, 1884-07-23
THE JUNIOR WORTH
Tells Something About the Fashions
of Paris.
Wonderful Creations or VI. Worth,
sr.-How Styles Are introduced
and Fashions EstnbIIAhed
The Novelties.


paris Cor. Pail Mall Gazette.l
After several visits to Worth5 establish.
ment, succeeded in Obtaining an audience o.
M. Castor Worth. In reply 10 my wish tina.
he would tell Ine .all about the Paris fash
ions, he said: SIT Is extremely difficult to
say anything precise on the character Of tho
fashions now, because there Is no fashion at
oil There ARE 50 many dress-makers, each
one having her own ideas, that the result Is q
sort OF snlnhgundi which prevents the fash
lon from having any definite character
such as 1t had In former contpries-
The reason why there awe been 50
nIauy mLxt1fys OF every kind Is because
communication between nations " now
90 easy and rapid that a new fashion has not
tiIne 10 be worn by everybody before another
one comes. In reality, there are very few
ladies who dress absolutely according to th-
existing fashion. Women will not accept a
fashion Just when 1t is shown to them; they
prefer to have what they nave been acc1ls-
TONED to for years past, and 1t Is rather dill
cult To make them understand that they must
Try to change their habits. I will give you an
example. We once made a long cloak, with
gathering round the neck and on the back,
open at the sides and back, and with about
ten LOUNGES. The first season we only mnde
two or three OF these cloaks- What q pc
culiar thing 1t Is said each lady when she
saw 1t for the first time; L shall never
wear Il cloak like that But the next season
we sold from 200 To 800 of them, and three
years later every woman YOU saw In the
street had ono, and the second-rate establish
Insnts put these cloaks forward as noveluesl
Then, again, it is the fashion TO dress In gray
at the present time, but there are many ladies
who would not wear that color. 1t is also
the fashion To have a dress very high at tho
shoulders, but, would you believe 1T we in
reduced that style about six years agol 1t
was found that when the scam on the Shout
ders was TOO high or too low, according as
tho cloth had been cut, a crease formed
which caused a lump when the lady held up
her arm. Little by little dresses were made
with an Intentional lump until It became the
fashion 10 have the shoulders of this dresa
high. So you see how fashions are mndo.
"But 1t is not possible to say what Is going
TO be worn. II you go into any place OF
amusement or fashionable salon you will ask
yourself II some OF the women you see are
not 200 or 800 years old. What they wear
makes them look like Il composition of Old
Mother Hubbard, a lady of the time of Louis
XIV, or any other lady of any other period
you can mention The fashion Of to-day Is
ndescrihnble. 1t Is not Greek, nor Roman,
nor medieval, nor renaissance-and mind
you, there is the same decadence In dress as
in paintings or architocture-it has no
| htuhlut CUdThEJEI IL IL u Hll4luTGt u bdlau-
For the painters of the future It will be Il
very difficult matter, indeed, to decide the
period TO which the women of the present
tlme belong"
Thu did NJ. Worth, Jr., calmly describe
the noDdescifpt character of the lady Of tho
period In the matter of dress, speaking al
most uninterruptedly, just as though he had
been delivering n lecture before the members
of a dress reform association. Whether he
would have spoken his mind so freely had
some representative OF the weaker sex been
present, is a question not to be decided here,
''Nho creates the fashions, thenT' l asked.
"WLo conceives those wonderful combinA-
tons Of form and color and MATERIAL Am l
right In supposing that there are artists or
designers who devote their time and
talents to tho invention of new styles
OF dressf' '"Wel, a great many new
fashions have just seen the Light in this
establishment. replied NJ Castor Worth,
M. Worth senior created them We have a
large staff of ladies who do a great deal, but
NJ. Worth himself makes our fashions. There
are no artists or designers at all-nothing In
the shape OF design; because II there were de-
signers it would be very often impossible to
make In cloth what had been drawn Upon pa
per, however beautiful 1t might be-" 'How
many people do you employ III your work
roomsfI | inquired. 1--WE have about 700
workNSomen, comprising cutters, fxers, trim
mers, embroiderers, skirt makers, sleeve
makers, 400 in the house and 800 outside.
Then there are trimming-makers, etc, who
work indirectly for us-n In conclusion NJ.
CASTOR Worth said it would be a great relief
TO the ~dress-mnkeIs not to have so many
styles, which heavily handicap some of the
smaller establishments The success OF the
f~ashIon-makeris art depends upon the variety
OF forms and the comparatively low price
which allows the merchant TO realize q rea-
sunable profit. Naturally, the persons who
buy the cloth, silk, trimmings, and lace must
be thoroughly competent Judges 1t is OF a
combination OF all these articles upon a
roughly cut-out pattern in muslin that are
born those wonderful dresses SO much
sought after by our Lady compatriots' When
the Paris season closes a quantity OF clothing
always remains, which Is sold at a reduced
price and shipped 10 South America, where
it is sold again as a novelty the following
year"