A U 1 L 10-lB 15 16, 17 17, 18 18, r.) DIKKCTIOXS FOR USE. To Take ^Measure's for Waist . To Draft a Waist Waist Draft — Hegistry — Front . Tracing out Lining — To Uaste Lining on Basting Waist Together .... Fitting the Waist on — Stitching Waist . Binding Seams — Finishing l)Ottom To Bone a Waist .... Measures for Sleeve .... To Draft Sleeve — ITow to Cut and Baste Basting Sleeves in (Garment . Double Draft for Stout Figures The Child's Draft The Seamless Shoulder .... The Skirt (Draft of Seven-gore Skirt) . Table for Assisting in Drafting Pattern . Dii-ections for Di-afting With or Without For the Eton Jacket .... To Draft a Shirtwaist .... Pressboard for Skirts, Waists and Sleeves Draft for Coat On SU idc 21 ^1, Ov) •23 •i4. •25 •25 20 27 28 ■28, 29 29 30 30, 31 ?A -33 33 34 35 85, 36 36 •5 ( 3S 3.S 3<.» TABLE OF CONTENTS— Continued, GENERALITIES. Basting an Art in Itself .... The Man Dressmaker .... How Can I Become a Good Dressmaker . Food for Thought How to Keep a Good P^igure . Worth, the Dressmaker .... Why are Dressmakers Waiting for Positions Foreign Dressmakers Compared witli American " A Woman is Known by the Clothes She Wears " Homeless Women ...... Well-trained Teachers ..... Literature and Dressmakmg Combined . 41-43 43, 44 44 46 47 47-49 49 50-53 52-54 54, 55 55, 56 56, 57 SPECIMEN TESTIMONIALS. Notices by Home Journal — Dorchester Beacon — Woman's Journal — Sunday Budget — Saturday Evening Gazette — Sunday Times — Cambridge Chronicle 59-64 TESTIMONIALS OF SOME WHO HAVE TESTED THE SYSTEM BY EXPERIENCE. S. A, Colby — C. Roxborough — Lucie A. Smart — Helen G. Nichols — Isabel A. Ilanmiond — M. E. Campbell — Josephine C. Estes — Madam Taylor — Mary A. Kenney — Marie A. O'Connell — Adelaide C. Godfrey— II. E. Emerson — C. W. Carlton — Officials Y. W. C. A., Newark, N.J. — Annie McKey — Elsie Jones — Susie E. Gray — Mrs. L. M. Knight — E. B. Prettymau — Sarah E. Richmond — Annie M. O'Dea — Clara C. Davis — A, S. Hamilton — II. E. Morse — M. E. Pool — Mrs, Harring- ton — E. S. Raines — L. A. Twombly — Laura A. Smith — M.P.Delano — Matthew Anderson Notices of Institutions . .,.,... 61-75 76-80 DRESS CUTTING 6 MAKING COLLEGE HARRIET A. BROWN. Principal With Competent Assistants Lawrence Building, 1493 Tremont Street BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS The F i r i t Institution of i t s K i n d in t h c U n i t e d States The HARRIET A. BROWN SYSTEM Theoretically and Practically and Thor- oughly Taught. Dressmakers prepared to be teachers of the System in Industrial and other Institutions: the demand for competent teachers being always greater than the supply DRESSMAKING ROOMS In the actual work here done the merits of this System will be demonstrated to all interested inquirers TERMS: System, with instruction in Designing, Measuring, Drafting, Cut- ting and Basting, $20. To practiced dressmakers wisliing to discard their old svstems, consideration will be given; also to experienced seamstresses. To those who without experience or previous studv must begin at the begin- ning, a thorough course in all the parts and technicalities of dressmaking, 535, time not limited, and cutting and making costumes for themselves allowed. Special prices to those who wish to learn and use the system at home. Lessons also hv the hour. The icork of this College is commended by more than Three Thousand Graduates, many of whom are receiving salaries larger than the average busi- . ness man's. A Word or Two About Myself. When quite younii' I learned the tailor's trade, giving- three years of my time, which made me a competent worker on all kinds of men's garments. I worked a short time and was then married ; hut my married life was of short duration. I then found mj^self dependent on my own unaided endeavors. 1 did not despair nor complain, hut set myself to woi'k. 1 learned the millinery and dressmaking trades, and had at least some talent in both these lines of work. In a short time I started out for myself in the millinery business, and after a, few years added to it the dressmaking. I soon saw that 1 was better adapted to the latter trade, and that more success awaited me in tliat line than in the millinery. I then closed out mv millinerv, and u-ave mv whole attention to dress- making. When in the early seventies of the last century I beg;in (h'essmak- ing in Boston, 1 felt that to he successful one must make a specialty of some one branch of work. 1 soon found myself able to do work of about the average merit among the other dressmakers. In a short time after beginning, it became an important part of my l)usiness to ii:i\e instruction to my assistants. It was then that I learned of the need of some method l)y wliicli instruction might be uniform and exact. I learned two systems : the first, a Mrs. Inwood's System, which has long been useless ; the other, the S. T. Taylor System, invented about fifty years ago. With this second system I gave one week to drafting, and ])ecame convinced that it was time thrown away. 1 made up my mind that it was all a matter of guesswork. There was no system to be found that would, on trial, prove of any earthly use in practical dressmaking. 