Cutting Down the Laundry Bill.... (Girl's Own Paper and Woman's Magazine, November 1920)

 ... By Making One Garment take the place of Two

In the days before washing machines—let along tumble dryers and wash-and-wear fabrics—laundry was a hard and time-consuming chore.  You either had spend a full day each week slaving over washtubs, coppers and mangles, or you had to pay someone else to do it for you.

In the immediate aftermath of World War I the poor managed as they'd always done, but the middle class readers of The Girl's Own Paper and Woman's magazine had problems in the forms of higher prices and labour shortages.

One of the many problems the housekeeper has to face at the present time is the every-rising laundry bill.  Some people may solve the difficulty of high charges by having the "weekly wash" done at home, but unless you are already blessed with an efficient helper to undertake the work, it is not the easiest thing in the world at the moment to obtain outside help of any description.

The magazine stepped in with a suggestion: why not send fewer garments to the laundry?

Just take stock of your wardrobe, and see if there is not some way you could make one garment do the work of two you are now currently wearing.

Cami-knickers fastening on the shoulders.  No. 8905

An envelope chemise.  No. 8905

Starting with underwear, The Girl's Own Paper suggested that the reader could replace "camisole and knickers worn over the corset, or chemise and knickers worn under the corset" with "woven combination" cami-knickers or a one-piece envelope chemise.

Belted overall with turned-back sleeves.  No. 8972
In coat effect with long or short sleeves.  No. 8879
House frock fastening on the shoulders.  No. 8974
Magyar style with novel pockets.  No. 8973

To cut down on outerwear, the magazine suggested overall and house frock in an "overall house frock".

Then again, if you do your own housework, a little thought in planning your working outfit might bring some results in this direction.  Most people like their morning frocks to be of a material that will allow of a periodical visit to the laundry; and on the top of this there is the outlay entailed in washing aprons to protect the frock.   Why not combine these garments and make a good strong cover-up overall of strong casement cloth or linen that will do duty for a morning frock as well?

A useful apron with detachable front. No. 8214

But what if you were worried about your overall house frock getting dirty?  This is where "the detachable apron flap" comes in:

... such an attachment could be worn with any frock or apron.  It can be made of the same material as the frock or overall, or contrasting if preferred, to be snapped on to the waist with snap fasteners when the dirtiest work is being done; and is easy to remove on other occasions, or when any unexpected caller arrives...

To be honest, this sounds as if it would have brought the laundry problem full circle, with a pile of dirty overall house frocks and apron fronts simply replacing a pile of dirty overalls and dirty house frocks!

The underwear suggestions, however, are interesting.  As fashions slimmed down in the 1920s, women started discarding the bulky under-layers worn by their Edwardian predecessors and began wearing more streamlined undergarments.  Is it possible that the cost of laundry did its bit making women's clothes simpler, by making it economical to discard the camisoles, chemises, corset covers and layers of petticoats they'd previously worn?