Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1893-09-23
ALL READY MADE.


Is the Work of the Custom Dressmaker
Dying Dat?
Less than 10 years ago it was iimpos-
sible to purchase ready made dress in
America, no matter how urgent the ne
cessity. Today. whether the garment ia
for funereal, festive or general purposes.
if woman's figure is no. totally out OF
proportion, she can he accommodated
without the slightest difficulty.
Those made in this country were at
first very defective in cut and style. Ey-
cry year, however, there has been q great
improvement, the result being that to-
day woman can purchase ready
made dress of as perfect cut. as well
finished, and frequently better style. than
If she had specially ordered it.
A mistaken idea is that women Of
taste do not buy ready made garments.
Twenty years ago ladies Of fashion had
every article they wore made TO order.
At the present time there is but one ar
ticle Of wearing apparel 10 which the
old prejudice slightly clings. and that Is
the corset. But oven there that feeling
is gradually growing less.
There is much about q ready mado
dress to commend il TO the buyer. In
the first place, woman secs just what
she is buying and how becoming or I'M
suited the style is to her figure How
infinitely more assuring it is to see
garment made up than to imagine how
it will look when finished from fashion
PLATED Fashion pictures too frequently
turn out to be delusions.
The requisite in fitting ready made
dresses is that the wearers' figures be not
too far out of proper measurements
not that woman need be perfect fig
ure by any means. but great as tho sue
cess has been in fitting nearly all figures
it is still very difficult for woman with
AZ inch bust measure and 90 inch
skirt length, or a 81 inch bust measure,
with As inch skirt length. to be fitted
in ready made dress. The average
sizes and those most called for are be-
tween "a and SO. The American women
are not generally full figures, and 40 and
AZ are uncommon and are more partic-
ularly confined to matrons.
There are different methods followed
by different suit establishments in re-
gard to the waists. One very popular
method is not making up the waist UNI
til after the suit has been purchased, IL
sufficient quantity of material being re-
served for that purpose. The usual way
is to make up the entire suit over per-
feet model, allowing ample seams for all
necessary alterations. In most of tho
finer houses the waists are finished ex-
actly as though they had been fitted,
thereby giving great deal Of unneces-
sary labor in the ripping. The French
method is only adopted here in French
houses or under French management,
and is great improvement upon this.
The waists, although made up and fin
ished sufficiently to show the style, arc
not stitched anywhere, but securely
basted. When lady purchases dress,
instead of fitting her the next day, the
waist is ripped on her and fitted ut once.
1t is not with dresses alone that the
demand for ready made articles has in
creased, but in every garment which
woman wears. In the matter of shoes,
unless in exceptional cases, the only time
when shoes are made to order is when
they match the material in dress An
extra line of odd sizes and shapes to ac-
commodate all styles Of feet is made in
every grade of shoes. In fact, if wom-
an is not physical monstrosity, there is
no reason why she cannot buy every
thing she wears ready made.
LAURA OLIVIA BooTHE.