New Britain Herald Newspaper, October 7, 1924, Page 16

who w Even ir spend L 3\ ) ( ;’f’i. i cloth D ps not in a lifetime. I the other myse! spend that much on clothes s on less than in a year. ple clutched “But perhaps you don't realize that d and held ¢ are dozens of women in New York ¢ to whom $35,000 as an annual for dress, cosmeties and so on, i is not an extravagance. I know one , the debutante’s woman who has a yearly contrdct with the dress- a modiste for 00 worth of clothes. ative, “I There are society women who ~easily h will cut her spend that much. Just as there are down to $35,000!” people who spend $50 a month for a an of many a pluto- house and othere who pay $15,000 a year for an apartment. The thing is relative, you know.” The modiste, it seemed, got a fair profit and no more. “It.is possible that by some lucky chance a woman might find a cheap dressmalker who would turn $500 a year for clothes. her out, as well as one whose prices s who get their ~were higher. That ‘is an unlikely column, chance; but it might happen. However, tander, however, What the eociety women wants is a nearer the quiet, attracive place jn which to in- death notices, spect gowns. She \\nfi to see those gowns displayed by refifed, high-class ¥ models. Naturally, both these requisites “How,” said me high rent and good salaries.” fingering his Your murmur about the overhead ex- brought an emphatic nod. cover, the very materials in the N themselves are expensive even and incidentals alone, before the scissors and needle touch the 50 much?” goods. Brocades at, say, around $100 & " yard, send the price of a gown up, t, either, the dressmaker said less than $35,000 rk City. re are girls who rriage licenses dentals alone—but : “Easily.”” But 't tell the innocent an East Indian, for example, me marvelously embroidered ght from India. He drapes 1d the models and they really Y little cutting or > materials themselve® museum pieces. Some are of course, they are very in sending up the a frock is the actual labor Labor in these days and in ially skilled needlework, On a first-class gown which vards of an intricately beaded bead must be sewn on it won't pull off. These ten are works of art and it s t artists to bead them. you k that the beading on one wn, when properly done/ may take ceks 7" se vere matters worthy of ‘con- jeration. But how many of these gowns womld & sure-enough social leader need in the course of a year? And how much would such a gown cost? It depended, naturally, on the taste i patr d the amount of bead- beautifully y hundreds of this typ material itself ¢ a determining fac- \ . gown on which the a legitimate profit; not of a gown for which the modiste would charge every dollar she thought she could extort. “A debutante may easily spend $35,000 a year for clothes and really get her money’s worth. Without being cheated by the modiste.” You began to see how this was so. “Now, for instance,” the modiste con- tinued, “a girl who moves in what is known as high society needs about thirty evening gowns. She doesn't plan to wear any costume more than two or three times; some of them only once. It is not too much to say that thirty evening gowns would cost her $9000. “She would require 250 Pairs of stockings. These would cost on an average, perhaps, $9 a pair; an item of $2260 for hosiery alone. Of course, some stockings would cost much more than §9 a pair.” As A matter of faff, a shop in the vicinity of Fifth avenue and Forty- second street has had on display within the year a pair of stockings priced at $500. Not $600 each, you understand; but $500 for the pair, or $250 cach They were perfectly simple black silk hose, with a large medallion of lace on the front. The same shop had another pair of quite good-lopking silk and lace stock- ings for $250. k But the modiste was going on with her itemized bill of wardrobe expenses Shoes, she agreed, coMd cost Jm‘\‘(hmz you want to spend on them, byt sonn, wasn't too much for some ¥ women. A lady who wanted her feet to look really chic would require, at the least twenty-five pairs of shoes and this was a low estimate Hats? Of course, you could get a good little hat for $35 Or you could get a styr ing little thing for $100. Apy. way, the lady would need at least thirty hats anq could easily spend from $1 to $2100 before she got out of the millinery department By this time you begin 1, & see that milady has fun up quite a sizable bill” Byt the end is by no means yet. How about | g ? How about lounging robes for the boudoir? How about the perfumes anq ywders, the creams and other cosmetics with which the boudoir dressing t stacked ? s OF COURSE, a negligee is whatever you please. It is, so tc A elastic garment. It' may be a cotton wrapper or g thing exquisite as sun- shine on the sea. The negligee of the B 5000 2 Year to Dress a‘Deb AU A AR AL Dressmakers to the “400°° Tell ‘How the Modern Society Girl Wears Annually 30 Evening Gowns, 250 Pairs of Stockings, 25 Pairs of Over on Fifth avenue one hears it glibly recited that there are dozens of women in New York socjety to whom $35,000 is not an ex- travagance — brocades at $100 a yard and lacy silk stockings at $500 a pair A dress that costs $20,000, while not exactly an everyday incident in the life of Miss Fay Lewisohn (shown in the circle), is by no means rare. business to dress the society debutante rather than members of the theatrical profession, one of whom is shown in the illustration wearing a $20,000 gown soctal leader fs of this latter type. And w'd be surprised at how expensive it —it is the voice of authority which 18 to put the sunshine figured silk and chiffons Copyright. 1924, by Public Ledger Company the sea int But it is Miss Lewisohn's speaks; * than a dozen B Shoes, 30 Hats, 2 | - Dozen Negligees, - 1 Dozen Evening Wraps, and a $25,000 Coat! a little more than $200 apiece, or $2600 for the dozen. “As for lingerie—I have just finished a set of lingerie, for a bride, which is valued at $10,000. I have made other sets for $16,000; that is to say, a dozen of each garment. The set which I have Just finished was of hand-made filet lace and Italian silk of special quality. The wedding gown, priced at $600, was in- tricately beaded with crystal. . One couid get a really lovely wedding gown, as 8 matter of fact, for around $300. But, ~of course, this is without the veil. The veil may cost as much as one is willing to pay— “It. may be a Zew almost priceless yards of antique lace, made in some convent of the Middle Ages. “The more usual lingerie, of finest linen or silks and exquisite laces, would cost about $3600 for two dozen sets. “A dozen evening wraps would be part of the society woman’s wardrobe. It is difficult to put a price on them. They might cost several hundred dpllars each, depending on what fur was uged for the collars and other decorations. “There are such things as fans, too, which vary tremendously in price. These would mount at least into the hundreds. Corsets, too, are expensive when well made and made to order. The materials are costly, also. Seventy dol- lars is the price of one corset which makes no pretensé to embroidery or other ornamentation. The price is for the best quality of brocade and of silk elastic and for the model itself. “You understand, further, that a social leader could not possibly buy her furs within that $35,000 which I have allowed her for a wnr'robe. Furs would have to be extra. For a handsome coat $15,000 is not an unusual price and T $25,000 would more likely be the figure. CMHIS leaves what are known as in- cidentals. They include hairdress- ing and all that goes with this art; beauty treatments, with cosmetics, per- fumes at—say—$30 an dunce—and things of the sort. Cigarettes, too, may be put with the incidentals. -Many so- ciety women smoke the brands that come in fifteen or twenty cent packages, but you may, if you wish, have the sort that ““has a monogram, a special blend of to- bacco and a little dab of cotton inside the cork tip to absorb the nicotine and keep it from touching the lips. Without a monogram these can be obtained for around eleven cents each. “No, not each packet. Each cigarette. “For' incidentals we may safely esti. mate that a society woman spends $5000 yearly.” “A dozen negligees are not too many” The modiste drew a long breath. S, did you. “Well, you see,” she said. You did, indeed. women have many more They might casily cost >> S IQP >X k< / CHVZZE O -