on Broadway, New York. France is the fountain head of fashion for
ladies' dress. Most of the fashions, however, are Americanized when
introduced into this country. Dress is, to some extent, an index to the
mind of the wearer. Judgment and good taste are the best guides. Several
things are to be taken into consideration--age, complexion, proportion,
means, station, comfort, and decorum. A lady, with command of a full
purse, can dress as she pleases. Rich and elegant clothing,
appropriately made, is an ornament, and well becomes those that can
afford it. With a scant purse, a lady cannot dress very handsomely, yet
she may always observe neatness and propriety of costume. A passion for
dress is apt to betray an empty mind or great vanity. Much of the beauty
of a dress depends on its tasteful make. If the figure is bad, it
improves it. If good, it adds to the beauty of the figure, which is one
of the most impressive modifications of beauty. In dress making, a lady
has only to establish a reputation as a successful fitter and
fashionable trimmer, and she will be sure of a run of custom and
handsome profits. I am sorry to say, in the majority of dress-making
establishments, no reliance can be placed on the word of the principals,
in regard to the time work will be finished. While many of those at the
head of dress-making establishments are realizing dazzling profits, the
poor sempstress, working in busy times from twelve to sixteen hours out
of the twenty-four, receives the generous allowance of from $1.50 to
$4.50 a week. But few, and those only of much skill, taste, and
dexterity, ever gain better prices. Fitters and forewomen, in some
places, gain from $4 to $7 per week. I believe it is generally thought
men fit better than women, so many ladies have their basques and riding
habits made at tailors' establishments. We do not see why the plan used
by tailors, of fitting by measure, is not more generally applied to
dress fitting. Dress making is more fatiguing than millinery work,
because you have to sit at it more steadily and there is more sameness
in it. Spring and fall are the most busy seasons. Those who can secure
sewing in good families, and have some decent place to go in the
intervals, are better off than most others. They receive from 50 cents
to $1.25 per day and their dinner. It would probably require a little
time to become known; and one, to succeed, must know how to do all
parts, from the fitting to the finishing off; so it requires skill and a
thorough knowledge of the business. A lady who sews by the day told me
she often gets her system out of order by the different food of the
several families she is in, and the different times of taking it. We
think there are no regular hours for those who work by the day in New
York. The length of the day depends on the mercy of the employer. "Dress
makers in Boston, some years ago, adopted the ten-hour system, and now
average $1.25 per day. Previously they received but 75 cents or $1." The
demand for dress makers in the Northern and Eastern States is fully met,
but throughout the South and West there are openings, here and there,
for good dress makers. There is probably no occupation in which there
are so many incompetent persons as that of dress making. Many persons
take it up without having learned the trade at all, and many who become
reduced in circumstances immediately resort to it without any
preparation, and are destitute, not only of experience, but of skill,
ingenuity, and taste. In New York, the conditions on which apprentices
are taken vary greatly. Some pay nothing for six months, and even
receive $10 or $15 for instruction. The girls are kept at making up
skirts, sewing up sleeves, and such plain work, and so learn nothing
during the time. Some are taken for a year, and boarded during that time
for their work. Some live at home, and are paid from $1.50 to $2.50 for
their work. Some are taken for two years, to learn the trade thoroughly,
and work from eight to twelve hours a day. Some apprentices have not the
ability to become good fitters and sewers, and are destitute of artistic
taste; but women seldom change from one employment to another on
discovering their incompetency. The majority, probably, have not the
time or means of doing so. Miss B. says those who sew for dress makers
receive from $2.50 to $4 a week, working ten hours a day. Apprentices
that can sew right well when they commence, receive at some houses $2 a
week for six months, but they are not taught to fit unless the employer
is a conscientious woman and there is a special contract. When the busy
season is over, the inferior hands are turned off without an hour's
warning. It is desirable to get a good class of customers, that the pay
will be sure, and that the dress maker may know what to rely on. Some
dress makers in New York have kept the patterns of ladies in the South,
and made their dresses for years. If a slight change was needed, for
instance, the length increased, or the waist made smaller, or _vice
versa_, the lady wrote accordingly. Miss B. never works for servants.
