Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1883-12-06
The Bsontu1,I In Hosiery.
Some Of Tire .Ne,r TTnts and Designs ~ iss-
ported SIX Stockings.

Recent impOrtatl0ns OF hne SIX stockings
for ladies are simpler in design that were
former fashions. Striped hose are gone. So
also are those fancy things which were a.
dorned with flowers and birds and snakes.
To S,o reporter a bright, clever sales
woman. in a retail store said; "Thc styles
this year are-I was going Is say they are
Just too lovely for anything, but you news
paper men make so much fun ofthatexprcs-
sion 1 guess won't use it, But indeed The
new STYLES are lovely. They are in such
exquisite shades. VIII show YOU some?
Certainly. This is the latct shade. It's
called the electric blue Eyerything's cleo
trio blue this winter Too Palel Yes. I
think so. too. Nos heres some Of the new
est heavy ribbed goods. Did You ever see
anything so neat and SO pretty and SO rich.
They come in al shades, but are of solid
color. Here's a silver lavender and here's
q turquois, and here's a Russian blue and
heres a jet black, anj here's an orange, and
oh just look-here's the ashes OF rosesi
Isn't it perfectly beautiful? In my opinion
the ashes of rose-but beg pardon, what
did you say? Can We tell by the size ofthe
foot whether the stocking viii tit the ankle?
q. yes; You scout won't YOU PLEASE ex-
cuse me. here comes one of my customers.
I'll send our buyer to you. He knows O
great deal moro about hosiery than 1 DO.
Indeed be dee
"Thcrc's no trouble about the Gt, said
Le buyer. "Fine silk is very elastic. It
will give either in breadth or in length. If
it is too broad it viii become the right
size By pulling it up higher See how this
stocking stretches. lt will it the leg like q
kid glove fr the hand The sizes range
from cight,o Ten. In Baltimore theayeragc
IS from eight to eight and a halt In
Boston and Chicago it is from nine 70 nine
and half and I'm New York from eight and
halfto nine. Iii q well known fact g.
mong hosiery dealers that the women of Bal
timorc have thesmallce; loetin the country.
Why, there's not DAY passes without some
lady asking for seven and q half which g q
girls size. ] said asking but that was a
slip Of the tongue. They don't ask for any
particular size. Nor do we ever guess at
thesize. Wesbow them the different shades
AID they make their selections apparently
without noticing the size. There are Of
course, exceptions to this rule, but why
most of the women Of Baltimore should be
so diplomatic ABOUT buying stockings is
something l can't see any reason for. II l
were in Boston or Chicago or st. Louis
could readily understand the object
AYES, there are lots Of high-priced stock
ings sold in Baltimore. Here's pair worth
So. This style is known as the Czariua.
Each stocking is made in parts and then
woven together after the manner of an In
dian shawl. There are four OF five distinc.
colors in this design. The Czarina, the
sandal fronts and othet f-ea.s u fancy de-
signing are worn in the evening and at par
ties. Black stockings are worn at all times,
and are very popular. The foot and ankle
look smaller 10 black than in any other
color.
The fashions in hosiery are set By the
women themselves. When went TO Europe
this summer l found that themauuiacturcrs
hsd been making striped hose As the ten
dency in this country was toward solid colors
American buyers gave orders accordingly