LOOM AND THE SEWING-MACHINE 55 



$90. One friend, who could not qualify as an expert 

 but who has his suits made by Fifth Avenue tailors, 

 said that he had paid $125 for suits no better than 

 this one. Incidentally, the suiting was the first which I 

 ever wove. 



This matter of tailoring brings up one of the amus- 

 ing follies of modern civilization to which we pay no 

 attention but for which we pay, nevertheless, over 

 and over again. The strictly tailored costumes which 

 men now wear have nothing but custom to recom- 

 mend them. They require great skill in sewing; they 

 are therefore impractical for manufacture at home. 

 Yet they are artistic monstrosities. They do nothing 

 to set off the human form. They are not even utili- 

 tarian. Most of the hard work of the world is done by 

 men who wear over-alls or cotton garments which are 

 not tailored at all. While suits are practical enough 

 for the work which men do in offices, they are much 

 too hot for indoor use especially in houses which 

 are steam heated. A foolish convention, however, 

 makes us all wear them. If we, however, once again 

 took the designing of our garments into our own 

 hands, it is possible that something much more attrac- 

 tive and useful might develop. We might experiment 

 with blouses, or even with costumes such as the 

 Chinese wear. And apropos of blouses for men, it is an 

 amusing commentary upon the industrialization of 

 Russian life under the Soviets, that the old Russian 

 blouses, which could be made in any household, are 

 now being replaced by the conventional costume of 



