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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 31, 1922)
-m-. .- THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAi; PORTLANft? SUNDAY MORNING,- (PECSmER 31. - 1922L 1CU n n r . 2c Fer Embarrassing Tribulations lof Pretty De EyleAlda, Who Reversed Fooilight d) Procedure by Playing 'Good Angel for a : -if Fashionable mens 1 ft Itodolph Valentino Accepted ; Miss De Lyle's Suggestion, and Had the Last Button Omitted from V : His Vest. And in This -: Specially Posed Photo the . Famous Movie Star Registers -; the De Lyle "Suggestion of Nonchalance Necessary to : Enhance the Charm of Perfect Grooming. ; : - - V' - - -. it ... r . - .. , i, Aro7 your. o,v . , . Ttent is overdue, you're sighing "Bankrupt. Blues;'- 'And a sentimental daddy wants to oe your -J , , checkbook caddy , ; t "It it hard to get indignant and refuse. IV hen he says he wants to star you in a ' - " And he asks a kiss for royalty, rtl say ' . 1 can see a new Rolls-Royce and I think tf "Peggy Joyce . ., . .. . ; ; Oh, it's hard to he an angel on Broadway. a BQVE Is one of the choruses of the -AV score written tor the last "Midnight X Frolic" on the Ziegfeld roof . of rosy memories. The star of that frollo was De Lyle , Alda. She sang charmlnsly. There was . also a chorus in -which, the "sentimental daddy becomes the "angel" : to the pretty girl, loses his money,' then gets "the air,1 which -ironically likewise concluded, "It's hard to be an angel on Brpadway. : 1 This , sophisticated cynicism of . the " Rialto, . however, turned around" and bit pretty Miss Alda. ' -; Since - times . imme ? mortal it has been the custom for business men often men connected with the tailor ing trades to "angel"- pretty girls some 'tlmes their wires, sometimes their sweet .hearts in .the "show business." Bat Miss ' Alda reversed the process. ?. She "angeled' her tailor husband, .William' Sheer, In ; a tailoring business on Broadway. And now ' she is ."sighing Bankrupt Blues.'. . ; ". The notice of bansruptcy ' was listed 1 officially in the following item: . " . , Delilah Alda Sheer (DeXiyla Li . '; . , JVlda)r ot v 806 Seventh s arenuer i : , : liabilities, - 117.640; t assets. $160 :; X (voluntary petition). . .... BQly Sheer, ex-actor, had - an eye for clothes. -And De Lyle, his charming bride, . . said she knew she could give him -some valuable pointewiX on how - women liked . men to dresa. The tailoring establishment-"- was begun on' Fifth avenue. a-little over a year ago. But Sheer Tailors, Inc., needed 1 Jots and iota of" money. - There Were" spe ciai woolens tc "be purchased, special broadcloths, for" the new!soup and flsh" 1 coats, silk linings, fancy--dh,"very fancy-. buttons for -walking- coats; HVaint Ro ' dolph Valentino going to have his clothes 7 made ! at Miss De i Lyle's tailoring - estab lishment? He had said he would; And ' for RodolpVa clothes they; would aeed ery fancy things indeed. " - The business began to grow to such an extent that Sheer Tailors, Inc. moved into a new building in the heart of Broadway r -,n. it De Lyle Alda, Who Sang " , "It'a'Hard r to Be an Angel." . - H v - is y i-, . J1 t v'QvjF - v J'.'.:t;"i L J I J-..J " . i - mil li in i . -r V " " ' s : K':-.5'-Vv. I'M. ft.w:'cr.::-- . 