They do not pay as well, and are just as particular as their mistresses.
She never works for a stranger, unless recommended by one of her
customers. Mrs. C. told me that a girl of fair abilities can learn dress
making in six months. The first three months she does not pay anything,
but the last three $1 a week. After they have learned she pays according
to their taste, skill, and industry. One girl, that has good taste in
trimming and finishing off, she pays $4 a week; another, that sews well
and is industrious, but deficient in taste, she pays $2. They all live
at home. Those girls that live at home are often willing to work for
less than the ordinary wages, as they are not at the greatest of all
expenses--boarding. They work from seven in the morning until six,
having an hour at noon. They prefer it to the hours of some of the
Broadway shops, which are usually from eight to seven. By the first
arrangement they are enabled to get home early and go to any place of
amusement. Miss H. told me that three years ago she earned $7 per week,
ten hours a day, sewing for a French lady on Broadway, who had a great
run of Southern custom. There were many strangers in the city at the
time. "Servant girls seldom pay over $1 for making a dress; yet 10,000
servant girls in New York city, will have from three to six and eight
new dresses a year." At Wilson's Industrial School, New York, some of
the older girls are taught dress making.
=341. Dress Caps and Head Dresses.= The making of ladies' dress caps is
an extensive and important branch of business. The rates at which they
are now put together, enable most ladies to buy them already made. In
large cities there are separate establishments for the sale of them, but
in smaller towns they are sold at milliner shops. Much taste should be,
and generally is, exercised in this department of business. In London,
on the streets, the caps and bonnets exposed for sale are placed in
inverted umbrellas. On summing up what was told me by eight
manufacturers of dress caps and head dresses, I find the prices they pay
the women who sew for them, run from $2 a week to $10--the average $4.
Some pay by the week, but most by the piece, which is usually most
profitable to the worker, and most satisfactory to both parties.
Superior hands prefer to work by the piece, and, when working for
first-class stores, earn from $6 to $8 per week. There is a scarcity of
good hands in New York, and I would advise some ladies to learn. Taste,
and swiftness of fingers are required. The finer and more delicate the
hands of a worker the better. Some are employed all the year, but the
majority are not. The busy season begins in January and lasts till the
middle of May, and begins in September and lasts till the middle of
October, when city work usually commences. Some houses, in the
intervals, make up for the city trade. The South has depended almost
entirely on the North for the supply of these articles. There will be
openings in the South for establishments of the kind. One keeper of a
large fancy store said to me, there are not more than ten first-class
makers of dress caps in New York. He thought the Irish succeed, many of
whom learn in the convents of their own country to use the needle well.
Hands employed by the week usually work ten hours a day. Most people
prefer to employ the hands they have had. The best place for learning is
in a shop confined to the city trade. Mrs. D. devotes herself to making
up caps for the dead, but employs sewers to make ladies' dress caps. It
requires time to get to making them tastefully and rapidly. An
experienced hand can earn from $4 to $6 a week, piecework. It is thought
three months' time is necessary for learning, and during that time a
girl cannot earn over $1 a week. Mrs. D. says some can earn but eight or
nine cents a day while learning, and become discouraged and give it up.
