£30,000 A YEAR FOR DRESS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 318, 3 June 1911, Page 9

£30,000 A YEAR FOR DRESS.

EXTRAVAGANCES OF SOCIETY WOMEN. "A thoroughly fashionable Parisian represents merely in her walking dress and appointments an outlay of £20,001)." "It has been freely stated that fully iilO.uUO is spent annually by wealthy Americas parents on each of their daughters." ■' £IO,OOO scarcely covered the trousseau of Lord Deeies' bride." "Mrs. Howard Gould has stated that it is nec«sstuy for her to spend from £B,OOO to £ 10,000 a year on clothes." These are items from the fashionable intelligence of the day. No wonder tha.!i social reformers are crying out agajn»j the extravagance which Mrs, says is a passporfc jjjtn; society.

Wr- A £IO,OOO MANTLE. At first glance it seems impossible for a woman to walk about in apparel vailed at £20,000, but this amazing sum is easily accounted for. The hat, for instance, with its triple aigrette, costs £00; the carefully-matched hair, £4O; the costume of velvet, embroidered with large llowers, represents a bagatelle of £00; under-bodice, silk petticoat, stockings and shoes, another £SO. But we get into big figures when we talk of the zibeline mantle. This precious piece of human upholstery runs away with £lO,000. As to the jewels—the. modest pearl necklace, the little chain bracelet, and gold purse will account for another £6,000. The smart society woman wants a new frock almost every week, and frequently £lO to £25 a year is paid for a dress which may not be worn more than once or twice. A certain society dame wears a dress once or—if it be of extremely great value—twice, but all the trimmings and decorations must be entirely changed before she wears it a second time. A few years ago she indulged in a length of Lyons silk, snow white and adorned with flowers, birds, and foliage in relief. She intended it for a dress, but changed her mind and used it for a curtain. The price paid for this costly fabric waß actually £25 per yard. The same lady wears occasionally, in the winter, a mantle made of the fur of the silver fox, the necklet alone costing 600 guineas.

COSTLY ITEMS. Ten to twenty pounds for a pair of garters (for jewelled designs as much as £4OO lias been paid); £SO for a pair of corsets, and even more for a "Merry Widow" hat; anything from £SO to £2OO for a gown, and £I,OOO a year for lingerie—these are some of the items in the dress bill of the fashionable woman of to-day. It is contended that no one spends more on dress than the American society woman, and one authority has stated that there are 100 women in New York each of whom spends £30,000 every year on dress, while 1,000 others lay out £15,000 on their toilet.

LADIES WITH THE DOLLARS. And this is how other ladies with the dollars enrich modistes and shopKcepers to the extent of £20,000; ball dresses £B,OOO, reception dresses £5,000, cloaks £2,400, lingerie £3,000, shoes £I,OOO, gloves £GOO, and hats £1,400. The American woman of fashion thinks nothing of ordering twelve dozen handkerchiefs at £ls a dozen, and stockings at £SO a pair, while she considers it essential that she should have different sets of jewels for each season of the year.