Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 February 1913 — How Much Should It Cost a Woman in “Swissity” to Dress? [ARTICLE]

How Much Should It Cost a Woman in “Swissity” to Dress?

Mrs. Woodrow Wilson shocked Washington society and particularly the modists and Parisian dressmakers a few days ago when she said that she thought an appropriation of SI,OOO a year would be sufficient to dress any woman comfortably and suitably for , all kinds of society. That seems to have been a big reduction over the appropriation heretofore made by the wives of presidents, who are said to have generally had $5,000 set aside for their party duds and street costumes.

Mrs. Thomas R. Marshall, wife of the vice president-elect, however, is not so certain that SI,OOO is sufficient and Thursday when Tom and she had stopped at Philadelphia in order that Tom could slip over to Trenton to consult Woodrow about the inauguration, Mrs. Marshall talked to a reporter and said she did not agree with Mrs. Wilson’s low estimate of.dress. This naturally brings up a thought that there has been a rapid change in the aristocratic notions 'of the Marshalls since Tom made his campaign for governor a little over four years ago and told of all his emotions and hopes for the plain people. One would have actually thought that these Columbia City folk could never depart from the simplcity to whj£h they had so long been used. And now Mrs. Marshall is mildly criticising the president-elect’s wile because she said that SI,OOO a year was enough to buy a woman’s clothes. The Marshalls are evidently going in for all there is in it at the capital The strictly classy society organization in the city is the Chevy Chase Club. They maintain a beatiful suburban country club, with golf links and tennis courts and everything that is calculated to make life.one grand sweet song. It has been the custom for many years to offer honorary membership to the president and vice-president, and hitherto all have accepted, but Woodrow Wilson politely declined the invitation. Not so with the Marshalls. Mrs. Marshall told a Philadelphia reporter that she was mighty glad Tom had accepted the invitation. The club is'a mighty nice thing and no one should be criticized for belonging to it, but it all comes back to the change that has occurred in Tom Marshall during the past five years, and causes one to wonder what has become of the democratic simplicity that formed the basic argument of his gubernatorial argument in 1908.