Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-03-16
READS LIKE ROMANCE
How Worth, the Dressmaker, Made His
Millions
A Single Cloak of His Worth 5000
He Kept 1900 Dress
makers Busy.
From the Philadelphia Telegraph.

| at twenty-six and began at Gagelin' s,
| where he remained twelve years. This
firm was noted for silks, which were woven
by workmen in their own homes. There
| was at this time no house in Paris which
sold material and made 1t UP as well, and
this combining of the two branches struck
NJ. Worth as a good idea, and he obtained
permission from his principals to try it.
This he did, beginning with cloaks, and a
| train that he designed gained a medal in
| 1855.
| The firm refused to take him into part
nership, although he had been the means
of introducing a profitable and novel fea-
| ture into the business, SO he determined
| to start for himself. This he did at No.
| hue de La PAX, in 1858. He began by en-
| pioying fifty hands. AT the present time
MS establishment employs about LOO per-
sons, and turns out between 5000 and
| 900 dresses and between 1900 and 1900
| cloakS year. AT the time Worth began
business for himself the second empire
was IN the height of its prosperity. The
impress Eugene, then in the prime of
Wo1nanhood and the full protection of her
| Incompatible beauty, was delighted with
the dresses invented for her by the brilliant
| young kngLshman, who knew SO well how
| inaHty.
| The Famous Cloak.
|
par excellence to the imperial court Its
re;snlng bellies, the PriEcesse de Meter
| men, the Princesse Anna de Murat, the
| Comtesse de Brigode, and countless 9th
| ers, became his patrons, and sought not
| only his creations in the way of gowns and
wraps. but his counsel as well in all mat
| tefs connected with the toilet. 1t was at
| one time the custom for the great ladies
| o. the day to drive to his establishment
| lGt!-dressed for dinner party or ball
| anu TO submit the fit and flow of their cos
| tunes to him for a final supervision. AT
| the first universal exhibition in Paris, that
OF 1893, Worth appeared for the first and
only time as ali exhibitor. HIS contrbu-
ton, court mantle in white silk, entirely
| covered with elaborate embroidery in gold
thread, the artistic pattern of which was
| designed by himself. carried off the first
| Prize almost without contestation. Since
then he has cared nothing for such easily
won triumphs. This splendid mantle. even
| in those days of comparatively low prices,
| was valued at 5000. 1t is still in existence
amongst the treasures of the house.
At that period Worth originated num-
| Der of styles that were deSti, ed to revo-
| lutioniZe the world of feminine dress.
Among these was the short-skirted walking
| costume, with jacket and skirt composed
| of the same material, a fashion which
| speedily became universal. The first dress
| Of this style made for the Empress
| Eugene. and was in gray silk, trimmed
with black velvet ribbon. He thus sup
| pressed the trailing skirt for street wear
| d fashion at once unclean and inconven-
| lent, and which unfortunately threatens to
once more make its appearance. He was
| rot responsible for the introduction of Grim
oline. that having originated with the EN-.
| press Eugene. But the wide expanse of
| ladies' skirts afforded him great oppor-
turity for the exercise of his talent in
draping fine lacos and rich silks and vel
| vets, and. above all, in grouping and ar
| ranging garuitures of artificial flowers, and
| he utilized these opportunities to the ut
most.
| Worth made dresses not only for the
| royal la;i of Europe, but for the queens
| of society both in Europe and the United
| States and for the queens of the footlights
as we'll His first royal customer was
| Donna Maria da Gloria, then queen Of
| Portugal For years thereafter there was
scarcely princess married in all Europe
| outside of the ladies Of the imperial fami-
| ly of Germany, whose principles forbid
them from, ever ordering anything to be
made in Pars-that did not have a group
| of Worth toilets included in her trousseau.
| The Dowager Empress of Russia and the
| queens of Italy and of Portugal became
| his constant customers.
| Ta,eater TO Show Dresses.
| One of the rooms in his beautiful home
| at Suresnes has been fitted up a small
| theater, with a tiny stage, and there Mes
| danes Favart and CroZette and others of
| the great actresses Of France came to GO
| through before him the new roles that they
| were about to create, so that he might de-
| sign for them dresses suited to the attl-
tudes and the gestures required by the
| characters they were to impersonate. The
| first to consult him in this way was the
great Rachel when she was preparing to
| appear in the only modern society play in
| which she ever acted. Lady fartuff2. The
establishment of the republic in France
| wrought no change in the prosperity Of
| Worth's house. There are always courts
| to be adorned and queens and princesses
| to be dressed throughout the rest of Eu-
| rope. Poor Madame Grevy, who carried
| her peasant tastes into the Elysee, never
| dreamed of such an extravaganza as
| Worth toilet in all her life but the wives
| of all the ether presidents of France
| Mines. Theirs, Macmahon, CarEot and Cas-
| imir-Perier. and, doubtless, Nine. Faure
| also D have all been numbered among
| Worth's patrons. or clients, as it became
| the fashion to style his customers.
Worth was not only the head of the vast
| establishment in the Rue de la PaiX, but
| it's soul and brain and sinews as well. He
| created the pattern dresses. ordered ma
terials and trimmings to be manufactured,
| very often from his own designs. and su-
| perintended in person all the delicate fin
| ishing details of toilet, such as the shap
| ing and trimming of a corsage, the tying
| of scarfs or of ribbons and the placing of
| artificial flowers on the skirt. He eXcelled
| in combining colors, sweeping aside piece
after piece of silk till the exact union of
| hues tina. was at once the most effective
| and the most artistic had been reached. He
studied the portraits of beauties and cele-
| brated female personages of by-gone ages
| to CLEAN ideas for new styles. as he OBJ
| served the blending of Coiors in the plum
| age of BIRDS or the petals of flowers. or the
| accidental combination of the pale green of
| young grass in the spring with the warm
| red of the earth in a freshly ploughed field.
| This last named union of tints furnished
| him with an idea for strikingly effective
| toilet.
! Description of Some Costumes.
| A few years ago he gave to the CORE
| spondent of American paper the follow
| ing account of some of the notable CO.'S
| tunes which ne had created
1.-The celebrated dress in which the Com
| tesse de Castiglione, on one occasion, APP
peared at a fancy ball. and which was said
| to be so extremely indicate, would scarce
| ly cause a remark if worn at the present
| day. 1t was a robe in black and scarlet
| plush, and was made without sleeves and
! with only a narrow gold band passing over
| each shoulder, style that is universally
| adopted now, but which, in the days when
| evening dresses were all made with short
| lace-trlnmed sleeves reaching half way
to the elbow. had rather startling effect.