The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-08-17
SOME FACTS ABOUT DRESS.
WHAT IT COSTS TO FIT OUT A
MAN IN FIRST-CLASS STYLE.


TO the ordinary man. a seriousundertakinl
; He must place his determines in the hand
Of his tailor, and depend upon that moulde
Of shapes to so cover them that their eXis
tcnce will not be suspected.
Therein lies the responsibility that make
the ordering of dress SUIT a weighty mat
ter. aside from the actual cost. ON thu
tailor's proficiency in rcmedying the defect
iOfnaturc depends the wearer's chances o
presenting a fine appearance. He may no
be Of natural fine physique. and. bein-
aware Of the fact, relies on his tailor TO make
for HIM clothes that will hide these defects
II he secures a good tailor he has priceless
treasure Ia which he clings with the perrin
acity of an old woman 10 the tlme-lred
family physician. He will patrOnlIe No
other and becomes valuable customer
provided he pays for his clothes.
To this cOrrectOr of natures work goes
the Young man with matrimonial inten-
lions. the wealthy man anticipating a
Journey. and the society man. Each leels
that his fate is in the hands Of the tailor
He who 50 rashly cOntemplates marriage
knows that for once in his life at least, ne
must present fine appearance. lie feels
everything in his tailor. This accounts iG
the neat appearance which bridegrooms
General present. The tailor seems imbued
with the spirit of the occasion, and strives
TO do better. if possible, than usual.
The wealthy man bound to foreign parts
feels that he must present credtaDle ap-
pearance. He has dim notions OF visiting
the houses of prince aud duke, and has a
consciousness that his respectable Prince
I "A 81. a
visits "A fashionable merchant tailor, With
an anxious expression. He is measured,
and when arrayed in the new 500 dress
suit feels that he is as great as the best duke
or count that walks the earth. The suit l.
carefully packed away, and he goes on his
| Journey. rejoicing in the knowledge that he
is able at the proper time to array himself
i'm the modern purple and fine linen.
But these are only the transient custom
ers Of the fashionable merchant-tallOr. His
more regular ones are the butterflies OF
| fashion. the young men about town. To
these regular customers even the ordering
of dress-suit is a serious mater. They
are not contemplating a journey or matrl-
mony. but they are mcdilating fresh social
trumphs IN the gay world OF pleasure,
and they are only too Wei aware that their
| clothes are an important part OF themselves
| Their costume must bear the inspection OF
both sexes. and the wearer must have SUI
that need not bring discredit upon himself
! I'm fact il is almost safe 10 say that the So
ciety mans social. standing depends largely
upon his wearing apparel Evidently then'
| the tailor is an important parsonage.
"A dress suit. if il makes any Kind Of an
| appcarance." said one Of the fashionable
| merchant tailOrs, "cOsts not less than SIO
! The average cost is 500, or SllJ. We
make nothing but fine suits, and cater only
To the class that can afford 10 pay such
prices. \ dress suit can be obtained ioi
| 500, and the Wearer need not Ice ashamed
10 bee seen anywhere in it, our prices are
La little lower than the New lork prices, but
| they do not vary much.
"SWcl ful-dress suits are at present
made Of undress worsteds, and should not
cost less than 500. One that does Is inie-
| riOr. No one can convince me that iull-
dress suits can be made at the figures that
are advertised elsewhere. ! refer, of course.
10 some of these cheap houses where they
offer to make a suit for $50 or $50.
1T requires considerable time 10 make
full dress suit" said another OF these ultra
fashionable tailOrs. I'VE generally want
two weeks. or at least one week in which to
make "A suit. or course we have done II IN
less time when necessity demanded quicker
work but we do not like to hurry too much.
The salesman, sooner than let customer
leave, will promise almost any time, bat there
Is limit 10 an things. and yOu can make "a
suit inside of "a certain time. know OF cases
where "a suit costing $l2j was made IN
day. but that is an exception. You see we
do not keep "A force Of talls on hand. but LET
the work ont to first-class WOrkmen, who
take their work home. one man works on
the vest. another on the trousers, and
another on the coat. The coat is the most
difficult Of all, and requires the most time
| When we get an order for suit there may
not Dee always workmen ready, and We can
not trust our work to any tailor who hap
pens 10 come along. This is one reason
| why 80 mucn time is required
at is the aim of the merchant tailor 10
| keep ever i'm advance Of the ready-madc
dealers" said anOtherOi these fashionable
/ tailOrs. just as soon rs the reddy-madc
| clothicrs commence handling the same line
of goods. we stop, and take something
else. We are compelled 10 do this. or
! there would be no distinction in the busi-
ness. As it is. we always lead. That
is why the stylish men patr0nZe US.
hgh-priced though we be. We lead in
everything. but never follow, and Wheh
once a line of goods becomes common We
| drop il. Another thing that is not gcncr-
ally known is that manufacturers Of fine
fabrics will not sell 10 ready-made clothing
/
lose our patronage if they did so. and, know
ing this, prefer 10 retain the better class OF
patrons We never cut prices nor do any
thing to disturb the trade, and consequently
they deal only with us
"A GOOD full-dress suit can be had for
$50" said a busting Clark street tailor.
There is no use IN paying cent more for
it, and if YOU do YOU are not paying for the
clothes, but for the privilege Of getting them
aFaff as.rs
some Of those fashionable tailOr-shOps have
great reputation, and for the sake OF say
ing that he had his clothes made there some
men are willing to pay two prices. They
are foolish for doing il. We can make Just
rs GOOD clothes and turn them ont good
deal quicker at less cost. These old
fOgies hold to Old-fashiOned ideas ana
continue 10 charge Old-fashiOned prices.
they 90 too slow, too. Why. It takes them
nearly week - get suit ready, We VIII
at any time get suit made in twelve hours.
There is scarcely day in the week goes
that we have not some order for suit that
must be made in days time, and we al
ways have them ready. We can easily do
this. for we have a large force Of regularly
paid men who work at so much a week.
There is none Of this taklng-h0me work
here. While these heightened places are
having two or three suits cut we cut ten or
twelve. Then we don't 90 to the fOOlshness
Of trying "A suit on half dozen times. It's
sheer nonsense and a waste Of time.
"All those Things count. you see. Then
there is another point that enables Us to
give lower figures. We do a strictly cash
business, and no matter who il is, he can
not get credit here. At those other places
they have long lists Of bad debtors from
whom they can't get cent. That has
much 10 do with their high prices
"These stories of impecunious young men
who run up big bills with their taiiors. are
wonderfully Oyerdrawn.' said a well-knOwn
tailOr. "a good merchant tailor who con-
ducts business properly, loses less than most
any other merchant. He knows what bus
mess il, and does not trust indscrimlHately.
II is true that he sometimes has wealthy Gus
toners who do not pay their bills regularly
and whom he hesitatcs 10 dun. lie fears to
offend them; for he will lose not only their
patronage, but that OF their friends also.
Then. TOO, there are many cases where
men who have been rolling IN wealth are
impoverished by one rash speculation.
They owe everybody, the tailor among
the rest. They have. very likely. bought
some very fine clothes Of the fashionable
tailor, for which they still owe; for their