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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 4, 1906)
j MACAZINE'SSCTIOri .TOIIEE MAGAZINE -SECTION THUEiG '-.ft iPORTLANa OREGON,; SUNDAY; MORNING, FEBRUARY V 1905 OIF much should JtLcost.to j'Jive,--"move andTave'"onesbeingiHut'' Sra-fashtonablc society! , ,". . ... " f '" ls'$S75 a day too much for a woman to, spend, even though . her tastes are extrava- gani ' and her environments expensive f : TAw question was recently raised by the publklyaired disagreement, between fashidn ' able Mrs Burke Rtche, of New York, and ; het father, wealthy Frank Work. , " allow her," 'said Mr. Work, "$Soo a month' which is over $ 1 60 a day "yet spends f37S a day, and daesn t find it L t 1- r . - - I J l liM r ; This, too, when' the father pays all the . household, expenses and maintains the stable.. V' l' is no often that the specific expenses I of awealthy member of the Four Hundred and few remain in those exclusive ranks who are not rich are revealed to the world. ' Thousands who read daily of doings in v high society have it t tie conception of the actual money ost to those who baltlecon tinually for social recognition, maintenance -or supremacy in a round, of sensational and , .u expensive pleasures:1 v . ' ' NOT LONG SINCE a careful writer who had obtained what he considered accurate bases for 'his estimates, summed up the' annua) expenses of the family of a mod ern multi-millionaire in high social life as reach ing $300,000 a year, . . -.. .'. .This was not Riven as the average expenditure of such families. ' Kome spend more, others consid ven in the moer dashing- circle . erablyless: Tor j there is manifest, now and then, the restraining - touch of that frugality that was partly responsible : for the owner's millions. , .. ' . But there are many families, it is asserted, who find that they cannot get along in these high-pres- .'. sure days under, an actual yearly, cost of about -,t Only a few summers agova well-known couple.', astonished' even prodigal Newport . by declaring , ,- that, although .the "man's income was $50,000 and 'the wife's over $300,000, they oould scarcely. ma -gn& live n nearly $1000 day. '1 ? Ifow does the- money go t Well, the fashion ' . -' able woman's clothing costs a fortune annually. While the bills of many of these range between $7000 and $12.000 a year, some, are said, to devotee. $20,000 exclusively to the demands of the toilette.' . - . "You can't get first-class gown from us for ':' -7 less than $500," recently remarked a man who is ' , connected "with one of the most noted dressmaking estsblmhments in the world. , , ' . "Of course, there are gowns for $250 and $300, but a really smart woman would not wear one of these at an important function." ' This same really smart woman, be continued, v, would need about twenty gowns for the Newport ; season alone.. : . , ' Another authority asserts that, in order to be comfortable pleased with the world and herself' ' the woman of fashion requires about sixty new, , ' dresses a year. . "r Five or six of these are tailor-made suits for Street wear, coating from $150 to $250 each. ' Then, there should be a dozen or"more"evenmg - gowns and about the Sam number of dinner cos tunics, costing from $200 to $700 each. . - , .". Dinner- downs at$500 - ,y. ':..: .-a. If I.e. I I . ) I v ..... .'..'..: -.. J oman can if -.'.-"-..'.V.iv.-.'.X Of course, there must be a half dozen fetching little affairs of soft, wools and silks for informal afternoons, and these are billed at from $75 to l.$15Q t&.zrzri::r:?r-- A .From fifteen to twenty summer dresses of fine French muslin are also necessary, their price rang ing from $100 to $300. - k . '. There are some interesting' details in connec . tion with the making of a $500 dinner gown. A - single yard of trimming, for instance, may repre ; sent a week's work on the part of half a dozen skil- jful Swiss or French girls. .. , First, the pattern, perhaps of loaves or flowers, must be embroidered in silk with the finest stitches. , ;. After this, it must be gone over with tiny transparent beads of different colors; or, some times, in gems of some kind. . -. As finishing touch, the,. e ins and stems of : ' the leaves must be worked in, one by one, in col ored-thread.- "How often would such xgown be worn!" the authority was asked. ' : : "Three or four times, as a ruje.' Some women never wear the same dress twice at really impor , tant functions." ', "T . . . iThen wht becomes otall thi finery f- .r. L "Some selL their discarded dresses! others give' - them - away, Frequently - one- may see a boudoir Tmald"nwrehgndfrome1y"ttiredL7than the average woman of the well-to-do class. She falls heir to -Jtb.warditejjt.te . . n. i . I if S , , " s- 4nis same man is auuioriij lor me aiaiement -I that one very rich "woman hat)" all her. discarded . ''costumes burned. She does not wish to have any , one else, wear them 1 ' But gowns do not complete a woman's raiment, more than one swallow makes a spring.. There . are hats, gloves, lingerie all the other adjuncts , of the toilette to be considered. She pays from $10 to $15 a pair for her shoes. .' There must be a pair of slippers to match each evening or dinner gown. Lace slippers cost her $75 i a pair. : ;-' ..,-;;,?;-' - J ;: . , Seldom do the lace handkerchiefs cost less than $25 each, or the silk stockings lees than $8 a - pair. ,.; ;- ; - ' v - . Her lace veils are valued at $10 each, and her parasols sometimes as pmvh as $100.' . t r. . vorseta, at $30 a pair, may aggregate any sum tiesirca; wnjio not ircd; while hsnd-embroidcrcd' corset covers- arfjTT : "v ' ''' Brfsa 1 " ' .Tw . . . ., v Wjs-T ft A'-.