St. Louis Post-Dispatch
August 21, 1910

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rtunity Is a Knocker! During the first six months of 1916 The Post-Dispatch Wan 5511 more than appears in the nearest competiter.. The to povelatcn oe xx more wants in properticn Printed 14,963 Business Opportunity | ae ee . Se *a bee re ; sa se ‘ *. st ith Nog ora ee 8 os wie eos BS eeee YS ee os Pr, . , ° . : . wi; 4 . Pee orf ? * 4 pt a . “ . in . 2 . , B * at wi: : 2 : 5 “ - ~ 7 wii J . . " > eo oe ee Fee OER ae pg eee tr) eee sii Fae oh i er . ps iia a ‘ oat 8 he ee a Se he x r a - oe 4h a . J CO Ra By OP hs Heese ae : Petes > olumT* p ads Pe ae ee g25 Tee ete Re MESS 6 2 ges SE pase, 2 BR ee oie sre “He BH eee: ae ee Ow ety ral’. ag Fe pea: i rage Bape a Ptae Vitis SRR ithe 220 ak. SF eS i 3 Se) ie c a re ai sy a ‘os ee! SOR Rie ys AL Oe ee Av be, eS Be CD de Ns wy. “ a aM . Thy 5 ¥ = See ¥ ee to z x nye 5, Taree = Ek Ag? phe ei) xt Se . ia os Bieta eS TR Sk ee ene tes £ se eRe : $f Ee ane a : rt > ; r Fat te - tt owe te y es o. Sae a us tL * 2 he ra ‘ - * : ; ak ae » ; F ‘ , eke: : nig reg a ~ a Re wie = 2 + i Pits ; 4 » = : re * * » e ‘ , og ae > 5 * “ ee rel ie ° 7 é . “ + - ¢ ms i) oF ai ae : ie . ~ 7 ' + rs j ee Wy ; ” ; : 4 ; S 2 is . é = : % >,-5 , + * € ° - ’ 2 ~ i“ : : 2d ay x a ° 2 . . > * , 7 , . . ad , . ? js . . - . - é ; % . * ‘ 7 od t . . : 4 Z P . Fe - ” 3 rg > 2 _ - = ~~ e » a . — . : : a > e - * _ — ’ , ’ > > P » A ~ 7.) 4 | ‘ . * ~ Cad . ‘ i a ’ . . -_ * ’

{ VOL. 63. No.1. ‘ST. ‘ST. LOUIS, SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 21, 1910. PRICE FIVE cENTa

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> p N= tne nner Post Dispatch Published 7310 MUSICAL Ads As with 4288 ie ae

Let the Wily, Subtle Shopkeepers Decide How Much Woman. Spend for Dress--They’ll Do It Anyway, Declares 5 Margueeee Mortyig Photographs of St. Louis women of fashion who reduce their wardrobe expenses to the minimum.by making their own hats, gowns -_ lingerie. They have become interested in the controversy which has arisen over the How Can Poor. Femininity Re- statement made by one woman that she couldn’t dress ‘‘even modestly’ on less than $600 a: year. | |

sist the Insidious Blandish- ments in the Palatial Depart- ment Stores? — 1m possible, She Says.

Is $600 Too Much or Too Lit- tle for an Average Woman to Spend Yearly for Clothes? Miss Martyn Suggests, First, That Average Woman Be Found.

