Sacramento daily record-union., 1889-06-08
PERFECT FORM
MODELS IN THE GREAT NEW YORK
CLOAK HOUSES.
Difficulty in Finding Women IN All
Respects Suitable-How They
are Measured.

the perfect specimen of the thing 70 be
fashioned after them. The artist raves
over his model because II meets his ideal
of the perfect human form, and presents to
his artistic eye the reality which his active
imagination has striven 70 portray. Nor
is it extraordinary or even unusual for the
artist sometimes, in the intensity of his
admiration, to fail . prey to Cupid.
Experience, from time immemorial, has
repeatedly taught Us that admiration and
love are akin, even as love and pity, and
that to admire a model from . purely
artistic standpoint is not always assurance
against more serious complications.
\ model is supposed to be perfect
form. But what Is a perfect FORM Who
is to be the Judge? Certainly there Is no
standard for the artist. lie seeks SYM
metry only. 1t may be large OF small, 50
long as its proportions are pleasing TO the
eve, and while the demand ior this kind
of model is limited, the available sapplyis
not greater than the demand
There is a kind of model however, Of
and vet there is scarcely an issue Of the
daily papers that does not contain adver-
tisement5 soliciting their services This
is the model who stands on her feet from
morning till night 30 have dresses, cloaks,
coats and Jerseys hauled oven" her.
Hauled is used adyisedlv, because in
the tying on and taking of OF their gar
menI> the process resolves Itself practically
into hauling IT dragging And to endure
this treatment requires a temper shat is as
much q model OF meekuess and mildness
a. the body is a model O.! form
All trsr-c5ss cloak and suit houses en-
ploy FROM tdrec to i've models, embracing
three sizes, -, 26 and IS inches bust meas
uremeu-. The OF er portions Of the body,
the arms and neck, must be in perfect pro-
portion, the measurements for q So bust
beTug as follows: Waist, y inches back,
from neck to waist, 10 inches front, from
neck to waist, 49, inches; side, inches
sleeve, i inches; around the neck, l5t
inches, and around the hips, 10 inches. \
3j-busC is unusually expected TO measure
81 inches, SD that garment fitted very
tightly over 1t will Tt q Sj-1Ust comfort
ably. IN all forms the waist is supposed to
be , inches smaller around than the bust.
Garments are made also TO iit 40 ana
42-inch bu,ts, but these are unusual sizes.
and to meet the Slight demand for them
dummies are employed.
It is remarkable how many attractive
figures M advertisement for cloa., model
will bring. And while to the eve the ap-
plicaats are nearly all perfect in form, it
is astonishing h9w few ofIhem successfully
pass the ordeal. There are seven meas
uremcntS, and the successful candidate
must be perfect in every one of them. \
half inch ont Of the wav, either one way
or the other Is sufficient for rejection by n
fr-t-cia-s house. And yet, with so few
really perfect forms in the world, il Is sur
pr;sing 5hu, the demand for this class Of
model cam he met
Jpon this point designer in one of our
best houses, who has had wide expert
enge, said a few days ago thdt perhaps two
thirds of the best figures in cloak houses
were more Or les, made up" The
length OF the asm, back ar sides or the
circumference ot the neck, If not of the
proper measurement, cannot he remediga
Uut the bus. or hips can lee uujit up, ana
lacin- often brings the waist Down TO the
proper size. Yet in suit houses, where de-
cpj}etrc dresse, must be DISPLAYED -har pUr-
chascrs may see the effect TO he produced
hy tuem in the ballroom, thu bust must he
perfect He said il was fact thai not
one in ten figures we're large enough about
the hips without >o,ne building uD. This
is not because the models are detective in
that particular, but the habit Of wearing q
multiplicity Of skirts and large 5Gs.les re-
qures undue proportion here.
The pay for models of ;his character
varies from Sc TO SIS % week, the price
paid depending chiefly upon the house
doing the employing. The majority OF
houses pay only s. and $40.
The duties of mCoel are oteutime-
mos, lrdUous, and. as might naturally bg
expected, the smaller the wages ua;d the
greater Is the amauat Of service required
Those establishments which pay the higher
prices require thg performance ef those
duties only which technically Belong tl
the model; hut Jae i9wc--u-iee5 houses
while they engage a model TO try On cloak
and dresses only, gradually heap othel
duties upon her, uunouCed at irst, per
haps, by the model as she is told that it i
only to "help OUT bu; the helping out
business continues from day to day, ant
often weeks, while she is incidentally calle,
unon 10 add still other tasks, until. before
she really awakens g. the fact, the fruit
of her labor in other directions are NOR
than paying the small stipend she IS draw
ing. thus completely caaceilinE the eEpens
of q model 4 young lady who began as
model at s. q week in a house on Cana
street last Monday was invited on Tuesda,
to assist in shocking Jerseys, las there wa
a rush on a special order" and SO rapidl
l., i.
speaking TO a Star representative aboue tn
matter yesterday, the Young lady said tha
were she paid piece work for what she hat
done during the week she would hay
drawn larger sum than her wage
amounted to- "Yet," said she, what ca
DO? If ! refuse | will be dismissed, ant
my position given to another. II comply
earn ne more than others are earning, VIII
are not required to possess tie proportion
of a model and give my services as
model really gratis
Even Il the model is KEEP; strictly at th
work for which she is engaged she We
earns all the money she receives. Putin
on OF taking of a single garment is every
thing but an enjoyable procedure; br
how distasteful it must be to repeat this az
from A. Y. to 5 or p. NJ, and be haule
and pulled. besides, by every Tom, Die
and Harry who, in their eagerness TO asce
tain whether the garment fits, forget a
about the fact that the protopiasm With
is human.
One of the most Objectionable feature
perhaps, to being figure is the facs that
gives rise TO all manner of jealousies.
woman who does not possess a good for
is, as a rule, painfully aware of hex phi.
steal deficiencies, and the presence Of
perfect form, particularly if the & Perfe
form +" is beneath a beautiful face, is d
cidedly distasteful, and it is not an uuusa
thing for the model, who may not be a b
yais, to find herself a subject for gener
and r~waTranted criticism, as well as i
victim of cruel gossip. However well 81
r,nn,r cnnl,,nt hnrsnlf thn tnnc..1es of h.