CHAPTER IV
DRESS FOR MOTORING
I. DRESS FOR LADIES
By Lady Jeune
My simple task in this volume is to discuss that side of the question which affects women very deeply: how to dress and equip themselves so as to be warmly and comfortably clad with as little disfigurement as possible. The fact that women should motor—if a verb may be employed—and care for it as much as they do is a great tribute to their lack of personal vanity, for, try as hard as they can, it is almost impossible to make the dress they have to wear a becoming one. In most of the sports and pastimes of women the dress they assume is arranged with a view to adding to their charms, and in nearly every case it can be both pretty and serviceable. In croquet, lawn tennis, skating, hunting, driving, or bicycling, the dress worn by women may be excessively becoming, as it can be made to show off the figure, and the hat or headgear is generally a delightful frame to the face—indeed, the fact that the athletic costumes of women are so picturesque is possibly one of the reasons which have made out-door sports so popular among them.
In the case of motor driving or riding there are two things only to be considered: how a woman can keep herself warm in winter and not be suffocated by the dust in summer without making herself very unattractive. Dress must be regulated to a great extent by the speed at which she travels, and it is quite possible to wear a smart hat and pretty clothes if the pace is a comparatively slow one, such as is usual in the Park or in the streets of London. This chapter, however, has to deal with the more serious side of the question, how a
_0099a.jpg) A long Coat showing Leather Waistcoat |
_0099b.jpg) The same buttoned up |
woman should dress who goes on long journeys in every kind of weather, and at a high rate of speed.
The first consideration must be to keep warm, and the second—a no less important one—what head-gear must be worn that will keep on the head, and not be blown off by the first gust of wind. The question of warmth must be considered from every point of view, and plenty of suitable clothing is absolutely essential. A warm gown should be adopted, made of a material that will not catch the dust, and it is also important to wear warm clothing under the gown; for unless such jerseys and bodices are worn, the wind penetrates, and it is quite impossible to avoid feeling chilled during a long day. The fatigue which is inseparable from many hours in the open air, and is also intensified by the rapid speed at which one travels, becomes greater as the day passes; with the increase of that fatigue a feeling of cold arises, so that unless a sufficient amount of warm clothing is worn the sense of exhaustion becomes very trying.
The best material for excluding the cold is leather, kid, or chamois leather; the latter may be recommended for lining the coat, and kid for the outside covering. This has, however, the disadvantage of being heavy and stiff, while chamois leather is softer and gives the figure more laxity. A coat lined with chamois leather and fur is the most successful of any, and the outside cover can be made in any pretty waterproof material.
The best coats that I have seen for motor-car driving are some which come from Vienna, and are both cheap and comfortable. The fur employed for the lining is opossum, which is both light and thick; they are to be had of any length, they button up the front, are double-breasted, and have two warm pockets placed crossways in front. The coat of which an illustration is given is excellent for the purpose, but it is more elaborate. It has, however, the leather waistcoat or undercoat attached to it, and is extremely comfortable. It can be made in any cloth or material. It has heavy fur which, while it looks smart, is a sure means of catching and retaining dust, and the great object to be aimed at in motor travelling is to find something which will not collect dust, for if coats, rugs, &c. get dusty it is almost impossible to get rid of it. The longer a coat is the better, for it is round the extremities that the cold is felt as much as anywhere. Therefore a coat should be made loose enough to wrap round the figure and fold well over the knees. It is quite impossible to keep warm in a rapid motor journey except by using fur rugs, and they should be backed with leather, which mitigates the trouble of beating the dust out of them at the end of the day.
