The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1875-10-11
rnE DRYoooDs BUSINESS MERE.
Paris, Tendon, and New York Compared
shopping in the three Countries American
Fashions and American ENtravnaance-A.
y. stewards. Arnold g. Constnbie's, and
Lord a TnvIor's-pnv of the EMPLOYED.

| y. stewards, Arnold a. Constnbte's, and
Lord & Taylor's-Pay Of the EMPLOYED.
NY AN ENGLISH LADY EXPERT.
The American dry goods trade has such
arenown 1t attracts The attention even Of idle
travellers, not To speak OF merchants and manu-
facturers visiting this country. How this Ienown
has beer obtained ID Ia dificut to say. Pos
siblv a few large fortunes realized in this trade
and the immense dimensions Of the leading dry
| goods establishments are the cause OF this
fame. Otherwise there Sc ms to be no reason
for this trade being considered as something
unique in Its way. Several years experience in
Paris and London and prolonged visit to this
| country for the purpose OF studying lite market,
gave me the opportunity to draw parallel be-
| tween the dry goods business In the three coun-
| tries and things connected with 1t.
| To begin with, the Wholesale trade OF either
| England or France can naturally not be COM
| pared with that OF America. You have no
wholesale trade at all here, az understood in
| Europe. The so-called wholesale houses Of
New York are bazaars just as much as retail
houses are, with the only difference that they
sell by the case or by the box instead OF by tho
| piece or by the yard. Everything is tossed up
| together. The classification of goods dealt in
by various houses is unknown, and the extent
| Of operations ofa Manchester or a London ho-
serv house, for instance, or OF a Lyons silk house,
| would probably astonish those who imagine
that American dry goods trade Is one OF the
greatest trades IN the world.
| with the retail trade II IL different We have
In Europe several establishments very closely
approaching that OF A. T. Stewart, though
none exceeding II In dimensions. In Paris, there
10 the Bon Mdrche In London, harsh II & Smell
groves oxford street,, Sholbred's Tottenham
| Court Road,) Charles Meetings. Holborn Via
| dncf l nj 90 Q,,
geons Tabernacle, and quite as large as the Tab
ernace In its way) All these firms sell everything,
from carpets and upholstery to bonnets and laces;
| and az the population of London Ia about three
times that OF New York, none OF the four firms
would probably show a considerable difference
| In the amount Of business from that OF Mr.
| Stewart.
The FIRMS Of Lord & Taylor and Of Arnold &
| Constable have each several countefparts, both
| In Paris aud In London, In the latter city espe-
| Ct y Peter Robinson oxford circus), and Gask
& Gask oxford street,, have Just as large estab-
lishments and the same middle-class clientele as
Lord q Taylor while Swan Edgar Piccadilly
| cirous), Farmer a Rogers ReRent streeth aud
Lewis & Allenby (Regent street, go apsoe with
| Arnold x Constable for select descriptions Of
goods as we'll as OF customers.
That In Paris such large houses are fewer In
number comes from the fact that they are estab-
iisbed there chiefly for foreigners and partly for
country people. The Parisians them selves very
| seldom buy read ade things, and the variety
| OF individual taste is 10 great among them that
no one store would be able TO provide for II. In
| England, and still more so In America, lady
| begins 20 wear a new thing only when she has
seen It worn by several persons before, In
France II Is Just the reverse The fact Of given
| article OF toilet having been seen by a person
chasing II. She will accept as many new fash
| ions and new forms as you like; but she NUT
always have the colors and trimmings all her
own way. Hence the monotony Of costumes In
England and IN this country, and the surprising
variety In France. Hence, also, the possibility
| OF success for large stores, where everything Is
| done en- masse, where one dress will do for any
number OF persons Of the same size, where
everybody wants a square-stripcd plaid dress,
or a dress of THAT new brocaded stuff" And
| hence. also, the sad want of harmony In the
assortment Of colors. They matched with
out any reference to the complexion of the per
son or even to each other. Cardinal red Is, for
instance, the favorte color JUST now, and II Is
worn by everybody whether the person be
blonde, dark, or red. You dark red bows OF
| black dresses, aud cardinal trimming on black
straw or felt bonnets. Thus two deep colors re
constantly brought together. 1t lie the same
with heavy stOne-gray; you see II frequently
combined with black. with which It has no
business ever 10 come In contact. A good milli-
ncr or dressmaker established for limited
number Of customers will, tor the sake OF her
own reputation, not allow any of them to dress
the big dry goods stores dress their customers.
The question OF compilations OF figures cannot
possibly be taken into consideration where the
| purchasers come by the thousand. The same
| colors must nOlcns uOlcns serve the brunette and
| the blonde. The same shape OF dress must suit
the angular and the rotund figure. The dry
goods magnates know only one thing: Such
are the two OF three colors. tha one OF two
styles, and the two or three materials that are to
| be brought into fashion next season. They make
out their orders accordingly. Thousands OF
pieces OF material, ribbons, and the like are pur-
chased at so much, and must he sold within SO
many weeks at so much. That's all.
And they do sell them with the aid Of the
rather simple policy OF not introducing anything
else into the market. with any other system
they would be all bankrupts within year. for
any attempt to meet demand for variety or to
suit individual tastes would leave them at the
close Of the season with an immense stock Of
unsuitable goods on hand.
The large dry goods houses are also the cause
OF the new fashions coming much l. ter to
this country than they ought. Ladies' who go
/ frequently W EuTilpe nave lounu ~ out at last.
new fashion introduced in Paris to-day will
take twelve months to get to New York.
Not that the patterns reach here late; but the
dry goods houses won't start them until they
have secured the means for producing the ar
tcle on the largest possible scale and with the
largest possible profit TO themselves.
OF the renowned extravaganza OF American
ladies have not been able yet to form a cor
rect idea. Extravaganza Ia relative to the in
come OF person, aud as long as one does not
know the amount OF the latter, one cannot OBJ
tain notion Of the former. All that is evident,
however, Is that ladies OF what would be con
sdered in Europe as Of very common manners,
language, and education, are much more extra
vaRantly dressed In this country than they are
either in England or France. The most refined
persons here are the most modest In their toilet
In fact, they are too much SO, am afraid for
they leave the lead In what is called fashions or
styles " to women who ought not to be allowed
| to take IL.
And this makes me think Of the comparative
eentllity Of the mass OF the public here ana in
! Europe OF the civtv OF American men
| could not speak highly enough IL Is simply adj