THE RETURN OF THE PETTICOAT.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 October 1919, Page 6

THE RETURN OF THE PETTICOAT.

Nous rtvenons toujours a nos premiers amours The Parisienne, is happy over the return of the petticoat, and in its billowy be-ribboned femininity much charm and fashion a»e demonstrated. Not even sfie sternest moralist can stem its popularity. It is a tribute to our regenerated types, for with the casting off of the culotte we re-assert the charm of womanliness, we put aside our stern, women war-worker sort of manner, and "flutter" in gentle expectation of apprecia. tion. Woman has come forth again as a dainty ridiculous charming individual, clad in gossamer garments trimmed with laces and ribbons. Could anything be more attractively subtle, after the days of horror and bloodshed now haffiily passed? I have at last, the greatest | hopes of woman's future—even her political success; for through the service of dress 1 and beauty she has of late—unconsciously, perhaps—formed a sort of trade unionism that bids well for future cohesion. There is at last a genuine human sympathy amongst women, arising from a common humanitarian view of things both great and small. The woman of to-day who is intellectual and practical does not fail t3 realise that beauty of mind and body are closely akin, and that in the history of the world since civilisation dawned upon it dress and fashion have played a progressive part in her freedom and regeneration. It iB only human to judge by appearances. If we meet a woman who is trim and smartly dressed, whose person gives evidence of being well-groomed, insensibly we are attracted to that woman.

On the other hand, how ill-diSposed we. are to look below the surface for good qualities in the woman with doWy and antiquated clothes, possibly a hardworking and withal delightful woman, but a freak who wears short hair, hideous hats, a badly-cut tailleur, and, worst of all, who has cast aside a petticoat in favor of a cloth "knickcr." Such perverted types should be removed from our streets in order to avert a shock to our' demobilised hero who tells me that the greatest charm of the women of the day is one of the greatest outcomes of the war.

No woman can afford to be a back number. A reasonable time spent in the planning of her clothes is absolutely essential if she would command the respect of the people with whom she is brought into contact socially. Clothes help women so much,, for it could only be she, possessed of no humor, who would become authoritative and dictatorial whilst clad in the muslin frillse and furbelows, together with all the dainty fantasies of the sweetly ultra-feminine appealing fa'shions that are the vogue of the hour.