From the standpoint of health, but little criticism can be made against the head-gear of women. Nature has provided them with a splendid covering of hair for warmth and protection. The woman’s hat, or bonnet, is largely an object of adornment. Fashion, at times, dictates an unequal distribution of its weight, or an over-burden of ornament, or a lack of protection to the eyes, but, for the most part, it is light, loose, and admits of free ventilation. Veils are more or less injurious to the eyes, and if worn so as to cover the nose and mouth, prevent the free escape of the exhalations from the lungs. The dyes used in veils have, in some instances, been productive of face eruptions and other disorders.
=The Neck.=--The improper clothing of the neck is responsible for much ill-health. The high collars for men, the tight-fitting high collars and neck bands for women, the scarfs, handkerchiefs, and other neck apparel in winter produce an excess of heat. Cold air is inhaled, and the result is some form of sore throat.
Fashion makes greater demands upon the powers of endurance, or resistance, of women than of men. To go warmly clad through the day, and then to put on a ball or party dress, exposing the neck and shoulders to repeated currents of cold air, requires a degree of vitality that many do not possess, and the physician’s and undertaker’s labors are increased by the victims of fashion.
The neck should be comfortably clad, and kept at the normal temperature as nearly as possible. It is the sudden change from an over-heated neck and chest to that of the opposite extreme that causes the trouble. The boy who, with scarf tightly wrapped about his neck, fights his mimic battle with snowballs until the perspiration flows from every pore, and then throws aside jacket and scarf while he rests, and the girl who, in furs and tippet, skates until she becomes thoroughly heated, and takes off her wraps while she stops to breathe, have many imitators among the older boys and girls in the world.
As to the proper amount of covering for the neck, much depends upon habit, and not a little upon individual requirement. The important point is to preserve uniformity, and to guard against sudden changes. The sailor with neck freely exposed is fully as exempt from colds as is the soldier whose neck is more warmly clad. If they should suddenly exchange their manner of dress, the result would be disastrous to both.