Sensible Clothing for Men
(Lieut. J. P. Muller is the author of My System, which has had a great circulation, and brought new health and strength to people all over the world.—En. Spectator.) MY opinion on this question is that it is best in most sports and exercises to be as nude as possible, but otherwise in ordinary life to be dressed according to the fashion of the day.
When I run through the woods and commons of the Chiltern Hills in sunny weather I wear only shoes, socks, shorts, and a jersey. But I cannot see any reason why I should walk in the streets of London in such scanty attire. In the countryside, when out of sight of other people, I roll the socks down, the shorts up, and take the jersey in my hand, and coming to a secluded spot amongst the brakes, I undress completely and go through a series of free standing exercises.
Any reform of men's clothing should start with the various sport garments. Only foolishness and snobbish- ness could declare, as a certain teacher did recently, that it is indecent to play tennis in shorts instead of long white trousers ! When oarsmen row in winter bare-legged and sometimes bare-armed too, why in the hottest summer are golfers compelled to wear long woollen stockings, heavy " plus-fours," shirts, pull-overs, and jackets—i.e., at least three thicknesses of long sleeves on top of each other ? When footballers play in winter bare- kneed, why must tennis and cricket players on hot summer days wear long flannel trousers ? When boxers with naked torso and bare legs fight publicly in the glare of electric lamps for lady spectators, why cannot other athletes and players perform in a similar attire when the sun shines ? To such questions there are no sensible answers.
During the last half-century on the Continent many attempts have been made at reforming the every-day clothes of men. Several fanatics in Germany and Switzer- land overdid it by creating the " Naked Cult " movement, believing and preaching that all ill-health and immorality were due to the wearing of clothes. Such a misunder- stood " escape " from civilization can never be made in Great Britain. Bad climate and good conservatism are amongst the things which prevent it. Besides, the majorities are always right here, or must have right : only one person out of every hundred would look his best when practically nude, whereas the ninety-nine look nicer the more clothes be hung upon them !
Far above the cranks of the " Naked Cult " in every- day life stood the Swiss " Nature doctor," Arnold Rikli, being the first to repopularize the use of the sun-and-air bath of the ancient Greeks for curing ailments. Between 1859 and 1906 many thousand patients regained their health in his atmospheric sanatorium in Veldes (Ober- krain). Later his methods were adopted by medical men in Switzerland, and quite recently also here in England.
I have formerly myself experimented a good deal with the simplification of men's clothing. Did I not thereby win honours, I certainly gained experience. I once com- posed an apparel without waistcoat, the trousers being buttoned on a jerkin or rather a sort of blouse, but being mistaken for a convict I had to drop it. I have pro- menaded hatless and with naked feet in open sandals in most Continental capitals without being arrested. Also in the English countryside I always go about without a hat. But the sandals are here practical only for walks on the roads, not for cross-country rambles. Because the grass of the commons and woods in England is always wet a healthy " Kneipp-Cure " would be possible in this eoUntry, but, alas, near your big cities the grass is soaked with coal dust, which is rubbed so firmly into the skin of the feet that it is only removed with great difficulty.
When climbing, skating, or ski-ing naked in the moun- tains of Switzerland in many degrees of frost I do not feel the cold even if the sun disappears behind a. cloud. But if the same thing happens when sun-bathing during summer in England, I may feel cold. It is because the air is much more moist, and the wind always blowing here. Many a reform of dress which is easy and com- fortable on the Continent is impossible in England.
I for one am of the opinion that the outer garments of our usual dress for men are quite all right in themselves. I can see no hygienic or aesthetic necessity for altering their shape or patterns. On the other hand, the arrange- ment of underwear and the use of overcoats are in most cases very unhygienic. It is here that reform is needed.
A fairly healthy and hardened man should never wear more than one thickness of underwear, and it should fit loosely. In warm weather a shirt of cotton- or linen- mesh would be the best ; in medium temperatures one of ordinary linen, cotton, or silk, and in very cold weather of flannel. Undervests should never be used. They are absolutely superfluous, and when tight-fitting also harmful. They will then always spoil the skin, espe- cially in the narrow places, as the armpits. Also under the starched shirt of the evening dress an undervest makes the air too " dose " for the skin. It is much healthier to fix only a silk handkerchief under the stiff front, instead of wearing the whole vest.
Winter great-coats are used by most people for walking. This is wrong : they are only healthy for driving or riding. In the English climate one needs to be much more warmly dressed when sitting indoors (centrally heated modern buildings excepted) than when walking out-of- doors. The man with a woollen undervest under his thick and closely woven shirt will put on his top-coat when he goes out for a walk, and this is all wrong. I once examined an elderly gentleman who had two woollen undervests and a flannel shirt under his starched shirt ; also he donned his overcoat before he left ! Naturally he was liable to lumbago, colds, and rheumatism.
I do just the opposite. Sitting at my desk I wear a cardigan under my jacket, in winter an old fur coat on top of it (because the window is always open). But pre- paring myself for a walk I remove great-coat and cardigan, in warm weather the waistcoat too. Then I can enjoy a pretty brisk walk without perspiring uncomfortably.
I cannot see that shorts or breeches or knickerbockers are better for ordinary dress than the common long trousers. Very few persons have perfectly shaped legs. The long and wide trousers hide the faults more or less. Besides, they are more healthy and comfortable than the others, with their tight bands, buttonings or garters, which hamper the circulation of the blood. Of course, I know millions of men commit the grave hygienic sin of wearing sock-suspenders together with the long trousers. It is a harmful habit, causing varicose- veins sooner or later. And there is no necessity at all for their constant use.
What makes the fashionable collars harmful is not their shape, but simply that they are too tight, thus pr&sing upon the blood-vessels. During physical effort and in high temperatures the neck swells. To be safe one should always be able to slip three fingers in between collar and neck. Also the bands of the shirt round the neck and wrists are more often than not too tight to allow proper circulation. I have examined many men who had even their wrist-watch strapped so tightly that the veins of their forearm and hand had swollen ! P. MULLER.
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