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Show "NATIONAL COSTUMES." The French government has dealt its first telling blow at the clothing profiteer. prof-iteer. According to a dispatch from Paris, the new "national costume" for men is ready to be placed on the market. mar-ket. The first lot is composed of 25,-000 25,-000 suits. For these suits the government has fixed a psice of $22 (110 francs). Tailors Tail-ors charge $S0 to $100 for a suit, but the government also has fixed a limit of profit of ten francs for the tailor on the "national costume." The costume is likely to become a fad as well as a utilitarian garb, for the recognized arbiter of fashions for Frenchmen, one Andre de Fouquieres, anuounecs that he will buy one of the suits as soon as possible and wear it on the boulevards. Should M. Fouquieres Fou-quieres carry out his "threat," visitors to Paris may expect to see long lines of fashion leaders dressed similarly. It is a glowing opportunity for the style-setters style-setters to break the monotony of their existence and at the same time render a patriotic service. The cloth of which the "national costume" is made is of cotton warp with t-ool filling. The suits will range in color from navy blue to light gray, black, olive drab, dark green and light grei.11. Much of the c'orh lias been Manufactured in Roubaix and Tour-coing. Tour-coing. In producing it. the government govern-ment authorities undertook a difficult task, as many French factories had been stripped of I'ceir machinery by the German invaders, money was scarce, cotton and wool trebled in price and wages i:i;h. Nevertheless, tie governmn; carried car-ried out its plan, and it now remains t bo seen whether the every-day Frenchman will avail himself of a serviceable ser-viceable fjit of clothe?, at a reasonable price, or whether, as is the cue in this country, he vi!: ineis: on paying tho trw highest price for an inferior a.-.:cl.. |