Evening star., 1913-10-08
WOMEN'S WEAR.
|. Readymade Garments.
By Frederic ]. Haskin.


fall models In the department stores and
the ready-to-wear shops. could trace a
particular gown from the show window
where it first challenges her interest
back to its origin in Partisan atelier,
she would be thrice-armed for the dis
cussions that inevitably Will rage about
1t when the gown becomes her own.
Women's wear is the subject of more
discussion in the United States today
than any other topic. Tar1ff and currency
reform, the stock market and the cost Of
living, equal suffrage and the new dances
all have but minor share in the flood
of spoken and written language that CEN
ters in the vortex Of the prevailing fash
/ ions.
minds of many Americans that is the
worst thing that can be said about them
The movement for American fashions for
American women already has attained
as yet the citadel Of the Partisan mode
holds out against the siege. That citadel
is the eady-to-wear garment manufac-
turing industry.
Dressmakers in Increasing number,
| even tailors, are preferring American
modes. The woman who makes her own
| dress for obvious reasons never has been
slave Of Paris. It may be that she at
tempted much, but 1t was beyond her
| power to achieve. But the ready-to-wear
garment maker in, the furious competi-
| ton OF his rapidly expanding trade cir
cles, must cling to Paris in self-defense.
y
| Now to trace the gown In the shop
window. Partisan designer ransacks
the whole his
Partisan Designers tory of costume
Study Old Masters. .9r s9,,a,ss IDEAS, IS. He he
masters. He knows more Of sculpture
than the sculptor. He Is at once an anti
| quar1an and a historian. He is Jour-
| nalist, too, for he receives inspiration
from current events the world around.
Witness last year the Bulgarian mode
| Witness this yeaT the use of the same
colors. softened and toned down by drafts
upon Chinese and Turkish traditions. The
war in the Balkans and the republican
revolution In China had the direct result
within twelve-month of changing the
| costume Of every high school girl in the
| United States. This because the Partisan
| designer Is a despot His sway Is abso-
| lutte, and millions of American women
wear what he tells them to wear, without
questioning.
Representatives of American garment
makers and buyers from American stores
crowd into Paris on the eve Of the ap-
| pointed season when the designers will
release their new creations. They go not
as free customers to free market Doors
| do not swing open at their approach.
They are as men seeking favors, not con-
| fering them. If they represent large
houses, or have established connections,
| they will obtain with but little difficulty
| tickets that will admit them to the open
ing. If they come from new or smaller
concerns, they must beg, wheedle, cajole,
| some mighty Frencchman for the mere
privilege of looking at his models and of
buying such as are rejected by the more
/ favored customers.
| The buyer for the garment maker sue
ceeds by one way or another in getting
few precious Partisan models. With
no thought of. economy he cables to New
York the result of his quest He de-
| scribes his model and, more important
gives details of the materials of which
it is made and his opinions concerning
| the cloths that will be fashionable in the
coming season. This, that the manu-
facturers may rush forth into the piece
goods market ana buy.
49,
The gown reaches New{York There
another designer, perhaps the equal
In genuine artistic
Far1Slan Designs ability of the
Are Toned Down. psarn psr,,,an .,wa creator. ts.
superior to the French designer in
practical ideas with the American
designer-who in point of fact is
a Russian Jew-studies the Partisan
model. tones it down perhaps,
different gowns, all based on the one
original
sample of each Of these dozen gowns
Is made up. covering as wide q range in
color and fabric as is permitted by the
general fashions of the particular sea-
son. Perhaps the untutored man or wom-
| an nine times out OF ten would select
the. twelve American models as more
beautiful than the one Partisan. but, after
all. the central idea, the motif. came from
the French capital. Now the designer s
work is done The ideas are wrought,
and the market must be attacked
! Buyers come to New York. They come
not only from the other large cities OF
the country. but from small cities and
little towns. 1t is for Mr.. Buyer that
three-fourths of the activity we know and
denominate by the, term New York;
exists. Huge hotels multiply with in
credible speed for his entertainment
depend upon him. He is indeed the honor
guest of the second city Of the world
the keys Of Manhattan are his.
With an order book in a leather case
under his arm. he starts out to work.
he walks from his hotel into the heart
of the loft district, finds certain num-
Der, enters the hall whose gloom is but
little relieved by white marble and
decorative carvings, boards an elevator
and presently is discharged In a narrow
entry hall seven flights above the street.
At his right is a glass door displaying
the words Show Room" In front is a
wicket window under the legend, "Of-
fice." At his left is door for EN-
ployes Only" Often the showroom door
bears placard saying, Statesmen Not
Admitted" This means that rival manu-
facturers, going about in the disguise of
piece goods statesmen, will not be per-
mitted to see our exclusive models this
year.
The buyer enters the showroom. It is
of the style of Louis XVI The paneling
IL of soft gray,
Showroom Is relieved by dec
Place of Luxury. uis.tta ns wh,.a IN
The rugs, precious as Persia can pro-
duce, are of gray and old rose. A screen
of blooming flowers in each window
softens the outlook and helps to hide the
showroom from the inquisitive opera
glasses of the rival across the street.