The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-10-27
BORROW FINERY FROM STORES
ONEWAY NEW YORK WOMEN FAVE
or LOOKING SMART.
They Take a Wear Out or . Cloak or n Sat
and Then send IL Back h Managers
Are Lcn'.ut- bIt Ono Draws the Line
an yflNd S,r-t-yPpx en- tre" nnsLx s,s

N Eindni, Cri;nys I'm the Pockets
Everybody remarks on the good clothes
worn by New York womc1. Strangers
from other cities notice H. the first thing.
Visitors from Europe have often expressed
surprise at H.. and frequently Mrs. Jones.
living next door but one to Mrs. Brown,
has marvelled at the variety and richness
OF the latter's coats. wraps and hats, and
Mrs. Smith. whore husbands financial
status IL exactly the anne as that Of Mrs.
Whites husband. wonders discontsntedly
hos it hapTens that Mrs. White can nave
al least two new wraps to every one that she,
Mrs. Smith. can afford.
Wcrn Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Jones TO have
a confidential chat with one and another
purveyor of woman's clothing they would
cease 10 wonder. They would learn that
much Of the apparent prosperity which
fills them with envy and unrest is the out
come Of an original little way many New
York women practise when shopping.
None Of these women means to be dis
! honest or underhanded. such an insipuation
would he highly resented by any one of them.
Their original little way is simply a natural
! sequence of the indulgence Of department
store nag 10 woman customers-an
indulgence which SO far is not duplicated
in any other city on earth. certainly. a.
least. not in any city of Europe.
" let our customers almost wear ont
goods and then send thcm back" a super
intendent ri a popular department store
once remarked with a CHEEKY smile; and
| he meant IT,. This is how il works:
When Mrs. Brown or Mrs. White or Mrs.
Anybody Else with q charge account at
this. that ana the other department store
or dressmaking establishment finds that
she needs "A new jacket or long coat or
opera cloak. or all three, she makes the
rounds. of course. 10 look over all the new
models before making a selection. A
evory one knows, few woynen shoppers
ever buy in the first store visited. no matter.
how satisfactory the goods shown may
he: for how do they know but what the
assortment in the other stores may not
be still better and cheaper? For this reason
"a woman with a charge account in ono
store is pretty certain TO have a charge
account in two or three stores. This I'm
fact is one of the modern phases Of the
retail DIV goods business which in becorn-
ing more and more general. The charg~
account means that the buyer is privi-
legged to have goods sent home one day
and 10 send them back 10 the store next
day 10 be credited 10 her account,
Naturally there is a pleasurable excite
mcnt incidental 10 such transactions lack
ing in the cash on delivery system of buy
ing. and incidentally the charge account
has in many c3s7s led TO the state Of things
which Mrs. JONES and Mrs. Smith regard
I with IA ~iaundiced eye. and which. by the
way. managers and ssleswomep are be"
ginning to take measures against.
IL draw the line at cleaning cake crumbs
on OF the pockets Of q $50 wrap declared
a Inana ger the other day.
The story of the crumbs was this: 4
charge customer descended on the cloak
department TO look at evening wraps, and
selecting an imported affair of lace and satin
brocade. ordered il sent home. The next
day the DEPARTMENT was notified 10 send
for the wrap, which had not been found
satisfactory. The customer would make
another selection, il was stated.
Back came the wrap in good condition
and plus some cake crumbs discovered as
the sal woman WIS refolding the gar
men; 10 resJore it TO It's box. The wrap.
it was ey ident. had been worn the evening
before.
A few hours later the wcarcr appeared
and when taxed with having worn the
rIrchase calmly admitted the fact, adding
That is why | sent it back. My friends
said it was not becoming"
As she really wanted an evening cloak
and was prepared TO pay we'll for one thar
suited her the management decided not
10 inCist that the returned garment should
III kept by her.
IA a matter Of fact. prov ided a garment
shows no sign Of having been worn sales
people and managers can hardly refuse
TO exchange il. To prevent the growing
custom OF taking one wear at least out OF
"A Goa wrap or hat and then returning "
il almost impossible for the reason hat
unless some employee actually sees the
carmen; worn il is not proved that 1t has
been worn. Even a wrink l~e-several wrin-
klcs-wont prove il, for il is quite possible
to wrinkle n garment in the packing. ,
One case ~ least in which it was proved
that a purchase had been worn occurred
last winter in a shop freouented by fashion
able women. The purchase was an opera
Cloak--a very distinctive cloak, the only
one Of the kind in stock. That same even
ing a salesman in the department attended,
the opera and saw seated in a box the
customer of the morning with her purchase
thrown over the back Of her chair. The
cloak was returned 10 the store with the
explanation that the husband of the pur-
chaser did not like il and that the price could
be credited 10 her account Nothing was
said about selecting another cloak. Of
course the garment was sent again to the
customer with the message that as 1t hsc
been worn 10 the opera the evening previ'
Gus IL would not he taken back.
in the case of street jackets and GOATS
OF cloth and of fur 1t ~ safe 10 say that not
less than 80 per cent. of all that are re.
turned have been worn at least once
said D ~saleswoman in thiss same shop. we
mink nothing of having garments returned
ny charge custoniers-we expect II in fact
for the reason that 80 many buy with tbs
rrnvlso want my husband 10 see IL befor'
j decide but we do object TO having on
goocs worn and then returned a few day.
a~fterward. as is repeatedly done.
Not iong ago "A woman gave hersel
away ny ending back a long coat such 81
Is worn driving or autoinR. with a pair 81
gloves IN the pocket, and on another occa
Sion a short street coat was returned with
~handkercliief in the breast pocket. I have
come TO the conclusion that there are man,
New York women who on occasions wher
rant afford it mana ge IL by borrovin. |,
coat a jacket or an evening wrap from
a store where they have an account. Some
times TINS IL exchanged the next day for
much cheaper jacket. Even ten years az,
such IA thing wasn't dreamed OF, par1,
because women were salts led with feweI
changes then and also because at that tim,
shoppers had fewer privileges.
shoppers can't very well borrow entire
costumes for the reason that a dress waisl
ans 80 -