Morning journal and courier., 1891-01-06
WHAT A MAN MAY WEAR.
Fashion Leaves a Good Deal An
 All to Individual Taste.

All tO IH01V1Oua1 Iaste.
 From the New York Sun-l
 "You men talk about our being slaves of fashion," said bright young woman the other day, ''but we are not nearly as much so as you are. Look at any man who pretends to be we'll dressed and see if he does not wear exactly the same style of garments, from his shoes to his hat, as every other. The shape of the hats worn by well-dressed men is always the same. So is the cut of the trousers, and the coats and waisteoats are identical among the fashionable ones for their various pur- poses. There may, it is true, be two styles of hats or shoes, and possibly even coats, waistcoats and trousers But there is always one particular style for the young and fashionable man, and he scorns everybody who wears any other
 ''The well-dressed men-that is, the sw-..s, as you call them-are always dressed alike, and the common men imi- tate them as nearly as their less corpulent pocketbooks will let them. Of course l am only woman, and may be mistaken in some of the assertions I make, but have brothers who are very particular about their dress, and from what I have heard them say, and from my own obser- vations, form my opinions.
 -"Now We women have really far greater range in our choice of garments Fashion does not go so far with us. It may say that if wear a hat it shall be large and shall be trimmed with ostrich feathers, but it allows me to pick out shape suited to my face or alter it until it does It al- lows me to trim my hat as I think best, and curl or straighten the brim as l choose. The same rule applies to our dresses. Certain principles are laid down for the season, but individual taste has 6 large field. This is true of all our other garments"
 At first sight the speakers assertions seemed to be correct. It is unquestiona- bly, true that fashionable men do dress alike, and individual taste in the swells seems to consist in showing that one can be more of an extremist than another in following the fashion plates But the men who supply the various garments the tailors, matters, bootmallers and fur nishers-declare that there is no reason for this sameness in mems garments at all, except the whims of the men themselves. Any man can secure of the most fashiona- ble tailor, natter, furnisher or shoemaker any style of garment that his inventive genius and individual taste may suggest. One of the fashionable matters said to the Sun reporter upon this subject:
 "There is no reason in the world why any particular style of hat should be worn by a man who claims to be well dressed. In the great and fashionable European cit ies this sameness does not prevail, but ev- cry man wears style of hat that he thinks best suited to the shape of his head. It is true that the silk hat is uni versally recognized as the only dress hat, but the shape is matter of individual taste. One man may wear a wide-brimmed hat with bell crown and another may wear a narrow-brimmed hat with a straight crown, and yet each has the same right to | consider himself well dressed if the hat is well made and in good condition. Even in New York there is no such thing among | the we'll dressed men as different styles fol different seasons.
 "This may seem startling to you be | cause it is the reverse of the popular i'm | pression, but nevertheless it is true. Tht | frst-class natter gets out spring and win | ter styles because there is a demand fol them on the part of countrymen and meI l who are not up to the times in matters ot dress. For the really well-dressed mar we keep the same styles of hats the yea round. We have a large variety of hat | for those who know what is correct tc choose from. We keep the London, Pari | and Vienna hats, and it is usually from the makes of these three cities that tn, | swell makes his selection.
 "We have many well-dressed patrons l each of whom comes here and picks ou the shape of hat that he wants, tells u what style he wants it made in and tn material of which it is to be composed and then we make the hat accordingly.
 have made hat in this way for mal while he waited in the store, and before b could finish reading his copy of the Sun It is true that he must use one of our reg ular blocks, but we have so many iron which he can choose, and we have studie the subject so thoroughly, that he must b possessed of very strange taste indeed he cannot select one block to satisfy him
 "A good many prominent men come t us who buy the same style of hat year i and year out. Some of our customer have had special blocks made to suit them and we never use any other in makin hats for them. Bishop Potter has had hi hats made on a special block for years.
 Hugo Fritsch, the late German consu