Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1886-09-14
n BORROWED PLUMAaE.
An Agency for Fitting Out Women
Hired Efuery.


Hired Ffnery.
There is curious br kerage business
carried on in a suite of well-furnished
rooms in prominent Office building on
Walnut street. There is no -iGn out and
no display made. but there is frequent
coming and going OF weli-dreSSed laGi s,
and every indication OF hour;shing bust
ness.
A brisk little man, with an ofs-hand
manner and profu5ior Ct jeweiry, is
the manager of the establishment. His
assistants are al women. . 4 .h3 place
is the agency of New Yer, iiou which
makes business OF hiking cut costly
dresses FIR summer, Sc Site K mo,n-
tain wear. and even to parties who are
making n rip to Europe. Equally as
common thing is tie renting from
evening to evening OF ballroom COS
tunes for ladies who can't afford to bay
expensive dresses for one or two &C :
sions.
They can hire ballroom DIR SIS, shoes,
stockings and lace shawl, which would
cost $780, for from S. to S25 night. II
they are known they are not required to
leave a deposit; o herwise the Pre-. OF
the outfit is left with the costumer to b,
returned when the dress comes back.
One costumer in the city. who docs u
very large business il a quiet way for
the fashionable People. has in his pos
session SO. 200 worth OF dresse, robes.
shawls, and other female tnery which
has come to h IN in various ways.
Many rich people, he says. sell their
ballroom dresses at the end o. a ason.
They will not use them a second sea-
son, and get back part OF the cost IN
this way. These dresses are hired ott
to less particular people, who are thus
on special occasions able TO appear in
finery as elaborate and rich as t.!at Of
the most elegant ladies.
How do you manage it, the dapper
little broker was asked.
Very easily. elaveia New York
hundreds OF dresses which are ptacti
CALI new. Some Of them are entirely
new. lady customer who wants TO
spend two months at the seaside comes
in and tells us what she wants. Perhap,
it is four fine dresses. Ordinary walk
ing and -lounging dresses she has.
We don't hire such. 1t would not
pay.
1--WE take her measure, and, if We
can fit her, even by altering the dresses
we have on hand, we fix her up with one
dinner dress, and so on, as she may
desire. If she should attempt to pur-
chase such an outfit as we could
furnish her it would cost her not less
than ST, 500. We charge her 800.
"She don't wear the dresses often
enough to do them Serious inj..ry. and
at the end of two months she has had
her full of finery and would not Wear
them a second season il she o ned them,
while we have our $500 and our outfit,
damaged probably $3.50 worth. She has
saved $1,000; we have had profit
of $3.50. Amt that all right?
Now here is another instance which
actually occurred in Philadelphia not
very long ago.
"A lady who has very fair fortune
was about to take trip to Europe. She
proposed to travel on tie continent, to
do it in good style, but as cheaply as
possible. But the cost of war robe Of
fine iresses, which she thong t neces-
sarr N de her hesitate. The outfit she
G-9 .ed would cost her, in adGi1 on 10
III. every day dresses needed, itbouc
! Sc 600
Line up~.ot Of the matter was that We
furnished her with the outfit, ew, made
to her order, charge her So. zoe sor the
use o: them fer :rurteeE w eks and 20.
the dresses back almost Il good rs new
Since then those DIRE SEES Il tied Us more
than they cost, and we sold them to q
customer recently for $780, Phila.
delphia Record.