The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-03-10
ks WHAT SHALL DO? @

| with the easier time you will nave 10
| win the laurels of success.
By all odds THE quickest road to sue
cess is through a good dressmaking and
| tailoring school where in the space 81
! six months, at a cost of from 10 to $oo
| you can learn thoroughly the principles
! of drafting. cutting, fitting and design
/ ing. If possible. get this training in one
! Of the larger cities where you can,
through introduction from your school,
| visit the noted dressmakers and great
! importing establishments. You can also.
| by trips to the fashionable stores, the
theaters and famous promenades get
slimpses of the fashionable world that
will give you insight into the problems
! of dress
After a month or so in the dressmak-
ers' school there will be a strong tempta-
ton to start out independently at once
| to open up little establishment in the
home town or to start in dressmaking
at from s. to $50 day. But expert
enced dressmakerS say this is a mistake.
II possible. every graduate dressmaker-
even if she understands the principles
of cutting, fitting, drafting and design
ing well as she ever can-should
spend few months at least in a large
dressmaking establishment. even though
she have to consent to the bare subsist-
} N4AN'
doing. 1t is never difficult to get into
one of these shops, either through the
dressmaking school or through personal
application. The demand for able and
eager dressmakers-especia at the
busy seasOns-is always greater than can
be met by the supply. In a few months
. in such a shop the ambitious woman. be-
sides earning her living. can get valuable
lessons in management, in buying and
7 sr,y
toners.
Thus trained. a wealth Of possibilities
await the capable dressmaker. She may
rise to be forewoman Of the establish
ment with year-round salary of $40 a
week. She may have her own establish
ment for general dressmaking. and II
she has the right combination of push.
artistic ability and personality. she can
literally make hundreds of thousands Of
| dollars at II. Or she can open a spe-
ciaity dressmaking shop where. because
she can make certain line OF apparel
mourning. debutantes'. elderly ladies' or
children's-better than anyone else in
( town. she will be able to gain large
profits
Many famous dressmakers houses en-
ploy trained dressmakers whose sole
duty 1t is TO mingle in society. to attend
the opera and theater to study the shops
and dress exhibitions-to be ever on the
lookout fer new and interesting phases
of fashion. For such positions a knowl-
edge of sketchins IS of great value, as
we'll as an accurate feeling for form.
line and color. Such specialists often re-
ceive 5000 or 5000 year; but this SAL
airy Is somewhat Offset by the fact that
they themselves have to keep up with
the ever varying changes Of fashion.
Sometimes good business women make
success at dressmaking who have
gone through none OF this previous train
Ing. few years ago a society woman
who had lost her money made the dis
covery Of an italian tailor in a wretched
quarter of her home city who. under her
guidance. was able and willing to make
suits for her at total cost OF about S25.
They were In every way equal to suits
she had paid four times that amount
for in the days Of her good fortune and
patronage of the exclusive dressmaking
shops
See here. Tony" she said one day,
''the only reason you aren't making
money is because you haven't any ideas
and don't keep up with the fashions.
What makes one Of your So suits as
good as sion suit is because I tell You
how to make IL Come. you work for me.
and I'll pay you double what you make
now"
The upshot of the conversation was
that Tony and his wife. with a couple OF
Italian tailors. went to work for the So
ciety woman She opened a dressmak-
ing establishment which developed into
fashionable tailoring shop Of the high
est rank. She now produces an average
of ten suits a week. and makes a net
profit on each suit, over and above all
expenses. OF s1o-which means an income
of 500 a week. or 5000 a year.
Dressmakins in some one of its forms
is a vocation that women who are sud
denly forced to support themselves in
stinctively turn to; why not give your
self the training necessary to make
success Of it If you have to use it? Then,
no matter what befalls you, you will
have a womanly. congenial way Of earn
ing your livelihood; and II nothing ever
does befall you that you must make
your livelihood, you will know how to
make and plan your own clothes
tCopv1ght by Mary Marshall)