She will not trust any but experienced hands, on account of the loss of
materials, for when badly cut, they cannot be altered into anything
else, and, when they have to be ripped, lose their stiffening, and are
only fit for the scrap bag. They can soon judge of hands by their
appearance, the way they sew, and knowing for whom they have worked, and
the kind of work that house turns out. They always require reference or
deposit. They keep their hands all the year, making caps part of the
year to send away, and the remainder of the year for city trade. Ladies'
dress caps have been superseded to a great extent by fancy head dresses
and flowers. Miss C., Broadway, told me her best hands earn, by the
piece, from $6 to $7 per week. It requires three months to learn the
business. Learners, that have some knowledge of sewing, receive from her
$1 a week. Judgment, in size, form, and manner of putting together, is
desirable. The busy seasons are spring and fall. There is rather a
deficiency of good hands in New York, and in busy seasons it is
sometimes difficult to get enough of indifferent hands. The French are
very successful, on account of their cultivated taste. I was told that
Mme. D. employs two Austrian girls that invent beautiful styles of head
dresses. Mr. D. says the person that has the taste and ingenuity to
invent pleasing styles will receive a good price. He had to pay $4 a
dozen more for a new style of head dresses imported not long ago from
Paris, merely because it was of a new design. He playfully remarked:
"Fancy goods must bring fancy prices." A woman that has lived in Paris,
and been engaged in the business there, and accustomed to observing the
fashions and inventing them, would receive a high salary. He pays from
$6 to $9 a week, according to qualifications. The abilities and taste of
a person have much to do with the time of learning--six months are
usually given. He pays $3 a week to smart learners. He sells rather more
goods in fall, as ladies are then preparing for balls and parties. He
prefers to have foreigners to work for him, as he is himself a
foreigner. His store girls leave at 6 P. M. Those that board pay $3 a
week. In most stores for the sale of ladies' fancy articles, the ladies
in attendance make up such articles, when not waiting on customers. From
a larger establishment, the superintendent sent me the following report:
"Women earn from $4 to $10 per week, being paid by the piece. It
requires from three months to one year to learn the business. After six
weeks, the hands are paid a small trifle. Women are employed about eight
months in the year, but first-class hands find employment always. In
busy seasons the work must be done--so hands cannot limit themselves to
time, but must be employed late and early. The demand for first-class
hands is great, and enough cannot be found. I employ from one hundred
and fifty to two hundred on an average. Most of my hands are foreigners,
and married women that live at home."
=342. Fans.= In most ages, and in most countries, the fan has been used
as much by gentlemen as ladies. In Japan, everybody carries a fan. "In
M. Duveleroy's fan establishment--the largest in Paris--each fan, from
the commonest to the most costly, passes through fifteen hands before it
is ready for use and the retailer." The palm-leaf fans, which have been
so much in vogue for years past, are made to some extent in the Eastern
States. Fans are sometimes made of feathers. Peacock, duck, turkey, and
those of small birds are employed. As in other manufactures, the capital
required, the risk run, the want of operatives acquainted with the
business, and the comparative highness of wages have hitherto debarred
any one from undertaking the manufacture of fans extensively in the
United States. Taste is necessary for a fan maker. A man that has been
making fans for two years in New York, told me he took it up from
repairing fans. He cannot keep materials enough on hand, because
suitable feathers are high and difficult to get. He is raising some
peacocks and white turkeys, that he may have the feathers for making
fans. The women he employed last year he paid by the piece, and they
earned from $5 to $6 per week. He will employ more women in the course
of a year or two.
=343. Ladies' Under-Wear.= A sempstress in New York can seldom earn more
than seventy-five cents a day--fifty is the more usual sum. At Mrs. C. &
Co.'s, all the work is done by hand. They employ by the week and by the
piece. They will not allow goods to be taken out unless they know the
person to be reliable, because they find it difficult to get work back
at the time promised. They sell most articles made up, about Christmas,
and in the spring. People do not have half so much sewing done out as
they used to, because so many own sewing machines, and they are not
willing to pay the same prices that they formerly did. Some women that
live and dress well in New York, take in sewing to obtain pinmoney. She
mentioned one lady that came dressed in her elegant furs and point lace,
and got sewing, she said, for a sick young friend; but when she came
back, she said the friend was not able to do it, and so she did it
herself, and would like to have more. She lived in style on ---- street.
