The Government officials are proverbially conservative. So it is not astonishing to hear that in some of the Government offices women are accepted merely as a necessary evil. But it is not so certain that these hide-hound officials will altogether rejoice when, perhaps, every pretty girl has vanished from office or corridor, when, therefore, the vivid flashes of colours in dress and in hat are replaced by the sober black attire of the male.

In this chill December these flashes of colour are mainly provided by the overall – that practical product of war-work in its manifold phases. Indeed, it is more than practical, it is invaluable whether it appear in three-quarters length or be made so long that quite covers the dress. In the Government offices, at any rate, it saves many a dress from too early destruction.

Nothing else could protect one so securely from the dust which never ceases to accumulate to an alarming degree. To a woman’s eye the long overall, to be quite satisfactory, must be large enough to meet down the front from the neck to the hem of the skirt. I have seen some which have been left open from the waist, with a result not of neatness but of a most unpleasing and slovenly appearance.

Varieties of the overall

It is possible that, on some occasions, a busy woman has time, either at luncheon or tea, to study her neighbours. Such a study should produce some insight into character and taste, and a few hints for her personal guidance. One girl, for instance, whose standard of neatness is evidently high, wears a long overall in a dark yet bright shade of blue. It is buttoned to the throat; belted at the waist, and is unrelieved by even a single touch of white at the neck. There is merely a rolled collar of the blue casement cloth of which the overall is made. The girl is charming to look upon. She is an exact illustration of beauty unadorned, and her eager, serious face is framed by masses of soft brown hair which – so her friends declare – has never yet been seen disarranged.

Women war workers feed the charcoal kilns used at a sugar refinery in Scotland, circa 1916. Photograph: IWM via Getty Images

Another girl whose taste impels her to some dainty finish at the neck chooses a white collar in muslin or voile. And she tells me that it is quite amusing to see the variety in form and the manner of wearing these pretty additions to an overall or blouse.

Many a woman wears a “Shetland” or some kind of vest beneath the overall, as the rooms are draughty and the corridors cold. Some women, however, prefer the jersey –the erstwhile sports coat, – which again provides a variety of colour as well as the necessary warmth. It need hardly be said that there is scarcely a shade of blue, red, and yellow, or of purple and green, in which these coats do not appear. But the two most effective I have seen are in a shade of red, which must have been matched with a fuchsia, and a corbeau blue that is ringed round the hem with three bands of white. The white in blue overall is repeated in the muslin at the neck, while the brilliance of the red is cleverly subdued by the dark blue collar in satin which tones with the blouse.

It is not astonishing to hear that in some of the Government offices women are accepted merely as a necessary evil

Blouse or one piece dress

There are instances, however, in which the blouse is the wear, and that without overall or jersey. And the effect is neat enough if the blouse be quite simple and finished with a little white collar. Nor is there anything to be said against the straightly made one-piece dress in black or dark blue. But it must always be remembered that war-work brings together women and girls in all classes of birth and in every condition of means. And it behoves those who are called to work by patriotism rather than by a restriction of income to see to it that their less-favoured companions shall feel the difference no more than is inevitable. Here again it may be said that the overall is a most practical possession with which to hide the dress that is too smart for work.

As for the hat, it can on this occasion only be said that it should be small and if possible, as invulnerable as the “tanks.” For it is impossible that buildings designed for the occupation of men should provide any side shelter for feminine millinery.