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College Bulletin
COLLEGE OF INDUSTRIAL ARTS
THE STATE COLLEGE FOR WOMEN
DENTON, TEXAS
APPROPRIATE CLOTHES FOR THE
HIGH SCHOOL GIRL
BY
VIRGINIA M. ALEXANDER
DIRECTOR
DEPARTMENT OF FINE AND
APPLIED ART
APPROPRIATE CLOTHES FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL GIRL
Some one asked recently, “Why all this agitation on the
subject of high school girls’ dress?” Interest in this subject
has certainly increased during the last several years
and the high school girl herself is directly responsible for
this interest.
It has been said that no great evil exists but contains
the seeds of its own cure.
The costumes worn to school by the high school girls
of our country have been gradually going from bad to
worse with the years. Mothers and teachers have striven
to do what they could to correct matters but not until the
girls themselves realized that this great weakness existed,
and they resolved to seek a cure, were real results
noticeable.
The representative high school girls of our country are
making a stand for good taste and democracy in the clothes
they wear to school.
This little bulletin is published with the hope that its
suggestions may be of value to those students who truly
desire to raise the standards of dress among the girls of
their school.
EXTENSION SERVICE
ADVISORY FACULTY COMMITTEE ON
EXTENSION SERVICE
F. M. Bralley, President of the College.
Virginia M. Alexander, Director, Department of Fine and Applied Art.
Lena Bumpas, Supervisor, Teacher-Training Vocational Home Economics.
Margaret Gleason, Director, Department of Household Arts.
Mamie W. Walker, Assistant Professor, Department of English.
A STAFF OF COMPETENT LECTURERS AND EXTENSION
WORKERS FROM THE REGULAR FACULTY
Requests for Extension Service should be addressed to
Lillian Humphries,
Secretary, Department of Extension,
College of Industrial Arts,
Denton, Texas.
NUMBER 74—FEBRUARY 1, 1920
Issued monthly by the College of Industrial Arts, Denton, Texas.
Entered December 17, 1917, Denton, Texas, as second-class
matter, under Act of Congress, August 24, 1912.
APPROPRIATE CLOTHES FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL GIRL
Many a girl feels, when she first enters high school,
that she is a child no longer. She has suddenly become a
woman, and she must demonstrate this fact to the world immediately
by her clothes.
Gingham dresses, middies, and low-heel shoes are
scorned as belonging to the days that are gone. Hair once
lovely for its natural beauty and simplicity takes on fearful
and wonderful lines. French heels only are to be considered
and a georgette blouse with elaborate camisole or a silk
dress is an absolute necessity. With these acquisitions our
young lady is ready for her new undertaking.
Could she possibly make a greater mistake? The school
room is not a style show, nor a social function, but it is a
busy workshop where material is to be assembled from
which to build a life.
In a truly good high school, of all places, a student must
do or die, and there is no time here to be wasted on thoughts
of frills and furbelows. School room walls and blackboards
do not make consistent backgrounds for party clothes.
In the past the high school girl who was considered
well-dressed by her associates was the one who was elaborately
dressed. Now, since the girls of our country are interested
in all the big world issues of the day and have
taken efficiency as their watchword the girl who is a leader
is the girl who can do, not the girl who can dress.
One of the surest tests of good judgment and refinement
in a girl is her selection of clothes.
The overdressed girl does not belong to the wealthiest
and most cultured families as a rule. She is often striving
to attain a social goal not yet realized and the school room
and the street offer her only opportunities to show her fine
feathers.
Suggestions for the School Dress
If a girl should not wear fanciful clothes to school just
what, then, should she wear? In a general way I will answer
that question.
A high school girl should wear dresses made of good,
substantial material, appropriate for its wearing quality
and interesting for its color and texture.
These dresses should be made on lines becoming to the
individual girl who is to wear the dress, and at the same
time designed so that they will stand the wear and tear to
which they will be subjected.
Dangling tassels, sashes, and fluffy ruffles divert the
attention of both the wearer and the observer and by their
very inappropriateness make the owner conspicuous. Above
all, the school dress, which is a work dress, should allow the
wearer free use of her limbs and muscles and should promote
her general good health.
A school girl in a dress built on the lines of a Peter
Thompson or Hofflin suit with proper accessories in the
way of shoes, stockings, and coiffure has much more style
than her little sister in georgette or velvet. This type of
suit is becoming to almost any girl as the collar, tie, and
belt may be varied to suit each individual, and the design
has become almost as staple as flour and sugar in the pantry.
