Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-18
BY THE BOULEVARDIER.

VHERE are all sorts and varieties of
tenets of fashiondom, but, resolved
10 their final analysis. two great
primal rules stand out. which. II OBJ
served. will make all the others more or
less negligible. These rules are-irst, get
good clothes; second. keep them good
And the last is quite as much IL not
more important than the first. He is
terribly hard on his clothes" is an ex-
preston which fits just about ninety men
out of every hundred Indeed. prom
1nent local haberdasher confessed 10 the
writer he owed about - per cent OF his
sales to the fact that his customers lost
interest in the care of their clothes .'as
soon as the brand-newness wore off"
It's rather a remarkable fact that this
Is so. The average suit Of clothes costs
about, So. Some, of course. cost more
and some less. but the figures given will
come pretty close 20 approaching the gen
eral average. Now, let a man pay SD
for any other sort OF purchase, and
chances are he Will treat IL with ali sorts
Of carr. Let him buy ii dog for that
amount, for instance, and he Will watch
81 daily. see 10 il that its food IS just so.
and that its coat IS kept clean and
smooth. Let the same man buy Il suit of
clothes. however, and in most Instances
after tn first couple Of weeks the
clothes, save when they are being worn.
VIII be left largely 10 shift for them
selves.
A very fair example ot what is meant
may he CLEANED from the experience OF
almost any man. when. at the beginning
OF a new season he mounts into the attic
f.sr. 10 Ia.
bought just before the close OF the cor
responding season one year previous. II
the man be married, there IS strong
probability that the suit. barring the
possible need of a bit OF pressing. VIII
be all right, thanks TO the wife. But il
IN. mar be bachelor the odds are
hugely in favor OF his finding tie suit
rather moth eaten. AT any rate, he is
practically certain TO ind it badly soiled
AMI woefulLy in need OF trip 10 the
cleaners
The point is that the suit in the first
place should by all means have been
guarded against moths when IL was
packed IL the second place. IL should
also have gone Ia the cleaners before
packing The longer a spot stays on a
suit the harder Il is 10 remove. Some
spots there are-grease for instance
that seem TO actually work their way
into the texture OF the material and il
time become so firmly liked as to be
absolutely ineradicable.
But the caution exercised In packing
clothes away To await another season Is
a very small part OF the real care oi
clothes The real care should come dur
ing their actual service. Strange i
may seem. one OF the worst faults IL
clothes-care lies IN too much pressing.
A certain amount of pressing, naturally
IS absolutely essential II not only adds
to the appearance of clothes, but enables
is =
very simple matter 10 overdo it. The man
who insists on razor edge crease to his
trousers. for instance. may by too much
pressing give them what tailors call .
.'permanent crease" which means thai
there will seem to be a sort Of ridge
running down the trousers which more
than likely VIII be shiny and unsightiy
Worse still, while the crease itself vii
be evident enough. the rest OF the trous