The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1878-08-24
THE LADY-FITTER SUPERSEDED.
PITTsBURG'S MAK-MILLINER.

There are few people unacquainted
with the name of Worth, the prince of
milliners, located in Paris. He has at
tanned to such celebrity that his name
is a household word in the homes of
those who profess to be led by the pre-
vailing ton. His "fits" are considered
to be the ne plus ultra of perfection, and
the young ladies whom he employs are
living exemplars of his skill in this most
subtle of arts. Pittsburg also can boast
of man-milliner who declines to take
back seat for Worth "or any other
manor woman, either. OF course
we are not to suppose that so exalted
parsonage can make Pittsburg his per-
manent home. Professor Livingston is
his name. He was born at Harrisburg
about IS4o, and his father left that city
when the subject of our remarks was
quite young. The family went to re-
side at Mt. Vernon, Ohio. In due time
the professor found his way to the "big"
city, where he also found a partner to
share his joys and sorrows. 1t seems
that the lady who honored him by be-
coming Mrs. Livingston had some tai
ent as a milliner and dressmaker, and,
doubtless, the professor took his first
lessons in the art Gin which he is now
an adept contemporaneously with his
first lessons in love. One can picture
him seated at the feet of his fnancee,
diligently unreeling the cotton or thread
ing the needles, which the ladies' deft
fingers so quickly manipulated. The
professor is gentleman of sanguine
temperament and always has been am
bilious. His motto being "Onward,"
the narrow groove of his wife's opera
tions were much too limited to give him
scope for his aerial flights. Utterly dis
carding the ignoble line which would
seat him, Turk fashion, on a tailor's
board, he permitted his fancies to lead
him into the realms of silks, satins, bro
cades, tulles and valenciennes. Here
he reveled for season until he finally
struck the chord which truly responded
to his genius. Possibly he may have
thought that genius bestowed on a pair
of pants was genius wasted. At any
rate the professor became fully devel-
oped as man-milliner, and in conjunC-
ton with his wife elaborated a system
of cutting out ladies' and children's
dresses, which was entered in the libra
rian's Office at Washington in 1874.
He has offices in London, Liverpool,
Paris and New York, and. his business
includes every state in the Union. His
system of cutting has "eight different
forms of shoulder, twelve different forms
of dart, and a variable chest measure.
When we consider that no other system
in the world has these specialties it is
obvious that our man-miller is the boss
and that Worth is-in Paris. "This in,
valuable SYSTEM" says the professor,
"stands without rival, giving ease, grace
and beauty to the form" This is COM
bination we are perfectly sure that no
Pittsburg lady can fail to desire-ease,
grace and beauty! Tocombine the grace
of Psyche with the beauty of a Hebei
o, ye gods, look on us The professor
does all the cutting and fitting by him.
self. This statement has caused some
little CONSERVATION among husbands
and beaux who fail to appreciate the
difficulties which the professor would ne
cessarily experience if he delegated his
duties to lady deputy. 1t is rather
novel sight, and withal depressing one
to the enamored swain who witnesses
the dexterous and mysterious movements
of the man-milliner, as he fixes pin
here, takes up stitch there, and grad
ually moldS the silk without wrinkle
on the bust of his charmer. He gets
riled, but, when on the point of boiling
over, he is fixed with happy look from
her bright eyes, and sunny smile which
sets his heart all agog. Some such scene
as the following occurs now and again,
although we are informed they are not
by any means frequent. A lady enters
who proposes to patronize the professor;
she has either forgotten or is not ac-
quainted with the fact that the man
measures and fits all dresses personally,
consequently when he approaches her,
armed with tape apd pins, and politely
requests her to prepare, she becomes
either hysterical or indignant, and final
ly emphatically refuses to permit him to
place hand on her. The professor
has then to retire and isgreatly chagrined
as a matter of course. A lady assistant
having received the necessary instruc-
tions assumes his place and the customer
is soon lost amid the mysteries of seal
lops or points, bias or straight, and
other odds and ends in the matter of
Misunderstanding Leadey.