The morning times., 1897-02-07


| 1t was not known by that name In
| deed, 1t was not known US q club at all,
| AID it was not organized to death on that
| account. But there is sort OF free
| masonry among women, by which they
| become aware Of each others small econo-
| mics and traditions. and admire each
| others good points, and exchange ideas
when that is practicable. The Economy
| Club met in bedrooms during the prepara-
| ton for festivities on the street for shop
| ping tours, in restaurants over the mid
| day luncheon, and in a dozen other places.
And the problems solved by it were many.
| What would you do if you had only
| 75 cents with which to buy hat?
J If you are man you'd probably give
| it up.
| But that was the question which con
| fronted the blue-eyed girl in the REFER
| jacket The way in which it was solved
was over the much -joked-about bargain
| counter.
| The hat, when finished, had cost her SO
! cents in money, twenty minutes shopping
| and an hour and a half of her time in
ma king it. And it was not strikingly
| different from other modish hats to be
| seen the street.
| First she considered buying an Alpine
| hat, for the cheaper grades. at this time
/ Of year, range from a dollar down to
| almost nothing. But that idea was promptly
| dismissed, Alpines, especially cheap AL
pines are getting too common So she
| found Il place where they Were selling
! large consignment of mohair hats, W hich
| had been occupying rOoIn IN the store ever
| since the first of the season, at which time
it was hoped they would be fashionable
Most of them plainly betrayed their nature,
being light gray and brown, with con
| spcuous black hairs all over them: but a
| few navy-blue ones were left Just the
thing TO go with a blue serge gown They
We're 13 cents apiece.
| To the hat were added two aigrettes -
| the blue-eyed girl doesn't care for dead
| birds. These aigrettes may have been made
OF whalebone, but they certainly were not
| osprey, for they cost two and half cents
| apiece.
| Then she went over TO the department
| store and stopped at the ribbon counter Just
| long enough To pick up yard and half
remnant of navy-blue ri bbon which was 30
| cents. AT the velvet counter she found
piece of cadet-b blue velvet, which was GO
| ing at 5 cents, on the chance that some
body mi gbt want it for a collar. Then she
| went home.
She quilted the ribbon up around the
| crown, stuck the aigrettes in at the back,
| and made three bows of blue velvet, which
| she disposed about the brirn And the hat
| was done.
4 great deal OF fun has been made of
| the bargain counter, and its supposed at
traction for woman, but the truth is that
| IL is great institution. The secret of
| my blue-eyed girls success was that she
chose things which were pretty in them
selves, which harmonized with her gown
| and her complexion, and were not in any
| way conspicuous OF course she had a
certain skill at millinery, but it didn't
take half as long to make that hat as it
would to embroider a tray-cloth. The
materials if purchased haphazard at full
price, would have cost anywhere from
81 TO So, and the hat, completed by
nilliner, perhaps three times as much
And after all, what is life nowadays,
but one great bargain-hunt? Women
only do in their daintier way what men
are doing in stocks and land speculation
! and manufacturing. Success is an adroit
seizing of opportunities, whether they
lie on the bargain counter or on the
| exchange.
There is a great deal of this sort of
| economy among women, and when you
find a man who is rather proud of the
way in which hislittle wife makes things
| do" you may be sure she can utilize the
| remnant.
| But there are other points in homemade
hats besides the using of remnants and the
| hunting of bargains. Just at the beginning
| of the season, when the new styles are COM
ing in, is the most expensive time to buy
| hat; for nothing is left over from the
| last season except the unstable monStr os-
ties, and the new styles cost 80 per cent
| more than they will little later. Yet
this is the time when a new hat is an
| especially desirable thing. The blue-eyed
girl says that one way to bridge over this
| difficulty is to buy u frame and make a
velvet hat, If they happen to be in favor;
for the frame costs only quarter, and
the velvet can always be used for some
thing. Then there are the fancy braids
| of chenille or straw, W hich may be sew ed
on the brim Of the wire skeleton. A
| Idm-O Shante crown or velvet over Dit
| of buckram for stiffening is added, and
with a bit OF ribbon, flowers and what
ever other trimming may be prettiest, the
hat is complete. Still another plan is
providently to buy a hat near the end
OF the season and keep it till next year.
| There are some styles that never go out,
and others which admit of being made
fashionable at almost any time, by a few
Quirks and turns in the brim and skillful
adjustment of trimming. If cne mus t buy
hats ready trimmed, and must also make
them do for more than one season, safety
lies in neutrality.
BE not the first by whomt the new is tried,
| Nor yet the last to lay the old aside
is a comfortable rule in most things, from
millinery to republican government The