By MARGUERITE MARTYN. HERE seems to be some difference of opinion 1 as to the amount of money it is necessary or permissible for a woman to spend on dress. Now, don't all speak at once! A jurist one day last week allowed a woman plaintiff for alimony, $60 a month on her plea that $600 a year is the very lowest amount neces- sary to provide a woman’s modish wardrobe. I don't know what argument was brought to bear upon the Judge or how seriously he considered the efter effect of his decision.- But either he must have been willing to risk much to establish a Precedent of great moment or it was an indis- crotion of an unguarded moment. Anyway, for all his legal authority his decree that a woman must have $600 a year to appear prosentable in an average plane of society did- net settle the question to the satisfaction of the general public. ° It must have been.a smoldesing question eon nany hearthstones just waiting to be stirred into a live flame, since such a turmoil was precipitated by the action of the judge. J Grand Chance Is Offered for Calamity Howlers to Howl. HE opinions aired have been as varied as there have been participants, or shall I say combatants in the discussions And so many have passed into the Post-Dispatch I hardly know which is which. There have been calamity howl- ers blaming their favorite grudge against condi- tions ‘upon the amount of money women spend for clothes. Therexhave been ecules) women offering as ex- cuses for seeming extravagance the high cost of living, ang business women justifying their ex- penditures by the wear and tear of the rushing times. There have been self-righteous women, with bitter denunciations of the other women who suc- cumb to their weakness for finery, and even the men have t¢#ken a hand in the argument. Everybody seems .to be on one side or the other. It isn’t recorded that anyone has precisely agreed with the Judge in fixing a definite allow- ance for the wardrobe of the ayerage, woman. A generation azo you might have asked the cuestion and arrived at some uniformity of con- elusion. Most likely the entire woman world would have lifted hands in holy horror at the ex- travagance of the idea that a woman of moder- ate circumstances should spend $50 a month for clothes. Even now an affirmative conclusion is conceded not to be outside the bounds of possibility. It fe conceded as not utterly impossible to be fully clothed on as little as $50 a month. , But the trouble is the question has resolved iteelf into not “how much must,” but “how much does the average woman spend on dress?” “Is abe more extravagant than in former years, and if so, why?” Hunting an Average Woman Is Like Ancient Diogenes’ Job ‘ow much does the average woman spend? H In order to get at a working hypothesis you've got to decide what is an average woman? Of course there is none. There ig one plane of equality when you come to coftsider that love of adornment which ts innate and common to us all. “Tho Colonel's lady and Judy O’Grady are Bisters undtr the skin” in that respect. But there are as many ways -of- expressing this im- , pulse as there are types of physiognomy and of ‘charac‘er among women. In their infinite vari- ety there are some women so vain of their _ @atctity, their virtues, that they would not be Caught wearing a curl or a frill, tacitly. acknowl- edging the stress they place upon appearances. “There'‘are some who wish to create an impres- sion. of braininess and who £0 ‘to the pains of cropping their hair and wearing extraordinarily Plain clothes, thereby conceding to adornment a ‘sttonger Inflvence than they can hope to counter- act with mere intellect. ‘There is the girl who professes the finest dis- ? regard for clothes, and often it is a studied care- lessness she assume! But to return woman who frankly is

intent upon Meckine | as well as she can, there are still divisions and subdivisions. There is the woman who can make a stunning appearance on very little money. I, know of a girl who can drape a cotton scarf around a harvester’s hat, assume a home-made cheap crash suit and look magnificent because she is of, the Diana type that. is adored the most when least adorned. There Are Some Women Who Never Appear Well Dressed. there are women who make a desperate atruggie, and all the wealth of Christendom p = not make their appearance well ‘are spme women who by some power of vane Fie atgenntily sediiylly Shed cain ” : wah . Pepe ae a x

You SEE Wives OF 425 aweecfiy) cLeex? f 9 CARS fy HO TON NOT 190k WELL: sas, GRACE AND APPeaRanct & a CF GRANO Gives M4 ‘>

