The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-07-12
EXPLAINS WHY AMERICAN GIRLS
 DRESS so WELL
BY BEN GALLoB

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 Chicago, July 12. = (UP) - The
 American woman maIiages to be
 well-dressed on modest budget
 because mass production makes low prices possible. Yet she is also fairly certain that she won't see some other woman wearing an exact du- plicate of her mass-produced coat or dress.
 The system that produces dress es as efficiently as automobiles and still assures the American girl of a dress that is practically exclusive has been explained by Oscar Mein- hardt, executive director of Chicago Fashion Industries.
 One factor is the existence of scores of centers producing fash ions, Meinhardt said. New York and Chicago are the largest. New York is the producer of new styles. Chicago is depended on for what the trade calls wearables = ideas for use for several seasons.
 Dallas produce sportSwear. Min .neapolis and St. Paul are centers for winter sports wear. St. Louis brings forth clothes for the junior miss. Kansas City produces wash sfrocks. Multiply the number of markets by the number of firms in business in each place and you get several hundred thousand different styles created annually in the nation.
 Fashions Distributed
 However astronomical it is, it still doesn't result in one style to a customer" Meinhardt said. If it did, the price wouldn't be $10, the average ticket on a dress"
 That, said Meinhardt, Is where the system of fashion distribution comes in. He used Chicago as an example.
 First, many manufacturers con- fine their lines, selling only to one store in each city. Others sell clothes to more than one store. In such cases, however, they sell each special style number to only one store in each city.
 Even when the manufacturer NACCS11 1ldfC SuIIl a u1C, 1G WOl 10 out that wal because the buyer in- sists on it, Meinhardt said. Each buyer has his favorite firm. With thousands of manufacturers to choose from, it's very unlikely that two stores in the same city will buy the same style from the same manufacturer
 And even if two buyers from, say, Des Moines, Ia, do use the ssame manufacturer, they may not choose the same styles. In fact, the manufacturer, who has good memory for such things, will warn "a buyer from Des Moines that an- sothcr buyer already has chosen the 'style the second buyer might want.
 Another important factor is that fashion, despite its billion-dollar size. has been kept personal. The buyers for retail stores see the Offerings of manufacturers in the design stages The buyers nN,y Suggest changes. They see the sample in May they want delivered Complete in August Then they lorder it in the colors they think Miss and Mrs. America will want and in the sizes they think will be needed. Only then does the man. ufacturer go to work.
 Basic Cut Is Standard
 Styles may differ in a collection of coats or dresses. But as far as the. basic cut is concerned, there may be only one style A bow at the 'neckline or a dash of bright print on the top makes them different to look at-but not to make.
 At this point. national distribu- ton does its bit. One city buys the 50 dresses which represent a manu- lecturers complete output of diff ferent styles. So do scores of other cities. totaling up to. say. 5000 dresses. which can be sold at $10 each with profit for the manufac- turer and the retailer.
 The last phase is what the wom- an does for the dress that reaches her by this process. Put a dozen girls in the same navy shirtwaist dress for spring. One wears hers with low-heeled shoes. One wears pumps and a necklace. Another wears it with a bright scarf at the waist. Thus the American woman's Use of accessories aids American | ,,1 y,rad,,af;o,, for ;,.J ;,,i.l