, 1884-04-08
AN UNCR0WNED KING.
Worth, tho Dress Monarch, Still
Holds His Court
About His ItivaIs. Rnd wherein They
Fail TO Reach His ENceiIence
---Three of His Latest
Productions


lucy II. Hooper in Inter ocean,
1t has been said in Paris OF its leading
dressmaters that Worth makes for queens,
princeSses and Americans, Doucet for young
girls, Felix for actresses, aud Rodriguez for
society ladies. l think il | belonged TO any
category, excepting that Of the young girls.
/ would order my dresses at Worth's. The
king Of the dressmakers still maintains his.
sway. There have been rivals near his
throne, but none has as yet succeeded in de-
throning him. Rodriguez lacks invention,
and will reproduce one model 100 times.
Doucet makes lovely toilets on soft aerial
materials, but they lack richness OF effect.
Felix's gowns are all constructed with Il view
to the glare OF the footlights; but for fertility
OF invention, for artistic combinations OF
color, for audacity OF. design, and for grace
iu drnping the most rebellious of materials,
Worth still remains incompatible. The
great establishment on the Ruo do la Paix,
with its balcony ratings in gilded iron, is as
ever the palace Of fashion. To be perfectly
well dressed, my countrywomen, put money
into your purses and straightway enter those
tempting portals.
THE ESTABLISHMENT.
Whom you enter the establishment itself.
which is situated on the first floor lin Ameri-
can ideas the second, you might fancy your
self in u bank, were it not for the pack
ages OF uncut dry goods piled upon thu
shelves and the multitude of women drifting
continually TO and fro-forewomen, filters,
call girl, workwomen, etc. Worth employs
l.OOO hands in his ~dressmaking department
Alone, apart from the manufacturer OF
trimmings, the embroiderors, etc, who work
for him outside. Ono dress, manufactured
for tho Russian coronation, occupied throo
months in the embroidering. And the day
Will come when this vast establishment will
fall to pieces like a house of cards. That
viii be when Worth himself dies or retires
from business He is less the handspring than
the soul Of the whole affair. He is here, there
and everywhere; now experimenting the last
trying on OF Il sunptuous costume, then set
thing n dispute between two of his leading
indies; next combining two impossible shades
of color, or modifying the fall of n laco
hounca-he keeps everything going by his
Will and energy and immense vitality.
II OF SUCCESS.
t certain periods OF the yeaf he becomes
invisible. He shuts himself up with yards Of
rich materials, and evolves from his fertile
brain the designs for the novelties Of the
coming season. A nannkin in wire, placed
upon u platform before him, is clothed in a
skirt hastily stitched together by the sewing
women Of the house. On this foundation
Worth proceeds to elaborate his new ideas as
to h%ounces, TUNES, or drapery by means Of
innumerable pins. When the work Is finished
1t is carried Off to be rendered permanent
with thread and needle. A part of his sue.
cess lies in his wonderful management Of
drapery. With one turn OF his hand he can
bestow II grace and elegance to the How Of a
scarf OF the lines of IA tunic that may be
sought for in vain in tho estab-
lishinents OF his rivals. This gift,
and his eye for color, have givon
him his artistic pre-eminence in his chosen
sphere, and it certainly does not require a
sense of the msthctic 10 make one appreciate
WOrth's best work. | havo known wealthy
American ladies to turn away from the mar
velS of his ~shOw-roumS with the remark that
"the red plush costume Mrs. Brown bought
Mt Higgins" or "that sweet emerald green
satin that MacstingV q MiviIB had Tor q
pattern dress last year" was quite superior
to anything they had yet seen in Paris.
Worth studies some of his most striking
effects from nature, and his most daring
combinations of color have been borrowed
from the plumnge of the birds, the petals of
the flowers, or the vegetation and earliest
blossoms OF spring.
IN II sHow-RooMs.
His show-rooms are on he second floor of
his establishment, and it snotevery one that
is privileged to ontei there, else his best
models would be ruth.essly copied and vul-
CARRIED by second class dressmakers. You
pass through n suite of lordly looking rooms,
with heavy curtains aud dark green velvet at
the windows, and mostly furnished with
huge mirrors aud sofas, with coverings to
match the curtains. There arc no carpets.
the highly polished floors always shining like
glass. At the very end of the suite is "a single
narrow room, with carpeted floor and walls
lined with mirrors There, set out in state
like so many Bluebeard's wives, that have
undergone tho process OF decapitatiou instead
of hanging, arc usually to be found the
last creations Of tue artists fancy. Here, for
instance, is Il dinner dress intended for an
Austrian archluchess. Tho train aud corsage
are in the darkest possible shadcs OF garnet
velvet. tho latter long and narrow, and lined
throughout with n cream satin, fringed with
large velvet roses in their natural hues. Just
below the waist the train is turned back in
wido rcvers to show the lining, these reyers
being caught together over the train. The
underskirt is in gold, yellow satin, and laid
in wido box-plaited folds; this houncs is
edged with two ruilieo Of white lace.
FOR a SPANISH bride.
In strong contrast to those splendorsi Is a ball
'lrcss for II young Spanish bride that stands
just beside the Austrian ladyis magnilcence.
It is in white tulle, made up over palo mink
wntered silk GREAT bouquets OF red roses and
Of lilies OF the valley retain tho transverse
folds OF tulle on the front II the skirt, and
the back of the skirt, which is short, Is GOV.
erred with narrow tulie nnunces. The bou.
qnets ON the dress are Tsp cially worthy of
uoticoY They arc foilpld with sooming care
lessness with long stalks and profuse foliage,
aud are in the style kuawn as a Ia bonus
femme TOR guOd- woman ~fashionl, lpiuy sup
posed 10 represent fiounces that lnye been