Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-11-23
BY ANNE RIrTENHOUsE.

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- BY ANNE RIrTENHOUsE. =,
4, I, Is not possible to avoid the sub /.
II ject Of prices for clothes, this :,
winter. No, woman tries to avoid
J. II. Itibas taken the place Of the
war as. a topic Of unceasing interest:
Women compare notes, argue over
the justice and injustice of the con-
tion given them by dressmakers, and =
'dilate on the tremendous subject of
Industrial unrest. The end is al
ways the same. They shake their
heads, throw UP their hands. and ask
what is to become OF all OF us.
The dressmakers seem to be rather
anxious to quote big prices as an in
dication Of their. prestige. AS yet
there Is no marked diminution In the
buying of clothes because their prices
= have scared beyond those of the De
Medici.f Cleopatra and Marie Antoi-
nette. This era should go down in :
history as one in which women paid
more for. their apparel than ever be-
fore since the skin of the wild beast
was discarded.
The topic is not new. 1t started in
France last August The Americans
who were there insisted that few peo-
pie could continue to make enough
profit to pay their rent and the prices
the French dressmakers asked for
their models But the Americans had
a shock in store for them. They had
no idea. what America was about to
ask for ,women's clothes.
1t might be said, II one Is careless
Of detailed statistics in mass. that
there is no gown in Paris common
surate in price with those over here.
What startled the Americans in
France seems to have given them an
eiated sense of prosperity over here.
Very few tailors and dressmakers
apologize for their prices. 1t has
been whispered that some of them
initiate the cost Of a gown. They ad-
vertise it at one price and sell it at
another. Shrewd women have waited
for reductions for this very reason.
They did not buy in October because
they felt quite sure that the Thanks
giving season would see a cut in
prices. -
,, This thing has happened in the mass
OF clothes. but not in those sold by
the high priced dressmakers and mil
liners. The astounding prices still
continue at those places.
= 1t is quite easy to see that the sew
ing room at home. must take the place
of the smart shop, but the woman
who tries to get good material. and
an excellent seamstress who knows
how to make a gown flnds that the
task is not so easy. When she has
paid the price Of a seamstress-for
her wages have gone up with all the
rest--and then paid for material.
which has doubled in, value, she
comes to q fun realization of the
underlying truth of the whole situation
is only about 80 cents.
The pessimists feel that we are re-
verting to the condition of the south
in the civil war: that flve-hundred:
dollar bill gets the equivalent Of $50.
All prices are artificial because the
value of money is not the same. The
reason that some Americans felt that
they saved money by buying in
France was the depreciation of the
franc, but we in this country are
watching the ten-dollar bill dwindle
to few pieces OF silver. as far as
.fts purchasing power Is concerned.
Every woman will have to become
used to the shock OF high prices by
? realizing the revolution In money val
ues. If one looks at 1t from that
point OF view. one Is not 30 apt to
go mad. -.
The writer Of this story carefully
compiled !, a list of the prices in
France with he.-help 'of' important
buyers. 1t was the belief that these
would be Of extraordinary Interest
to;the American public because they
were SO tremendous, but they have
dwindled to very little in the light
OF the amounts asked In this country.
Everything is SO much higher In
the United States than In Europe
even food and lodging-that there
turks in the minds Of those who are
not bound to the whee! that the best
adjustment; of their lives would be
TO receive American wages and live
In Europe. y
Here, for instance, are soms OF the