Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-01-14
THE MAN oREssMAKeR.
How Q Gotham Belle Dresses a la Mode
 and Keeps Within Her Allowance.

Special Correspondence
 NEW YORK, Jan. S.-Mme. Melha, in displaying her trousseau to fashion writ CT, affirmed that the tailor made gown has disappeared from Paris, yet the man dress maker continues to multiply and grow rich in Gotham. But many of the richest and most fashionable society women, with the economic shrewdness of their French sisters, have long since divided their ale glance between the imported and the homo trained tailor.
 Redfern, the famous English man dress maker, occupies a five story brownstone front in close proximity to Delmonico's. Emhlazoned in letters of gold on the high steps that lead to the Fifth avenue en- trance is a legend not without awe to un- travelled democracy, Court Dressmakcr to Her Majesty the Queen, H. R. H. Prince of Wales, the Empress of Russia" Similar legends, together with the English and Russian coat of arms, decorate the ex- terior walls of both the Fifth avenue and Broadway sides. A servant in livery opens the door
 On entering the lofty oeiled salon, once familiar with the wit and beauty of Knickerbocker days, a young English woman meets the visitor with the ques- tion, Has madam an appointment"
 Divinely tall, divinely fair, her waist was wasplike, her bust a Hogarth line. A thoroughly groomed creature, she was good to look upon, and restful was her low, resonant voice.
 She wore black cloth gown. The front of the skirt and the bodice were embroid- cred in tan colored braid. N'hilo the train of black velvet seemed TS begin and end nowhere, so gracefully did it yield to ev- ~,f n, room is lined with shelves and cases, with mirrored doors. The shelves reach to the ceiling and are piled with hugo rolls of cloth of varied color and texture, prod ucts, for the most part, of English looms.
 The establishment has a largo force of saleswomen, designers and modistes i'm ported from England. Some have long been apprenticed to Redfern, the elder, while others arc gathered yearly as tho theatrical managers mako up an opera chorus
 All the saleswomen have the wasplil1e waists with which fashion plates havc fa- miliarized us. Despite physical culture authorities, however, these waists do not prevent them from handling the great rolls of cloth with the agility of light weights. "
 If they are laced" says Redfern, ''could they toss such rolls of stuff"
 If not laced, is the mental reservation of tho beholder, whore does Redfern find women of this mold?
 Various wire forms bedccked in gowns and jackets were on every side, at table sat two swagger girls examining fashion plates, while a saleSwoman in a gown of blue cloth rich in sable tail trimming in terposed now and then a professional sug- gestion. The gown of every employee be- ba boS copied two or three times it is donncd by the salcswoman best adapted to display 1t.
 In the upper rooms customers are meas ured and fitted. A man meaSurcS for tho pattern, a woman adjusts tho lining, slip ping on, if necessary, series of pads strung together on rubber ribbons It sug- gests an anatomical museum. Pads under the arms, pads in the hollows of shoulders or neck-evCry spot nature has dcfrauded the man tailor redecms with cotton.
 Drcssmakers acknowledge their indCbt- edness to the ingenuity of tho man tailor. The bodice fastened on the customer, the man tailor returns to the sacred precinct and dcftly takes in or lets out tho appar- ently infinitcsimal bits so essential to the perfection of the whole.
 The chief decoration of theSo apartments arc signs Payment After First Fitting"
 Alas, sighed tho proprietor, "a gown is often worn out before We receive our money"
 Rest assured, only women of unqucs- tionable wealth are indulCcd to that ex- tent by the English autocrat.
 Taste for n Rcdfcrn gown is not unlike that for olives. If one has it not instinc, lively, it must he cultivated A gown of plainest stuff costs $95. while n cloth may be had for $l25, the lowest possible figuro.
 Redfern's private exhibition rooms art rarely without artists making sketches of his latest creations for fashion journals or the great dailics.
 When woman finds it necessary to economiZc after the extravaganza of a Redfcrn creation, sho patrOniZcs n tailor in upper Second avenue. tho neighborhood of green groceries, Chinese laundries and dirty babies, Ho may be found in one of a bedizened row of old time residences. The basement is occupied by Hope Lee and a troop of CelestialS. On tho post of the high steps that lead to the house proper swings n siGnbOard One side bears an improssonistiC landscape, with n damsel in springy attire outlined against an indigo sky. The other side of tho sign partakcs of tho winters chill tailor made girl is braving. Above in weather beaten let ters, is the sign, Ladies Fashionable Tai Tor" 4 pretty Jewess opens tho door and ushers the customer into the presence of the proprietor He is d short, chubby man, with an amiable face A skullcap con ceals a caul. On the first finger of his left hand he wears huge opal ring. His bow is courtly, his manners winning. His natty attire distills the odor of a question. able Havana. Tho roSm Is stuffy. A long line of gowns in various stages of fashion ing hang the length of tho room. Through half opened door one may catch glimpse of some 50 girls and boys operating as many machines. The air is dense with tobacco smoke and redolent of garlic. A portion of the front room facing the street Is cut of by portiere, within which arc 8 mirror and a divan.
 The customer to be fitted is the optical victim of whoever chances to be within the inclosure. There seems to be a roll call of the establishment when the old gentle man steps behind the portiere, carrying n bodice or coat to be fitted. The whole is very Dickenesque. Chic damsels, with violin or guitar case, accompanied by their maids; bedrabbled variety actresses or chorus girls; fat, greasy Jewcsses, we'll groomed; fashionabIy attired women of breeding and refinement, nursery maids demimonde, the tag ends of creation, arc to be met within the portiere's narrow precincts.
 The tailor had pleasant word Tor each as his delft fingers nodded the cloth to tho wearer's form. In his world he is no less an autocrat, no less an artist, than Red fern. He makes 50 gowns week. His prices range from $l0 to SIS, including findings He rarely fails to give a perfect fit This.man makes the ordinary gowns of fastidious women who furnish their own materials The woman of many engage ments preserves the gowns of the Second