10 A WORD OR TWO ABOUT HYSELF While my dressmaking parlors were always well patronized, and my work compared favorably with the best done iji the city, there remained the nncertainty of snccess, and, worse than all, frecpient fail- ures of well-meaning- and industrious young women to become self-sup- porting, or even to be desirable helpei's in my own ])arlors. This state of things set my Yankee wits to work. ''Necessity," it is said, " is the motliei- of invention." I was, without previous plan of my own, comjielled to use my native wit in reducing dress cutting and making to a teachable svstem. I saw what ad\;mtage there was among the tailors in having a method of systematic measurements for men's garments. I soon found that this was only ])artially adaptable to the dressmaker's art. 1 saw, however, that the science on which it was based could be applied in my work. While the *' tailor's s(pi;n-e " was |)roved to be out of place in tiie hands of a dressmaker, 1 found means by which an ordinarilv intel- ligent girl could, by simple accuracy in following directions, make a waist fit as gracefully to the form as a (h-st-class tailor could make a dress-coat lit the most fashionable voung man. In 1ly into ethics. The problem is still there, even when we set aside tliose who caunot be taught and those who refuse to be taught. The most superficial reasoner on being intro- duced to the bare facts of experience knows that the world never will o'ive him a chance unless he has somethino: of merit to sfive in exchanire ; and that something of merit is produced only in the peculiar cultiva- tion of his faculties. In a word, it is the one who has been taught to do Avell some special work, some work the world needs to have done, who can be assured of remunerative employment. The next question is how to get taught. With that answered, all the effort of the learner will be gathered to a focus, like the concen- tration of the sun's rays by a powerful glass. To carry the simile still farther, the System of Cutting and Making Dresses invented by Mrs. Harriet A. Brown does exactly this for the misdirected efforts of many thousands of women whose lives have seemed to promise nothing but hopeless drudgery. This teaching has not hitherto been available except in industrial schools ; but now that the progressive inventor has put her system into book form, with language plain and practical, any one by a little study can gain complete mastery of the subject. 46 WORTH, THE DRESSHAKER " God helps him who helps himself" means that those who grasp a helping" hand and pull, are the ones who get on their feet. Here is an opportunity to rise ; seize it while there is time. How to Keep a Good Figure. When you find that your waist measure is creeping up and that rolls of flesh are forming ahout the hips, don't draw in your corset-strings and tighten your helts, for that will make matters worse. Just keep your waist easy and comfortahle ; and at night when you can get into loose clothing put your hands flat on your sides and bend forward just as far as y(m can without toppling over upon your head. Do this slowly and for ahout twenty minutes Ijefore turning to the next movement, — that of bending as far l)a('k as possible. Then change the position of the arms ; simply fold them, and balance your body while you raise each foot as high as it will go. You will be surprised at the great imjn'ovement. Then you may take your bath and sleep well. In the morning change to this exercise : Keep the knees well back, and bend forward to touch the floor with the iinger-tips. Straighten the back, bend again slowly and easily, and repeat for about twenty times,. You will feel better all day for stretching the muscles. A man could lose his flesh and develop his muscles bv sawhif wood for a while each morning — doing it naturally and easilj'. So could a woman, if she cared to make the trial. Worth, the Dressmaker. Notwithstanding that Frederick AYorth's fame and fortune were gained in Paris, he was by birth an Englishman ; his birthplace being Bourn, Lincolnshire. While very young he was by his parents appren- ticed to a printing-office in his native village. He seems to have had no liking for the types ; and soon afterwards, when but fourteen years of age, he abandoned the printing luisiness and made his way to London. 