W. INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION BLUSHES It was a blue hat crusted with pinks and violets, with roses and a riot of botany. Above the millinery garden stretched narrow bands of crimson, of green, and of buff. It would be covet , d by a small appl girl of nin; years. A woman of 65 years would hunger for that piece of headgear just as avidly. At least so Miss Zoe Rundle, head of the ladies’ underwear department of a Sydney firm, told the Industrial Commission of New South Wales recently. In support of the employers’ submission on the rural basic wage, she declared that a woman could wear that hat for two years. Its fashion would not change for a long time. Miss Rundle was emphatic that ine blue and flowered hat at ,19s lid would last a woman two years, and a black hat at 14s lid, which she produced, would last four years. Continuing to lay bare the secrets of the wardrobe of the wife of a man on the basic wage, Miss Rundle produced a tailored coat and skirt at £4 6s 9d which, she said, should last a woman for four years, and a woollen frock at 49s 6d that should last for three years. She then showed the court a summer house frock at 3s Sd, and a cotton zephyr summer frock at 4s 9d. In a bewildering blur of pink and pale blue and mauve, the three judges were shown a mass of feminine lingerie. “Less and Less” Miss Rundle declared that their Honours should remember that women were going in for “less and less underwear.” Miss Rundle handed to Mr. Ferguson a pair of pink bloomers. “They’re for summer, and cost 2s 3d,” she said. “Oh,” said the barrister, holding the bloomers gingerly. The three judges gazed at them grimly, and with respect. Then once more Miss Rundle plunged into details. Many women, she said, now wore corselettes, and not corsets; yet some still liked corsets. “Oh,” said Mr. Justice Piddingtou, deferentially. “Now, these are serviceable,” Miss Rundle added, handing mauve corsets with dangling suspenders to Mr. Ferguson, who blushingly accepted them. They were followed by a woollen undervest at 4s 9d, two of which Miss Rundle said would last two years. "Now, coming to nightdresses,” urged Mr. Justice Piddington solemnly. From a pile of cardboard boxes Miss Rundle held up before the Bench a white nightdress with pink flowers, and a pink nightdress with white flowers about the neck. “Five ~nd three and 5s 9d,” she said, “but a nightdress lasts a woman for five or six y„ars.” “Is that so?” asked Mr. Ferguson, timidly. Gloves or Manicure After the resumption, Miss Rundle showed the court a pair of silk gloves at 6s lid. These, she said, should suffice for a woman for a year, but not more. Personally, she had not worn silk gloves for 10 years. "Do you get your hands manicured?” asked Mr. Justice Piddington. “No,” said Miss Rundle. “Why does

your Honour ask that? Do you suppose I dispense with gloves because I have my hands manicured?” Mr. Ferguson: I think his Honour means that women save money on gloves and put it into manicuring. “There is no provision in your list for veils or gossamers?” remarked Mr. Ferguson, and Miss Rundle gazed at counsel with a. look of indulgent pity. “Gracious!” she gasped, “they don’t want those in these times. I haven’t included powder, though women need that.” Miss Rundle said that her regimen did not apply solely to wives of basic wage-earners. Wives of men earning much more did not spend any more on. their clothing. Dr. Evatt: You would not say that a dress allowance of from £3O to £35 a year for a woman would be excessive. Miss Rundle: A married woman with children would be lucky if she had that mu ' to spend. So you think that your estimate of £l3 11s lid is adequate?—Yes; li* fact, some women would pay less, because the good' would last longer Miss Rundle then expanded on the virtues of woollen stockings. Dr. Evatt: You know that the young Australian woman and girl likes to wear, and frequently does wear, silk stockings? Miss Rundle: Yes, but you will see plenty of woollen stockings in the streets. Dr. Evatt: Perhaps, but far more silk ones. Why, we just counted them at luncli-time, and there were Mr. Justice Street: I don’t think that is a sufficiently exhaustive test.