Evening star., 1941-09-07
Shopping in Paris

women had done without for long time
and now they were going to be as smartly
dressed as French women. The sales
woman remarked that silk stockings are
no longer chic as French women are now
wearing wool.
Women shoppers find silk lingerie
keeping step with stockings in scarcity
and price rise. A simply styled silk night
gown of first quality regularly carried by
a small exclusive shop st $50 francs is
now 425. The elaborate French lace
trimmed and hand embroidered styles
have correspondingly skyrocketed.
Leather goods have gone up in leaps
and bounds. Handbags formerly 200 to
300 francs are now 1000 Thousand
franc crocodile bags have jumped to
5000. These appear to be legimate in
creases as leather stocks cannot be re-
placed now, and the Germans have
corralled all feathers their army could
use. Many substitutes for leather are
being employed in womens wear. In
shoes there are cork, wood and rubber
~, Sbi w dliO uppClS
Dress fabrics are substituting in hand
bags, upholstery braids in belts.
The celebrated white goods sales for
which the French have long been noted,
have deteriorated into shelves of linens
that only bon d'achat can shake from a
static state. Not much of it is moving
1t goes against the grain to get the
mayors permission to buy linen sheets,
damask tablecloths and household linens
of any sort. Turkish towelings are re-
stricted, as are blankets and wooden car
pets and rugs.
The Germans have cracked down par
ticularly on woods. Woolen things of all
kinds and particularly clothing, are tre-
mendously important to harassed people
looking backward and forward to winters
in heatless homes. Knitting woods are
Under the ban of the bon and daily
diminishing. The least wanted colors
are all that are left, and brilliant results
can be noted in red stockings, green
boomers and orange gloves.
Bootleg Trade Active
While the poor are hamstrung by the
restrictions, the monied gentry can have
recourse to the black market. This
bootleg organization is noted principally
for its operations in money exchange
but it also deals in foods fabrics and all
sorts of restricted things. An American
man used it to get material for new
suit. Any Americans old suits would ap-
pear too new to pass muster at the
Marie. This fellow paid in the black
suiting of a quality that would have cost
no more than 200 francs with bon if
he could have secured it.
Shopkeepers are making bid for busi-
ness with window displays of merchan-
disc marked free sale"-unrestricted
The free sale sign is a white disk
while a red disk indicates restricted
merchandise. This saves the woman
shopper a lot of wear and tear, and
saves the shopkeeper's breath.
All stocks are diminishing. The big
department stores gradually are closing
off sections, sometimes whole floors.
Often the stocks of two floors can be and
are concentrated in one. The Germans
go through, buying up right and left
without stint
On the Rue Paul Cezanne are new Of
flee buildings having large unrented store
spaces on the ground floors. These are
full of German-gathered merchandise.
What appears to be the output of entire
mills In bolts of linen and other fabrics,
can be seen stacked up ceiling high when
the doors are opened.