Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-01-25
DUMMIES FOR DRESSES.
fl gurcs of Zinc ana How They Are Use'
 For Fitting.

 fl gurcs of Zinc ana How They Are Used
 For Fitting.
 4alf dozen ladies were seen stand jag outside of a doorway on down. town business block Two or three of them were rather sleuderly built, while the others were inclined to stoutness- Although they remained there together fo- several hours. none of them said anything. This was probably because they had no heads In fact, they were made of zinc as far down as just below the hips, while beneath there was noth- ing at all except an iron stick for each one, with a base to stand upon ltwas evident that they were dressmakers' dummies.
 Unlike most such dummies, however, these represented the figures of real people. A Star reporter found by in- quiry that the manner of making them is rather curious. For example, Mrs. Jones, for reasons presently to be eX- plained, 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 accord ing to the measurements. But the ma terial, 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 ob- tained reproduction of the figure of Mrs. Jones.
 Necessarily, the measuring, cutting and fitting have to be done very care | fully, inasmuch as the dummy must have precisely the form of Mrs Jones. | She has it sent home and it serves in future for dressmaking purposes as l 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 irritat- | ing bore it is to have a dress fitted. re- | quiring as it does hours of posing before | the mirror and all sorts of alterations \ and readjuStments, all of which is a | trial to both patience and temper. But with a dummy to fit the dress up- \ on most of this trouble is avoided. If a 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. However, the greatest advan- tage of this device is that Mrs Jones is able to send her dummy to the dress
 makers house, and she need not go there or disturb herself again about the matter, having provided the materials, until the gown is sent home all ready to be put on.
 Most women are obliged to make their own dresses, and for their pur- poses such dummy is invaluable, inas- much as they are thus enabled to fit their own waists and drapc their own skirts as well and as easily as if they were making costume for somebody Selse. The zine dummies cost from eight to twenty dollars. The price of them goes up rapidly with the avoirdupois of the purchaser. so that dummy with a
 forty-eight-inch bust costs a least twice as much as one with a thirty-siX-incE
 bust measure. It is probable that be-
 fore long similar dummies will be made
 for men, who can thus have clothes
 made for them by their tailors without
 being obliged to be measured.-Wash | ngton Star.