--S. f i.-.'t rif - v ''-,. . . : - My pays $150 each. These are only a few of the . requisitea of the dressing1 room. The smart woman can scarcely do witK fewer than sixty hata a year thirty for each season. When Hiss Hay Ooelet married the Duke of Box,, " burghe her outfit included seventy hats, and this, .her friends declared, was none too many. '. ' A satisfactory automobiling hat may be bail for $75; but the splendid carriage structure of ' sable and lace may demand an expenditure of from $300 to $500. ' ' v . ' . ' Opera cloaks! Yes, there must be from three yto five or-more of 'these. Some, of light-colored ' brocades and silk; daintily lined with silk, will come to, say, $1000. Finer ones, of sable and ermine, call for a $5000 check. The sable muff and boa, costing $5000, and the sealskin and sable jacket, ranging from $800 to - $1200, are necessary adjuncts. . A year or two ago, a woman who is well known " . in Washington's . fashionable circles aroused con- siderable comment by returning from Europe with. an outfit of j-owna-and- hata-thatcoat her, it. ws stated. $100,000. This lavishness was eclipsed by a young Amer ican woman, who was .presented at the English - court not, long since, -, . , - . x ' Her $ 100,000 Clown - - , ..... -;.-.. : , V,;. V..' . r- -. -It waa declared that her gown alone must have "cost $100,000, while the-entire outfit, including the ,' many magnificent jewels that dazzled the eyes of ' beholders, represented at east half a million dol- Of course, the amount of money invested in . ' i jewels those delights of every woman's heart in determine4solelyJa!Jnancial- ability. , --A Ifew; York social leader possesses a stomacher valued at $150,000. Upon opera nights several million dol . lars' worth of beautiful gems may be seen glittering in only a few boxes. ; . .. So much, then, for the' adornment of one Z wealthy woman of fashionc She .may have daugh--f ters in society, and these must be equally; well t , ? dressed." ' : ' " J. s ' -' ' ; From $5000 to $6000 will comf ortablv clothe ' the average man in the smart social whirL Cost'.'. , of dress is. a small part of his annual expense. . ! . tr ue may spend from $20,000 a year upward t maintain his house in New York and Newport; : indeed, the cost .of help alone in some expensive " establishments runs, it is stated, to $20,000 annu ally. - . . -. A .Xewport dealer asserts that $800 a month ii ' not an exaggerated estimate of the meat bill alone of a wealthy household.' He mentioned one family-whose meat bill ' reache6T$20OU a month, whilu the gtocery account was one-third that amount. "'" v- Expenses of the steam yacht range usually from $4000 to $20,000 a month; while the stables ; and greenhouses call for $50,000 a year. , As popular as automobiles - have become, no ' j .fashionable family can do without its horses. Al- ' . fred Vanderbilt keeps nearly 100 horses at bis va. : rious establishments, and none ia of ordinary value. ; Of - course, there must be automobiles, too C Some familiea have six or eight---John Jacob A- . tor has rejoiced in the possession of seventeen at r one time. Four is considered about the right num- . ber, their aggregate cost being $25,000 or $30,000.. For the automobiles there must be chauffeurs, ' just as there must be grooms, drivers and stable ' men for the horses, chefs for the kitchen and but lers for the dining rooms. 1 - ' Some families are not content unless they. have " imported chauffeurs, who. command high salaries, just- as they must employ. French chefs at an an --ual wage of $5000 pr'$0000. i , : ; . t $100,000 for a Stone Wall : ; Journeying to Newport for the summer, the ' . millionaire who doea not own property there rent. . The rent of a satisfactory house in the fashionable 1 section will range from $7000 to $15,000jorith - season - - ". -7-r--Tr ... 7 'T" """ " Those who buy land and buiM allow no ex pense to stand between them and the accomplish ; ment of their desires. One owner surrounded hi homaKithra 'iitonB Wall at an: eiDcnditura of - - $100,000." Another, building upon an open plain,' decided " that an abundance of old sliadc trees abont his -place would set it off to better advantagk ;, Within . a few weeks the old shade trees were there. '.; " "- Splendid veterans of the i orent, that had stood. .. guard for nearly a century over some faraway . snot, wero literally nicked no bodily and trans- ' planted to the Newport yard. -'' . One horsechestnut wjis brought a distance of thirty miles, and a(rare,old tulip tree over fifty V miles. ",.' : , - - 1 . It required six weeks to move the tulip tree, and the cost of that work alone was t'JOO. ' - v . Smaller maples were tralif-plantcd at a wst of $300 tf $400 eaoW ntilr final1-, it ' , surroundd the house. The owner wished an eiT '' for hi home picture, tv.l l: ' I ; , Perhaps iSf " f f ' . ers apart i- t" rf