The sun., 1906-02-18

sisting OF cloth skirt and short coat cost
almost az much II made by the best cos
tuners, and we'll dressed woman must
have at least two OF the latter and four
reception gowns in her outfit. This means
al outlay of at least 81, 200, to which sum
add another thousand for tea gowns ana
! lingerie.
give hundred dollars is not an exorbi-
tant price for an opera cloak, and The two
| long carringe cloaks which nr" necessary
! in addition to the opera cloak will cost from
500 to $500 each, the price depending largely
/ on whether they are trimmed or not with
expensive fur.
| "Then the women who go to Southern
resort when Lent sets in must get fresh
summer wardrobe, including at the least
six or eight hats and as many parasols,
| and practically duplicate this wardrobe
afIesh for the summer campaign, because
there is no one place on earth where a
womans clothes get old 80 quickly as at
resort like Palm Beach, for example three
or four weeks stay at place like that will
leave ones gowns looking like old duds'
AT LEAST $4,000 A YEAR FOR CLOTHES.
! what is the minimum sum fashionable
New York woman can dress on?'
a woman who attends the opera, goes to
! dinners, entertains and is entertained con-
stantly cannot, in my opinion. manage on
less than $40 OOO and then she will have to
ecrimp. | have one friend who manages
with $1,000, she says hut she told me, IN
| confidence, il was never possible for her
! to order more than eight new gowns in
the spring and the same number in the
fall and that she couldn't think of getting
rev fur coat or jacket oftener than once in
two or three years. which must be trial,
considering how very fashionable short
Jackets of all sorts Of furs are this winter
How much do you spend for clothes in
year,"
Generally in the neighborhood of 500 900,
which does not cover, of course. jewels or
some sets of furs. For example, my hus-
band gave me a $50, 900 sable coat and mum
for a Christmas present. A big price yes,
but any furrier will explain that sables cost
twice as much as they did ten years ago,
and are scarce at that
WOMEN WITH $50 900 WORTH OF FURs.
In contrasting the expenditures of the
| fashionable woman OF to-day with her
predecessor Of twenty years ago a New
York furrier said that among his customers
are women who own s50,OO0 worth Of furs
! and that twenty-five years ago the woman
! who owned a seal coat trimmed with sea
| otter valued at $500 thought she had some
thing quite worth while.
"We find ready sale for Russian sable
coats worth 2O,OCO, said he. There are a
few in the city which cost $4,000. We sell
a very great number of sable sets at s5,O 600
! to $4,000 each.
TO be sure. twenty years ago furs cost
only about half az much as they cost now,
| therefore customers got twice as much
for their money. Nevertheless, it was
| the exception then for even a fash
| ionabe woman to have more than one
fur garment or set OF furs, and of these
she took such care that when it was damp or
rainy she was chary of putting them on.
"To-day, many fashionable women have
ten or twelve sets, and four or five sets is
about the minimum number. We have sold
sets OF ermine chnchilla black fox, baby
lamb and mink and sa Die, all to one person
| this winter Some Of our customers have
bought Eton fur Jackets with muf and stole
to match as if they were made out of
| cretonne."
| But" it was suggested. these furs will
| last a long time, surely? The wearers will
not be likely to want anything more in the
| fur line next winter?'
| 1T used to be like that. but not now"
! was the answer. "Old fashioned people
! took great care of their furs. As soon as
the spring came they were swathed in
/ layer after layer of paper, lastly a sheet, and
then packed carefully in a box, and they
didn't mind at all wearing fur garment
rubbed at the edge or faded trhe.
| "Not so the woman Of fashion now
| She takes no care whate yer of her furs
and for the reason that she travels about
so much. going to cold climates in summer,
and vice versa. that she keeps her furs
in commission all the time Women with
handsome neck pieces of sable show them
off at seaside resorts all summer long
and by October L. sometimes sooner, they
get out mufrs and fur jackets
Such treatment as this tells on even
the best of furs, which in less than year
begin to look iaded This seals their fate
with the fashionable New York woman,
who refuses to wear a fur garment. no
matter how much it cost, which is bit
off color even, let alone rubbed at the edges.
Neither will she wear it if the cut happens
to be behind the top notch of style: and
of course in fur garments as in silk OF
cloth costumes there are new styles every
year
Few Of the weathiest Of our patrons
care to have the average run of furs made
over preferring to select the newest de-
signs and combinations Of furs in the market
every season. This is one reason why
New York women of means spend twenty
times as much on their furs as did the
weathiest women twenty years ago"
SALES TO SECOND HAND DEALERS
what becomes of all the costly gowns
hats, furs and cloaks which society turns
down after few wearings?" an opera box
owner was asked
Sometimes they are given away by
trunkfuls; oftener they are sold to second
hand dealers for fraction of what they
cost she replied Every spring and fall
many of my friends send for a dealer, who
comes and nspects dozen or more cos
tunes, hats and cloaks. and a bargain
is struck for the lot then and there
Most second hand dealers pretend to
pay n third of the original cost Of gown,