Life — June 12, 1913 — page 26: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

‘alsa EOE * All Ladies Attention Your Individual Style is Now Considered By the Only Real Fashion Reform League In this Country—Step In and Place Your Order. UT if men all over this country are hailing us with gratitude for our recent announce- ment of comforta- ble clothes» for men, think of what our women patrons are doing! For not only have we established a new era for men, but we are also working on an idea which will place the American woman on an entirely new basis. It is a well known fact that up to the present moment nature has de- creed and fashion has abetted the rule that women shall all look alike. If one woman differs from another in appear- ance, she immediately sets about sub- jecting herself to a process by which she can be brought to the level of the average. Jn an era of large hats, the woman who would dare wear a small one would be ostracized. Owing to our tremendous influence and control over the styles in this coun- try we have succeeded, with considera- ble difficulty, however, in placing wom- an's fashions on an entirely new foun- dation. Hereafter, in our establish- ment every woman will be treated individually, without regard to the pre- vailing style. The result of this is that a man can tell his wife almost any- where he meets her, without getting her mixed up with a lot of other women. You can, for example, locate your wife in any department store merely by the way she dresses. Our work, however, would have been crude and incomplete if we had at- tempted to make ladies’ clothes on the basis of their physical points. On the contrary, our method is very much deeper than this. We first find out what the lady’s disposition is and then make her costume to suit. That is to say, we tone her costume to conform h the quality of her mind. For one of our summer customers— a large, fat woman of middle age, who is secretly nursing a nervous tempera- ment and has a large, uncultivated area of romance—we provide a costume of pale yellow horse blankets, ornamented with ten-penny nails and cut obliquely to look like a cabaret dancer at two a.m. Thus we give an outward semblance of something hitherto unsuspected. No matter what your secret traits may be, if you will come to us we will see that they are advertised before the world in your own peculiar and indi- vidual style. This means, of course, that women will soon come to be easily identified and to stand upon their own merits instead of, as at present, being the creatures of a preconceived stand- ard When we have completed our idea any man will be able to pick out his bride and know what he is getting just by looking at her. It should be under- stood, of course, that it will take some time for us to educate everybody up to the new régime. At the present mo- ment, when you look at a woman dressed in the height of style, you know absolutely nothing about her, but in just the same sense that in a short time people will be able to tell what a cubist picture means by looking at it, so a definite impression of just what qualities a woman has will be conveyed in her clothes. One lady writes: Dear Leacve: I have been married for ten years and up to last week my husband has completely misunderstood me. He has frequently declared that I had no character, no sense of humor, couldn't cook, was extravagant, ir: rational, irresponsible and common- place. Recently, however, I ordered one of your new costumes, based upon the diagnosis of my tempera- ment by one of your psychologis:s, and ever since my husband has been crazy about me. He says that I not only have a sense of humor, but that instead of being extravagant, he realizes for the first time in his life that I would be cheap at double the price. Gratefully yours, “THE RIGHT WAY TO REAR A Boy” Before you go to the seaside step in and look over our bathing costumes. You can tell a lady’s disposition a mile off in one of these costumes, which are designed to be worn not only upon the beach, but also (in case you do not go to the seashore) anywhere else One of our lady customers wore our latest bathing design down Fifth Ave- nue last week, and aside from the fact that some people thought she had too many clothes on, she was greeted with almost unanimous cheers of admiration. Pari: course, is copying us as Paris has always copied us. We therefore urge our patrons to give no inside in- formation to representatives of Paris dressmakers. Keep mum Remember that there is no limit to our courage. By paying us one hun- dred dollars in advance we will give you a half-hour interview and con- vince you of the merits of our claims. Life's Fashion Reform League. comicbooks.com