The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-09-05
In New York
BY PAUL HARRISON

New YOrk-ln the nuuuFSuS or wholesale houses in Manhattan's teeming garment section, and in the scores of big stores and swanky shops on the avenues, there goes on endlessly the worlds biggest parade of shapely manne~ quins.
 Now and then I've been some- what uncomfortable spectator at fashion shows, which are given hereabout on practically any prov ocation from a musical show to the opening of cocktail lounge in some hotel. And always, after a few minutes of simulated inter est in the fripperies of style, I've found myself wondering about the mannequins themselves = how they're faring in these times.
 Where They Learn
 We'll, I found out. I walked into the Mayfair Mannequin Acad- emy, which is the oldest rlodci- school in America. Miss Gertrud Mayer, variously of Paris, Vienra and London, is the director, :nd has launched ten thousand hips oa the sea of fashion.
 Girls from all over the country come to New York to learn how to walk, pose, posture, turn, ascend stairs, sit down, make an exit. There's a different walk for every kind of costume. and a different walk for every type of establish- ment in which a model Is working. In a wholesale house she steps ont rather briskly because the out-of- 11rxy ny- fs.r line and detail, and want to see lot of dresses.
 In a retail store her behavior is more languorous. her walk more exaggerated. The swankier the store the smoother her manner. She must never. never swing her shoul- ders; but her hips swing like the balance wheel of watch. That's what that affected crossover walk ing step is for. It's all right to smile at a potential buyers, but the warmth of the smile is matter requiring shrewd judgment.
 High Without Hats
 The higher the price range of the store. the taller the girls who model there. Fifth Avenue man. nequins range from feet inches to an even 6 feet, and are slender. supple and superior looking. Fla cial beauty is an asset, but more important is Q collective type of freshness and intelligence. Bleach ed blondes are out, declared Miss Mayer. And showgirls, she said. don't make good mannequins; they swing their shoulders and can't seem to grasp the idea that the clothes they're wearing, and not themselves. are the center of att traction.
 In wholesale places clothes arc modelled by girls from 5 feet , inches to 5 feet g inches-in high heels. That's because the buyers want to see the costumes on the kind of women who'll eventually wear them. and they have no illu- sions about exoticism and slinky lines. Apparently modelling is as chorus work, because there's an actual scarcity of good models. Paid Up to $6O a Week
 The girls are paid up to $50 and $60 a week, with occasional extra jobs posing for commercial photog- raphers. They work hard. making dozens of lightning changes, and probably go home humming Lit tie Mannequin, You've Had Busy Day." Miss Mayer has no patience with the widespread idea that models are obliged to tour the night clubs with men buyers. Most establishments, she says, definitely forbid any such extra-curricular whoopee.>
 Just to be on the safe side, how ever, she coaches her students in how to respond to unwelcome ad- vances. For example, a girl can turn on her No. 3-B smile and say: "Oh. Mir Zilch. if you had asked me under different circumstances l should have been delighted. But here 1t is contrary to your and my best interests, and I never break my rule about mixing business with pleasure"
 Professional mannequins are pretty wrought up about the com petition of society girls who model gowns for a little spare change and the novel experience of work ing. A social registerite, they say. can get a job even if she carries her clothes in the manner of a buxom farm girl walking over a plonghed field.
 I've heard of one such blue-. blood who was explaining her pos. sition to the real models in a shop. "Of course it's just lark." she said. "I'm only getting $50 week here, and I couldn't even