Australian Women's Dress and Leisure, 1905
Visitors to Australia have been unanimous in recording the marked difference in type of the Australian woman, for she has adapted herself more readily to the changed conditions of life…
From: Unknown To: 1905 C.E.
From Australian Life in Town and Country by Ernest Charles Buley, 1905.
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
Visitors to Australia have been unanimous in recording the marked difference in type of the Australian woman, for she has adapted herself more readily to the changed conditions of life and climate than the Australian man. Her dress, although following the standard of fashion imposed upon her by Parisian and London authority, is modified so as to suit the bright light and cloudless blue skies of her surroundings.
Nothing is more charming on an Australian holiday than the cheerful effect of the bright but cool and appropriate dresses of the daughters of the people. In the clear sunlight and against the sombre foliage of the trees and shrubs, it becomes at once apparent that the genius of the Australian woman has solved the question of dress, while the halting instinct of man is only beginning to rebel against the conventions imposed upon him by his Old World ancestors.
The same genius is shown by the woman in the management of her house; if allowed her own way, the furnishings are designed for coolness and airiness, no trouble is spared during the glaring daytime to expel the light and the flies, and her own regimen of diet is rapidly approaching that which is natural and healthful in such a climate.
It is the Australian custom that pleasure shall mainly be taken out of doors, and to this rule, the Australian woman has not been slow to conform. But there has never been any craze for undue athleticism among the Australian girls, many of whom learn to swim and to ride as a matter of course, leaving the more competitive pastimes to their brothers.
It is true that there have been teams of lady cricketers, who enlivened the rather dull life of their rival country townships by matches which attracted considerable attention. The fact that the attention was attracted proves that the incident was a rare one, and up to the present, the Australian girl has been content with those pastimes, such as tennis and golf, which have always been considered womanly. But she revels in the less active open air entertainment provided by picnics, garden parties, boating excursions, and open-air concerts, and the frequency of these gives to her intercourse with the other sex a frankness and freedom from restraint which is one of her special charms.
The camaraderie between the sexes, and the free use of Christian names, is at first disconcerting to the new arrival, who may be apt to misconstrue the free-and-easiness of the Australian girl and to be snubbed accordingly.
Buley, Ernest Charles. Australian Life in Town and Country, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1905.
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