_0101.jpg)
Glengarry Cap
Difficult as it is, however, to keep warm and fairly clean as regards the clothes which should be worn, the real problem, is how to keep a hat on. The head must be warmly covered and the hat small, for anything large or wide offers too much resistance to the wind, and gets quickly blown off. After many experiments I am satisfied that the picture given above shows the best head-dress for the motor-car. It is a blue Glengarry cap pinned in one or two places to break the hard, straight outline, and to give a little height to it. It is light and warm, and with a long gauze veil, which covers not only the hat but comes over the ears, the wearer is as comfortable as possible. The veil can be varied from gauze in summer to a long grey Shetland cloud in winter. Grey is the best colour, as it shows the dust less than any other. The illustration shows
_0102.jpg)
The Veil covering the Face
the veil covering the face, and protecting it if the wind is too strong and cold. The material for making the veil must be not less than two yards long, and three-quarters of a yard wide. It should be drawn well up in front, and pinned to the bonnet, then pulled down over the ears, and crossed behind, bringing the ends to the front, where they can be fastened in a bow under the chin; two or three pins should be put in behind to keep in its place, and it will, if properly pinned, remain perfectly tidy all day. It is necessary to have the veil sufficiently wide, so that there should be enough to fall down over the face if it is wanted. A long grey Shetland cloud is the best and most comfortable veil to wear in winter. The yachting cap has some advantages, but it is hard and heavy to the head. The best gloves to wear are white knitted worsted. These are warm and easy to wash.
There is one point interesting to every woman on which a few words are necessary, and that is what the effect of long days in the open, and the rapid passage through the air, must have on the complexion. It certainly does not improve it, but there is not much use in trying anything, except wearing a veil, to mitigate its evils. Many people use powder and grease to prevent the skin from getting red and hard.
Alas! if women are going to motor, and motor seriously—that is to say, use it as a means of locomotion—they must relinquish the hope of keeping their soft peach-like bloom. The best remedy is cold water and a rough towel, and that not used sparingly, in the morning before they start. There is one other, the last, but perhaps the hardest concession a woman can make if she is going to motor, and that is that she must wear glasses—not small dainty glasses, but veritable goggles. They are absolutely necessary both for comfort and the preservation of the eyesight; they are not becoming, but then, as I have tried to point out, appearance must be sacrificed if motor-driving is to be thoroughly enjoyed. Those who fear any detriment to their good looks had best content themselves with a quiet drive in the Park, leaving to the more ardent motorist the enchanting sensation of flying along the lanes and roads of our lovely country.
II. DRESS FOR MEN
By Baron de Zuylen de Nyevelt
President of the Automobile Club de France
When I asked why I had been invited to write on this matter I was told that it was because I had toured on my motor-carriage in many parts of the Continent, had met automobilists from many countries, and thus had had peculiar opportunities of picking up hints as to dress. It was added that in addition to this, as I am in the habit of spending a part of every year in England, I was in a position to know what would and what would not be acceptable to British gentlemen.
The dress worn by many motorists has been the subject of much irreverent ribaldry, and it must be conceded that, in many cases, the chaff has been merited. It is difficult to imagine anything more grotesque than the appearance of some whose enthusiasm makes them forgetful of their appearance. However, in order to drive with safety to the health in an open automobile, special garments are necessary. Clothes which may be quite suitable for a drive in a dog-cart are altogether unsuitable for use in an open motor.
When driving at twenty miles an hour the wind will actually pass through tweed overcoats and cloth garments; the air will be felt whistling round the ribs, and coats become distended behind like balloons. Speaking generally, therefore, the first requirement of motor clothes is that the stuff of which they are made should be air-proof, and the second that they should be so contrived as to prevent the wind from getting under them. A leather jacket and leather trousers are objectionable because the moisture from the body cannot escape, with the result that underclothing becomes dangerously moist and disagreeable. Leather may, however, be used as a lining to cloth clothes, provided that it is bored with many small holes through which the moisture of the body may evaporate. A suit of cloth lined with punctured chamois leather will be found agreeable for both winter and summer. As most men like their clothes to be so fashioned that there may be nothing remarkable about them if they call on a friend, I find that men frequently have their motor suits cut in the ordinary way, Norfolk jacket or short coat with trousers or breeches and stockings; but the coats have one unnoticeable but very important provision, viz. they are so made as to button tightly round the wrist. Unless this precaution is taken it will be found that the cold air will blow up the sleeves, with the result that the hands, arms, and even body generally, will be made very cold. If the automobilist does not use a thick rug to protect his legs, gaiters should be worn with knickerbockers, and, if trousers are worn, they should be bound tightly round the ankles when driving. As regards underclothing it should be borne in mind that silk is perhaps the best material for retaining the warmth of the body.
