Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-06-15

- " INCH started In New 1ofh ftiu
u y are penetratin through a Inc
of cities from east 10 west ana
from north to south.
II one moves around among those VINO
arc Interested only in the commercial
side If clothes one hears interesting as
r1ssions Of the growing rivalries between
he different kinds of places that sen
wognen's clothes Formerly the bulk OF
the income was divided between the
seamstress and the dressmaker
IT. each class there Were many dlVl-
stons. Seanstresses were high and low
priced and their work ranked accord
'ncIv: dressmakers charged anywhere
from $40 to SO for making up ones own
material and the higher classed ones
would not accept these conditions, out
charged for the completed gown rs 1t left
their establishment, or sold a model gown
which they had brought from Paris.
:: ::
There were thousands of women who
never thought of going to the high-priced
dre ssmakers: their prices were always De-
voud the stretching limits of the average
purse, and they stood to the women VINO
and Doucet now stand to the women VINO
b,1v American clothes Seamstresses then
mad an immense amount of work to do.
and most of them were part of the house
hold and made every gown for Its mem
hers TO matter how fashionable the
function at which il was to be worn
This custom still holds true. especially
in small towns but in the great centers
II has fallen off in an amazing way.
Naturally, in the small centers there Is
not the possibility of a strong ana hlsh-
class rivalry from a variety or SHOPS anu
DEPARTMENT stores. 50 the seamstress ana
the little dresmaker have things some
what as they used to have them Ihey
have found their serious connection in the
readv-to-wear clothing imported from the
manu- 'acturers by the shops.
In the cities the dreSsmakers confess
chat they have met competition in the
DEPARTMENT stores which have the space
and money to exploit an amazing number
of model gowns every few months, ana
which can retain through the year a COM
petent staff of skilled workers. This
competition is all the more serious be-
cause the dressmakers and the depart
ment stores bring over from Paris prac-
tically the same model exhibited there by
a mere handful of men and women who
dominate the fashions of the world.
:.
Few of the fligh-class dressmakers pre-
tend to 90 more these days than to copy
French clothes: a very few Of them design
models that differ In any radical way
from the gowns they brought over. and
~ven those who make a business of doing
n really receive the idea for the whole
ming from Paris, and do not dare to diff
Yer much from the laws laid down for
that especial season. Neither do the de-
partment stores. And the prices are prac-
ficaIiy the same in both places, so the
whole competition now has resolved tsei1
into a question Of fit and fabric.
Even II a woman pays an enormous
price for an original Paris model, she
can see its sister IN almost every place
that sells French clothes t.
all this rival The small gown shops
have sprung up to sell nothing but wom-
ems frocks They do not call themselves
speciality shops. for this adjective I'm,
plies expense. And if any one has mad
an experience with them they do not feel
that prices are lower there than else
where: in fact, it seems as though one
nays a royalty on the word specially
which is added to the price of anything
bought in its salons.
The little gown shops are cheap. Ihey
are mere windows and shelves, with
hardly room enough 10 turn dTouHo' anu
they dot the STREETS Of certain cities ana
make the same appeal TO the mass OF
neonIe that a certain national reSta Lrant
does They defy the cry of the high COST
Of living They beckon with their little
frocks in the windows and the price tags
attached to them At first women doubted
the advisabihty of buying clothes that
were so cheap that q seamstress couldn
turn them out at home for the same
amount But they lured and continued to
beckon, and women would say. Lets
see what they have" and come out OF
the store with three gowns
EVERYTHING that pertains 10 a lower
cost of living is of more vital interest
TODAY than the proposition to make "A lit
Tie more money. and 1t is forthis reason
that these little gown shops have taken
an important section in that growing ma
tionai parade organized by women for
the reduction of prices. NO one realizes
this more than the women.
= fnancier who runs several methods
Of transportation in great city was