1 4 :! If f BHimri r iJ v" " f- i-!. ' "l1iri' marvel at tho "just right", appearance of the Broad way f actor wearing . the clothes and nine times out of ten. would give the wife, credit for picking , Just the proper thing for her articular pride. ... . ? - Yet often it took more' than 'one cu ting -of a garment to satisfy the actor rntrnn v Of -course; temperamental artists are permitted to change their minds often. But who will pay the cost of the cut material? . Billy Sheer was .asking ..the . Two "Before" and "After" Photography of De Lylo Alda. VThe 'One at Left Warn Taken at the Time She Was'Singing "It Hard to Be an Angel." The Other,-at Right, Was Taken Since the Bankruptcy Proceedings Began, It would be so- much more convenient for the Sheiks of the Rialto to hop in for any i one - of rtheir very numerous fittings. So the tailor shop moved. And Miss De Lyle decided she could' add much to th9 general sleekness: of the actor, men by suggesting ' the colors t and materials best suited to their builds and complexions?- : - f - Dark clothes for Rodolph. she Insisted. Just a suggestion of nonchalance to en hance ; the -t charm of perfect grooming ' was another of Miss De Lyle's suggestions ' to her tailor husband. ' , i tt was to the pretty; little prima donna :. the man - who knows now what' the well ' dressed man should wear, gives credit; for' ' the latest vogue of opening the vest at the .lower button. This was the hint of care - lessness Miss : De vLyle suggested every woman loved about a man. . "It's the mother heart in all of us, said De Lyle Alda at " that time. fWe women . love to feel that oun. men are Just grown up little boys who1 forget to tie their ties straight and whose - clothes always seed buttona- It's the same charm when we are grown' up But it must be done very subtly. - . r - : - In the' walking :t coat, which ; is what Sheer Tailors, Inc, decided to name what 'was once known as - a morning suit, Ro dolph yaleatiiio accepted Miss pe Lyle's idea, and had " the 3ast button omit-, ted on his-vest. '.It falls open slightly,. sug gesting a bit of carelessness in an other VWise perfect picture. - - -' ' '" 4 Rodeys polo clothes - were -made nextl To have thenxuite; perfect for his. new picture it was necessary, to have seventy five fittings- First the knickers. would be too' bloomer like, then too narrow. ..The knee length was. another matter of impor tant consideration. Frantically -Billy Sheer tore his hair and wired his wife. 'De Lyle was on the road with her act in -vaudeville - when she received her "husband's urgent plea. She wired back her suggeBtions-j And they seemed to suit Rodey to a.T. - ; ' . One actor after ' another . came I to ' the . tailor shop when they.sawliow Billy Sheer, had turned out Rodey of vamp fame. Owen -Moore simply could not decide what: color was best for' him. ? So again , Billy, wired De Lyle. and 'she, knowing Owen when he used to be Mary Pickford's husband, wired back to suit him in gray. Owen had a lot of color and so gray ,he' decided upon. - De Lyle knew how women liked men to', look' in their clothes, And with one snip ' of the scissors: she would cut. a bit off a vest pattern-here, a bit from the tail of a Tuxedo there to give it a new line. Or add a bit to the length or breadth of a box coat,-and, -lo! . all women would , qulsite. design the voice comes , fdrtn to j cheer up the forlorn tailor when everything seems dull. f The record; was made by his wife . especially . for this, purpose. First there Is a light litUe song. Then the or- chestra stops for a moment- and De Lyle "speaks cheering words into her husband's !. earw. '"--. .ii"--'.";'v :--y.;..';t".- - "Never "mind,1 dear," says the" crooning voice, "we made one awful fizzle' of ; our t tlor shop, but think ' what' a lot - of fun we had. . Vv.. ; "Fun t cried Billy Sheer in desperation - when, first he heard -the cheering canned : words his wife had parcel-posted to himi :flf that Job was' fun. Ill take- a little misery, please.; iu''- ; ;...i .v,- And Billy Sheer sighs and tries to think I of something else that- he might -do.' " ' ; T decorated this place;. don't you think it's attractive T he aslts. ; "I selected all l. these colors as a background for Pe Lyle. had to be paid Somehow. But the actors Tney ' Harmonize penecuy : witn : ber sion, would pay-only, for what7they decided to.