Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1892-11-30
THE r1RclNla FREE paEss--rAE OLD FAMILY JOURNAL.
virginia frss grsss.
DUMMIES FOR DRESSES.
Figures OF Zinc That Enable Women t.
-. ~ Oun nreRsmakers.

Figures OF Zinc 1nAt Ah~SAS
Become Their Own Dressmakers.
Half a dozen ladies were standing
outside of a doorway on down town
business block. Two or three of them
were rather slenderly built, while
the others were inclined to stoutness.
Although they remained there to-
gether for several hours, none OF
them said anything This was prob
ably because they had no heads. In
fact they were made of zinc as far
down as Just below the hips, while
beneath there was nothing at all ex-
cept an iron stick for each one, with
a base to stand upon. twas evident
that they were dressmakers' dunn
mics.
Unlike most such dummies. how
ever, these represented the figures
of real people A reporter found by
inquiry that the manner Of making
them is rather curious For ex-
ample. Mrs. Jones, for reasons
presently to be explained, wants to
have one constructed after the model
of her own shape She goes and
has herself measured as if for dress
and a costume is cut out according to
the measurements. But the material,
instead of being silk or other cloth,
is sheet zinc. When the pieces have
been cut out they are soldered
together, instead of being sewn, and
thus is obtained a reproduction OF
the figure of Mrs. Jones.
Necessarily the measuring, cutting
and shaping have to be done very
carefully, inasmuch as the dummy
must have precisely the form of Mrs
Jones. She has it sent home and it
serves in future for dressmahng pur-
poses as a substitute for herself
that is to say, she has all her dresses
fitted upon it instead of having to
bother with that part of the business
herself. Any woman will testify
what an aggravating bore it is to
have a dress fitted, requiring as 1t
does hours of standing before the
mirror and all sorts of alterations
and readjr ;tments, all of which is
trial to both patience and temper
But with dummy to fit the dress
upon most of this trouble is avoided.
If dressmaker is employed she can
do all the fitting on the model, and If
the gown fits the latter it will equally
satisfy the requirements of Mrs.
Jones. OF course this assumes that
Mrs. Jones does not get particularly
fatter or thinner, in which case she
would be obliged to have herself
measured for another dummy. How
ever, the greatest advantage OF this
device is that Mrs. Jones is able to
send her dummy to the dreesmakers
house and she need not go there or
disturb herself again about the mat
ter, having provided the materials,
until the gown is sent home already
to be put on.
Most women are obliged to mako
their own dresses, and for their pur-
poses such a dummy is invaluable,
inasmuch rs they are thus enabled to
fit their own waists and drape their
own skirts as well and as easily as il
they were making a costume for
somebody else. The zinc dummies
cost from eight to twenty dollars.
The price of them goes up rapidly
with the avoirdupois of the pur
chaser, so that dummy with q 49,
inch bust costs at least twice as much
as one with 36-inch bust measure.
1t is probable, therefore, that before
long similar dummies will be made
for men, VINO can thus have clothes
made for them by their tailors with
out being obliged to be measured
Washington Star