The Washington times., 1937-01-04

dunn pad.
Ought she to leave? Was the
interview finished? But something
hovered in the air or was it
trembling on his lips? She wait
ed :.
Perhaps some Saturday after.
noon - the beginning of next
month we're going to close at one
on Saturdays" He stopped.
Alive in every fiber of her be
ing, she prayed for him to con
tinue =.
II was thinking it might be a
good idea for me to take you out
to the mills"
The magic words were uttered
words she had been waiting for
He-and she-Skimming over the
countryside-together!
| He looked up from his little cir,
cles. His mood seemed to change
But perhaps that won't be nee.
/ eSsary. The manufacturers can
give you plenty of information"
She was hurled from Mount Par.
nasSus into the abyss again.
That a buyer has to eat, drink,
and sleep being a buyer, Ann was
presently to learn. Her definite
hours were half past nine to half
past five, it's true-but you don't
watch a clock to be a good buyer
She was to discover that, eXhauS,
lively, eXhaustingly.
And love every minute of it!
She took course in lace at the
Museum of Metropolitan Art. The
lectures fascinated her. She went
down to Washington Street, alb
sorbed everything possible about
baby Irish "filet" "Val"
:. and "VeniSe" -.
She studied quality of linens,
laces being known by weights of
thread, and also by their width.
About silks, too, great deal had
to be known. The various glueing
processes in various silks, for in
stance. She would go to the great
Stockroom in the store to see the
heavily burlapped bags arrive from
China with the heavy gray silks
that would be finished in America,
treated with the glueing process,
made white, losing lots of body in
the finishing, and later dyed in
pastel colors and fashioned in
robes or negligees for her depart
ment.
Ann also learned to go out in the
wholesale field and make her own
bargains with the manufacturers.
Initiative. InventiveneSs. KnoWl-
edge of product. These were what
differentiated one buyer from an
other.
"A department is like sick
child. You try to cure it," The
merchandiSe-manager had told her
that.
From a twenty-five-dollar-a week
aSsistant-buyer in the lingerie, Ann
was promoted finally to a full
fledged buyer at a salary of forty
a-Week for start. Like a fortune,
it seemed, though it meant added
responsibility and work.
The silk manufacturer she dealt
with chiefly was a handsome man
of around forty or SO, named Tim
Burlington. He had no designer.
So Ann made her own sketches
and took them to him, with the
area restriction that in New York
City they were to be supplied only
to her own store.
CrepeS. Flat crepes. Crepe-de-
chine. Crepe-backed satin. Pussy
willow. The whole gamut. Low
ingly she fingered them all.
She designed lingerie for the
debutante. Lingerie for the work
ing woman. Lingerie for the hard
up. Lingerie for the rich. FriVo-
louS lingerie, in chiffons, merrily
beribboned. for the giddy ones.
Staple lingerie for the few old
fashioned mothers and grand
mothers left.
Ann was a wizard at design.
AOAAS hA1S" "14oG "OLI4CL1 "dI1UGO. II
had been no idle boast of hers.
RameSeS, the good-looking win.
dow-dresSer, had his art working
on all eight cylinders when AIMS
goods were to be displayed. Beau.
tiful negligees and nightgowns en-
ticed the eyes of passers-by . . .
slips, teddieS, mules, panties, bras
SiereS, fragile as goSSamer.
He favors Ann Delafield. She
vamps everyone she comes in con-
tact with. She chases them. It
isn't fair"
Thus Brenda Selz to Renita
Parrish, adding spitefully: And
she's writing her own ads for the
Sunday layout, too! I saw her
this morning as I was passing the
Advertising, in with Gordon
Gavin in his cubicle, and their
heads together, as thick as two
thieveS!"
ITO Be COntinued)
(CopyriRht 1885 by King Festuraa