We have next to consider the matter of overcoats. On the Continent a coat made of rough fur is worn, with the fur outside. It is found that, in addition to the heat-retaining qualities of the fur, such coats have the advantage of readily shooting off rain and of drying very quickly after a shower. They are provided with very high collars, which in cold weather are turned up, and almost surround the head. These coats have been a source of very considerable amusement to onlookers and small boys in England, and it is a question whether they will be generally adopted; Englishmen appear to prefer a coat of Melton cloth lined with fur inside and fitted with a high fur-lined collar. Probably this garment fulfils all the purposes of the coat in which the fur is worn outside, and at the same time is less conspicuous. Moreover, it is held that the fur being interposed between the ordinary coat and the great-coat, permits of a certain amount of healthy ventilation.
In the summer, when the weather is very hot, provided that a thick suit of clothes be worn, a great-coat is sometimes unnecessary, except as a protection from dust. A light dustcoat, made of a dust-coloured material and fitted with a high collar, will then be found useful, as after a dusty drive it may be taken off, and the ordinary clothes are left unsoiled. A light silk handkerchief tucked in over the collar is necessary to prevent the dust from working in around the linen collar and marking it.
Capes should be avoided, as more than one bad accident has arisen from a cape blowing up in a driver's face and thus temporarily blinding him, with the result that he has driven his car into the ditch. At the same time it is recognised that the best garment for protection from rain is that which most closely approximates to a bell tent. A coat is apt to let in water at points where the fabric is stretched; for instance, at the elbow. A tent-shaped coat on the other hand is not stretched at any point; consequently the water runs off it.
An English firm has made a clever adaptation of this bell-shaped garment by turning out a coat made of waterproof Melton cloth, which is in the form of a long cape reaching down below the knees, and very full in the skirt. It is fitted in the front with short sleeves, through which the hands are placed, and in which the wrists rest; so that the hands are free to deal with the steering-wheel and speed-levers, at the same time the arms and elbows are thoroughly protected, and the cape-shape is maintained.
Many drivers object to using rugs, for fear that, inadvertently, the tail of the rug may work underneath the clutch or brake pedal. An automobilist will recognise at once that very dire disaster might result if he were suddenly to find himself unable to release his clutch.
A Parisian tailor who has specially studied motor clothes, recognising this danger, has designed a very ingenious rug, which is split in two, the two halves being so devised that each wraps round the leg, and is fastened at the bottom so as to form a fairly tight outer covering to the leg, with a rug-like wrapping round the body.
A London tailor has also recently made an excellent and efficient rug which may be used with safety for motor-driving.
A Piccadilly tailor, again, is building a special motor-coat, which obviates the necessity for a rug by being cut very wide in the skirt and buttons at the side. The garment is of good appearance, and somewhat resembles a German officer's greatcoat. The motorist, therefore, has a choice of serviceable attire. One of the disagreeables of a long drive through rain is that the water is apt to accumulate on the seat of the carriage, so that its occupants are virtually sitting in a small bath. I was amused to see some correspondence on this matter in the 'Automobile Club Notes and Notices' of February 4, 1901, No. 32, p. 197. Mr. T. G. Carew-Gibson there gave the following amusing account of a device in common use in the back country of Australia by coach-drivers and others:—
In wet weather you put the cushion inside your coat before sitting down, and thus preserve a dry seat. Should you at any time leave the cushion exposed to rain, the water will not form a pool in the centre and saturate it, but will run away at once through the hole.
Just after the break-up of the 1888 drought, I, one day, struck the salubrious township of Booligal, in the Riverina District of New South Wales, and about 4 a.m. next morning, in a nice steady rain, issued forth from the 'hotel' to take my seat on the coach bound for Hay.
