El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-04-03

a
can helress Is regarded as far more
important by the tradesmen Of Europe
tAdH lAdl OF any reigniug SOVEREIGN
Even royalty has not sucn unlimited
sums OF money at its disposal and cor
talniy Is not so reckless REGARDING irs
expenditures Inc expenditures OF the
empress Josephine Tor many wears
were considered record breaking, in
feminine extravaganza OF toilet. bar
there are American women who ooh
year exceed the $4,000 which Napoleon
provided Tor ner allowance NJ hen
one woman is taxed $4,000 duty I1Dor
personal articles brought over from
Europe IN single year, in addition
10 the money spent in this country, the
sum of 100000 may be readily ac-
counted for.
New Extremes Every Season.
w hen single nat brought over to
this country is sold at a loss for the
sum of $500, il would seem rhat ~
traYagance mad almost reached he
climax although the dealers each sea
son tell OF new extremes. The trous-
seau Of a bride a generation ago was
supposed to be liberal in the extreme
II II cost $1,000 Now il is possible 10
eXpend that sum for the wedding dress
alone If the finest grade Of lace is
used. while $4,000 viii not provide a
rousseau especially noteworthy for
is elegance. When hand embroidered
night dresses are made for $1,000 apiece
the old allowance of 500 for the
brides lingerie, which was eXtravagant
a generation ago, seems almost ridicu-
lOUs 10 the fashionable belle OF today.
Larger sums for Clothing.
The greatest increase in the cost Of
living IN many families is the larger
sums required for clothing. \ woman
VINO used to dress 50 well upon an al
lOWance OF $500 a year that her gowns
attracted favorable comment, now
spends ten times that sum and is
dressing plainly in comparison with
her associates The first appearance
of spangled clothes upon the New NO-E
stage, worn by Amazons. attracted at
tentiOn for their eXtravagant bril-
uancy. Now thousands OF American
IuatronS wear Spangled gowns Of even
greater extravaganza which attract no
attention because they are no longer
unusual.
Much OF the extravaganza in tie
clothes of fashionable women 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, espe-
cially the working woman. There is
no class distinction in clothing IN
America Every one wears as nearly as
possible the styles OF the social lead
ers and the more elaborate their cos
tunes the greater the strain upon
those who desire to emulate them
There is no peasant class among
Americans who ClOthe themselves com
fortably after the same styles as their
ancestors, in many instances wearing
clothing Dequeathed to them This IS
often a hardship which the women re-
sent, but il is forced upon them By
modern social conditions.
Demands OF Fashion.
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 pub
lie school and kindergarten at an early
age. She was reminded of the example
OF the famous Susannah Wesley. who
had personally instructed each of her
numerous offspring That is quite
true, rejoined the modern woman.
But we are also told that Susannan
" esley wore for many years, without
alteration, the cloak which was pc
queathed TO her by her grandmOther.
II were to appear IN my husbands
church wearing my grandmother
cloak, unless 1 had carefully altered il
to suit modern fashion, L would speed
lily be reminded that i was not keep
ing up the dignity of my husbands
position by presenting proper aD-
pearance- cannot spend my time
teaching my own children when l am
compelled TO sew continually in order
that they as well as myself may pre-
sent as good an appearance as the
families IN our church who have
larger means"
working Girls Are Martyrs.
While undoubtedly the women IN
the professional classes do suffer from
the present eNtravagant standards CT
dress, the greatest martyrs are the
poor working girls who have not the
resources Of the other women to help
them Each new fad which is adopted
by the society woman is copied in
cheaper materials for her poorer sis
ter. The cheaper the material. the
greater tax its purchase may be upon
the poor woman who acquires for her
hard earned money an article from
which she will have little service and
which she viii soon discard for some
thing calling for an equal tax upon
her slender resources The same
money invested in good durable gar
ments would yield so much greater
physical comfort If they only had tn
fashionable appearance necessary 10
her happiness.
Great industries are built upon the
limitations Of elegancieS which the per-
verted taste Of many American women
now seems to demand Brocaded vel
vets which might cost hundreds OF
dollars from the silk looms OF Europe,
are being produced in the New Eng
land cotton mills for the smallest 1rac-
tiOn of the cost Of the original All
kinds Of jewels are now manufactured
in cheap glass while the manufacture
of imitation laceS has grown into an
industry representing millions OF dol
lars annually in this country. These
limitations are never durable. Their
frequent renewal has been the IN
doing of many working girls VINO viii
put all they can earn OF obtain credit
for into openwOrk lingerie at 50 cents
a set; willow plumes at $l.9S; imita-
ton silk dresses at $14-49; and yet al
ways be in need OF the warm, COM
Portable clothing their health demands.
Better Standards Necessary.
Thinking women all over the coun-
try are agreeing that better dress
standards for women must be secured
and just how this shall be brought
about is not yet apparent. To the
minds Of many people II is purely
matter Of education
1t is believed that the increasing
patriotism among women will also
tend to improve their judgment II
these matters. The extremes Of fashion
which so many American women Of
good social position have brought over
from Paris would never be worn by a
European woman in good standing
American women go to Paris and see
beautiful women in carriages and
upon the street wearing new and cx-
IRENE gaTm ents. They do not know
these beautiful women are of the demi-
monde and that the ultra Partisan
mOdiste designs gowns for the Ameri-
can and the demi-mOndaine. classinS
them together. He would not think
of offering them to his own country
women. American women are grad
ually becoming aware of this and the
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