The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1913-04-04

her mats alone cost more than her huS
bands entire outfit. Yet gagged b,
the expenditures OF her associates. thi,
woman did not spend any more thai
her sense of obligation to her position
in society demanded.
The greatest increase in the cost o
living in many families is the larger
sum required for clothing. A woman
who used to dress so we'll upon an al
1oUance of $500 a year that her gowns
attracted favorable comment, nov
spends ten times that sum, and is
dressing plainly in comparison with
her associates.
The first appearance of spangled
clothes upon the New York stage,
worn by Amazons, attracted attention
for their e~xtravagant brilliancy. Now
thousands of American matrons wear
%spangled gowns of even greater ex-
~travagance. which attract attention
because they are no longer unusual.
Much of the extravaganza in the
clothes of fashionable m might be
condoned because Of the money which
it keeps in circulation, were it not for
the hardships it imposes upon the
women of smaller means, especially
the working m There is no class
distinction in clothing in America.
Every one wears as nearly as possible
the styles of the social leaders, and
the more elaborate their costumes the
greater the strain upon those who de-
sire to emulate them. Their is no
peasant class among Americans who
clothe themselves comfortably after
the same styles as their ancestors, in
many instances wearing clothing be-
queathed to them. This is often a
hardship which the ONE resent, but
it is forced upon them by modern So
cial conditions.
The story is told of the wife of a
struggling Methodist preacher who was
rebuked by the presiding elder be-
cause she did not give more personal
attention to the education of her chill
dren instead of sending them to public
school n kindergarten at an early
age. She was reminded of the exam
pie of the famous Susannah Wesley
had personally instructed each of
her numerous offspring. That is quite
true" rejo;ned the modern m
But we are also told that Susannah
Wesley wore for many years, without
the cloak which was be
queathed to her by her grandmother.
If l were to appear in my husbands
wearing my grandmother's
cloak, unless | had carefully altered it
to suit modern fashion, / would
be reminded that I was not
keeping W the dignity of my hus-
bands position by presenting a proper
| cannot spend my time
teaching my own children when ! am
compelled to sew continually in order
that they, as well as myself, present as
good an appearance as the families in
our church Who have larger means"
The average experiences no
distress than the knowledge
that her clothes are below the stand
of her associates, although many
are strong-minded enough to
try to ignore it. At a recent scientific
gathering held in Washington, attended
~ the leading scientists of the coun-
and their wives, a Well-knoWn So
,iety remarked: "There is
nothing more pathetic to me than the
evening gown of most of these women.
You can see by their faces that they
are cultured, refined women who
would naturally like better things, yet
some of them have been sacrificing
everything to the scientific achieve
nents of their husbands. Many of
,hese dresses formed a part of bridal
and hav been carefully
preserved ever since. The painstaking
effort put forth in a vain endeavor to
oring them up to a prevailing style
makes my heart ache. Only a woman
understand the aching hearts UNI
1erneath some of these partially re-
|uvenated dresses, and it seems wrong,
somehow, that such things have to be-"
While undoubtedly the women in the
professional classes do suffer from the
present eX~travagant standards of
1ress, The greatest martyrs are the
Door working girls who AVE not the
of The other women to help
hem. Each new fad which is adopted
~ the society woman is copied in
materials for her poorer sis
The cheaper the material, the
tax its purchase may be upon
he poor woman who acquires for her
earned money an article from
which she will have little service and
which she will soon discard for some
hing calling for an equal tax upon
Ter slender resources. The same
money invested in good durable gar
would yield so much greater
comfort if they only had the
fashionable appearance necessary to
Ter happiness.
Great industries are built upon the
of elegancics which the per-
'erted taste of many American women
low seems to demand. Brocaded vel
cts. which might cost hundreds of
dollars from the silk looms of Europe,
re being produced in the New Eng
and cotton mills for the smallest frac-
of the cost of the originals. All
of jewels are now manufac-
ured in cheap glass, while the manu-
acture of imitation laces has grown
nto an industry representing millions
f dollars annually in this country.
'hese limitations are never durable.
heir frequent renewal has been the
Indoing of many working girls who
viii put all they can earn or obtain
for into open-Work lingerie at SO
'entS a set, willow DlumaS at 81 gS