| Show CLOTHES lADE OP TIN It Vui Armor and Cost Like Sin Realism and costliness go hand in hand in the mounting of an extravaganza j extrava-ganza or spectacular play here and in London it is the same though as Mr Mansfield pointed out in his little I speech the other day costumes and properties cost less in England than they do here A customer said on this subject the other day As in everything else cheapness is not economy Take examples ex-amples A single suit of armor etc worn by one of the characters in a procession of nations in a pantomime not long ago cost upward of 150 The armor was of the best block tin silverplated and made just as carefully In the sense of fit and accuracy ac-curacy as that of any knight of old Then the dress of a Nautch girl one of eight we made last year for a ballet in Paris though you could pack it all In a bonn t box as far as that goes cost nearly 125 the soft semi transparent overdress being made of Madras silk and the little jeweled bodice being embroidered by natives One little anecdote concerning realism real-ism may make It even plainer Not long ago we had to make the dresses for Miss Z for the revival of an old French play of the time of Louis XIV II Womens figures were very different in outline at that period from what they are nowadays The dress of the period we knew how to make it we knew but there was a difficulty stays We hunted in curiosity shops In the hope of finding a pair to serve as a model One of my clerks spent several days in the museum library All to no good J i f cl i Then the idea came into my eldest I sons head He packed off to Paris called on M Leotjr the celebrated cor setier who often works with us and found just what was reQuired in his private collection of stays of all per lode A HM Leoty made a masterpiece from the model in his possession and the veriest detail of the costume was thus complete correct They were terrible looking affairs to modern eyes though arid Jliss Z who was here a few days ago said referring to the matter mat-ter I think I shall be everlastingly grateful that I h vent got to go through life in a pair of fouls Qua torze stays JI Who is the most extravagant actress ac-tress In the matter of stage costume asked the reporter of the Chicago Times That I cannot say was the guarded guard-ed reply Mrs Langtry used to spend a good deal in that way I mean her dresses were very expensive But on the whole Ishould be inclined to say thatthe divine Sarah is the most generous gen-erous costumer we have ever had |