KAJI YYAR A “PoRTRAIT we a kee HENRY S. KILBOURY to wear at their menial tasks because they can- not obtain anything cheaper and more suitable. So it simply depends on the woman how much money is spent, and you can’t arrive at a defini- tlon of what is the average woman. : There is another direction in which you (may get nearer a solution of the problem, “how much does the average woman spend on dress?” It is another common meeting ground, a failing we nearly all must plead guilty to, traceable too, per- haps, to the inborn laye of edgrnment our mother Eve endowed us with, Give the thriftiest of us credit for good in- tentions, but we nearly all spend more than we intend. Do we not? More than that, we nearly all spend as much as wo can. Some of’ us spend even more. One msiden confessed to me during this debate that she managed to get along on $600 a year, provid- ed she had an allowance of $300. Likewise, she could make $300 do if she was supplied with $150. I don’t Know how she accomplishes this romarkable feat in subtraction. But it looks as if at this point the question might resolve itself into “how much can a woman spend?” And Those Wily Shopkeepers— They'll Settle the Question. THINK the shopkeepers can take care of that | phase of the problem. With their ever-in- creasing toils and snares they well nigh lift the blame from the tender shoulders of weak women. With their insidiéus credit systems and with the subtly insinuating or haughty, awe-inspiring man- ner of their salespeople, which, however much you may have resolved-to economize, breaks your will power; with the seductive provisions for your comfort and convenience in the department stores, which are almost like luxurious hotels in their cafes and libraries, their reception rooms, their entertainments, and with the armies of workers they have employed constantly devising new and altogether trresistible temptations for your already yielding passion for adornment— these influences are a mighty force arrayed against you which your native feminine instincts scarcely can hope to withstand. The ready-to-wear shops and departments alone are a quicksand to your resolution. You find ‘creations by the wholesale, any of which is be- yond your most fanciful conception, all ready te try on, You catch a glimpse of ydurself in the mirror and you are doomed to surrender what- ever may be the price attached to the garment. The evident prosperity of the department stores and the specialty shops that are cropping up like mushrooms over night, ig conclusive evidence that women are spending more and more. N the other hand, you know that the aver- age man’s ee ad ft. Louis are about Ao Bete ‘ ? pay pes ey mrs Sat te :

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. £. AND YET COR GRANDMOTHER:S ACCUSE US OF a > i /7 4 "ai

TF TNE '840 GOWN COST LESS THAN THE, 19/0 6 GOWN , WHO 1) TOBLAMBE. Bor THE TARIFF, THE i HIGHCOST OF LIVING , THE MIDDLE MIAN, ETC., ETC. know to be possessed of unlimited means alight from her limousine car and she does not seem atle to be well dressed. How Do Women Manage to Dress So Well on So Little? HEN you observe the wife of a $26-a-week Tr clerk waiting on a corner for her P. A. Y. E, car, whom you couldn’t distinguish in out- werd semblance from a grand duchess. How does she manage to look so well on so little money? Acid critics would do well to turn their attention in that direction rathér than the increasing ex- travagance of women. To be sure, of all the women interviewed on this subject by the Post-Dispatch, not one fully estab- lished the fact that she spends less than $600 a year. Many of them would not confess the amount of their expenditures. tion, some very feebly as if they feared ,docu- mentary evidence against themselves. All were ready with excuses in extenuation of thelr indulgences. Some of these excuses were quite original. Some were unassailable. None tend- ed to reduce enaterially the accusation that women are spending too much on clothes. The women who were interviewed were noticeably smart, but it is evident they were sought with a masculine lack of discrimination, pardonable, I ‘sup- pose, when ft is. ignorance of the details of a wom- an’s toilet. Fameus Wardrobes Could Tell Tales of Thrifty Economy. T chanced that most of these women were blessed with such wordly goods that they need not be greatly disturbed by suggestions on the pro- " Ree, All protested at the inquisi-

wIRS- XC LLIAM Ke ~ KAVANALG

MISS CORNELIA GARRISON “REriBRan or priety of spending $600 a year on their clothes. All well-dressed women .in St. Louis, however, cannot.preduce the same financial rating. Neither can all wealthy women be accused of extravagance in dress. A glance behind the curtains of some boudoirs I know or a seance with @ seamstress who goes from house to houge and who, as a disseminator of in- formation usually ‘is unrivaled except by others of her trade, wi:l reveal some economies practiced upon even the most famously fashionable wardrobes that make our critics ashamed of having judged by out- ward appearances the extravagance of well-dressed women. No one would ‘venture to dispute circumstances so obvious as the style and correctly up-to-the-moment ensemble of such women as Mrs. Clarkson Carpen- ‘ter, Mrs. William K. Kavanaugh, Mrs. Fergus Mc- Mrs. Henry Kilbourne, Mrs.. Charles Michel, Mrs. James Lucas Turner, Mrs. Marion L. J. Lam- bert, Mrs. James Van 8S. Barret, Miss Adeline Capen, Miss Julie Cabanne, Miss Mary Semple Scott, Miss Elizabeth Coste, Miss Cornelia Garrison, Miss Eloise Ware, Miss Minnie Blair. And yet it is well known to all their friends that these women reduce the expense of their costumes to the minimum by mak- ing their own gowns, hats and lingerie. Veiled Prophet’s Queen Wore Royal Dress of Own Making. Iss JU LIE CABANNE as Veiled Prophet's Vi Queen, World’s Fair year, wore one of the 3 ‘ handsomest costumes that ever appeared at the ball—and she made it herself, with the aid of a seamstress. ; Mrs. W. K. Kavanaugh, whose gowns are se ad- mired during the winter season, are constructed by herself and one seamstress @uring the summer sea- son at her country seat, Kennett Castle, Selma. Mys. Fergus McRee, who was Miss Helen Aull, always a criterion of fashion, before her mar- riage, made all her own gowns, her hats and the hats of many of her friends. Mrs. Henry Kilbourne, who was Miss Mary

