Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1910-05-21
STEALING THE STYLES
London Millinery Pirates and
Their Methods.
TRICKS OF SMART WOMEN.

Oso hetr POSITION 10 Get LOOK ~
tho Advance Models and Then Sell
Their information In Berlin---one
Case Where There Was a Slip.
The object OF the modern millinery
pirate IL by some means 10 get hold
OF the new fashions well In advance
Of the coming season. and. however
jealousy guarded the new models are.
shc-mo pirates are womcn--vcry
often succeeds. aud the real owner has
the modification of seeing his novelty
anticipated 10y some firm Of infinitely
less importance than his own
Last spring the proprietor Of one Of
the smartcst shops in the west end of
London noticed II lady walking In the
park attlred In n dress almost an ex
own, a model which not half dozen
people had seen besides its inventor
and himself. The design had been reg
istered. but the copy was just SUN
GENTLY altered TO steer clear OF legal
difficulties.
A most searching inquiry revealed
the fact that the culprit was lady
who had always been considered one
of the firms smnrtest and best custom.
ers.
Her birth and position were less i'm
pcachable than the state OF her
finances. and she had accepted the
offer of Berlin firm to dress her on
condition that she supplied 1, with the
very latest creations that found their
way from Paris TO London
Having the eniree of the lnnermosl
sanctum OF III, London firm referred
TO. she had taken advantage of It's con
fldcnce in her to draw its designs from
memory and post them TO Berlin
The London firm had no legal rem
edy whatever. All II could do WAS
when the autumn styles were due and
the lady called again to inform her
that her patronage was no longer de
sired.
Another lady detected In similar
trick by the manager Of Regent
street firm was very cleverly punished
Upon her rcxt visit she was received
with the same cordiality as ever and
taken into the showroom where th
latest models were usually displayed
She never suspected until jOu late
that the room had been specially ar
ranged for her reception tn. mufirl'
exhibited were anything bmt new. aud
the too smart firm which employed her
was put to vast expense 10 work ~
dresses from patterns resurrected irniu
those Of years before which proved
absolutely unstable.
II Is by no means exclusively for III,
purpose OF stealing other peoples orig
inal designs that pushing firms Ell
list the services of well dressed re
cruits.
Last summer lady arrived at n
smart seaside hotel. the sort of place
where people stay for the whole sea
son. She was pretty. smart and per-
fcctly turned out--so well dressed. IN
fact. that other women. filed with
envy. did their best to find out who
was her drcssmaker.
Put. though she frequently boastcd
that the people were perfect treasures
and that her bills amounted to next to
nothing. she sicadfastly refused to dis
close the name
one day. however. she accidentally
dropped an envelope inclos:ug a bill
from the mysterious dressmakcr. bill
artfully faxed" so as TO show prices
Of startling chcapness. Within week
the firm that employed this clever lady
welcomed dozen new customers.
Hotels. too. find the lady tout most
useful. Last autumn u very pretty
girl arrived ut II certain Scotch health
resort establishment with her mother
She was smart. well dressed. a clever
musician-just the sort of girl 10 he
thoroughly popular with both sexes
At once she became the center Of n
large coterie of admirers.
Then after few days her vivacious
expression gave place 10 II look Of I'm
uttcrabIe boredom. II can't stand this
place. It's so deadly dull" she said
over and over again Finally one
evening she announced that she could
not endure II an hour longer. She
was going.
"Whcrci' was the question
Back to Rlltherington. was the de
cidcd answer at may be little
dcarer. but you get your moneys
worth there. One has such good
time there!''
Next day she left. and before the
week was out large proportion Of
her friends had followed her.-London
Grand Magazine.