Women were not to leave their homes in a state of anything but preparedness. It was unseemly for a woman to leave home and put her hat on in the street, for instance. A woman was likewise considered ill-bred if she were to draw her gloves on outside of the home. It was looked upon as tantamount to dressing in the street.

Ladies were not to show their ankles except in an unusual circumstance of some description. A lady was considered vulgar indeed if she lifted both sides of her skirts, even when making her way up or down a staircase, or stepping up onto or down from a curb. Should a situation arise requiring the lifting of the skirts - especially both sides of her skirts - it would only be acceptable if she was crossing a muddy spot, for example, and even then it was only acceptable for the time needed to cross that muddy spot. As a practical matter, though, ladies whose skirt hems were three to four inches above the ground (the majority of ladies, apparently) would find that some part of their ankles were exposed, and that was not deemed scandalous.