Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-04

| Pretty Paris manneQuinS are the cleo
trio hareS in the race to be first with
new styles. Fashion never catches up
with them, for they know what will be
shown long before 1t is out and by
the time the newest is launched they
are concerned with the newer still.
Contrary to popular conception life
| is not all froth and frillS for the thou
| sand or more models here. Most OF
| them live like actresses In luxurious
stage settings of fashion salons during
the daytime, as they parade the richest
and best of beautiful clothes. At the
end of their day, life becomes somewhat
beer and skittleS for most of them.
They shed silks and SableS for
cheaper materials Smartly trimmed with
| imitation fur. Once among the throng
of homegoing mannequin looks just
| like any other we'll dressed young buSi-
ness woman. She is no longer the but
terfly, but an earnest, thoroughly tired
! grub wondering what she will get for
| dinner.
That is the life of the average man
nequin who carries her pay envelope
home on Saturday nights to help meet
| the family expenses. II she Is a par
| ticularly successful mannequin with a
| good job there may be $25 week in the
! pay envelope. But she Is lucky if there
| is $40.
In exchange for 1t she gives seven
! hours day five and half days a
| week, beginning at To- O'Clock. Each
gown She is to display in the regular
| collections Is made especially for her.
| She is in and out of hundred costumes
| day. Each time her gown is ordered
she gets small bonus. Smiles and
| patience are made to pay, though the
| feet may be tired and the back aching
| But the romance of the manpequin's
| life, legend which dies as hard as
| the belief that the chorus girl leads
an easy life. is not made by the quiet
| existence of the average manneuuin.
1t is the butterflies, not the grubs,
who make copy for newspapers.
| The most interesting come from the
salons of Jean Patou and most of them
are American girls. There have been
! in quick succession Patous famous
June" a slender brunette with an ap-
pie blossom complexion and black hair,
| whom Frederick Almay married soon
| after the death of his wife, the late
! Lady Mcclellan, and Dorothy Smart,
| now the wife of wealthy Canadian
publisher.
Beautiful Josephine Armstrong be-
came the wife of Erskine Gwynne and
now is popular young hostess in Paris
| society. Dolores" languid brunette
with pallid skin and dark eyes, re-
Gently married Michel de Surmont Of
an important French family. She for
merly was Florence Towney, an Amer
lean girl.
Patou's introduction of American
mannequins in 1924 had lasting eff
feet on the profession of modelling
clothes. The American beauties were
a success from the first, but they have
| two drawbacks, according to Monsieur
Patou. They require more pay than the
French girls and are hard to keep.
The first lot went like hot cakes.
! The couturier now takes the matri-
monial casualty average into account
when recruiting in the United States.
! French mannequins are beginning to
follow the type American" The
American trick of simplicity and nat
uralness is putting exaggerated postum
ing out of business.
The mannequins biggest opportunity