Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1907-07-25
FORTUNES HANG UPON
LENGTH OF DRESS SLEEVE
FAD OF FASHION BRINGS WEALTH
TO GLOVE MAKERS
kidskins Give Out and There Remains
an Enormous Demand on Man.
ufacturers for Long
Silks
Special to The Herald.

Special to The Herald.
NEW YORK, July 24-On a few inches
of a woman's sleeve depends a fortune
that writes itself in seven figures. A
within made it. An idle fancy may take
1t away.
The dressmaker on the one hand in
sists that the costly shortage was the
accident of a logical revolution of taste,
bound to disappear with the next turn
of the wheel.
The glovemaker, on the other hand, is
ready to make affidavit that 1t was
heaven born inspiration, an artistic de-
velopment. which cannot be set aside
without a retrogression in dress that
makes for beauty.
Between them both, the veritable god
dess of chance, stands the woman, and
on her nod hangs the sartorial fate of
two continents.
Since the introduction Of the short
sleeve with its concomitant, the long
glove, one manufacturer of gloves alone
has recorded a so per cent increase in
his sales over last year, and the pres
sure put upon the factory hands is be-
yond belief.
It is monumental, stupendous, strange
industrial crisis which affords remark
able sidelights.
All
The short sleeve was tentatively tried
in women's garments of the more modish
description a little more than three years
ago. And, with the revival the sleeves
at once became abbreviated and ex-
aggerated. decoration, a feature of the
gown. rather than it's mere accessory.
The success of the short sleeve was
enormous Then the Princess gown, with
its tiny Jacket lifted the sleeve trifie
higher, and the glove took considerable
jump to keep pace.
AS the gloves scared toward the Shout
der. the prices scared with them fact,
which according to all precedent, should
have put a limit to their vogue. But not
even the most farseeing of the dealers
could have prophesied at the beginning
of the rage, to what proportions 1t would
grow.
Two winters ago the run on the man
ufacturers was unprecedented. Skins
gave out. With the succeeding summer
every shirt waist and frock, whether OF
silk, muslin or wool, emerged with the
merest apology for sleeves and the long
silk glove was the immediate demand.
Supply Is Exhausted
Everyone remembers the extraordinary
measures needed to obtain black SILK
gloves of any description last season.
Even Paris, the ineXhaustible, gave out.
The purchase was so overwhelming that
trade was literally held up, and the man
ufacturers were driven to cover.
Preparations on an enormous scale
were made for the past winter and the
long glove had it's nearest approach to
perfection in the output of foreign and
domestic marts
But even with the wisdom born of past
experience another run, this time on
long brown silk gloves, has nearly COM
promised the glovemakers afresh. Gloves
of a length never before popular, except
for evening wear, and even then more
the exception than the rule have passed
into the everyday need of the public.
Where heretofore the 81 glove has been
the kid glove of the popular sale, the
s.. 80 glove is now the lowest bargain
counter offering. The $3.50 glove is now
the medium, with the s. pair as a ready
seller.
conceaIs Traces of Age
week or two ago in London a gown
was made for a fashion leader, whose
telltale hands evinced the passing of the
years The modiste, to save the vanity
| of her customer, evolved a new sleeve or
Marie Stewart cut that, with its fall of
lace reached to the knuckles, shrouding
| the winkled flesh from curious eyes and
! imnarting a look of delicacy to the hand
| beneath.
Others took up the mode as the latest
cry of fashion, and the edict flashed
around the world.
| The glovetnakers at once flew to arms
| their kingdom was threatened. The
dressmakers stood prepared to use the
shears on the glove as unsparingly as
| thev had before employed them on the
| sleeve. and the end is not yet
| Meanwhile, the woman in Paris has re
yolted from the dictum of London, and
for the coming season, at least the un
draned arm and the sheltering kidskir
will still parade in company.
To be sure, the sleeve has crept JUS
below the elbow again, but its fall will
hardly affect the length of the glove
which promises to be more wrinlSled thar
ever.