The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-05-30
Tailors Whe MaAe Mems Clothes for
Women.

Tailers Whs HaAe Mems Clothes for
Women.
Some time ago q gentleman brought
. coat to . tailor on the east side OF
town somewhere along Fourth avenue.
and asked the owner, who was sitting
on q bench in the window with his legs
crossed under him, If he could make
the coat to fit and have it done the next
day. The tailor was very poor. He
had his rent coming due in day or so,
and nothing wherewith to pay il He
responded with alacrity. altered the
coat to his customers satisfaction, and
received his pay. The next day the
gentleman's wife appeared with
riding habit which she wished fitted to
her more snugly than it fitted then.
The tailor did the work and the fair Gus
toner was delighted. 81 wonder if
you could make me . cloth-jacket,'
she said. The tailor, who really wanted
to pay his rent, responded immedia,ely
and emphaticAlly in the Affirmative.
He made the jacket, and his new Gus
toner was again very much pleased.
when this was finished N her satisfac-
ton she told him she would send In her
husband to have q vest made or pair
of cloth uppe4s for his low shoes, and
he would then pay the tailor the entire
bill. Tailor. made costumes for ladies
have been known in France and England
for some time, but this is the way in
which the business was started here.
The jubilant wife, who had gotten her
bill paid for dresses and jackets, lost
no time in advert sing her new plan to
her friends. The ladies' tailor was in
undated with large orders from wives
and daughters, and small orders from
their masculine retinue. He m de up
the clothes, sentveSts and trousers and
other small packages home with large
bills and delivered costumes and braid
ed jackets without any bills at all. and
prospered exceedingly. He paid his
rent and took more commodious quar-
tiers. To-day that tailor is worth $780,
90, owns q country seat, and visits his
establishment in the city for afew hours
each day. He was made by the Ia lies
of New York. and they may well be
proud of their handiwork.
Several fashionable tailors have been
in the business, aud gone out of it, and
there are few in it to-day. Those who
went out of it, generally after one years
experience. said that thew had lost more
money and more temper in a short time
than they could AFFORD to do. 1t was
more difficult to cut out a garment to
a lady's shape. and their ingenuity in
pointing out alleged defects after fair
fit had been accomplished was more
than the ordinary tailor can stand
Just as there are some able lawyers
who can obstruct the entire course of q
perfectly leg innate cross-exam ma
ton by q series of specious and
weil-sustained objections, so there
| are many ladies in New York who can
go log way toward convincing a
cutter that he knows nothing about his
| business. If the customer really wants
the costume she has ordered she does
not keep up her ob ecti ons very long,
but if her mind has changed since the
order was gwen, she can find sufficient
fault to Justify her. in her own mind,
throwing the garments on the maker S
hands, and she gives color of truth TO
her criticisms by lacing tighter at one
time than she does at another, By wear
Ing different corsets and d. erent under
clothing altogether and by dozens OF
other devices which need not be re-
| D ated. TIL s sort of thing usually
drives the tailor haf era Y. and he gets
out of the business of ladies' Costumes.
Those who are in it now are learned in
all the devious windings of the femi-
n ne mind, and are prepared to m ct
them at every turn. In one Fifth ave-
nue. adjustment where riding habits
are made, as well as costumes, the
wooden figure of horse stands in the
ga !esroom. and it was explained that so
many customers who went away, after
having fitted their habits and were quite
81 isfied. came back to say that they did
not fit when they got on no serack. the
wooden horse was then put in. LADIES
were invited to send down their saddles,
and they were fitted to complete q Gen.
trail Park picture. that would STIR en-
thusiasm among admirers and delight
the hearts Of artists.
The most successful of these ladies'
tailors are those who have associated
tn them a practical ladies' dress
maker. He not only contributes q
knowledge of skirts, which is valuable.
but he brings to the bu ,ineSs wears Of
eN perience in dealing W tn the fair sex.
without which the business is bound to
be failure, outside of those cases in
which q man may have gift in this d :
rection. The goods used for these cos
tunes are made especially for the pur-
pose. They are lighter than the goods
used on mems clothes, and are much
heavier than any sold in stores for Ia
dies dresses. The cost of the goods is
all the way from 81 to 30 q yard, the
| goods being fifty-six inches wide. The
costumes are lined with silk costing q
a yard, and the price paid is from $50
to sl5O each. There is no doubt tina,
they contribute to the beauty of the fe-
male figure and serve to soften it and
conceal any want of this desirable quail
ity. Angular outlines are rounded out
with the smallest display of padding,
and the cunning shears of the cutter
cheat the casual eye by slight rear
rangement of the lines, so that very
high shoulders lose their length and
very sloping shoulders are built up into
something substantial and attractive.
1t is stated that the more expensive Of
/ these costumes are ABSOLUTE ma wells oil
workmanship, and are not to be matched
in all the world. Workmen here turn
out these superbly finished garments
because Americans are more willing
than the people of any other nation to
pay a high price for the best work. A
fashionable tailor recently assured the
writer that English jou neymen tailors
work far letter here than they have
ever done in ngland. and frequently,
with the assistance of their families,