As a result, these dresses, made of good material, may be
worn for several years without going out of style.
Ready-made suits of this type are quite expensive but
patterns are easily secured and any one who sews may make
a successful garment if a little care is exercised.
Gingham, linen, and percale dresses built on simple
lines so that they may be laundered without becoming
stretched and misshapen, are always satisfactory and pleasing.
In cold weather serge and tricatine make splendid but
expensive substitutes for the washable materials.
APPROPRIATE SCHOOL DRESSES
The Dress with a Washable Underblouse
The linen or serge jumper dress, made with a washable
underblouse, is a most satisfactory garment for the
school dress. It is not only utilitarian but it is also comfortable
and attractive on account of its many possible
variations. It is becoming to almost all types of girls from
the very young girl, often found in the first year of high
school, to the dignified senior.
The dress proper, built on simple lines, will stand hard
wear and the fact that the underblouse may be laundered
or changed will give freshness and variety to the costume.
The very young girl who has not learned to care successfully
for her wristbands will find this feature most
valuable. In warm climates or overheated school rooms the
light weight of the underblouse will prove very comfortable.
This dress made of wool may be worn quite late in the
spring and a silk blouse will be most useful for the winter
months. Made of gingham or linen the dress will be a valuable
asset in the summer wardrobe, particularly in the
South.
Georgette crêpe is not an appropriate material for this
undergarment or for any other school garment. Its perishable
nature and its transparency make it prohibited for the
school room. A very transparent outer garment demands
a most carefully selected under garment and more often
than not this care is not wisely exercised by the wearer.
A white shirt waist and dark skirt is a very utilitarian
combination, but from an art standpoint it is not considered
good design. For a costume to possess art quality it must
have unity; the wearer and her clothes should create an
impression of “oneness.”
The sudden change at the waist line from a light waist
to a dark skirt cuts the figure into two parts, destroying
this much-desired quality of unity.
JUMPER DRESSES FOR THE VERY YOUNG HIGH SCHOOL GIRL
The Proper Use of Line About the Face
The truly well-dressed girl and the one who displays
good judgment is not the girl who slavishly adopts the new
styles and fads of the day regardless of whether they are
becoming to her individually or not. This applies also to the
way she dresses her hair.
There is no part of a toilet that influences the effect
of the whole more than the hair. The most becoming gown
fails in its function if the hair is tousled or dressed unbecomingly.
Many girls fail to realize how they may overcome
some of Nature’s faults and shortcomings and how they may
counteract the effect of bad features and proportions by the
correct use of line when dressing the hair.
If “ear muffs” become stylish, the little round-faced
girl who knows nothing of art or design as related to herself
must bulge her hair over her ears whether it makes a
full moon of her face or not. Girls should dress in style
but styles should be modified to suit each individual.
The hair is a frame for the face. The delicate blonde
and the strenuous athletic brunette may no more wear the
same coiffure than they may safely wear the same colors.
A miniature and an oil painting would certainly not be
framed alike.
The slender girl with a narrow face and thin neck
should be most careful with the use of line around her face.
Hair combed in on the cheeks and high and back from the
forehead will make more evident her slenderness. A hard
neck line or chains and ties repeating the point of her chin
will make it appear more angular. Soft flowing lines in the
hair, worn low on the forehead and back from the cheeks,
should be adopted.
The round-faced girl should conscientiously avoid coiffures
which broaden the proportions of her face, also neck lines
and beads that repeat the curve of her chin.
Lines of Hair and NeckIncrease Point of Face
Flowing Lines forNarrow Face
Face Made Broaderby Hair and Neck Line
Successful Coiffurefor Broad Face
Suggestions for the Stout Figure
A girl may not only improve the appearance of her
face and head by the proper use of line but she may do wonders
with her figure, as well, if she knows how to properly
design her dresses. A dress wonderfully becoming to a
slender sylphlike girl may become a tragedy on her plump
classmate. Every girl should understand her physical make-up
as thoroughly as she does her disposition, with its strong
points and its weaknesses. She should know the kind of line
she may wear successfully in her dresses, and the colors that
are most becoming to her and the types of materials most
suitable for her.
The stout girl should carefully avoid a design in a dress
that is too cut-up or complicated. Tunics, unless long and
scant, are unfortunate usually and the interest created by
trimming about the waist line or elaborate belts should
never be indulged in by the stout girl.
