LAND AND WATER 
August 21, 191 5 
t 
TRAVELLING LIGHT 
BY 
Mrs. eric DE RIDDER 
E\ERY railway coinpanv throughout the Kingdom 
is urging its patrons to travel wth as little luggage 
as possible. And the result is that, as the 
Americans put it, we are all endeavouring to 
travel " light." Otherwise we shall tend to our 
own undoing, for the scarcity of porters at the various railway 
stations is no fiction, and train service at any time may grow 
disorganised. ^ j i. 
Everybody who is on the wing just now must admit 
that the railway companies' injunction has been taken seriously 
to heart. The monumental piles of luggage which strewed 
the platforms of all large stations in former years have dis- 
appeared. Luggage there may be, but it is of rnodest pro- 
portions, and no more resembles the paraphernaUa of yester 
year than a paper doll resembles the Sphinx. The mystery is 
where women who are travelling by road and rail are putting 
their things. It must resolve itself into the perfection of 
packing with every inch of space fully accounted for. That, 
and a carefully chosen wardrobe, every item of which is only 
included after deep thought to decide the knotty point 
whether or not it is indispensable. 
Packing to-day, therefore, even with its present cur- 
tailment, is by no means a brief or easy process. For the 
slap dash method— or lack of method — of packing cannot 
now be tolerated for an instant. No longer can we gaily 
fill a box with a few odd things we fancy we might need, with 
other boxes yawning within view waiting their turn to be 
filled also. Baggage being limited, we are hmited too. And 
yet the fact remains that some women manage to be per- 
petually well dressed in spite of these restrictions, and are 
happy exponents of possibilities in even the strictest com- 
pression. 
Multum in Parvo 
They alight at a country house or sea-side hotel with a 
small sized cabin trunk and dressing bag of the most modest 
dimensions. At first glance it would seem as if this amount 
of luggage could hardly contain enough for a night, yet the 
visit extends into a number of days, and the right clothes for 
each separate occasion are never lacking. The present 
tendency of the times, of course, helps materially towards 
the travelling wardrobe. Nobody just now is inclined to 
ring the changes in clothes very often or very violently. 
Tea gowns are permitted in the evenings, when formerly they 
would not have been contemplated. Elaborate evening 
frocks demanding accurate packing and a multiplicity of tissue 
paper are at a discount. In spite of the growing width of 
skirts, clothes still fold into a conveniently small space. 
From the point of view of luggage difficulties alone, it is to 
our advantage to encourage this amiable tendency, and snub 
any attempts aiming against it. 
Now that restriction of luggage has reached such a definite 
point, many of us will see that motoring and motorists have 
gone in front and cleared the path before us. Numbers of 
people have scoured England and the Continent with all their 
available luggage strapped on the back of the touring car. 
And for their benefit many articles have been adapted and 
corrected. Attractive wrapper dressing gowns for example, 
which fold up into the most compact square possible and then 
into a small wallet, are amongst them. Collapsible bedroom 
slippers are another. Everything that in days of yore apper- 
tained to the traveller by petrol is now eagerly appropriated 
by the traveller by rail. A scheme which insures anything 
going into half its natural space is sure of instant attention, 
approval, and success. If some enterprising mortal started 
a showroom in Bond Street displaying nothing but articles 
which would reduce to unnaturally small proportions all 
London would flock to see it, with the country following suit. 
Signs and Tolcens 
This desire for economy of space can be seen in countless 
other ways. Quite recently a clever niiUiner scored an 
immense success with some early autumn hats, because they 
would fold into the smallest compass ever known to headgear, 
and yet emerge triumphant. She sold out her complete store 
in a short space of time, thereby sealing her own sagacity as 
weU as that of her customers. For to the last it was given to 
appreciate a good chance when they saw it, and to herself the 
aptitude to set that chance a-danglmg. 
The practical side of things looms larger with every day 
that passes. Nothing has a chance of lasting unless it can 
show cause for its existence. Once the fashion designers 
recognise this, and stop trying to foist modes, which few 
people want and fewer will wear, on a none too indulgent 
pubUc the better wiU it be for everyone concerned. They 
can surely be content with the fact that there has never been 
a wider scope for their talent than at present. It is none too 
easy to create clothes which are sensible and attractive at one 
and the same time. Anybody who gains a reputation for 
this combination of qualities will secure most of the money to 
be made in the dressmaking worid this coming season. Cir- 
cumstances compel most of us to be soberly clad, and inchna- 
tion points all in the same direction. But all the same, nobody . 
with a grain of wit will admit that this need mean a bleak or 
unbecoming outlook. Eccentricity of fashion has never 
suited the Englishwoman, and the present swing of the 
pendulum to the opposite extreme is all in her favour. 
Tiie Universai Oarb 
In the meantime nine out of every ten women away from 
London at the moment are dressed during the day in similar 
manner. Sports coat, short skirt, simple hat ; simple hat, 
short skirt, sports coat, it is the same trio of garments time 
without number. And this in itself tends against complicated 
packing, for none of the three demands much space or over 
careful treatment. There is no article of clothing deserving 
greater gratitude from womenkind in general than the sports 
coat. In spite of its misleading name, it helps to clothe 
every one of us at time, even those who have never played a 
game within memory, and have no intention of doing so. 
Thus, everything considered, there is but little claim on 
our luggage space this year, for all we take away with us is on 
the same scale of strict simpUcity. Instead of an array of 
garden party frocks we pack war workers over-alls, figuratively 
if not actually, and the result helps the railway officials as 
well as ourselves. 
It remains to be seen whether we will go back without a 
murmur to the quantity of luggage we used uncomplainingly 
to take about. Having tasted the charm of comparative 
vagabondage, with a suit case, the equivalent of a bundle 
on the shoulder, it is a moot point. And if we do it is very 
certain that comparison will be rife, and contrast the text 
for many a theme. 
Regimental 
Brooclies 
Very fascinating regimental and patriotic 
brooches are being designed in which 
beautifully wrought enamel work plays 
a prominent part. It is possible for quite a modest price 
to buy the regimental brooch of any regiment in the British 
Army ; all that is needed is to send the order, and a brooch 
absolutely correct to type and colouring will promptly follow. 
Patriotic brooches are also an attraction. These represent 
the flags of the Allies singly or in clever combination. No 
sooner had Italy entered the field than the Italian flag was 
added to the collection, and very pretty it is in enamel with 
its vivid colouring. 
368 