PROTA | ae “t

—_—— - MAD PRINCE PROSPER SET FREE; HIS TITLE DROPPED He Was Once “Condemned to Death for Cruelties in South Africa. HANOVER, Prussia, Aus. 2.—Prince Prosper of Arenberg, Who Was con- demned to death by courtmart! al in German Southwest Africa in 189 for murder and other crimes, committed against the natives, but whose sentence was dis-

The Prince will go to , In . Pag pe. Cau

giving him the name of Blanden. The Arenberg case has several times been the subject of discussion in the Reichstag, allegations that ‘the Prince was not treated as other prisoners, but was addressed as “Your Highness,” and receiving an easy time, having been made in the press. MRS, COREY DENIES SHE WILL 60 ON STAGE PROFESSIONALLY Former Mabelle Gillman Admits That She May Appear for . Charity in London. Special Cable te the Post-Dispatch “ Ec Sa gal garter say: op t. 1910, by the Press Pub. Co. P the | appr eettian

ia ee ag Stor ae stage professionally. She admitted, how- ever, that she hoped to take part [In a pe:formance of “The Taming of the Shew’’ with Waller in Londén for char- ity. “The tuimor that I intended to return to the stage must have originated from my studies of the drama and opera, which engage always my leisure tins she gaid. ‘The Taming of the Shrew,’ but say definitely now whether I will,” to change it In any way, but “I may play for’ charity fn}. No amount of persuasion would induce as oliainan 0 tency’ colette GT

» Aug. 20.—Mrs. Corey, he wae gs CUPID'S: “HELLO” TAKES A CENTRAL GIRL TO ALTAR Miss McCormick Quits Her Job to Gét Married Next a TR a eee . Be idle, tes Eee Rw eR. x Pa nae * a‘

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Fretices Boyce, and a Frohman nt orfe time, aiways made the gowns she peared so grace- fully in upons the ‘stage. “it Miss Florence Wade, ’a daughter of ‘Festus Wade, delights to make her own blouses and lingérie, although the heiress to millions. — I could name’ dozens of others who sew, plan os : ,#nd purchase their apparel witb the utmost thrift, : “jv st-because they delight to do so. | Oéeasionally you héar of a Mrs. Howard Gould or & Miss Morosini, who havea on spending, but they are not the women. real ‘feminine fondness for fuss and ft pretty clothes. Certain it is that if you do your own sewing you tan eliminate the greatest item of expense — in your wardrobe. This does not prove that you will not still spend more than you intend to. If you economize in one direction you are likely, to squander in another—such is the mighty forces of the law of compensation. ~The girl of today in adapting herself to the ce high cost of living, the increasing wear and tear and demands of occasions, the gnares laid by the — ever-increasing lines of trade, should be given credit at least for rising to the emergency and — all it implies, beautiful ‘apd fair tq look upon,

’ 2 ert JINGLE OF COINS “TALKED” SENSE TO GALLAGHER HEN W. J. Holbrook, real estate operator, Vi decided to pit up the Syndicate Trust Build- ing, he tried to get an ordinance ‘through the Municipal Assembly authorizing him to close the alley between the Century Bul : and the new structure. James (“Jiggers”) lagher was chairman of the committee to the bill was referred. Holbrook was addressing the. detkantienine afternoon when “Jiggers” arrived, late. Holbr didn't know him. The delegate listenos and then asked: “What would that space rent for?" . ure ¢ Pye 50 ATR P IS