CLOTHES CONVERSION

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 August 1942, Page 4

CLOTHES CONVERSION

WHEN THE MEN ARE AWAY. SUGGESTED BY WOMAN RADIO BROADCASTER. Men in the British fighting services who neglected the precaution of taking the key of the home wardrobe with them, may return to civilian life to find they have no clothes. That is, if many of their womenfolk heard a recent 8.8. C. talk by Rosette Hargrove on “Clothes Rationing.” “The best idea of all, as I see it.” she said, “is that of making over men’s clothes and turning them into perfectly tailored women’s things. It works, because I’ve tried it.” The idea got about, apparently, when somebody pointed out that with several million men in uniform there must be millions of civilian suits leading an idle life. How much more patriotic of them to contribute to the war effort, and all that! After all, they might be eaten by moths. Then again, when the men come back,, how many of them would be able to get into their pre-war “civvies?” Army life has such a broadening effect, you know, and not only on the mind. So it was discovered, “a pair of average size trousers will make a perfectly adequate skirt,” And any type of coat, it seems, from “tails” to a sports coat, can be transformed into a smart or jaunty little feminine jacket. Not, mind you, that economy plays a large part in such essays in convertibility, apart from the saving of coupons. The charge for the sartorial ingenuity involved, is round about 7 guineas. It remains to be seen whether’ masculine* inventive powers can devise a means of retaliation.