The cutters of under-wear, who are competent and responsible, can earn
$6 per week, and even more, but it requires considerable experience. A
lady that has sewing done told me that nothing pays so poorly as white
work. She requires a sample of work and a deposit from any one that
takes sewing out, to the amount of the value of the article. A lady that
has most beautiful under-wear made up for ladies in New York and in the
South, told me her Southern orders have all ceased. Her work is mostly
done by hand. She has a forewoman that bastes and cuts. She has not less
than ten or twelve applicants every day for work. Some of her hands earn
$5 or $6 a week, and others work just as long and do not earn $3. Some
of her workers can earn $4 by embroidering, but sewing generally pays
best. She pays her operator by the piece--so much a yard. When she had
Southern orders, she sent goods by express, and the express collected
the money on the goods. If the money was not paid by those who had
ordered the goods, the express would not deliver them, but returned
them. They were responsible for their return, in case they were not paid
for. In the first place, something was paid for transmitting and
collecting; in the latter, for transmitting both ways. Many ladies used
to send their measures and directions, and she would make up
accordingly. She finds bridal apparel most profitable. In large cities
there is a small demand for the costume of artists, sea bathers, and
practisers of gymnastics. At the Employment House, B., I was told they
have more applications than they can attend to, for plain sewing; but
fine sewing it is more difficult to get done. Fine sewing pays for
itself very well, but coarse does not. At L. & T.'s, New York, they have
every branch done, and pay sewers by hand as good prices as operators. A
right neat and fast sempstress can earn $6 a week: it is piecework.
Operators can earn $5 or $6. Part of the work is done in the building,
and part is given out. At first they found it difficult to get superior
sewers, but they have plenty now. They have sometimes employed 375
hands. About half their women are Americans. It is usual for the
forewoman to do the cutting, and she can earn from $6 to $12. When they
pay by the week, the girls work from 8 A. M. to 6 P. M., and have three
fourths of an hour at noon. They pay by the week for making mantillas
and cloaks. It is most profitable to the employées to pay by the piece.
Their customers can rely on their work, and are willing to pay a good
price for hand sewing. A lady that supplies under-wear told me that she
finds it difficult to obtain any one that is reliable to give her work
to--one that she can be sure will do her work well at the proper time.
She pays those that work in the house $3 a week, of ten hours a day.
Neatness, care, and expedition, she requires of her hands. There is an
abundance of indifferent hands, but a scarcity of superior ones.
=344. Over Gaiters.= R., Philadelphia, employs fifty girls. Some of the
gaiters are made by sewing machines, and some are stitched by hand.
Makers earn from $3 to $5 a week. Most of the work is done in the
establishment--some is taken out.
=345. Patterns.= In large cities there is a constant call for a supply
of new patterns; consequently stores are kept for the purpose of cutting
and selling them. A dress and cloak making establishment is frequently
connected with them. The sale of patterns to dress and cloak makers in
the South and West is considerable--greater, perhaps, than that in the
city. T., and Mme. D., are the leaders of this branch in New York. Mme.
D. has in pattern making mostly young girls. A large room of young girls
requires but two or three ladies to assist and direct. It takes but
little time to learn. She does not pay until they have learned, and then
pays young girls $1 a week and upward. T., son of the editor of the _Bon
Ton_, told me their fashion magazines have a circulation of three
thousand, mostly among milliners and dress makers. The plates are
colored in Paris. Leslie's and Godey's plates are colored in this
country. T.'s takes six French publications devoted to the fashions.
They look over plates and select such styles as they think will be
popular. They have a lady in Paris who writes to them from there,
describing the fashions. They employ a lady in connection with their
pattern making who, by looking at the plates, is able to cut out a
mantle, sleeve, &c., exactly like the plates. Some ladies could never
learn to do so. They employ ladies, both in pattern cutting and dress
making, and pay from $3 to $5 per week--to a competent forewoman, $10
and $15. Women are paid small wages while learning. Their business is
advancing--has advanced most during the last few years. Their trade is
Eastern, Western, and Southern--mostly Southern. Their girls are
employed from 8 A. M. to 6 P. M.; having an hour at noon. In the pattern
business, there are just about enough of hands in New York. Spring and
fall are the busy seasons. E. G. says the busy season commences the
middle of January, when she is willing to receive learners. She gives
instruction for nothing for one month; after that, she pays $2.50 a
week, if successful, and continues to increase salary according to the
abilities of the individual. A good hand can earn $5 per week, working
ten hours a day. Another lady told me that in pattern making she gives
instruction two months, paying nothing, but then they can earn $2.50,
and, as they become more expert, can earn $3, $3.50, and $4. They are
paid by the week, and it would be impossible to pay by the piece. It
requires practice to become an expert cutter. She prefers, for pattern
cutting, young girls from twelve to fifteen years old. In large cities,
some women go around to cut patterns, sell stays, embroidery, &c.