Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1911-09-14
LONDON ARTIST ON
COSTUME DESIGNS
Americans Wear Better Tailor.
mades, She Says-Loose
Gowns for Tea.

Why did I cay London? Why, TO
get more money, of course said a
costume designer to a New York Trlb-
une interviewer. 9TH field is becom-
ing so crowded over home that all the
artists are earning less now. h two
greatest ones. who used to make $4,000
are making only G1.000 now. l9ut over
here there seems to be a great opening
for fashion artists.
1.-The great part OF the really now
fashions are designed. as you know, in
Paris. The great d~ressmaKing firms
employ people to make rough sketches
of their w n these sketches they
soil to us. They usually arc very crude,
showing only the main points about
The dress. and with tust Il splash of
color here and there to show the color
scheme. We take these sketches, draw
them over. color them, and they have
to De printed in our books with
'sketched by Worth at the bottom.
Another way we get hints for our de-
signs is from similar sketches made by
our own artists. We send a young girl
out OIL the avenue to get sketches from
the shops and passers-by. Haven't
you seen a girl sometimes draw a tiny
pad from her pocket and mark it
quickly. casting furtive chances around
all the time lest she be detected? Or,
and make drawings from the gowns
displayed within. American shops are
much easier to do that in than the
English. Over there you can't so into
a store without clerks coming forward.
What does madame wish?' and then
YOU have to buy something /" get rid
of them. Here i'm America. IN the other
hand, you can go into a store and wan
der around as much as you like with
out being spoken to. 1t is easy then
to make little quick sketches. / like
the English stores when ! really want
10 1,,,- car, l>A t1N. ~ hoo ~
hos when l am inst looking at things.
1 never really have to make the
sketches of which I have been telling
YOU. That is too elementary work for
n head artist. They Always send the
new apprentices out to make those
and models for my large drawings.
Wear Thin Dresses in Street.
'"Thc only other difference I have
noticed as Yet between clothes here
Hnd at home is that YOU Americans
wear much better t~ailormades. You
seem 10 take more pains about YOUR
cloth suits. and insist on their fitting
perfectly. You wear them a great deal
more. too. Here OF the street you seem
to think you are not properly dressed
unless you have on a tailormade. Eng
lish women wear them only when they
are sporting. or on cold mornings in
town. Before the extremely hot wealth
err comes you see nothing on Fifth ave
nue. but lark serge suits. Bond street
at the same eason would be full of
light muslin dresses. Think how much
more comfortable the thin dress is and
how much p~rettier a picture a group
of women make when so attired! I
can not understand why Americans
are so devoted to the tailornade.
though I must say they have the best
mes In the world.
They arc almost as bad, l hear,
about house dresses. What we call tea
gowns. such as this l have on. We
always wear loose gowns like this.
without corsets. at afternoon tea, and
have such a comfortable. restful hour
before getting ready for dinner and the
evening. You Americans, poor things.
don't have tea. and you keep in our
tight gowns or stiff blouses until even-
ing. and you don't eve dress for din
nor as much as' English women do.
Over home lii a boarding house like
this. where the people we're not wealthy
ordinary working people like me. you
know-we would all be in light gowns
ut J;npn~o