There is not nearly so much demand for white things as formeily: people are wearing coloured things in the summer much more than they did. It is partly for reasons of economy no doubt, but you must also remember that the white always looks nice and cool in summer, it is not really very cool "wearing"—and there are very few women whom it really suits!
Setting aside these two little points of controversy, there is no getting away from the fact that white wear for summer is not nearly so universal as it used to -be. You only need look in the shop windows to prove it; whereas you used to see model after model attired in snowy garments, nowadays 90 per cent. of the waxen ladies wear thin summer frocks of pink, blue, yellow, tangerine, green, grey, and wonderful Futurist garments modelled on the coat of many colours, The showrooms where ready-to-wear summer frocks are on sale resemble beautiful flower gardens rioting in all the wonderful colours of the months of sun: here and there is a line of white ivory—just a thin, rare line of unobtrusiveness.
One shop lady reckoned that she sold quite three dozen coloured cotton frocks to each white one, and she added that the colour lines applied to all sorts of summer clothes.
White skirts, for instance, every woman used to want one or two "odd" white skirts in the summer. This year "odd" skirts are being made of coloured tweed, flannel, terry and similar materials, mostly striped, and these are being bought much more than white or cream skirts. There is also a good sale for cretonne skirts and jumper frocks, For Cuitpren Too, At a children's shop one hears very much the same story. Except for best wear, mothers are mostly buying frocks of checked zephyrs and coloured linen for their youngsters to wear during the summer.
There is no doubt that such frocks are more economical for the kiddies than white wear, and the average child will enjoy' life much more freely when wearing a blue or green or mauve linen frock that "doesn't show the dirt—much!" than when attired in a white trock that must not be worn for playing in for fear of soiling it.
The only direction in which the colour line falls down is where hats are concerned. White panama hats, real and imitation, are in big demand this summer.
Even with men the difference is noticeable.
The old-time summer demand for white shirts has shrunken extremely, and pastel-coloured shirts are much more sought after, especially those of a sort of love-in-a-mist blue shade.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.