The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-05-15

UuDAE4 ao dG~
thority. one
knows at once
that men are Mice rs,i,aha+,, n
indicated there XVbife
by. Blu not ev-
erybody is aware that Paquin, DOucet, :
Roun, Beer and Doeuillet are also of
the masculine gender With one or two
exceptions, there is something queer. /
fussy and artificial in the appearance
and manner of these male dressmakers. Z
as though long catering to the whims
Of women had somehow struck in and 7
got on their nerves But they are the
princes and rulers of the costuming OF I
women From their kingdom in the
Rue de la Paix. and more recently in
Boulevard Haussmann, they issue
edicts before which all the feminine
world bows abjectly. Yet here is a
hint that American dressmakers may
avail themselves of for their encour-
Bgement Many of the new fashions are
actually designed and contrived by
mere women after ALL They are wo-
men and girls in the employ of the
kings of women fashions They work
regularly for these men at small wages
and bring In new designs that occur to
them or that they study out. If one of
these novel ideas promises to take"
then it is either bought OF simply ap-
proprated by the male employer.
Now. if French girls can design fash |
ions American girls certainly can when |
they have had the training and expe-
rience. But the American dressma kers /
have a larger undertaking on their
hands than they seem aware OF. They
tackle their task with Che happy conn-
dence Of those who know not its diff
culties. and that same happy conf |
dence, based partly on ignorance
though it be, is one of the best auguries /
for the final triumphant success of the
American dressmaker.
1t was the happiest thought of the
promoters of the recent exhibition Of
gowns in New York to display along
with homemade ones an assortment of
costumes from Paris. 1t was an inval-
liable object lesson to the American
modiste. If she used her wits. she saw
how much she had yet to learn. That
is the first step toward progress. 1t is
no disgrace to admit that in the tech
nique of all art, in the painstaking.
careful, mechanical making Of what
ever the French undertake. they lead
the world. The English admit it; so do
all other nations
The gowns at the exhibition in New
York showed this unmistakablv Was
a Paris creation placed upon a lay fig
ure beside an American one2 The
American dress was made of splendid.
costly material 1t was deliberately
wrought. in some instances so elabo-
rately as to be painful But the skirt
sometimes wrinkled over the hips. even
upon the dummy, there were also wrin-
kies under the arms and about the
shoulders. There was often too a
general tumbly. "tacky' appearance to
the tout ensemble There was great
and heaped up ornamentation. but
Gstic design. The very sewing on Of
that lace which is now SO universal a
feature of garniture showed the differ
ence. The lace yoke of the French
gown was fitted as exactly as if it had
been a tailor made overcoat Every
stitch was in place and it held. There
was not a pucker in a seam anywhere
The inset lace medallions were a beau
tiful illustration OF this French ex-
hctness.
The French bodice upon the lay figure
fitted as it does upon the human figure
when the French modiste fits it-with-
out a wrinkle or a loose stitch any,
where. With the French dressmaker
there is always as much of a design be-
forehand for costume as there is with
the artist for a great painting or in the
mind Of the sculptor for a marble crea-
ton To think out this crea ton Of
much more time is required to mate
fiahze it, American women who have
had costumes made in Paris have often
been not "A little annoyed at the long
delay before getting them It seems TO
take q French costumer twice as long
&c make gown as it does the Ameri-
can costumer. 1t is because the French
moaiste is engaged in a real labor of
love considering herself to be creating
as much Of an art work as if she We're
making painting or musical com
position.
The French nation are the leading
artists Of the world in all fields Thev
have given themselves up wholly to art
expression since the days of Louis XIV.
What wonder that all the world sits It
the feet of Paris and learns of the
French in matters Of art expression,
The American dressmaker is ATTEMPT
ing to perfect herself In the right way
by taking object lessons from French
modistes- 1t is not so much the design
ing OF costumes that she needs to
Know. That she is equal to in a meas
hre. 1t is the technique of her art. the
HTTWOW M muE nav