Length-producing lines should always be planned and
light or colored collars should always be designed so that interest
will not be created out towards the sides of the figure,
creating width, but down the center front instead.
Contrasting shoes and stockings not only cut from the
height of the figure but help to accent the feet and ankles
of the wearer. The girl who wears white shoes with her
dark dress states, by so doing, that she considers her feet
well worth public consideration.
Contrasting materials for sleeves or elaborate cuffs or
pockets will add width to any figure.
The designs in the accompanying illustration are most
suitable for the older school girl when made up of wool or
linen materials.
I may safely recommend this type of line in design for
the girl of superfluous weight.
GOOD LINES FOR STOUT FIGURES
Plaids and Figured Materials
Our stores in the early spring and summer show such
fascinating plaid and figured materials that I feel their use
should be considered. Almost everyone has fallen a victim
to a wonderfully colored plaid on display, to discover later
that buying a plaid is a much simpler matter than making
it into a dress. Plaids are fatal for stout people. Area is
the impression always created by them and unless the pattern
is very small and the colors very soft and indefinite,
they should be reserved for the use of children and young
girls. There is no colored costume that will make a woman
more conspicuous than one made of a large black-and-white
plaid material.
In selecting a pattern for a girl’s plaid dress care should
be used to secure one with as few seams as possible. Every
seam is a danger zone. Only persons with great poise and
power of concentration, if they notice their surroundings
at all, will be able to remain unaffected by a conspicuous
seam when the plaids “don’t hit.” Some plaids are designed
so that it is very difficult to match the pattern in the seams
of the skirt or a stretched selvedge will add to the difficulty.
A gored skirt pattern making bias seams necessary should
never be used for plaid material. Arm holes and shoulder
seams should be carefully planned. A kimona sleeve simplifies
the arm-hole problem but will not prove so satisfactory
in a wash dress. Plain material, either white or colored,
makes a happy combination with plaids or figured
material.
The accompanying designs are particularly becoming to
slender girls. The wide soft belts and collars and the contrasting
materials in the sleeves will seemingly add weight
to slender young figures. In planning tucks and band trimming
for a skirt the result will be much more pleasing if
variety is used in the width of the bands and the spaces
between the bands.
PLAID AND FIGURED MATERIAL FOR SLENDER FIGURES
Appropriate Clothes for the Street
If the school room is not an appropriate place for elaborate
or fanciful clothes, surely the street is less so. The
truly refined woman will never wear those things on the
street that will make her conspicuous. Here all classes of
people meet and mingle, supposedly on business bent, and
the girl who appears in this public place in party clothes
shows either very poor judgment or that she is striving to
attract public attention in the cheapest possible way.
The most stylish girls seen in the city streets are those
gowned in simple well-made dresses or tailored suits. Hats,
gloves, and shoes should be as carefully considered as the
dress itself and all should harmonize.
A simple dark silk dress is almost an essential for
street wear in spring and summer, to replace the heavier
suit or serge dress. Taffeta is an excellent material for this
dress and makes a much cooler and more youthful dress
than satin. A taffeta dress needs little trimming, if cut
on interesting lines. Buttons, tucks, and plaited frills of
the same material may be used most effectively. Little bits
of hand embroidery or attractive light collar and cuff sets
add much charm to this type of dress. Bright colors should
not appear upon the street. A “loud” color attracts attention
as successfully as a loud noise. Any dark neutral color
becoming to the wearer is well for the street dress. Wool
mixtures and tweeds are particularly good for suits built on
box or belted lines. Sport clothes will give the young girl
a wonderful opportunity for the use of brilliant color.
Dresses worn at home and for afternoon and evening functions
permit the use of delicate colors, more elaborate trimming,
and more perishable materials.
Remember that a hat should serve a double function.
It should act as a covering for the head, and its lines and
color should enhance the attractiveness of the wearer.
SIMPLE DESIGNS FOR TAFFETA STREET DRESSES
The Graduation Dress
One of the most important events in the life of every
girl is her graduation, and we shall here consider the dress
worn by her when she has fulfilled all the requirements and
that long-anticipated day arrives. This occasion is not one
for splendor and show, and the cue for the girl graduate is
modesty and simplicity. She is not supposed to be a radiant
queen bedecked for a festive occasion, but a charming young
girl equipped and ready to begin life as a young woman.
