Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-11-07

uAE bAAh REfOhIEh hho rOOND OUI
/ \ thing or two about the clothes of the
/ young swells who roam the streets Of Washing
ton, neither toiling. nor spinning. and yet ar.
raycd in greater magnifcence than the late
Mr.. Solomon in all his glory. Here Is little
dialogue between two Of these human Connect
cut avenue lilies Of the clubs and drawing
| rooms:
my dear fellow, you've been over this sum-
| mer and paws lively wasn't able to go. Tell
| me, then, must / wear frock coat or Q cut
awayT'
'My deah boy, you're not sewious, are you?
Don't you know that the fwock Is the proper
| thins?"
'Pon honor didn't I'm rusty. expect"
"Wustyl should say so. An old scythe left
out in the vain is nothing to you"
1t seems to be the fact that the long -skirted
WOODEN frock coat Is more correct this year
than the dapper little cutaway, and yet the
| coat looks well upon only q few. 1t takes q
good figure to wear it and q good tailor to make
1t and good purse to pay for it. Those who
have been to London this past summer have
brought them back generally made Of rough
WOODEN cloth, usually Of black, but sometimes
Of gray or brown. They are heavy and often
nngainly. but on tall, well-formed man they
look we'll
THE TAILOR AND HE BILL
1t has been said that IL takes good purse to
pay for these garments, but then do all men
pay their tailors? If they don't tho tailors in
this country want to know the reason why, but
on the other side Of the Atlantic it is said that
the tailors never send in bill to certain noble
men because they know that it wouldn't be paid
in the first place, and secondly because the GUS
tom OF these swells is good advertisement and
hrf no ham >x-s,. \.
system is even followed, according to rumor,
by the great fashion maker among all the men
OF the world, H. r. H. the Prince Of Wales.
To be coatmaker to H. r. II. means that you
will have more orders for coats than you can
possibly fill A few side remarks about royalty
in England may not be amiss here.
When Beau Brummel ut one stroke, az it WERE
put starch into all the neck cloths of Europe
who was there that would refrain from admir-
ing him Tor the power he had? When he quar-
relied with the Prince Of Wales, it was q quar-
rel between two sovereigns, and it was only
through unforeseen circumstances that Brum-
mel went under in the fight. But now, what
can be said about the present Prince of Wales,
heir to the British throne? He holds poiiti-
cal power and he never will. That sort of thing
was stopped when America ''sat on" his snces-
tor one hundred and sixteen years ago. This
country said it didn't want kings any more
and Great Britain following our lead, said we'll
compromise the matter by keeping our royal
family to look at. but we won't let them govern
us any more. So ever since then the royal
family has ridden in professions, lived in
palaces, played baccarat and worn fine clothes.
And SO the heir to the British throne,
having no political power and no
prospect OF political power, has emu
lated Beau Brummel and is now probably
the autocrat of the fashions for men. II he
wears o cutaway coat cutaway coats speedily
become the fashion; if he wears y frock coat
the young men to whom dressing is an oceupa-
ton all order frock coats, too. 1t is different
with women. Men 60 to the royal family of Eng
land for their fashions, but women are more
republican and go the dressmakers of Paris.
There ID hardly any one person who sets the
fashions for women as the Prince of Wales does
for men. There is one man who can do pretty
much as he chooses with women's clothes and
they will think him right but he makes dresses
and doesn't wear them.
To return to the subject Of paying the taiIors.
there 10 one young swell in Washington who
never pays for the clothes he has until he is
ready to order some more. By this system he
10 enabled always to keep ahead of his tailor
Ii lie dies first debt against his estate will be
q suit of clothes; il the tailor dies first this
young fellow will owe his heirs. The scheme,
from selfish standpoint, is not bad. provided
that the customer dies before the tailor. He
will then have escaped from paving for q suit
OF clothes, but it is hard on the tailor ii he
should be the one to die first, because he will
have missed the enjoyments Of the profits from
the suit Of clothes.
It may be put down as a settled fact that the
full dresa for daylight is the frock coat,
although if you have good cutaway you will
not be considered out Of the style if you wear
1t. The coat. Of course is the most important
garment Of all. As for trousers, men must
wear them. but they need not trouble their
minds about them this winter. There have been
no radical changes. Don't wear tights and
don't on the other hand clothe yourself in
co uple OF balloons. A happy medium il the
thing.
now ABOUT HATS.
In approaching the subject Of hats . great
deal OF care must be observed. Nothing makes
such change in q mans appearance as his hat
jolly faced. smiling man puts on a broad
brimmed, sober-looking tile, pulls it down
about his ears and looks as sober as the ira
ditionaI judge. long -faced fellow who would
make fortune as an undertaken, puts jaunty
brown derby hat on the side of his head and
looks as joyial as a circus clown What a
strange fashion it is that men should wear silk
hats. The shiny tail ''dicer' that has been the
fashion in one shape or another for upward of
q hundred years seems to be liked as a part of
q well-dressed man. II he is elderly he is apt
to wear it in the morning as well rs in the
afternoon; if he is young man he only wears
it when be is on parade or paying calls OF on
Sundays, but no man can pretend to have a
good outfit of clothing unless he has q shining
silk hat. Young men do not, Il must
be admitted, take kindly to this hat They only
wear it when they must, and even some OF
them don't wear it when they ought to. Two
things there which a well-dressed man
ought never to do--one is to wear q derby hat
and q frock coat and the other is to wear a silk
hat and q bobtailed coat. There have been ultra
swells who have made the attempt to revolu-
tionize this rule, and couple OF years ago q
few men might be seen in sack coats and tall
hats, but the fashion was outrageous and every
body refused to follow it. There are some
conservative old gentlemen who cling to the
old-fashioneds soft felt hat, and they are really
to be envied: Any one who has worn one 81
these finds it difficult to accommodate himself
afterward to the derby. The latter ia stir and
uncomfortable when compared with the pliable
Kossuth or Alpine hat
no AMERICAN PRINCE OF wAIEA
Who II the Prince Of Wales of Amerioa2-
that Il, who 10 the man whose apparel is most
observed and followed2 Not the President of
the United States, certainly. he may dress
we'll or be may dress badly, nobody cares any
thing about it. He was not elected because he
was . swell Nevertheless, Washington never
saw better dressed man than President Ar
thur, and President Harrison, too h aivav.
we'll clothed. But the President follow the
fashion in q conservative way and does not set
it In fact, there is nobody who does and this
10 because the country 10 30 large. The writer
was once down In Virginia and Overheard a
"a