A minute later out came an old bagman who had also camped there, and seeing the driver standing dripping under the verandah, whilst the five lean and drought-stricken horses were being yoked up, asked him to wait a minute whilst he went across to the store. He shortly returned and climbed up beside us on the box, having under his arm a cheap American cloth table-cover, of a brilliant orange hue, and ornamented with a chaste design in bright pink flowers, and also a large gridiron, a fine specimen of the kind which stands on four short legs and has a long handle. He first proceeded to break off the handle of the gridiron, and remarking that he always liked to keep a certain portion of his anatomy dry, placed it on the seat and sat down on it: then borrowing my knife, he dexterously cut a slit in the exact middle of the table cover, through which he passed his head, observing that now he didn't care a —— when we got to Hay.One of the principal waterproofers in the City of London has devised a kilt made of strong indiarubber material which is absolutely waterproof. This kilt is worn high round the waist, buttons down the side, and reaches below the knees. It is intended to be worn with gaiters, and under a great-coat. If the driver's seat becomes a pool of water the wearer of this kilt remains in blissful ignorance of the fact. Furthermore, the draining of water from the front openings of the coat which is apt to take place at the point where the legs bend from the body is shot off by means of this kilt. It has this advantage also, that in very cold weather if it be found necessary to alight from the carriage to make some adjustment, the hot envelope of air is still retained under it. On the other hand, if the driver be using a rug, he finds it necessary to throw it on one side, and to expose his warm legs to the cold air.
Snow Boots—viz. boots having indiarubber soles and cloth sides, which are made to slip on over other boots will be found invaluable for motor-driving in cold weather.
Hats.—As to the matter of head-dress, it must be at once admitted that the peaked cap which has found so much favour amongst the chauffeurs on the Continent is not adopted, and, I think, never will be adopted, by British gentlemen for motor-riving. The Englishman appears to have a horror of anything approaching a uniform; or, in fact, of wearing anything which would draw the eyes of people upon him. Officers in the army and navy never wear their uniforms except when they are compelled to do so, and after levees it is amusing to see the Briton crouching down at the back of his carriage, and driving to the nearest club, in order to get into mufti at the earliest possible moment. Almost the only time at which he indulges in a uniform is when he is on his private yacht, and free from the gaze of the crowd. He then wears a distinctive dress, with which the peaked cap is associated, but, so far as the roads are concerned, the peaked cap is only seen on the heads of the drivers and conductors of electric tram-cars, &c. The consequence is that the peaked cap is becoming recognised as the proper head-dress for a motor servant. The motor owner, on the other hand, as a rule wears precisely the same hat as he would wear for shooting, golfing, fishing, and other outdoor sports viz. the cloth cap, or soft felt hat.
Gloves.—For driving in cold weather, it should always be borne in mind that the gloves should be very large, so that when the hand is bent to grasp the steering-wheel the circulation may not be impaired by the veins being partially closed owing to the tightness of the coverings. Furthermore, a loose glove allows of a cushion of warm air to be formed between the hand and the outer cover of the glove.
Gauntlets are worn by some motorists in order to prevent the wind from getting up the sleeves of a coat.
Goggles.—The goggles, or glasses surrounded by silk or some other material, which are worn by motorists are, as a matter of fact, almost indispensable. In the winter, driving in the cold with the eyes unprotected is apt to cause inflammation. In the summer, the dust arising from other vehicles is a source of considerable danger to the eye, and has been known to bring about granular disease of the eyelids. Furthermore, when driving at high speeds the blow of a small fly, let alone a bee or a cockchafer, on the eyeball is enough to cause temporary blindness. Silk or other material is attached to the glasses in order to prevent particles of dust, small insects, &c., from drifting in under the glasses. In winter it is found desirable that the material attached to the glasses should hang down as low as the mouth, and thoroughly cover the temples and cheeks if the motorist should be inclined to neuralgia.
Generally speaking, there appears to be no reason why, apart from the goggles, a motor owner cannot dress in such a manner as thoroughly to protect himself from cold and at the same time retain so ordinary an appearance as to avoid public attention.