The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-05-16
How Rich Women Buy Gowsn

How Rich Women Buy Gowsn
New York. May IA r-aodel, employed
in stores to show OF wearing apparel. who
understands her work Is a valuable en-
ployee. She VIII sell any number OF gowns
that otherwise might be hard to dispose OF. ("
said the manager OF a fashionable store
Say a woman IS out shopping for a gown.
does not exactly know what she wants,
but has some preconeeived ieda in her
mind. She looks over the assortment. and
perhaps finds something that suits her In
all respects excepr the arrangement OF the
trimming. Here the advantages OF model
come In. She tries on the gown. and the
shopper catches the idea of the mod;ste who
designed Il, as she never would from see
ing the gown on a lay figure. and in nine
cases out of ten buys the gown II may
not look as well on her as on the model.
because she may not have the figure or the
carriage Of The professional, and the latter
is just as much her stock in trade as pro-
portions. No matter how well proportioned
a models figure may be. If she does not
look well when she moves she VIII never Dc
success A certain grace of bearing Is
quite as essential 10 her business as well
developed figure
The importance of the model as a fac
tor in trade is not as widely recognized here
in America as it is abroad said a young
London woman. who sits in a Broadway
store and makes drawings Of gowns worn
by the various models. "Costumers in
Paris and London employ models. not only
of one type OF beauty, but of various de-
scriptions." she continued. lone model
" Ill be dark. have a colorless skin. and be
blonde and willowy and rosy; another tall
and strikingly proportional; another VIII
blue eyes and black hair: varying types TO
suit all descriptions of customer. The room
that the shopper is first shown into on APP
plication is very plain and unobstrusive in
character: II IS meant to be merely back
ground for the business IN hand; few good
pictures, flower or two, perhaps. but
everything plain in furnishing and appoint
ments. The shopper is asked at the door
and is then shown 10 the proper depart
ment- She waits in the empty room. and
soon a model. in appearance nearly Ike
her own type. walks in and moves quietly
about. displaying gown In every aspect.
front view, side view. back, three-Quarters.
That gown having been inspected. the
model goes out, and another model Of the
same type. but wearing different gown.
takes her place, and so the toilets are
shown until the right one Is found"
The models across the water are better
off in some respects than the models over
here. A New York model 10 not required
to have the absolutely perfect figure that
is demanded in Paris and London, but the
latter is obliged 10 take all kinds Of steps.
many very uncomfortable, to maintain
good figure. Although the wages abroad
are smaller. the foreign models have an ad-
vantage over those here. Fine gowns are
provided for them, free Of charge, in order
that they may always look in keeping with
their surroundings. In many cases rooms
are furnished for them in the buildinS
where they work, at the expense of the
firm. and all arrangements made for their
comfort their meals, etc. In the matter Of
general efficiency, education, etc, however,
the average American model Is a higher
type than the model Of the Paris and Lon
don shops. The foreign models. indeed the
foreign shop-people altogether, statesmen
and saleswomen, have extremely good man.
ners; have quite an air, in fact, in address,
ing customers. Anything even approaching
the incivility and indifference sometimes
met with in the New York stores is un-
heard Of This deferential manner towards
strangers and patrons is distinctly part
of the trade.
There are hundreds of young women IN
New York who make their living as models.
the manager of a well-known importing
house being authority for the statement
that there are over thousand. They try
on hats, bonnets. coats. capes. evening and
street toilets in the stores and dressmaking
esta blishments. The best firms in the shop
pong district have them, both in the MILL
merry and suit departments, but the whole
sale houses employ by far the greater num-
ber A number of firms in middle and low
er Broadway give occupation 10 as many
as ten or twelve models the whole year
round An unusually pleasing moled, one
who has the knack of making the goods
go off her hands. is paid as high as SIS
week, but the average downtown models
make from $l2 TO SIS. Models in the retail
houses who combine the Office OF saleswo
men with their legitimate occupation make
$50 With the milliner's model fine form
is not so requisite. but the head must be
we'll shaped and well set on the shoulders.
II think a model has much better time
than an ordinary salesgirL said a mode!
u no is employed in a wholesale suit and
cloak house on Broadway. "Our hours are
shorter. and for two or three mnths sme-
times there is not much TO do. When We
are busy it means hard work. but we are
treated nicely. and we always get Off at
five the year round. Our busiest
are August and February. In Au-
gust we try on the furs and coats that are
TO be worn in the winter. That is tire
some work. II IS so warm. and sometimes
the buyers take so long 10 decide. some
times you feel as though you would melt.
In February. when everything is mufilec
up 10 their chins. and IL is snowy and cold,
We are trying on organizes and unlinod
summer suits for the July trade. Trying on
thin things in winter is much easier than
cloak:ng up in heavy stuffs In August and
Among the Ready Wife.
HCea how white the urrnre "a getffrz'"