SPOILS PRETTY ARMS
WOMEN PAYING PENALTY FOR
SHORT SLEEVE FAD.
Shapely Forearms That Were Once
Free From Hirsute Growth Are
Now Bewhiskered and Look
Horribly Horrid.
Kansas City young women are startled by the information going the rounds in feminine circles that the wearing of short sleeves causes fuzz to grow upon their arms. It is said that one su mmer of short sleeved waists will increase the length of the fuzz upon the arm as much as an eighth of an inch. That there is a scientific basis for this unpleasant result of a pleasing custom is vouched for by Dr. George A. King and by actual experience on the part of the numberless Kansas City society women.
Dr. King says that the reason the almost imperceptible down upon the rounded arms of the women who affect the short sleeve habit changes gradually in hair, which is long enough to be easily seen, is found by looking into the early history of the race.
"Prehistoric man, and also prehistoric woman, was covered all over with a thick growth of hair, which served as a protection to the skin against the cold in winter and the sun in summer," said Dr. King yesterday. "When the custom of wearing clothes became general, this growth of hair gradually began to become thinner and thinner, until finally only a downy growth remained. This was becasue the human race no longer needed the protection afforded by hair.
"Now you can easily see the reason that wearing elbow sleeves has a tendency to cause a growth of hair upon the forearm. Nature provides the growth in order to protect the delicate organism of the skin from the heat of the sun. The more the arms are exposed to the sun, the more likely are they to develop a growth of har. So, it can be seen that the women who have been most anxious to get a fasionable coat of tan on their arms during the summer months are those who are now suffering most from an unwelcome hirstute growth."
Dr. King says that those young women who have been unfortunate enough to receive a coat of nature's clothing upon their arms must be content with it for some time to come.
"The average life of a hair is from two to four years," said he. "I suppose there is little else to do but to wait for the hairs to live their natural life, and then they'll die."
"But I can't go to parties or dances in evening clothes with all this ugly hari on my arms," said a young woman who had come in to find out why she was suddenly troubled with a growth of hair on her arms. She confessed she had worn short sleeves for several summers, and each year had always been anxious to get "a good coat of tan."
"Consult a dermatologist," said Dr. King. "And then pray that next year the style will be long sleeves. I don't suppose even the ugly hair wil stop women from wearing short sleeves until fashion takes a hand in the matter."
