Show i HOW THE LEADING LADIES DRESS Complete and Nobby Outfits for Three Dollars and Thirty I five Cents I j There is a popular impression says the St Louis PostDispatch that a wife is an ex I i pensive luxury and that a young lady I daughter requires tho possession of some St i Louis gas stock a tenement house or a row of dilapidated dwellings to keep her in good I 1 style This impression has been created and strengthened by the perusal of the fashion I i articles of the day It is an erroneous idea j which bids fair to wipe out in a large rneas and to place j ure the institution of marriage the possession of charming daughters among the estates least to be desired To Charles Augustus whose salary is more of a suggestion sugges-tion than an actuality the privilege of furnishing furn-ishing to a lovely creature the wherewithal to fit lierself out in sufficient garb to permit i I of her shedding the entrancing halo of her along Fourth street on a fineafter noon presence is among the unattainable things Charles Augustus and all other uninformed lovers husbands and fathers are laboring under a delusion fostered by the other sex i which a tour of critical inspection through large dry goods establishment will rectify rec-tify any Armed with the knowledge which such an investigation will give he can hand over who is dependent j 5 bill to the charming creature pendent upon him for supplies for the pur I outfits with of getting her summer I pose smiling confidenceand without the corroding I corrod-ing consciousness of being a brute and a 1 I miser This will appear to the butterflies of i fashion who wear their tailormade suits and Worth costumes as absolutely ridiculous i What will they say to the statement that a woman clothed only in the charms which i nature has given her and in that condition of perfect nudity which caused mother Eve I to seek the refuge which a fig leaf offered and which would bring a blush to the cheek of innocence at the cold unfeeling glances of the pale moon can be dressed completely and put in a condition to make her morning I l calls to shop or to take a promenade for sumof 335 This assertion may possibly create surprise in the minds of some It ever surprised a PostDispatch reporter who thought he had sounded the lowest forbidding depths of poverty but it is nevertheless a fact The saleslady of a large Olive street dry goods establishment only said this but she also said that any lady with taste and intelligence could dress herself from her heels to the top of her pompadour roll for 5 at the outside in a nobby and attractive style This statement state-ment takes for granted that everything she will have on will be new presentable of the latest pattern and of reasonably good quality It also supposed that the wearer shall not bo required to use the scissors or the needle or to furnish a single item of the outfit from other scources The presump tion is of course that the weather is balmy and pleasant enough and not to require great warmth of covering When dressed however she will be neat tidy and if the possessor of a fair amount of beauty attractive at-tractive Take for instance a lady away from home whom the burning of her hotel Lam caught in the bath and has driven out of doors with tt blanket on her shoulders and a purse containing 350 and her railroad ticket in her hand She can clothe herself completely and still have 15 cents left to buy oranges or candy for the children If she can borrow I enough clothing to ipaar oritho street in the course of a halt u ars shopping she can be ready to leave for home To begin with the beginning she will enter the furnishing department and will naturally inquire for a chemise the lowest that can bo bought and will be shown a good cotton cord band well made and a neat garment for 25 cents For the same price she can get a sixtuck skirt with deep hem lock stitched in full sizes and for the same price also she can purchase a sewed corset with sixteen bones and solid busk So much for her underclothing which does not include an unmentionable garment which comes in pairs and which although extremely desirable de-sirable is not absolutely necessary to her comfort and good appearance in summer If she had the money she could buy this for 25 cents Having covered herself the next article in order of purchase although the I first usually among ladies to be put on is I her hose She can buy a pair of domestic I stockings for 10 cents or if she would prefer > pre-fer to save on the candy and get better she I I can choose full regular imported hose in any solid color or stripes for 15 cents This I however would be extravagance under the circumstances She will in all probability I look next for a dress and she can find it to her taste ready made of calico in tasteful I figures half Mother Hubbard and belted for 75 cents For shoes she can getslippers for 50 cents if she chooses to wear them on the street or Newport ties pretty and durable dura-ble for 75 cents Boots would cost 1 which would be above her means Then she will want that sine qua non of womanhood a bonnet and she can get a rough and ready straw of fashionable shape and nicely trimmed for 1 Her outfit is complete the bill for which will read i Chemise 25 Skirt 25 Corset 25 Lose 10 Dress 75 Shoes 75 Bonnet 100 Total 3ar If she prefers it she can get a better pair of stockings for 15 cents and can buy a fast and a handkerchief or some other little knickknack with the remaining 10 cents If L she is fastidious she cannot only do that but can add the unmentionables referred to for 25 cents bringing the total cost to 375 By doubling the cost of each article she can get a fine chemise with three rows of inserting I insert-ing a fine skirt with deep ruffle tucked and embroidered and a fine domestic corset or I for 25 cents more a French woven corset She can also get a stylish dress with yoke waist belted and flounced a handsome pair of boots and a dainty nobby bonnet with a flower or two on it and inch facing By adding a little to her dress so as to make it cost 2 she can get a pretty Pacific lawn with elaborately trimmed jacket and overskirt over-skirt This calculation presumes that the lady has immediate need of every article If she has any talent for dressmaking she can vastly improve the quality and style of her dress and decrease the cost She can I pmchaso fifteen yards of dress goods for 75 cents and can put it together with the lining lin-ing and buttons included for 50 cents more I In other words if she is sensible and handy I she can dress herself from the skin out I stylishly and nobbily for j > 5 The grades of style and quality arc innumerable so I that beginning with 335 the outfit can be made to cost a small fortune A prospective I bride can be fitted out with a set of under elothing for 1 or for 1000 as her means will permit At the lowest rate a full I trousseau may be purchased for if 10 and comparatively speaking a luxurious trousseau may be obtained for 25 There are doubtless plenty of firstcircle married ladies whose trousseaux have cost no more than the firstmentioned sum A still cheaper plan is to elope Although it has been demonstrated beyond question that a I woman can be clothedcompletely for 335 and dressed stylishly for 5 this is not designed to take away the sting of conscience con-science from a stingy husband or father nor to give him a powerful lever to keep down the operating expenses of womankind nor to tempt a loving and sanguine young man into the snares of matrimony with only great expectations or good looks to live on I It is simply a statement of what can be done j in this If the other with little money age I consequence follows there is only sympathy I for the victims of misplaced confidence in womans nature |