Dark colors and heavy materials are always better form for business frocks than light, colorful materials. Good taste is undeniably evident in the simple, one-piece business dress of navy blue serge or tricotine. A bit of lace at the neck, or perhaps some touch of bright color, relieves the sombre darkness of the dress yet does not add any undue or inappropriate attraction.
Please remember we are not trying to preach here, or lecture you on the extremes of style. What we are attempting to do is merely point out for you what is correct and incorrect to wear in business circles, and we feel sure that you can make no mistake by following our advice.
For instance, there is the woman who is seeking valiantly to make a success in some line of business hitherto barred to women. Yet she wears an expensive fur coat and attractive frocks that would be better fitted to the dance floor. She wonders why her superiors hesitate to trust her with important responsibilities. She does not realize that her lack of discrimination in dress, her evident lack of knowledge of what is correct to wear at business, has caused them to lose confidence in her.
The business coat should be of cloth, never completely of fur unless one's position is high enough to warrant it—and even then it should be only of one fur, instead of a combination of two or three, and made with a regard for simplicity and inconspicuousness. However, the most appropriate business coat is made of a heavy cloth, plain or fur-trimmed for winter, and light-weight, dark-colored material for the warmer days. The hat, of course, follows the general note of simplicity and is usually small and dark. A turban is excellent, and it is one of the few fashions in hats that remains always popular.
AN APPEAL TO BUSINESS WOMEN
It took many centuries of hammering before the portals of business and industry and art were thrown wide open to women. Now that that has happened it is her duty and pride to conduct herself in such a way that there can be no regrets and vain longings for the return of the woman of yesterday. By her manner and her dress a woman determines her place, and the women who are careless of their appearance and careless of their standard are the ones who are hindering the progress of women toward the goal of perfect womanhood.
When she enters business she must realize that she is on an equal footing with men and she should not demand or expect privileges simply because she is a woman. What she does and says and wears during the hours of her social life is entirely distinct from her business life, though, of course, she is always courteous, however hard it may be sometimes to control herself under the grinding of the routine work at the office.
CHAPTER IV
ON THE STREET
THE TRUE ETIQUETTE
Etiquette, in its truest sense, is an exponent of self, rather than a manifestation towards others. We do what is right and courteous because no other behavior possibly could be consistent with our claim to be well-bred.