Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-02-08
WOMAN AND HOME.
sREvITIsS, ITEMS AND PARAGRAPHS
CONCERNING THE FAIR SEX.
Beauty and Dress-Foreign Maid Serv-
snts-Desirability of Forgetting-Ar-
tistic Success-'An Understandings
DESERVING the Costumer.
baltimore American. !

"A womal's street dress nowadays is so
near akin to the dress of the stage that the
business of the costume establishments has
nearly died out" remarked a prominent cos
! tuner. You see, the plain and simple
street dressing that characterized both men
and women Is no longer in existence, and the
esta ablishments that were once relied upon
TO furnish fancy costumes are slowly but
surely becoming things of the past Fashion
has done much to bring this about As
fashion demands a more gaudy or fiashy
dress, the business OF the costumer neces-
sarily decreases. The legitimate work
OF the coStumer is to step in
between the plain and modest dress Of
everyday life and the magnificent apparel Of
the stage. Since, however, the plain style
OF street dress has been swallowed up in a
more fanciful and attractive habit this work
has been on the decline. and the costumer
has been the loser. There are many street
dresses to-day that years ago would have
been considered magnificent ball dres Ses"
DO you attribute this decline in your
business simply to a change in fashioni'
We'll, As general thing do. The change
in fashion from simple to an extravagan
dresS implies more lavish expenditure of
money on the part of those whose purses pro-
event that demands an extra dress, the
purse strings drawn already to their utmost
tension, cannot be relied upon 10 meet the
new demand. The dresses worn by some
women in the streets cost quite as much as
the richest costumes that could be selected
from my establishment A brilliant gather
ing Of to-day, where flock many women gayly
and richly dressed is but an ordinary occur
renee, where, years ago, the common folk
would stand on tiptoe to get even a peep
through the keyhole at richly-dressed
woman. Even women themselves who move
in the highest circles of society, are less
snvious in this regard than were the women,
say, Of ten years ago. Then a woman would
strive to do her utmost to outshine her rival.
Hence an appeal would be made to the skill
Of the costumer. Now, that the magnificent
dressing of the women has become a matter
even of street observation, the rivalry has
died out, and to be in the fashion on the
street is almost to be in the fashion at the
most brilliant gathering of society.
TO give an illustration of the decrease in
business: To-day am called upon to pre-
pare five dresses, where eight or ten years
ago / would think business dull if not called
upon to fill orders for at least a dozen. Ii
used to be that every fashionable weiGiny
would furnish us many customers, but even
this has run its race, and the most brilliant
and exclusive weddings in Baltimore will
not send single customer to the costumer.
Our main reliance is upon the private par
ties that take place in high life. The men
and women who are permitted to attend
these must of necessity make some special
provisions Being naturally and daily
associated with rich dressing, they will
on a special occasion strive to appear in
some other dres than the one worn in the
usual routine of life. Here is where the COS
tuner comes in The parties are rich, and
no question about the price of the dress is
raised, and the costumer has things his own
way. Even this branch of the business is
not as hourishing as it once was"
upon these occasions who generally are
the best customers
-Why, they come from the very best So
ciety in the city. Bankers, lawyers mer-
chants and professional men in general
patronize the costumer. The biggest bust
ness done in Baltimore in the way of costum-
ing was upon the occasion of the Martha
Washington tea party some years ago
Since then the more legitimate business has
been fat"