The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-17
NUMBER QUESTIONABLE
 WOMEN ATTEND THE SALE

l tracing international attention the New York Commercial sets forth In the follow ing comprehensive article the significance of the occasion;
 Nearly all of the retail dry goods mer- chants and dressmakers of America are expected in New York between September and If. They will attend the fashion show at Madison Square garden. which Is expected to attract 500.0OO visitors during the two weeks It will be in existence.
 Some will come all the way from Paris, 1 Vienna and London. where the fashions for all the world were made until a very few years ago. Manufacturers and job bers will be there The general public Is and discussions as well as in the show 1 itself
 l The big financers will be called on to l speak, and the college professors will be asked to talk of political economy in the hearing of the practical economists of business who will talk back and tell of things never dreamed of In Harvard, Yale, Princeton and the University of Chicago philosophes.
 The system men will tell about system in business and the advertising men will tell about the benefits of advertising in the development of special lines
 Some of the themes that are to be dis , cussed are:
 The retailer and the manufacturer. The future of the jobber. The dressmaker-her influence. The moral ethics of retailing.
 The refund system-its advantages and abuses.
 The one-price principle
 The c. o. D. system.
 The need of bankruptcy reform.
 Waste in retail advertising
 Foreign markets
 The Merchants association. i New York. as fashion center.
 The trades paper. 1 Buying in the markets vs. buying at i home,
 The newspaper and the retailer.
 The saleswoman.
 The P. M. system.
 The post-check system. Is mall order business desirable? 1 Differential retail accounts. | The American buying system.
 The personal responsibility of branded l merchandise
 Short cuts to system.
 The dcsirabllity of a uniform cash dis count.
 The desrability of check to exaggera4 ton In retail advertising
 The department of commerce.
 The installment evil A feature will be the exhibition of American gowns made by American skill from designs by American artists, with American-woven goods. A prize of S5o0O is offered for the creation which receives the highest approval of a committee of men and women of national reputation as experts. The gowns in this competition are likely, it is thought. to set the winter and spring styles for American women of fashion. There will be S75 exhibits of the advanced fashions in fabrics put out by the different manufacturers which will be shown several weeks before they will have appeared on the counters of the re- l taller.
 One of the results that Is expected from this show is a closer range between the public, the dressmaker, the retailer, the jobber and the manufacturer. Dress makers, retailers and jobbers having knowledge of the public tastes regarding the advance products of manufacturers will know what the demand Is likely to be, and will act accordingly
 Fully 2e0OO buyers are expected. The railroads will give the dressmakers a rate of one-third off There will be special rates for the retailers, it is expected. They are to have free season tickets to the show, and arrangements to entertain will be made on a large scale.
 When the saieslady tells the public what she has learned of the shopper and when the shopper tells the saleslady what her failings are. interest is expected to take on popular form. When the lecture on physical culture exhibits the perfect wo- man and dilates on her graceful lines as contrasted with those of others. surely all will be edifed The large thought that is taking form in the fashion show was born in that very interesting gathering, the Dress makers Association of America, that held It's session in New York few months ago. One of the lecturers at the | fashion show will be Miss White, the president of that organization.
 Americans it is stated, are in advance of foreign dressmakers as far as creative art is concerned. American workmanship is said to be fully equalsto that of the painstakhg European. Mrs. Osborne and makers in her class are said to have no competitors abroad who would be able to hold custom of American women on pure merit. As soon as American styles are made to fit the carriage, figures and | habits of American women and are ac- l cepted by them, the best-dressed women l in the world will be those gowned by American gownmakers l American corsets are being sold in London. French corsets fit neither Amer 1 can nor English women. American shoes are invading all parts of the continent. 1 The hope of the practical persons back l of the fashion show is thtt not so very l far away Is the day when American 1 fashions will be the fashions of Paris. Vienna and London. of St. Petersburg and The Hague, of capetown and of | Madrid.