The Coolidge examiner., 1941-11-07

forgive her her extravaganza They
like to read about the duchess
ermine and mink coats, her $780,
900 diamond earrings. and all that
goes with them. 1t makes a good
material for dreams.
AT the time that the newspapers
and magazines were full of stories
about the duchess clothes
received a report on a national
survey OF the dress-buying habits
of American women. That brought
me down to earth again. For |
found that the average American
woman buys only three dresses a
year and gets three of them for
a total expenditure OF less than
500.
or the women questioned. in all
parts OF this country. II was found
that 16 per cent haven't bought a
new dress for year, 13 per cent
have bought one dress, IS per cent
have bought two, 16 per cent
bought three, 13 per cent bought
four and "a per cent bought five
or more.
The most surprising finding,
however. was that the majority of
the women questioned consider
their wardrobe adequate, although
a good number of younger women
were not so satisfied with their
I wardrobes as were the older wo-
men. But there was very little of
that Il haven't thing to wear"
attitude which has reputedly driven
so many husbands into fits of
temporary insanity.
EXPENDITURES average
How much do your neighbors
pay for their dresses?
That, of course, depends largely
on the income class Of your neigh
borhood. but based on averges for
women of all classes the survey
shows:
Half OF U. s. women pay 50 or
less for house dress; one-fifth of
them 50 to SO; and about one-tenth.
50 to 81. The average amount paid
for house dresses Is 81.
| About one-fourth pay 50 or less
for a marketing dress; about one
fifth, 81 to SO; Is per cent, SO to
81 and IL per cent 81 to S.. The
average is $3.50.
AS for afternoon dresses, Is per
cent pay 81 to IS: II per cent will
pay SO to $11 and 10 per cent won't
pay more than 81. The average Is
Sc to 81.
For an informal evening dress.
the largest group of women-19
per cent-pay 50 to $11; II per
cent will pay s13 to SIS: and 9
per cent are willing to pay from
$40 to $25.
In the formal evening dress class.
the average is s19 to $40. Nine
teen per cent will pay up to $25;
13 per cent won't pay over SIS and
IA per cent think $19 to 500 is
about right.
Two out of three of the women
interviewed generally wear the
same dress from lunchtime on
through the rest of the day and
evening.
LABELS quality
All OF these figures were gather
ed together by the New York
Dress Institute. which hopes to
make New York the fashion center
OF the world and which hopes to
make women show preference for
dresses which are labeled as hav-
ing been made in New York.
But that looks Ike quite a job
for four out OF five of the women
questioned said hat they don't
care where a dress Is made
whether in New York, Hollywood.
Paris, Chicago or st. Louis. What
they are interested In Is how 1t
fits, how 1t looks and how much 1t
costs.
However, of the women who did
have preference for dresses from
one style center over another. New
York was found to be the favorite
by a vote of Is to 1. Hollywood
was second, but not a close Sec
lond.
Asked what they want to know
about a dress before buying 1t.
lonly per cent cared about where
; 1t was designed, but II per cent.
mostly of city women, wanted to
know whether 1t was union made.
, Only 81 per cent cared about a
brand name.
2 The big interests of four-fifths Of
the women was the quality of ma
terial. the fastness of dyes and the
/ ease of cleaning and washing
Probably the duchess of Windsor
takes the quality for granted-but
l not the American housewife.
} That's the advantage of spending
3 $500 instead of IS for new
! dress.