St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-06-20
AwOmAN,s NEW DRESS
what Vital Questions Are Involved
Sov

w nat VIAL questions Are I@VOlVeO
i'm Its Selection.
What our descendants will wear a CEN
fury hence no mortal ingenuity can guess.
We can only be sure that they will wear
something. and that when they lock at our
portraits, they will think us to have been
queer old puts. There is nothing more
forlorn than an obsolete fashion. Those
who may think it picturesque would be the
last to practically adopt it. Not to wear
what the majority of certain ''best people"
are wearing is a confession of eccentricity, of
poverty or of bad taste. Those who do not
care to be considered singular acquiesce
quietly in the dictum of tailor or of dress
maker, and put on what is made for them
without question. There are others who
do not think too much solicitude about the
matter worth while. There are great
many men who do not know whether their
coats fit them or not, and do not care, so
the garment be not uncomfortable. There
are a few wemen whose wrinkles in the
forehead are never increased by
WRINKLES IN THE BACK.
But it is to be feared that such women are
the exception. What to wear is problem
very engrossing to the feminine nature.
Men who have quietly watched the
genesis of worhan's new Dress will admit
that is amusing. 1t is worse than that
sometimes; to the woman it is irritating.
Whoever thinks that in the first place it
is easy to get the thing started, labors
under mOnstrous deluson. First there is
the mementous financial question-how
much should be spent? Then there is the
material question-what shall the garment
be made of. Then there is the aesthetic
question-how shall it be ornamented? Then
there is the all-important constructive ques-
tion-who shall make it? And then that
fearful final question-does it fit? There
are minor questions of taking in, Of letting
out. of lengthening, of shortening, OF add
ing this, of SubStracSing that, of
REHANGING THE SKIRT,
of loosening or tightening the sleeves.
Probably no woman who thought it an inn
portant matter ever absolutely and unre-
servedly admitted that she liked dress
when it was first sent home; or if she
CHANGED to, ever continued to be of the
same mind after somebody else had found
fault with it. Doubtless, there is often rea-
son enough to complain. If the average
tailor were no better than the average
dressmaker, men would growl as much as
women. The female artisan is by no means
certain. Fashionable as dressmaker may
be, and frightful as her prices may be,
there is always danger that she may pro-
duce bad work, though it is odd that she
never admits it. She is apt to be angry if
the least fault is found, and to grumble if
she is requested to make alterations. Like
most business women, she lacks
BUSINESS METHODS
and is likely to be resentful if they are in
sisted upon. These faults are shared by
her workwomen, who often add to them
ignorance and clumsiness. This accounts
for much of the dissatisfaction of her pa
irons. Sometimes costly material is wasted,
and sometimes it is not honestly accounted
for. Promptness is almost unknown.
Hardly ever is a dress ready when prom
ised. There are disputes. misunderstand-
ings. quarels. The modiste loses good
customer, and the customer goes some
where else, only to find out that she is no
better off than before. And so her life wears
away in succession of difficulties, until
one last dress is put upon her, IN the which
it is impossible for her to find fault. There
is this to be said of the wearer that what
ever maker undertakes to make should be
made according to contract There is this
to be said for the maker, that often those
who employ her do not know PRECISELY
what they want. and thus create needless
fuss and pick unreasonable flaws. Whether
to be exactly CONNIE il faut is worth the
trouble it is for those who take it to de-
termine. New York Star.