Troublesome Buttons

Having just administered a mild rebuke to the Germanic cult of Nudism (TIME, July 1), long-faced William Ralph Inge, Very Reverend "Gloomy" Dean of St. Paul's, appeared last week as leader of a men's dress reform movement--a group of churchmen, actors and professional men militating for less and more beautiful clothes for men.

Dr. Alfred C. Jordan, acting secretary of the movement, explained the purpose of the organization as follows:

"We want to make men's clothes less ugly, less unhealthy, and less cumbersome. The less clothing we wear, the better it is for us. Men wear far too much clothing.

"We must not move too hastily. Perhaps the first thing to abolish is the collar stud. We really must get rid of that. You know, men have far too many buttons to trouble them."

More troublesome buttons than most men has Dean Inge. As a Cathedral Dean he wears four frogged buttons on his cuff There are six buttons on his cutaway coat. His waistcoat-apron buttons down the side. His legs must be encased in gaiters which button all the way up, ending well above the knee.

Interesting statistics on the overclothing of men were produced last week by Dr. Eugene L. Fisk of the Life Extension Institute in Manhattan. In the interests of science Dr. Fisk removed all the clothing from a dozen men and women, carefully weighed the respective garments, found that the average woman wore 2 1/2 Ib. of clothing, the average man 8 1/2. Itemizing the costume of a young woman and a man, apparently conservative, picked at random, he discovered:

WOMAN MAN

Dress 8 oz. Suit 6 Ib.

Lingerie 4 oz. Underwear 14 oz.

Hose 2 oz. Hose 6 oz.

Shoes 8 oz. Shoes 2 Ibs. 12 oz.

1 Ib. 6 oz. 10 Ibs.