The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-09-12
THE FINE ART OF DRESS
FRENCH ARTISTS TALK OF THE
UGLINEsS OF MODERN COSTUMES.
Whatever May Happen Paris VIII
Remain the Guide in Matters of
Fashion-An AteIier of Costumes.


| ing OF clothes is as much of an industry
| and the wearing of them much of a
| passion as ever, and that generations must
pass before Parisians alter their in
! herent instinct for La Mode ct La Toilette.
1t was advertised this spring that Maurice
| Lefevre, one Of the wel-known conferen-
ciers, would give a lecture on 'the crino-
line" Curiosity to know how man of in
tellect could talk for hour about hoop
skirt led many foreigners to the small
Bodiniere Theater in the Rue ST. Lazare,
which is generally crowded with modern
literary men, poets and playwrights, who
come there to hear their own verses or the
piece of a confrere interpreted with the
subtitle appreciation they could not find
| elsewhere. Curiosity was well repaid for
Maurice Lefevre talked with the ease of
the Frenchman to whom conversation is
perfect art, and soon made one feel in
spite of prejudice, all the charm of by-gone
days, when women seemed born to please,
and even a certain yearning towards the
grace of feminity Of the despised hoop
skirt
Jules Lemaitre is another brilliant mind
| who has shown an interest for this subject
! in a recent article on the Philosophy of the
| Modern Costume" His conclusions would
not be acceptable to most women of the
| day. THE costume of the modern woman"
! he says, sis lamentable; it is the irrecon-
| cilable enemy to all her natural duties but
| it is so charming! Mems clothes have no
charm whatever but they are so conven-
| lent. This marked differentiation is perhaps
a sign of extreme civilization"
| And nothing could show more clearly the
| still lively interest in dress than the an
swers published in response to the question
put by the Figaro to several distinguished
| Parisians rs the high hat ugly?" Here
are some of them in brief Emile lola
says: When / was young and full of ro-
NANCE | greatly regretted the gayly col
ored coats and broad felt hats with sweep
ing plumes, but now 1 leave such dreams
of fine plumage to the young" Jules Cla-
retic, director of the Theatre Francalse,
says that he could write a volume on the
subject of the high hat, but sums up his
opinion in these few words: Ugly incon-
venlent, heavy, unhealthy. The man who
he believes, will deserve the grand medal
Of honor at the exposition of 1900
THE UNCOMELY HAT.
Henry di Regnier, the symboist poet,
finds the black coat and the high hat es-
sentially ugly, and would gladly accept any
change which did no. borrow from old
times, initiate the toque of the Valois,
or the three-cornered chapeau of the Bour-
bons, or the head cover Of Etienne Marcel,
i
would accept, he says, 1.-The old-fashioned
wig, for Of that may some day have need"
Gustave LaIroumet finds no merit in the
high hat. 1T does not protect one from
the sun or the rain, it is easily injured it is
ugly. it is condemned by every principle
of decorative art For him, the old felts
worn in the days of the Louis We're far
superior.
Puvis de Chavannes. president of the So
CietX of the BeauX Arts.
dignity with his answer. He says: Il find
nothing strange in the question you put
me, but am drawing near so rapidly to the
day when / shall no longer need to think of
dress, that 1 find myself somewhat indir-
ferent to the whole subject"
Carolus Duran talks~at length and with
despair upon the uglness of the modern
costume, and the impossibility of any re-
turn to the early styles, which would al
once give one the air of masquerading.
So they all agree that 1t is better to be re-
signed to the present lack of harmony than
to undergo a change which might prove for
the discomfort of every one, and this is not
surprising, for brief glance sufices to sat
isfy even a superficial student of political
economy that we must approve the present
attire of man, since it is the natural out
come Of his conditions; but 1t is surprising
to find in these days of sobriety and mech
anis1n spirit, and that among the leading
men of nation which still responds TO
the gayety and charm of old-time cos
tune, and can rejoice in considering its
smallest detail.
A GREAT INDUSTRY.
So much for the ardor and enthusiasm
which demand clothes, and now for the in
dustry which supplies them Not counting
the innumerable dressmakers one never
hears of, who still manage to support
themselves by sewing day and night, nor
the countless half-l1nown, nor the really
well-known, such as Rouff, Raudnitz, LATER
riere and Jeanne Hallee, the endless
houses which bear the sign ''robes ct man
| teaux"-not counting any of these, there
are over 1900 women employed in the three
principal dressmaking establishments
| the Rue de la Paix alone-Worth's, Paquin's
and Doucet's. At Doucet's, for example
| and what is true here is with slight varia-
| ton, true of the others-there are 800 wom-
| en- who do nothing but stitch, stitch stitch;
fifteen whose duty it is to sell dresses, coats,
| capeS, nantes, anything their customers
may want, and, If possible, much that they
| do not; six tall, graceful creatures, who try
on the models, and lead the purchasers to
dreaming; five who receive the materials,
which are most of them designed by Doucet;
fifteen who distribute these materials as
| they are needed five who cut them out:
| four who dispense needles, threads, whale
| bones, etc.; four who fit waists; three who
| fit skirts; four tailors; three women and
see that the employees arrive on time, and
! to refuse them admission if they do not
thus makng mem 81 rd nose ana na fo work
who verify each costume, by measuring
materials, Innings, laces. ribbons and en-
| broderies, counting buttons and seeing that
| nothing has been purloined in the work.
| rooms.
Each filter has her salon and atelier, as
| it is called: the salon furnished in white
! and gold and carpeted with plush, where
she receives her lady patronesses and tries
| on their pretty gowns, all humility and
! smiles all graciousness and affability; and
an atelier, or workshop where she in turn
| is the grande dame and exacts the fulfill
ment of her ideal. storming or enthusing
| in proportion to the success or failure of
her last fitting.
AN OLD HOUSE.
| Except for a kitchen in the attic and
dining room where some of the most supe-
rior employees eat, Doucets is a 'maison
de couture" from top to bottom, and has
been for three generations. The grand
father Doucet started with two small
rooms in 1861, and now there is very laby-
rinth of halls and passages and winding
staircase, each leading to separate center
of cutting, fitting and stitching. Dounet
| the father, though too old to take any ac-
| tive part in the business, comes every day
to the Rue de la Paix. He makes tour OF
the house first, visiting every corner and
closet, knowing every working girl by
name, and then he settles down near the
| entrance, where he can watch and enjoy the
41.wsEk .Tn1.