The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1873-09-25
WOMAN'S DRESS.
Another Economy wrought by
Nachinery..-Re y.Made
Garments for Women.
From tie New York Sun.

rom tile New ork sun,
In the last four years there has been an
unprecedented growth in the trade of
New York in ready-made clothing for
women. rive years ago this branch of
the dry goods business was comparatively
small; so small, in fact, there was little
or no call for ready-made suits by large
iobbers or merchants from Western and
Southern cities. Now, SO great is the
demand for this class of goods, it is with
difficulty that it can be met by the sew
eral large and unnumbered smaller man
ufactories of these garments In New
York, added to an immense importation
Of suits, redingotoes, clOaks, jackets, and
urfdergarments from the work-rooms of
Berlin, Paris and London.
A representative of the Sun, visiting a
number Of the largest manufactures of
ready-made suits in New York, has seen
in their offices within the last week the
heads Of large jobbing- houses from all
parts of the United States. From con-
versations with them and with the man
ayers Of the factories, the reporter has
obtained the following facts A gentle
man from Chicago says that he sells in
his clearinghouse in that city suits and
garments to such an immense extent that
he has within the past three years estab-
lisheb work-room, giving employment
to about two hundred women the year
round at from So to SO per week. Be
sides his own production, he purchases
largely both medium priced and fine suits,
cloaks and polonaises, of foreign and do
mestic manufacture.
He thinks the demand for this class of
goods will be larger than the supply this
year. One from St. Louis says that city
deals largely in both imported and dOmes-
tic suits, but does not manufacture to
any extent. Another from Salt Lake
City gave large orders for New York,
Berlin, and Paris made suits and gar
ments.
At the two largest manufactures in
New \ ork it was asserted that their orders
this year were double what they were last
at this season, and the city trade had not
vet commenced From Maine to Cali
fornia there was n demand for these
readymade garments, and hundreds OF
thousands of yards of cloth of all grades
were in the hands of their cutters at the
present moment. This house sold 5000
waterproof cloaks to the city trade last
year, and will duplicate that number for
the city alone this year. They turn out
one hundred water-proofs day when
manufacturing these goods. The wide
spread popularity of these garments is
affecting the styles and fashions for wo
men. There is a tendency to greater
uniformity and conservatism in wOmens
dress than we have ever had. Three
thousand garments cut by the same pat
tern from material differing only in the
shades Of a color and every garment
trimmed in one style with one kind of
trimming material, must produce a great
uniformity. Then manufacturers do not
venture on bold designs, eccentric forms,
or novelties in either color or fashion,
lest their garments should prove unsala-
BILE
The demand for these ready-made gar
ments IS attributable to several causes. |
First, the rapidly increasing numbers of
working and business women, who find |
1t great economy of time and money !
to purchase their garments ready made. |
Secondly, the exhorbitant charges of /
dress-makers for ordered suits, and the |
sheer nonsense of going to them to make |
up a cheap fabric which costs less than |
they will charge for making the dress. I
Third, the risk that a lady runs of hav-
ing fine material spoiled by dress-makers
induces large numbers to purchase costly
and elegantly ready-made suits, which
can be altered by an ordinary seamstress
TO fit better perhaps than the dress-maker's
garment But the main stimulus to the
business is given by the demands of
the working classes, and, strange as it
may seem, they purchase proportion
ately as many fine and high priced suits
as they do medium.