Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1902-03-29
CHANCE FOR COLORISTS.
Opportunities for Women with an Eye
to Effects in Dress Goods.


Ncrplanck Birney, the artist, made &
suggestion the other day which may Civ,
some woman just the idea for making
money that she is looking for
The great trouble with many WON
ems gowns" lie said, rs that they can
| never tell, when they Duy the goods. how
it is going to look when mada up. Cloth
of any sort when lying on the counter in
piece and when cut and fitted over the
figure looks entirely different. The
woman who dresses well counts probably
an entire half of her costumes as utter
failures. One hears her complain con.
tinually that she is so disappointed in a
certain gown. 1t looks so different from
what she expected. This is not because
the woman necessarily lacks Judgment
about dress. 1t IS simply that she does
not possess the foresight or imagination
to picture the goods as it will look in
in another form; which, indeed, is a
thing often impossible to do.
The case becomes more difficult when
one attempts to combine colors in a
gown. The proper prOportioning Of the
colors is IA most important consideration
here, aud one which many overlook en-
uFely. Two cloths may look beautiful
together when lying side by side on the
counter, and may not set each other off
in the least when put together in gown.
This is because they have been com
bined badly. Often, too, an entire gown
y made unbecOming simply by placing
the l,mg color next the face. Or the
hgure Is destroyed by placing the wrong
color around the waist
Moreover is is a fact that most WON
en- have no idea Of what looks best en-
them. Some think they do, and for them
there is little hope There are others,
h.a,xr a
who complain constantly that there are
so few shades they can wear. That they
so seldom find anything really becoming
to them. Often this is merely because
they never think of the shades they could
wear to best advantage. A woman with
light hair, particularly when il has red
tinge. will cling to different shades OF
dark blue for her street gowns. She i'm
AGNES that blue is her color Some
times it is the very one she should avoid
1t sets off any defect in her colorng by
sharp contrast, whereas many tints in
tans and light browns would harmonic
with these and tend to soften them.
Now all these facts should open a
broad field to woman artist. | say Il
woman, for women are in general much
better colorists than man. And Il color
list is what is needed here A woman
with n good eye for color values and eff
fects could build up quite Il business,
simply telling other women what their
best colors are. showing them how cloths
will look when made up, and demonstrate
ing how an unbecoming piece of goods
may be made up TO suit one by adding
touch of another color.
II do not mean that this artist shall be
a dressmaker, or even designer of
gowns. There are plenty in both these
fields She is to be simply Il colorist. and
a good one. In her studio she should
have mirrors in all positions, SO that her
patrons could see themselves in every
light and from every side. Here women
could send the goods which they pro-
posed to have made up. The artist could
drape it over their figures and give them
good idea of how it will appear on
them. She could explain to them wig
goods figured in certain ways made them
took too stout or too tall. and what col
Ors should be avoided for the same rea-
son. She could show them how to make
an .unbecoming gown attractive by wear
ing another color around the neck. She
could suggest what trimming would look
well with any cloth, or when these have
been chosen, might suggest how it should
he used to set the gown off to best adj
vantage.
The woman of moderate means would
find one interview with such az artist
Invaluable In it she could learn ali the
shades she could AR and how to wear
them For instance. white is very be-
coming to some women when worn as Il
collar and is just the reverse when worn
above the face in hat. These are
things which il is not safe to leave to the
dressmaker. for good dressmakers are
not necessarily good colorists."