The simple and beautiful graduation dress of the past
has assumed more elaborate proportions during recent years
until it has reached the point where the students themselves
realize that a halt must be called. Georgettes, chiffons, and
expensive nets have supplanted cotton weaves and elaborate
creations of lace and satin are not infrequent. The cost of
the dress itself is increased by such expensive accessories
as long white kid gloves, expensive slippers and stockings.
What is the girl whose parents possess only moderate
means to do under these conditions? Perhaps she is graduating
with honors. Is she to be embarrassed by having to
play a Cinderella rôle by the side of her gorgeously attired
classmates or shall she strain the family bank account
and spend money for this ornate apparel that should be
spent for the education or maintenance of other members
of her family?
Surely this is a time when the American girl may show
her real spirit of democracy. Instead of selecting a handsome
dress, which she often excuses by saying she wishes
to use it afterwards for an evening dress, she will choose
a really more charming one made of less expensive material,
which will give her an opportunity to show her originality,
and make her personal charms more appreciated.
(No. B 820) ORGANDY GRADUATION DRESS (No. B 822)
Patterns for these dresses may be secured at the College of Industrial Arts.
In many high schools the unfairness of an expensive
graduation dress has been so much appreciated by the students
that a price limit has been set for the graduation
outfit, and the girl who violates this understanding is considered
a real offender. The girls who have initiated this
have been, in many cases, those girls who could best afford
the expensive garments and by such acts they have demonstrated
that they are to make the splendid American women
of the future, who will lead in those movements that bring
about the greatest good to the greatest number.
I feel that organdy leads all other materials as desirable
for the graduation dress. It is a trifle more expensive than
some other possible materials but its sheerness and crispness
give character to the dress, making little trimming
necessary. A dress of this material may be worn for quite
a while, as a little pressing always revives its freshness.
There are some qualities of flaxon that rival organdy as
a desirable material, and a dress of this may be laundered
with perfect safety.
If lace is used on the graduation dress, do not sacrifice
quality for quantity. A small amount of good lace skillfully
used will make a much handsomer garment than one
festooned with rows of a cheap quality. A self-trimmed
organdy dress is very distinctive. Dainty little frills and
pin tucks may be used in many interesting ways, and they
may be planned so as to be becoming to almost any figure.
Daintiness should be the characteristic quality of the
graduation dress. It is always disappointing to see elaborate
jewelry worn with these charming frocks. In many
cases the most valued possessions of the family have been
collected for the occasion and this borrowed finery always
makes a discordant note in the harmony of the young
wearer’s costume. Under no consideration substitute imitation
jewelry for the genuine article.
(No. B 824) ORGANDY GRADUATION DRESS (No. B 833)
Patterns for these dresses may be secured at the College of Industrial Arts.
How to Secure Patterns of These Dresses
The College of Industrial Arts, in its efforts to be of
service to the girls and women of Texas, has made it possible
for those desiring patterns of the graduation dresses
illustrated in this bulletin to secure them through the Department
of Extension of the College.
The original designs of these dresses were made by
highly trained artists at the College, whom we feel appreciate
the particular needs of Texas girls and women. The
patterns were cut from these original designs by the Vogue
Pattern Company of New York, and are sold at thirty cents
each, their exact cost to the College. An illustration, material
requirement, and approximate cost are given with
each pattern, and they are cut in sizes 14, 16, and 18. When
ordering patterns state the number of the pattern and the
size desired.
The quaint little design B 820 will appeal to the young
girl who likes a touch of originality in her clothes. The becoming
fichu and full skirt of this design seem to belong
to the Colonial days with powdered hair and patches. This
design, created of organdy, should cost from $5.00 to $8.00
according to the material selected. No. B 822 will prove more
expensive on account of the lace trimming, the approximate
cost being from $9.00 to $12.00. If interesting materials
are chosen, this loose peplum and snug ribbon girdle will
make quite a distinctive costume, becoming to stout figures.
The long-waisted design B 824 is decidedly original and
its dainty frills and ribbons appeal to young girls. A dress
may be made by this pattern of good materials for $8.00.
Design B 826 shows a clever interpretation of the narrow
skirt so popular today. The tiny tucks and frills make
a dainty and inexpensive trimming, and the costume should
cost from $4.00 to $6.00.
No. B 828 demonstrates that vertical ruffles may be
used successfully. This dress is beautiful when sheer material
is used and the ruffles are picoted and plaited. It should
cost about $6.00.
The slender girl who is not too thin through the bust
is charming in design B 833. The organdy sash and flounced
peplum are designed particularly for her. From $6.00 to
$8.00 should buy the material for this dress.
