The sun., 1912-07-14


hair in a more stylish way and she msds
me q bead chain which brought out the
blue Of my eyes and the wilderness Of nv
neck. for the clip was slightly low. Tia
new slips which the house was having
made for me were to be blue for the sams
reason.
sYou got to be locker in this business.
GIRL she assured mo. But you ain't
woman; you're just q clothes horse.
You want to remember that IL any Of the.s
buyers get fresh with you. There = some
Of them that can't seem to keep their
hands OF q suit when the models cot il
on"
shall never forget my first experience
in trying The buyer was little Jew
with only one eye and the gown our nun.
Der ?6? 1t was fiimsy satin affair, but
It made a good appearance. And it was
intended for the class Of trade to which
appearance is everything and material
nothing. 1.
| l walked up and down or stood still at
command while the buyer and the rro.
prietof looked at the gown. There was
very little talking. much less than had
expected. But this was an old customer
perfectly able to judge the goods and the
price. He knew the material was fimsy,
but he also knew that his customers would
not care.
.She feel all right'" he asked me once.
-Fine." assured him.
After a little haggling over the price
the order, a good one. was taken.
found about dozen girls in the dress. :
ing room with me at five-thrty when We
got ready to go home. They were oi
very different nationalities Ger
mans. two Swedes and one Austrian, and
the rest Of us Americans. Canadians and
Irish. They were OF widely differing
social classes too. as was bound to he the
. case when the only requirement was
good figure and a stylish walk.
think it was rather what is called
presence or manner that counted lust
, as it does on the stage. At any rate the,,
!, girls all had it-they were able to speak
up when spoken to. and they really wore
the gowns they put on.
Some Of them were young-not more
than Is, and these little. juniors got
only from 90 to SO week according 10
their length Of service. The others were
-thirty-fours" and the "thirty-sixes." who
were all tall, about feet n, inches The
thirty-fours were perhaps tn rec inches
shorter.
The fact that We we're all Of us Of the
tall Northern races was striking. and il Il
rule among garment models. The
Southern races. especially the Italian
and jewish girls. who are most identified
with the garment making. are too short
and often too overdeveloped for models.
Thus while the buyers who came to our
factory. and the girls who sat at the
machines were nearly all Jewish. the
models were largely from the British
Isles. Germany and Sweden.
noticed that the girls who spoke good
English got the largest salaries. and
fixed my mind on helping out the pro-
prietor whenever | could. The work was
not especially tiring. for We could sit
down whenever there were no customers.
The proprietor himself l found con-
siderate. OF course business came first,
and he did not hesitate To keep me on my
feet for hours il necessary. but he treated
me distinctly as an assistant and not as
servant. tried to he strictly business.
like, though pleasant. and though met
an occasional fresh" buyer. ! never had
any serious difficulties with them.
knew that the proprietor gave Tho
m preference to the girls who were digni-
=, fed and that he strictly discouraged the
making of dates" with the buyers. He
AZ never objected to the somewhat familiar
n US. though they almost invariably called
m us dear" or sweetheart; but he seemed
- - to expect us to take it as he did, as all
~ in the day work.
The work itself was trying at times.
ia We had to try on winter suits in mid
II
:. time. though that was not so bad
y After ! had been in this place for some
l. time | secured another as Il costume
IN model in small shop in the fashionable
:" shopping district. This was more agree
h able in that the buyers were women
n though they were often hard to suit and
inconsiderate. ! received 500 week
I'd selling goods when there was no call for
my services as model.
D. One day there came to this shop very
, elegantly gowned woman. who spoke
y to me Just rs she was leaving, asninl
ie me to come to a certain Learby address
when was free
it l did so and found the woman the
proprietor Of the shop. She had been
a suddenly thrown upon her own resources
'' and had made great success in import
ing gowns. After a brief conversation
he she offered mo the position of model anc
I'd saleswoman at hundred dollars a mouth
10 I accepted it at once. for ! had taAer
- n fancy to her
I STAYED with her year, and ther
nc at her suggestion began to study hooh
al keeping at night school in order to tax
nj charge Of her books ! found that
had a natural aptitude for figures a..'
the work came easily 10 me. ] an, sii!
with Mrs r. after three years and hav'
no intention of leaving her | still tr,
~ required and in the summer. when Mrs
~ b. is in Europe, ! have entire charG
NJ of the shop In the buster seasons ~
OF employ a saleswoman. though Mrs. II
It's herself attends to much Of the selling.
Her patrons are women OF r"ih"inen
ia and SC cial position as well as wealth, an
:" il is one of her ideas to have only gentle
a. women TO serve them. She never per
mits the slightest rudeness toward ~
cd Since we deal entirely with women 'hrr
,cr are no social difficulties, for our prcsen
to buyers never ask me out TO lunch W.T.
them.
. am now earning $3.50 month. whic
TN il a good salary for a woman no bet'e
ill prepared than |. though IL is not al
no exceptional salary for an experiehc"
I and competent model,
And | suppose I am still model, thoug
eu hardly think of myself as one now, RI
OK me. az for most of the ambitious glrI
who go into il. being model was simpl
a u stepping stone to something m"g
a. ageeable know one girl who has earn"
w her money for vocal lessons 10y serrIn
Gu rs a cloak model, She Is to appear .
~. grand opera this season.
Ru, ~" girl who has ~" physical nudl
M ncations 10 hc "A model Will tind that ,i
h.' l. always sure Of woil paid work An
y" whll. she IL earning her SO week IN
80 may be fitting herself for something moi
~, agreeable or which offers better opf0l
~ | tunities for advancement.