Articles of this kind inevitably linked short skirts, the rejection of the corset, and bobbed or shingled hair with "licentious" behavior — smoking, drinking bootleg whiskey, listening to jazz, dancing the Charleston or Black Bottom, necking, and petting. However, other assessments struck a calmer note. Writing at opposite ends of the decade, Frances Mathilda Abbott in a 1920 issue of North American Review and Fannie Hurst in a 1929 issue of the New Republic defended contemporary women's fashions for their utility and good sense. Short skirts, Abbott and Hurst argued, were more hygienic than skirts that dragged in the dirt. Knee-length dresses with loosely fitted bodices made it easier for women to drive automobiles, engage in sports, and function in their jobs, on their campuses, and in their homes. The replacement of torturous corsets by less constricting undergarments benefited women's health and increased their comfort...