Morning journal and courier., 1884-04-17
worth and virot.
The Prince OF Drsssmakers and the
Queen Of Hz1IIIners-The1r Shops and
IdtOsyncrastes.

The Rue de Ia PRix was never q greater
power than to-day. Coronetsd carriages
stand before its doors. princesses slight and
mount the gloomy stairways. Pilgrims come
, from Russia, America, and from all the rs-
mote and civilized parts of the globe and pa
tiently wait audience.
Here are found the great arbiters of fash
ion, chief among them Worth and Virot.
Worth occupies the great hotel, Rue de Ia
Paix. Long corridors lead toward the salons
d'sttente. Here there is no attempt at dis
play, the floors are softly carpeted, there are
long mirrors and sufficiently comfortable
chairs. The truly elegant appointments are
the young women employed and the rich
| garments slowed like costly brio a-brac in
glass cases.
There is no better amusement, if one has
the run of Worth's, than to sit in the salon
and observe the procession of women that
file through 1t is only then one feels the
sacredness of dress and the greatness of its
priest. When it is possible thing, Worth
deludes bis visitors with some one of his
satellites. If they are not acquainted with
his personnel, he can easily do this for
when the calm hammered, easy gentleman
appears in answer to their desire, modestly
expressed, to see Mr.. Worth, they are usually
SO awe stricken at the contemplated inter
| view that it does not occur to them to doubt
his identity No one could be more unlike
his chief than this usual representative SO
ausve, SO mild, SO self-possessed all of
| which Mr.. Worth is not, since he wears the
idiosyneratic marks of genius-that is to say,
being short, stout and red-and he 1s 1rr1ta
BILE and bristles with points.
It is when the women come whose lives
| apparently hang on personal interview that
| one gets really realizing sense of the great
i ness of his power. I have not seen an am
/ bassadress woman accustomed to com
/ mand, weep in the presence of number OF
other women at his refusal to come out from
| his secret recesses where his busy brain ella
L borates numerous and artistic toilets, but
have seen her supplicate and humbly entreat.
her eyes saffused with tears, which only did
| not trickle down, and thus give me every op-
portunity to describe her agony of mind
| This was the occasion of really r6mszks-
l BILE scene. After a time Worth was persuaded
1 to appear. and the great lady dried her eyes.
/ It was lot one woman now he had TO encouA-
/ ter, but half dozen, who, if they had not
| the courage to drag him forth from his hid
i ing, knew how to take advantage of his pres
| ence. The ambassadress was a lady OF hne
1 personal presence, q blonde cendree. EvI"
IDENTIFY with no keen perceptions of dress.
she had arrayed herself in the most dis
| tinaufshed toilet her dressmaker had pro-
vided her with but one which bore no
possible relation to her own physical adj
L vantages. A shudder did not run over the
| great man as he contemplated her while
l she was making known her desires, but he
shut his eyes, as if the sight were more
4 than he could quite bear. Then, as If with
| great resolution, he opened them and fixed
on her a peculiar gaze lt was look as II
| attempting to see her, not as she was, but as
| she ought to be. Tt is for moments such as
| these one pays Worth large money. The
| other women sat by and devoured him In
| this, his great, supreme act, with concentra-
| ted gaze Then, with few rapid words, he
sketched for his client the outline of toilet
for an occasion such as she desired. They
| gathered up his words like precious jewels;
no one else spoke, and all felt the occasion TO
be something precious.
When he had finished and was about to go,
a vail of supplication broke forth: ''Mr.
/ Worth, yoa will think of me )" ''Ar. Worth,
sou will do something for me" ''Mr
Worth give me just one minute.
At that moment (for it seems Mr.. Worth's
retirement had bten genuine) several EN-
pIoyes came in, eager also to catch his attsn
| ton First one, then another, asked him
hastily some whispered question: others,
trailing samples of rich silks, held them IN
quiringly before his eyes. Suddenly his face
grew purplish red the veins of his forehead
sweued.- He closed his eyes and shut tight
his hands, as if in great tsnsien-the gesture
of man putting with great effort restraint
upon himself-holdiDg himself together, SO
to speak.
sdThey are killing me-" he nurmured
'sThey are all ON my back; they are weigh
ing me to tho earth" The employees fell
back awe-strickea. Tbs wall of the women
ceased and dead silence fell on the room
The moment was really solemn, tor the suf-
fering of the man was too evident. In
short time he recovered himself, SAID rev
words and left the room.
Without doubt Mr.. Worth is no longer
strong man He saves bimsef and every
body In the establishment desires to save
him Many people who take no very high
ground as to their duty to their individual
shortcomings or good points are content to
have Worth clothes at the least expense of
time and trouble. The wardrobes are cer-
tainly supplied with the largest choice in
elegant costumes, and different rooms are
dedicated to different occasions. The unique
feature provided for such visitors is the null
titude of Acknowledgements women ready
to try on the various garments. In most
places of the kind the grand divisions of the
feminine beauty are reoognized-the blonde,
the brunette the tall and the petite. But
here we have the variations of these species,
the blonde oendree the warm blonde, and all
the garments of tints down to those of the
dusty Oriental. Ugliness has its place, and
not only has deformity living model, but
the different vicissitudss of life are provided
for.
Worth garments are now too well known
to need commt mt, but this much may be said
in a general way They are marked by sim
plcity of line and 1argeness of effect. He
does not snip and cut and waste good CLOTH
and an admirable but unintentional result IS
that they make over we'll Shirrings, folds
and fine trimmings are conspicuous only by
their absence His strength lies in the grace |
of his draperies, 10 his bold combinations of
color, and an fond in his good sense.
One idiosyncracy may be added friend |
of mine was much addicted to the wearing of |
vioIets She observed that every time she |
visited Worth he made some excuse to avoid /
seeing her. Finally she persisted one day for |
an interview He then sent her down word
he had noticed that she always wore violets,
and as their odor always made him i'll, he
could only consent to her if she would
remove her flowers. As these were the days
following the fall of the empire, and as vio-
lets are the Nspoleonic flower, she readily
comprehended how sensitive he had become
to their fragrance.
Virot whose spacious rooms are further
down the street, near the Rue Daunon, for
merly Rue Neuve st. Augustin, owed her
good fortune directly to the Empress Euge-
ME. In these early days she was little
milIinar on back street. Shs had, how
ever, genius for striking effects. and the
empress driving by caught glimpse in the
widow of one of her daring creations. No
one could more quickly appreciate an artistic
novelty than the Empress Eugenie. She
DOuR0B Tue DOHASts AAcSb00 fAAOs bA0ASaAS0A1 |
and the milliner's fortune was assured.
She is now great lady and her cabinet is
more thoroughly sealed than that of Worth.
The most curious part of her clientele ID the
American niIliner. She comes often from
Pennsylvania, Illinois and Kansas. Her
great difficulty is that she knows what she
wants. She has seen something in Cleve-
land, Quincy or Omaha that came from Vi
rot's and she wants something like that,
with possibly sems variations in her own
mind that she strives to maks plain. But
one does not go to Virot to give ideas, but to
buy them for a great price. The elegant
young woman who represent Mime Firot In
several languages do not know what to do
with this impossible person. The interview,
however prolonged. usually ends satisfaeto=
riIy the French ladies' sucosed in selling the
sort of bonaetH that they consider sppropri-
ate to those unkno9n but presumably un-
civilized regions, and the lady from the West
departs happy in the possession Of things
from Virot's.
Fish in Fulton Market.