New-York tribune., 1919-02-16
Knit Dress Goods.
A War Product.
Become a Staple
Manufacturer of Dresses Ex.
plains Some Advantages
of Fabrics Developed by
French for Emergency

Both silk and woollen knitted fab
brics are increasing in popularity as
materials for women's dresses. One of
the leaders in the movement to enlarge
the use OF these materials by Ameri-
can dress manufacturers is F. S. Haas,
of the Crown Embroidery Works. Mr..
Haas now is devoting the entire facili-
ties of his workrooms to the pro-
duction of women's dresses Of wool
jersey, and of heavy worsted knitted
fabric, or Laine de Guerre, as it is
called, and of the knitted artificial silk
fibre materials, such as tricolette, the
plain knitted fabric, and poulette,
dominettc and half dozen or more
similar named materials which are
merely fancy figured varieties of the
plain tricolette.
"Along in 1916" said Mr.. Haas in
explaining how the knitted fabrics were
introduced in America, my Paris house
sent me word that wool jersey was be-
coming popular as q dress fabric over
there. Most of the French mills en-
gagged in the making of woven fabrics,
such as serges, etc, were located in the
north of France. The Germans had
overrun the country and reduced these
mills to mere heaps of brick. The ma
chinery was either destroyed or taken
into Germany. However, in southern
France, untouched by the ravages of
war. there were many knitting mills.
With the supply of serges exhausted,
the Paris gown designers were forced
to seek substitute for the more COM
monty used serges. This they found
in the wool jersey.
French Models Imported
Immediately l saw possibilities in
the fabric for use over here and i'm
ported several models. When the
dresses came over ! found that the
wool jersey had many points of
superiority over serge. In the first
place serge in any other color than
navy or black seldom looks we'll. This
is due to the fact that many of them
are woven with a cotton warp, which
does not take the dye with the same
consistency as does the woollen filling.
Wool Jersey, however. because it is
all wool and the threads in it are all
the same size and constituency, dyes
evenly and looks we'll in almost any
shade. When a woman has been wear
ing a navy blue or black suit and goes
to buy dress she wants something OF
a different color. In the wool jersey
She can get it. Another feature which
recommended ltSS4A W iHO 40 VIZ
that the wool jersey or any one of the
other knitted fabrics drapes grace
fully and does not wrinkle. Serge is
more or less stiff and it is com
paratively hard TO obtain graceful ct
fects with it in making dress. Also
the wool jersey requires no pressing
20 keep in shape and wears remark
ably we'll.
Friends Advice Disregarded
Against the advice of number OF
friends of mine, dress manufacturers
and retail buyer, l decided to dis
continue all other lines and manu-
facture nothing but wool jersey
dresses. l personally paid for the
retail advertising put out by one
of the big Fifth Avenue shops in
order to popularlze wool Jersey
dresses. We used newspaper space
IN New York. Philadelphia. Baltimore,
Boston and other cities with good re-
suits. Such propaganda advertising
Is no longer necessary.
The knitted artificial silk fabric
developed IN much the same way and
is now as popular as wool jersey
American knitting mills in about a
year after the first wool jersey was
used here produced as good quality
as came from France, but the knit
ters of the artificial silk have not yet
been able to turn out fabrics OF the
French quality, but they will do IT
within a few months, no doubt.
now use American made wool jersey
but have TO import the tricolettes and
other silk fibre knitted fabrics"