Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1900-08-09
WE'LL DRESSED MEN.
ORDER OF THE CITIES IN WHICH
THEY MOST ABOUND.

and New York Trails Along fii'n'
ard probably be discharged, mobbed
and have all sorts of things happen 10
me If l said this over in the big town.
but l can name you at least four Amer
,con cities the men of which are bet
fer dressed year in and year out than
the men of New York" said a man
who travels for a New York merchant
tailor's supply house and whose terri
tory is the whole continent. IN name
them in the order of their standing as
communities inhabited by the best
dressed men: Denver, San Francisco,
Chicago and Washington. How do
figure it? Just according to the rule
of sight, that's all. / don't profess TO
know much about Egyptology, but do
know a well dressed man when 1 see
him.
Mind, l don't say that all of the
men Of those four cities are better
dressed than all of the men OF New
York, but l do maintain and say any
impartial man who knows the four
towns mentioned as they are now will
uphold me in maintaining that in ratio
to their respective populations the men
of Denver, San Francisco, Chicago IN
Washington are very much better
dressed than are the men Of New York.
OF course this has been the case only
in very recent years. New York was
until, say, five years ago away ahead
Of all It's rivals as a city of the best
dressed men. At that time If you want
ed to see hundreds Of perfectly dress
ed and perfectly groomed men engag-
ed in doing business all you had to do
was to take an elevated train up town
In the neighborhood Of 10 o'clock in the
morning and watch the men, young,
| middle aged and old, who boarded the
train for the down town financial dis
trict.
"Of course you'll still see slews of
thoroughly got up men down in the
| financial district Of New York, but not
so many by 70 per cent as formerly.
On show occasions, such as Easter
Sunday afternoon, New York will still
turn out a finely clad batch of men, but
4 III AOl NALAlA2- AbDhb HADN NNN%NAOAS
now. I'm talking about men who are
well clad year in and year out, and it
is in this respect that New York ha
fallen into the also ran list.
when you meet up town in New
York a genuinely swagger man-not a
fashily dressed man, but one who is
thoroughly and properly rugged out
from his hat to his shoes-you are liza
BILE to turn around to get n rear view
of him, and then the fact is liable TO
be slowly borne in upon you that he IS
some member of n theatrical profess
sion whom you have seen upon the
stage. There are still plenty of fIashi-
ly dressed men circulating around New
York, but a tlashily dressed man never
will be a well dressed man.
"The reason why the men of Denver
are such a well dressed lot isn't entire
~ clear to me. 1t can't be especially
because there are so many well off men
in that town, because there are myri-
ads Of well off men in New York.
Maybe 1t is because, in proportion to
the population, there are probably
more men with large incomes in Den
yer than in any city on the continent,
not excepting Helena, that used to
bear that distinction. You scarcely
ever see a badly dressed or an over
dressed man In Denver. Shabby men
there are in plenty, Of course. but /
don't call a shabby man q badly dress
ed man. A badly dressed man is one
who, while having plenty Of means to
equip himself with a good make up,
hasn't the taste to do 1t and therefore
makes his appearance as a SLOUGH
that's the word for it-slouch. A shah
by man is simply a man who is on his
uppers and makes no pretensions.
1.-THE clerks and other men Of very
moderate incomes In Denver, men who
can't afford to keep in the push as far
as correct dressing goes, don't make
any effort whatever to tog themselves
out In cheap, dismal imitation of the
men with plenty of money; but, like
the young woman in the song, they al
ways dress in black The business
men who u plants of their own, how
SNSAs SSS" W pay JUST as LuuCu dtleu-
ton to the job Of getting themselves
ready for business on weekday morn
ings as they do to the task Of arraying
themselves for social functions or
evening appearances.
Fasteners who have gone out to
the coast have often commented upon
the sweetness Of the average well fixed
San Francisco man in the matter of
clothes. The San Francisco man with
an income certainly gets himself ND
proper as we say, and he's got the
right kind Of a make up for every oc-
casion. Take the race tracks around
San Francisco, for example. Every
man who goes to the races out there
goes In a regular racing rig, from pad
dock coat to ieldglass and from the
top Of his fat crowned derby to the
soles Of his downs boots, and so do
the Frisco women. for the matter of
that. Another thing. I'll venture to
assert that nine nut of ten men In San
Francisco whose incomes are 50, 900 a
year or over rig out in evening clothes
every Dight In the year, summer In
cluded. A great many more men of