The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-02-27
MINNIE APPAREL
WHAT WOMEN SPEND IN TIME
AND MONEY FOR DRESS
Some St. Paul Women Are Taking to
Ready Made Gowns as Being Cheap
er and Easier to Have Fitted Than
Those Made by the Modiste.

Some one writes to us on the subject
of dress and the time that a woman
spends at her dressmaker's, and asks
how in the world this is to be avoided
by a woman who desires to look well.
This is a difficult question and one that
the writer has often pondered upon in
relation to women whose wardrobes are
elaborate. 1t is really appalling to
think of the hours upon hours that are
wasted by women waiting to be fitted.
Indeed, the whole subject is a vexing
one to women, and many the one who
wishes that some kind of a uniform
could be adopted.
Of course the woman who does not
take VstaRinterest in dress and only
has limited wardrobe, is not much
bothered, but the woman who has the
means to dress well and deliberately has
to give almost every waking thought to
styles and to the modiste. A st. Paul
woman who has just returned from
Florida, where she has visited friends
and been to the fashionable winter re-
sorts, said recently that she never saw
anything to equal the dress there dis
played. Barbaric splendor of Jewels
and materials Is the only expression
that fits the case. What this means in
thought and effort can only be esti-
mated by women themselves, who know
what even moderate wardrobe costs.
| A st. Paul woman said the other day:
when 1 look about and see the way
The women dress and the money they
spend in jewels, fairly shiver. Not
that l mean that the woman who has
the means should not dress well or
spend money on jewels, but during the
tIaSt year or two there has been a per-
1ect riot Of dress, and the rivalry and
1lI-feeling engendered is something ap-
| palling. The simple life is a farce ex-
! cept among a few independent ones
whose brains make up for their lack Of
adOrnment. 1t is not only the women
VINO dress so deliberately, but young
| girls are gowned as their mothers new
| er were, and the result is to discourage
! young men from marrying. Then when
see a man who has a wife and four
| daughters to dress, my heart goes out
to him. There must come a change in
TINS matter of dressing, and this to-
ward simplicity, for it cannot well be
carried any further than it is at pres
emit"
! When one comes to think Of all the
useful and beautiful things one might
do IN the hours that are wasted waiting
10 be fitted or consumed in trying on,
1T seems pity that some other way Of
dressing could not be invented. Many
women bave partly solved the problem
Iby buying ready-made gowns and
coats, and in this day when such beau
ttlfuI things are carried in the shops
lready to wear, it is comparatively an
easy matter to dress we'll with infinitely
less trouble and cost. Right here in ST
iPaul can be found gowns for every sort
OF an occasion ready made, and it must
Ebe a source of worry to dressmakers
lhat so many women are adopting this
manner of dressing. However. fhe
tmodIstes have themselves to blame for
putting up their prices to such a figure
that only millionaires can go to them.
tThe saving in buying ready-made gar
tments Is tremendous, and while ones
gowns may not fit quite as well as If
they were made to order, to women who
nave some other interests in life be-
SIDE clothes they appeal strongly.