(No. B 828) ORGANDY GRADUATION DRESS (No. B 826)
Patterns for these dresses may be secured at the College of Industrial Arts.
Lingerie for the Graduation Dress
The garment worn directly under the graduation dress
has much to do with the effect of the dress itself. This
garment should not be picked up at random but the fullness
of its skirt and the design around the neck should be planned
to suit the particular dress pattern selected.
Underwear is to the dress what the foundation is to a
house, and it should be built just as skillfully. It is impossible
to secure a dainty graceful effect in a dress when
it is worn with a clumsy petticoat. Styles change in underwear
just as they do in dresses and the silhouette of the
outer garment must decide what the lines of the under one
shall be. For the present styles soft yielding materials are
absolutely necessary for underwear and few flounces should
be used about the bottom of the skirt if the clinging effect
around the ankles and knees is desired in the dress.
Elaborate lace trimmings are neither in good taste nor
stylish, and handwork constitutes the decoration on many
of the most attractive of these garments. Colored lingerie
and bright-colored ribbons should be worn only when the
dress is not transparent. Bright pink and blue ribbons in
a camisole or chemise will always look a bit garish when
viewed through a thin blouse.
Color has a magnetic attraction for the eye and wherever
placed immediately attracts attention to that spot. I
am sure refined girls do not wish to invite public interest in
their lingerie through the use of bright colors in their ribbons.
The most delicate tints are permissible, but should
be used only in small quantities. White only should be used
with the graduation dress.
Since several petticoats are apt to prove clumsy, great
care must be exerted in selecting the material for this undergarment,
to avoid too much transparency when worn under
the very sheer organdy dress.
LINGERIE FOR THE GRADUATION DRESS
Corsets and Posture
The envelope chemise and knickerbockers are very comfortable
undergarments and are quite popular with most
young girls of today. They may be made most attractive
when soft dainty materials are used and the needlework is
carefully executed. These garments should be kept quite
simple. If lace is used it should be in limited quantities
and of a kind that may be laundered often. Little bits of
dainty feather stitching and hand embroidery will add individual
charm to these undergarments.
Style depends not only upon the proper selection of
clothes but very largely upon the way these clothes are put
on and worn. Many girls wearing beautiful clothes are
decidedly “not stylish.” Their clothes look as though they
had fallen upon their owners. This is caused by the fact
that the wearer does not carry herself well, or has not good
poise. Nothing is so vitally necessary for good health and
good looks as good posture. The slouchy, ***-over girl
is unattractive enough when young, but when she develops
into a misshapen woman with superfluous flesh about the
abdomen and shoulders the most skillful artist will be unable
to disguise her deformities. The girl with the débutante
slouch or the one who “sits in her corsets” is rarely
graceful. The uncorseted figure is the popular one today
but if corsets must be worn they should be most carefully
selected. Fortunately the long, unyielding coats of mail of
several years ago are now rarely seen on girls, and soft,
flexible girdles leaving the figure with its natural lines and
grace, have appeared as substitutes. A well-shapen brassiere
is often necessary with these low-busted girdles.
A stylish girl has good poise. This means that she
stands well, walks well, carries her head high, her shoulders
back, and looks the world in the face. The clothes worn
by this girl will take the correct swing.
ENVELOPE AND KNICKERBOCKER CHEMISE
GOOD UNSPOILEDAMERICAN FEET
ShoesandFeet
A BUNION IS INTHE BONE
All organizations and publications keenly interested in
the welfare of young women are making a strenuous effort
to produce better American feet, and this is to be done directly
through the shoes worn by our girls. The Y. W. C. A.
during the war discovered that lack of endurance among
girls could be traced back directly to misshapen feet, flattened
arches, weak backs and abdominal muscles. In almost
every case these had been caused by wearing high-heel
shoes.
The human body is built and strung so that a person
may walk and stand with natural grace and ease. When
the equilibrium of this delicate mechanism is disturbed by
inserting a spindle heel directly under that point responsible
for most of the human weight, it is not surprising
that physical ails result that must be carried through life.
A French or spindle heel is absolutely inconsistent for
any occasion when walking or standing is to be done and is
certainly not artistic when worn with a tailored dress or
suit. Vanity, gratified by a foot that seemingly is a bit
smaller, should not compensate for the loss of good health,
good sense, natural grace and efficiency. An elaborate evening
dress may call for a higher heel than the one worn on
the street, but it will not excuse the wabbly spindle heels
sold girls by many ruthless concerns.