Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1890-07-09
WHAT A YOUNG LADY COSTS
The Devotee of Fashion a Dear Creature
Indeed.

lnOoeO.
From the Cincinnati Times-star.
This is a practical age, and many think
that sentiment does not have as much
to do with love, courtship and marriage
as it once had. Some men are SO penu-
rious that they stop to count the
cost of supporting a wife as they do of
building a house or supporting a car
rage. Such men, of course, generally
have but limited income, and they are
obliged to practice economy or fall
behind in their finances. The
correspondents of various New
York papers are just now furnish
ing information in this connec-
ton by the bushe. They all unite in
showing that young ladies of fashion are
pretty costly in fact, very, very dear
creatures in every sense of the word.
Few of them figure out very large
amounts for food, ordinary clothing and
washing. The largest sums are for Incl
dentals. One young lady spends over
s., 600 year in lessons in music, art,
Delsarte, voice building and physical
training. She is the graduate of fash
ionable, seminary, but she was not fin
ished off there exactly to her liking. A
young lady born and bred on Murray
Hill finds $1,000 to be the sum required
to meet her expenses, which do not In
clude the cost of her living, as she re-
sides at home with her parents. She
has carriage and riding horse at her
disposal, and hair-dresser is employed
| by the family.
A lady of %, who recently lost her
husband by divorce, pays a laundry bill
each month which amounts to $50, con-
tracts with dentist to keep her teeth
clean for 800 per year, and gives a
specialist 81 900 per year to treat her for
pet disease. To keep her complexion
in repair costs $50 per month. One ex-
pert, who is giving instructions on the
subject, states that it costs 81 800 to pro-
/ vide toilet articles and other little things
necessary to keep up genteel appear
ance.
/ Right in line with this are the remarks
of young and handsome woman the
other day to a reporter:
"Any woman can be beautiful in the
public eye who has taste for dress and
money" said she. "She can get along
without the taste, but not without the
money. The money can procure for
! her the taste Of others. The women of
| to-day realize very thoroughly what
dress is in securing the reputation for
beauty, among fifty women of social
| standing. If they were required to
choose between the possession of a
beautiful face and figure on the one
hand, or the means to dress magnifi-
Gently and elegantly, you would not find
enc who would choose the face and fig
ure. 1t isn't that women do not like to
! be handsome, but because they know
they can appear handsome if they have
the equipment which money can pro-
| cure.
The question of what does it cost the
average girl of limited means to dress
respectfully has bothered Times-Star
reporter for some time. One of the
most characteristic features of an Ameri-
can city is the tasty and stylish dressing
of its working and shop girls; and just
| how it is accomplished upon the limited
salary, if it can be called salary, of these
| girls, is problem worthy of study.
Wishing to satisfy this justifable curl
osity, the Times-Star reporter visited
i the John Shillito dry goods store loaded
with questions about the interesting
mystery. The desire to straighten it
up seemed to be mutual, and the scribe
was treated to a most interesting talk.
"Your question is somewhat indef-
nite," answered the attache, blandly,
when he was asked how much it took
to clothe a young lady respectfully. ga
woman is unlimited in her scheming
ability, and her dress bill is of course
wholly in accord with her income. She
can spend as low as $50 year tor dress
and be not only presentable but stylish,
and she can pay her dressmaker many
hundreds of dollars during single
year and then sigh for more"
sHow is it that our girls who work in
shops can dress SO stylishly, seemingly
regardless of cost ?"
''Ah, there you have struck the
philosophy of the question, and it is in
teresting to consider it. 1t is due large,
ly to American enterprise. The Ameri-
can modiste copies the latest Partisan
and English styles and places them
within the reach of all. A girl can for
S. make up the pattern that will display
as much Of the latest styles and fads as
the S35 dress of the wealthy people on
the hills. OF course it is needless to
observe the difference in the fabrics of
the two dresses, but this shows you
what can be done now. Another thing
that affects largely the cheap dressing
in the United States is this: There is
no distinctive cast dressing. In some
foreign countries the style of dress is
almost wholly regulated by their social
position or lack Of position. A peasant
OF Italy Will nave one Styl0 OI OT0SS LOT
week day, and on Sundays or holidays
that same dress will be freshened by a
bit of ribbon. How. do you think that
would suit our enterprising girls who,
on week days, are attired neatly with
their tight-ftting garments, while on
Sunday they are the personifcation OF
all that is lovely and dashing."
Perhaps every yourg lady has in
mind during the winter months the trip
she is going to take next summer-the
clothes she will have to wear, and the
conquests she will have to make. All
these are weighty considerations,
especially the fitting out of her ward
robe, for on that depends her success
full campaign of the summer.
Curious to know how much of ward
robe would be necessary and how ex-
pensive it would be for person of linn
tied means to start on summer outing,
the reporter asked for fair estimate Of
the probable cost. For example was
taken young lady of the great middle
class, the daughter of bookkeeper
| who draws q salary of ST 900