-"-her eyes, her nair. i v ; - .. j take. And there was ; poor Billy Sheer ; Soft sea-green lamps, covered with aa gnashing his teeth and wondering how it tlque silver lace, throw little shadowa would all turn out. His wife came to the - about the wide olArropni. The carpets are. -rescue.t Thousand 'after thousand, she put 'dull, and' mellow, and the'odd pieces of fur tni all her - wealth but the' shop never - niturei that Btand rmajestlcally about' the caught up. - .. iroom are in keeping with the soothing tone D Lyle is one woman -in a" hundred." ,of De Lyle's voice as. it floats from the .'.' Billy Sheer said - the , day he -closed, the t antique, cabinet v : i , i ? -f y fSdoors ot vhis shop in bankruptcy She Some one, suggested, that Billy Sheer ha4 'simply went Into debt knee deep tryfng to : missed his 'vocation -'when he began to :'-P -see me through with this venture. ? -4 And s -dress up actors. lie ' might have made a 1 I'm not forgetting that she stands alone fortune decorating pretty j places for, the ftfK-m 'ki.wAtidArfnt . little airt- for an.-ahe:.sas female 'satellites. a;-A mtZifrAr ' again went to his . tfisk with ' enthusiasm. - Customers could change ' their minds - as . often as they liked. On" a dark day a rdark suit was usually selected. '.And if the sun was shining' when the' flrst; or Becond or hundredth fitting was " scheduled . the color would simply hare to be.ln keeping with one's spirit. 4 So the famed he-vamps of Broadway changed from black to gray and from gray .to brown. And Billy Sheer let them change their , mindsi as often as they liked. Always hoping for Py.? V .'- And some, one forgot those pesky, wool en s h ouses. i They mailed bills and : more bills, and then sent wires, then represen tatives.' Until at ' last - they simply , de manded : their woolens back, f Bt," alas! ; : those precious "fabrics were an cut up" into' natty clothes for actors. . : rt;?-;. ? '; ' With a shrug of his 'shoulders Billy ' Sheer saw the futility of; pacifying botV ki ends of his business. :s The woolen mills William Sheer, De Lyle'a ex-Actor, -;- HusDandtiWho3tarted Men ClotheaJ Shop. ; done. They've: always, said that girls in . . "xsever again i says woaawars angei the show business were only too ready to; tailor, rolling " his eyes skyward. -I'ia bleed a,fellowvof his last nlckeL- That ' through trying to play nice old uncle to , fool idea haabeen knocked: into a cocked temperamentalists". - Knowing their minds -.1 f hat fat this case. ,,' J xne momen t, changing them the next, :-taea . S r And ati the; apartment hotel where De wanting1 again ; what they selected at 11 rat .'Lyle Alda and Billy Sheer have taken their was too much for me. Just 170,000 worth, . ' :-'":;..-,rf?-f : ; sorrows, lar, iar anove U3enuwun cnaoi w muca .--., -- . .- k same question some time ago. Then, of Broadway temperament, her soft, sooth-.. And De Lyle? . Whst' does she say of De Lyle stenped forwardiand -said she : ng roice peals mellow, sympathy : Into the Job of dressing: Broadway's Sheiks f . womii. v .. . , . . . . i - . .- . ; .--. 'tiuXTU ear vara uts scuesii wuo is uu ui cuo ;, c;t sui,. iw,;,uiivmvi Sheslgned for'creair at, sometoi xnejoa , .... biggest.wool houses in America, and Billy, From Chinese phonograpa casepf ex CopyrU"i.t-lS2S, by XaUnstiooal Ffwlv &snte. lac 'Bit Brttla :iaf ue-.,"..-. ;.' ..',-. ' '- ', .'"- '. Lyle insists that what Billy says goes. S that's, thatl. "-,',"- - .... . :f'...i.