The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1904-11-16
JESS BIZ
D RED IONS
tior, For EstraVaaa lance She
Won't Make One Fire GoWr,
Last &c years. as Her Il
" English Cousin Does. ss

Ever since an article e apeared in )
tI1ondon newspaper announcing that !
plan was under consideration to pro
s|tect husbands from extraNagant wives
n men especially New York women with
4 expensive tastes. have gone around
H with an air Of placid satisfaction. This
4 attitude of the English husband, they
say, shows clearly enough that wheo
Fit comes to a question of clothes the
Il American woman does not deserve the
.tzreputation which somehow or other
clings to her, of being the most eN.
travagant in the world. For OF course
it is the clothes question which has
put Englishpen on the defensive. says
1.-the New York Sun
The American men. these New York
women point out. are not conD'ai. ing
about being innocent victims of q
thoughtless extravaganza fostered Of
ten by tradespeople and dressn>akers, =
nor are they asking to be protected by
the courts from their own wives.
The article referred TO says that
dresSmakers and .Inilliners and trades
people in general are keeny alive TO
the necessity of safeguarding Their in
terests and that they, too, Want
protective association. They also
want to amend the existing law
making husbands responsible for their
wives debts. They say it affords
many loophoes to married women for
the evasion of their debts.
=; ~,
by tradespeople, by specialists in the
art of turning out dreams" and ere
ations," whose price runs fEto he
thousands, and by women Of fashion
who spend at least half tfeir time on
the other side of the Atlantic. fails to
prove that as a class of fashionable
English women are as eXtravagant in
their bills for wearing apparel as
American women of the same social
and financial standing. 1t does not
appear either that the New York wo-
man. deserves any medals for her
economical expenditures for. clothes.
Here, for instance, is what fashion
able New York woman says:
THE English woman Of means
spends far more money on her house.
her servants, her carriages, than the |
New Yorker, whose fortune is per-
haps double that of the English wo-
man, but with few exceptions the
English woman doesn't spend a third 1
as much on her clothes as the Amer
lean
There are exceptions. of course
4 few exceedingly smart 5ng'i sh wo-
men who can eaSily keep pace With
he extravagant AmericaHs-but [ am
eaving them out of the question.
'enember once when was on the OH
er side going about a good deal with
IN English woman who took three
weeks to make up her mind to pay
;15 for a fancy little neck tissue like
he one was wearing which she I'D s,
nired And yet that woman owned
10 fewer than seven country seats ami
he was travelling around With five
ervants and took her own carriage
nd horses everywhere she went.
IAN English woman of the higher
lass never dreams of riding in
us or trudging around 70 the shops {
u foot, as even the richest women I
ere will do, and she would almost, t
S soon think of cutting off her hand I
S to cut down the number Of house t
ervants or economize on her living h
xpenses; but she viii wear the Same Q
elvet gown for IT years. v
mo, I am not exaggerating in tae
last. I know one woman who moves :
court circles who has velvet gown 4
years old. That and several OF ;ler
rocaded costumes viii probably be
anded down to the next generation
English women are as fold of the
lrables in dress goods as in furnish
ire, and their clothes Inst forever.
he American woman, OIL the other
and, no matter how handsome the
aterial of her costume may 5e, gets
red of 1t and won't look at it after
e second season-sometines not less
ter the first.
"She sends for dealer in second
md colthes and dtsposes of gowns.
oaks and hats almost new for a mere
ing, and then goes and orders some
wv ones That is mainly why the
merican woman IS gaining the rep
alton Of being the best gowned in
e world. Her clothes are always
rfectly fresh, or almost SO, and in