GIRLS' EMPLOYMENT.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 801, 26 April 1910, Page 3

GIRLS' EMPLOYMENT.

; : :: ,- "THE-MILLINERY.";;■'.'■ ' .-•• -.- The milliner's trade is'such la' pleasant >■ tndlwjraiive one, offering as much scope : Im originality:, and' artistic.work, thatone •■quid- expect -.to'.-, find numbers of'girls _' ,' from , the high sohoolsentering.it in preference' to, the routine of -'office work, or 'file .long training of- a teacher.; Ai it.- is, ft attracts many'girls .from-parftcuiarly, ■■ . ' nice" homes, and. the, heads'of ; ' millinery ■-.'. businesses are' apt '.to 'be proud of the ■-.- dass''.of girl whom they employ. !y The. pay of ah apprentice milliner does. not -compare with that of. girls in some other, less pleasant trades.' -She starts at and her :wago'is. increased by Ss.: each year. There.is.no law- against : her being paid more; but 'she need not expect to find in these early .years .that her-.employer is inclined'to..double the award TEage—it is considered:fair pay for . what' she has to : do. ..One great advan- . tage the Wellington' girl the girl who has'reoeived her training in ../. one' of the larger' will very •"' eaaly.obtain a situation in-some shop,in a .provincial' town; -and though..she.may 'haye.been.only..receiving J.4s.'or 17s,' in feiwn, she: may .get .anything up to' '£2. or '•-. £25s.,.eyeh' niore.-in the prpvinces.'jand aheis.quite, worth.it.'."-. ■.',.. -'-■■/- ":--;ThereVis,,"this.;.difference, in. fact.'betweeh the milliner:'or dressmaker, and the: more', highly-paid?, factory worker, who . .:'■ spends'her, da'ys'.at'.a' machine, that, the ■ two .former have their trade, at their ■'.-'■ finger-tips,-.and-'ahywherein the colonies V BhouW.De;:'able .to, earn/a fair livelihood. The' dressmaker'.has even:a way .of earniagiher livingS.fhat, .so: far,-' the milljner. .-'.-• has'not.'followed, though, it i 6 to :b"e .:.,.- hoped; that ..very- soon, the dressmaker, . ' "who, goes to < work .'in the . homes of, her ■' cßenti, wiir:':be' followed, by the visiting "'. milliner/whptwould be heartily welcomed m/many "homes,'-'and who. would earn her ; money, even more quickly than the dress.:'maker.-.'-.;'-..', v :> -\' "-:"■'■ Some .of; the..Wellington' shops employ --.»''■.'large number.'of milliners, but,- pro- - ' bably most of'them'manage well enough ■:'•■•■ with only a few, for the trimming of a .hat .is often more a 'question-".of knack 1 than of: arduous lahflnr, "and there- may be ! a''.big result for', one day's work."-. And here, "by; tho .'.way, is a wrong iin- ■ -..- pression to he:corrected.. The yoiing ap- . prentice'is not taught first;of all :to-make -~'.-: bows-r-bows, smart, hows., trim, and' bows coquettish—though "the: outsider imagines ■ . that she spends half' her first year' doing nothing else'.'You are'born with a' knack ■ of making :now«, or you learn it for your- . self,-.but it-is"not'a , can Bo'tiught. ;: ''■■'■. l ; '' ; " v '.-:-''■'- ~ .The ; first, thing,.'which-,' the .. beginner' .lea.rhs-jstb'-'raake'bandeaux, which teaches' '■ , her : \<jj'-wbrk' i neatly :; ''with- and,' from': .' thafi..she'-gocsfon" to ; the'making df"wiro ! shapes,''and'hate- of r straw or silk or l vel : :'' "■ "J**":.; You can sce'.thcm- in .'the ' -.- ttyuig' on'-;these skeleton';ha'ts';>pcoring.in' ' a.bit of mirror glass; afiil turhihg it this way. and that to' see how : it looks; and '; : Bnrcly only a "milliner, born : could tell .'anything at. all'about: the future appearance of a "wire frame..-'-. :'■- ' :'A'visit :.to'the workrooms of 'hvo of the '' la ? I ? e li,^°P, s 6n the Q UB y lef t' 1 tho visitor with the" plehsantest impression of the : the conditions under.which"'-it ..--fe'done.-One. workroom: had 'its girls at -.;. • fliaerent-tables-ra' long table 'Tunning nearly the -length ■'• of ■ the room for tho girls—who were making hats'," and 'the :' other..for. grown-up bonnets,-and'babiea* : headgear.: This last-is the mostelaborate, ■; »ndi requires: most ruching- of'■ all; and '.':■ there was often so.little, to show, for'-it-r the close ruching round a little bonnet, :■•■ *° r:l °ftance, the .shirring of a lining, or ~. . tho_ little white silk bonnet with rows of rnsertion and. lace. It'is dainty -work, Vut there must be more charm about the , trimming of. picture hat with a hugeflourishing feather, the draping of a velvet toque, or..tho comhining:of■■ fur,-feather, and tinselled gold to produce a-"creation.''i „l yha J Pleasure: it would bo to make a enanticler .hat, or a huge affair that he barred from a theatre, or some rtartling combination of new arid wonderful colours. There must be : much fun in making hats, and more fun still in meeting them out walking in-the streets, when .one satisfaction of•• seeing, that tte.exactly nght lady has chosen this hat or ..the exasperation, of seeing that .the .'" •Me«x wrong ady has-.bought the other. l-OT instance^there was" that hat wornout fascinating though this subiect is, and "■■' SSSS tw 46 . 8, I***™ and their wearers, that does not really touch the question of millinery, as a business, it is : : *&; -Mlas,n « it f'