The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-12-06
THE LATE JOHN REDFERN.
He Grated. Perfected and Distributed
the Tailor Made Woman.


New York World
John Redfern. the famous tailor. who
DIED IN England November =. was the man
VINO created perfected and distributed
the tabernacle woman. But for him she
would not be Because Of him she IL
found wherever garments are found even
world
Il was in the DAYS Immediately after
sedan. The men dressmakers OF Paris.
working upon and through the Empress
Eugene. had made Paris not only the
center but the sole arblter OF fashion.
There. and only there. were, perfectly
dressed women 70 be found. There, and
only there, could perfect gowns he had.
And what gowns they were in those days,
al hounces and furbelows padding and
stuffing and busiies and hoopskirts until
a woman looked like an artisticalIy ar
ranged and inflated bargain counter. Then
came Redfern.
The empire had fallen Paris was tenn
porariiy In eclipse. Nobody wanted 10 go
there. with the corpse Of the empire IN
buried and the mourners going about the
streets. Reifern was an underllng in
London dressmaking establishment. He
saw that there was chance even for Lon
don, then and now and always the home
Of the hideousiy dressed woman. to do
something toward restoring and re-
facilitating ruined world Of
fashion. He decided that nothing fur
Their In the way of nounces and mutations
could be done. And he remembered that
human nature. and especially feminine ma
ture, loves 10 rush from one extreme
to the other.
So he left the establishment in which he
amounted to nothing. and. taking his great
idea with him. opened a small shop. very
small. indeed. In the fashionable part OF
London Then he proclaimed a new gos-
pei Of fashion.
piexity." said he. Let us leave all that.
Let US be simple Let US wear light and
airy goods no longer Let us wear heavy.
strong and sensible cloth. And instead OF
yards and yards Of useless material. float
Ing and tapping and flirting about, let rs
draw the cloth tightly over our bodies,
revealing their graceful outlines in all
their natural beauty"
Thus spoke Redfern using "us' In the
sense in which your valet uses II when
he remarks: shall We wear our brown
lounge suit or long coat and top
hat today" For by "us' he meant the
women OF the world Of fashion. He spoke.
and the women of fashion heard and
obeyed
He was born In the same year as Queen
Victoria As you see. he did not ascend
his throne Of fashion quite as soon as she
assembled her throne of society. But he
assembled ard was crowned. and ruled for
several years without a rival. When
Paris heard of the tailor made gown IL
said: "can anything fashionable come out
OF London When Il saw the tailor made
gown IL doubted no longer. Soon Red
ferns big shop In London had a successful
branch In Paris.
And tailor-made garments for women
began TO spread throughout the world.
The original doctrine OF Redfern. which
was narrow and did not aspire 10 any
great conquests outside of street gowns
rfs9 Ina xxrFaG re- xaYf "A
adopted into gowns of every description.
and so far as its central idea Is concerned,
that is. the idea of simplicity 1t rules to-
day In spite OF many savage attacks from
Paris.
or course Paris soon regained its SUI
pYenacy as a center OF fashion Bat Red
fern never lost his hold. He had got most
OF the royal highnesses and grand Ouch
esses and the like into mis- order books,
and. for certain things. he kept them
there without detection until IL was for
gotten that he and he alone had thought
out the taiIor-made idea. Then men tall
ors for women became as thick as men
dressmakers for women, and Redfern was
supreme no longer.
But he had built up 4 vast business: too
/ vast and too scattered for one man. So
Redfern became a stock company. with
practically independent houses I'm half a
dozen European cities and in New York.
Newport and Chicago in this country
There some talk OF selling the good
| will OF the American branches few years
! ago and the London company was offered
/ s57S. eco for IL. But. after some hesitation.
the offer was refused, For several years
/ this old man who has just died has been
! out OF the business entirely.
In It's country the name Of the old man
/ is pretty well known. Indeed. the inpor-
tance OF the American trade caused him
10 send one OF his sons over here. And
many a quarrel has the American house
/ had with the customs authorities over the
I bringing tn OF gowns made in London.
where material and labor are so much
cheaper. But on the continent of Europe
the name OF Redfern is well known as
: that of any Englishmau except Gladstone.
/ In many places il is used In a general
1 sense to express anything English for
man or a woman 20 wear.
/ The man who made the tailor-made girl
/ Is dead But the taiior-made sirl Is