Was it not Douglas Jerrold who said that Eve ate the apple on purpose to dress? At any rate in the matter of outward adornment factory workers were never willing to take a back seat. They are no believers in the dictum that ╥beauty unadorned is adorned the most.╙ ╥Better be out of the world than out of the fashion╙ is their motto. For the past two seasons factory workers have trailed their skirts more or less gracefully in the dust of summer and the slush of winter, entirely indifferent to Ruskin╒s remark that he had lost faith in women since they had taken to be street scavengers. Now that low-necked bodies are considered the thing, they are to be seen at every turn, whether the elements be seasonable or not, and regardless of whether sore throat, bronchitis, or pneumonia be contracted.
Factory workers delight in sudden changes. One year they wear such high, stiff collars to their bodies as almost to threaten suffocation; the next year no collar at all. One year the hats are severely plain in shape, very little trimming, scarcely any brim, and small in size; the very next season the shapes are the most fantastic imaginable. In size they may be near akin to car wheels, and as for trimming╤why, they look like walking flower gardens, while the brims flip-flop up and down with every movement of the head. During the past summer lace medallions were much in vogue on the sleeves of dresses, and sometimes they were worn so large that I have known them to be mistaken for the badges of hospital nurses. During the reign of Edward IV. sleeves got to such an enormous width and length that it is recorded of the King that he was driven to the expedient of tying his behind his back to avoid falling over them. At present sleeves are not worn quite so long or so wide, but they are certainly showing a decided tendency in that direction. At any rate they are so wide and fussy that one has the greatest difficult in keeping them out of the way when at meals.
Fashion also reigns in the dressing of the hair. Some years ago a craze for short hair set in, and most factory workers wore their hair cropped like boys. Then fringes appeared, and fringes have remained more or less in fashion up to the present time. Sometimes the hair is parted down the middle and combed smoothly on each side in Quaker-like simplicity, and sometimes it is worn in curls and waves all over the head, suggesting by its appearance that the wearers have been dragged backwards through a quickset hedge. Just now the fashion is to puff it out at the sides and on the top,
in imitation of our great-great-grandmothers. Colours, again, have their vogue among the factory workers. At one period greens are all the rage, and they may range from the lightest of pea-greens to the deepest emerald. Not very long ago a peculiar shade of green was much in fashion which often made the wearers look as though they suffered from chronic liver complaint, but it ╥caught on╙ all the same. A year or two ago nothing but Coronation red could be seen on every side, and this was worn in spite of numerous complexions that did not match. In recent years heliotrope has been a favourite colour in factory circles, and this ran up the scale from a delicate mauve to what our grandmothers used to call puce. Jewellery, too, has come in again, and factory workers wear rings, bracelets, bangles, brooches, watches and chains, lockets and earrings. Years and years ago, when I was working in the spinning-room, factory workers used to consider themselves ╥dressed up╙ in the evenings and on Saturday afternoons if they cleaned their clogs and put a fresh shawl over head and shoulders. But at the present day, every evening in the week as well as Saturdays and Sundays, they may be seen parading the streets dressed in the latest fashion. Of course even now in some benighted villages factory workers may occasionally be seen wearing clogs and smart blouses, but in towns no self-respecting factory worker would dream of lowering her dignity by such a display of ignorance of the becoming.
It is interesting and also amusing to contrast the dress of factory workers as they trudge to and from their daily toil and their attire when ╥got up╙ for occasions╤regardless of cost. See them setting out cheerfully to their work in the early morning hours, strong iron-bound clogs on the feet, harden mill-skirts to protect the dress, and warm shawls over the heads and shoulders. Look at the same girls on Saturdays and Sundays, and you would fail to recognise them. Now, smart tailor-made costumes and dainty blouses have taken the place of mill-skirts, hats which are known in the trade as ╥dreams╙ and ╥creations╙ are in place of woollen shawls, and French kid boots are worn instead of clogs. Indeed, when factory workers are on the warpath, arrayed in all the glory of modern finery, you cannot tell from outward appearances whether they are factory workers or members of some severely respectable middle-class family. It was of a group of weavers that the late Sir Titus Salt is reported to have said: ╥Ye lasses might be ta╒en for dochesses of ye╒d nobbut hod yer tongues.╙ One evening I happened to call in at the free library, prepared to spend a quiet hour. Presently two young women entered, both strangers to me, and both dressed well and tastefully in the latest style. As they were on the point of leaving I heard one say to the other, ╥Aw, say, Ann Maria, hast ta ta╒en my pocket neck-cloth?╙ That decided me at once. I hailed them as factory workers like myself.
Dressmakers╒ bills form no inconsiderable item in the expenditure of factory workers. Take an outfit for one summer, and see what it costs. Say five yards of material for a coat and skirt at 2s. per yard, that will be exactly 10s. The dressmaker will probably charge 12s. for making a coat and skirt. Put the linings for both at 7s. and the sundries at 3s. Then a blouse for high days and holidays will cost at least 10s., encumbered with all the modern trimmings, and how much short will the total be of two guineas? It must not be forgotten that there are other items to include in the summer outfit. A good pair of boots will cost another 10s., an ordinary hat will cost nearly that sum, as hats are now worn, and I have known factory workers who have spent from 16s. to 20s. on one hat. Kid gloves cannot be bought under 2s. a pair, unless at a sale, and they often cost 2s. 6d. or 3s. Then there is chiffon to buy for the neck, ties, collars, cuffs, and many other little items which all spell money. This outfit, it must be borne in mind, is for the summer only. Winter comes; another coat is needed, a felt hat, warm gloves, a muff, a fur, and of course a thicker blouse for the winter months.
The question may naturally be asked. Have not factory workers as much right to spend money on dress as Lady Esmeralda Vere de Vere? Of course they have, always providing that they earn the money honestly and pay for what they get. James Russell Lowell somewhere says that ╥human nature has a much greater genius for gameness than it has for originality.╙ That being the case, it causes no surprise to find that factory workers love pretty things just as do the women who occupy higher social planes, and they experience the same craving to gratify the instinct.