47 SCIENTIFIC DRESS CUTTING AND MAKING Here he found employment in a dry-goods establishment, in which he remained six years. It was while in the dry-goods store that he saw the possibihties of artistic dressmaking. He also learned, by observing the great fashion- currents, that Paris, the fountain of the polite world's fashions, was the appropriate place for a start in a line of dressmaking that would appeal to the favorites of fortune the world over. As preparation for the career he now only dimly foresaw but toward which he set his purpose, he spent his spare hours while a dry-goods clerk in learning the French language. At twenty years of age, being impatient to follow the star of his destiny, he separated from his London employers and went to Paris. He secured a partner in his proposed venture, but this partner did not have faith and perseverance to endure the day of small things, and soon withdrew from the partnership. It was in 1870, wdien Worth was but Httle more than twenty years old, that he, single-handed, entered on the fulfillment of his dream by starting out to be an artistic dressmaker whose renown would go over the civilized earth. His beginning was obscure ; but he kept his object ever before his eyes, and his courage was strong. After a few years his work Ijegan to be recognized. He succeeded in raising the dressmaking calling to the realm of art, and he was acknowledged as himself having the right to a place among the artists. Before his day those, and they were almost exclusively women, who had followed the dressmaking business had been content to humbly imitate royalty in fashion, and did not dare to vary the old way of pinching and pressing much-enduring woman into the prevailing regu- lation style. But Worth, by his audacity in exhibiting his thorough knowledge of women's dress as an art, and by varying dress to indi- vidual requirements, became the standard of fashion even for royalty itself. Although he was without the advantage of the best method, he gained an ample fortune, and achieved a fame that must have satisfied even his ambition. It is nevertheless remarkaljle tliat Worth, while he continued pinch- ing with whalebone woman's form, steadily adhered in private to the 48 WAITING FOR POSITIONS opinion that the (h-oss of the Turkish woman, with the full, flowing trousers and soft, loose jacket, was the most heautiful, comfortable and appropriate costume for the women of the world to wear. WHY m: IIKKSSMAKEKS WAITIMJ FOK FOSITIOSS ? It seems strange, at the first glance, that women who have been following dressmaking for years, and have gained the benefit of experi- ence, should find it difficult to secure good positions, or even any remunerative work. But in most instances where such is the case, it will Ije fairly charsfed to the foUv of these women in jdlowhig themselves to become settled in grooves, and thus keeping out of the way of the improved methods of work. They are superseded, simply because they do not keep up with the times. They persist in methods which were success- ful years ago; they are Ijlind, perhaps wilfully so, to the merits of any- thino; ditferinu- from their cherished ideas and habits. In dressmaking the question of success is quite apart from the ques- tion of age. An old dressmaker, as reckoned by years, may be young, and always keep young, in the desire for improvement. She will keep up with the latest methods in her profession. And who ever knew of such a one being a chronic waiter for work, or for a desirable position ? Ask of the next dressmaker you meet who has ))een long looking for a position : ''What system do you use?" Mark if this is not her reply: "Oh, I have no system; all I need for cutting are just a tape- measure and shears." That was a method years ago ; but it has gone l)y. In these days, when time is of account with patrons, that method has passed its useful- ness, and its possessor is not wanted. To become an expert with a first-class system will make seeking for a position needless. The best positions are always seeking those who are fully prepared to fill them. SCIENTIFIC DRESS CUTTING AND HAKINQ FOREIGN DRESSMAKERS COMPARED WITH AMERICAN. Some years ago 1 had personal experience with the methods of some famous foreign dressmakers ; and I will detail my experience for the bene- fit of such as imagine that they must go abroad for becoming dresses. It may be, I am willing to concede, that there has been an advance made in dressmaking within the last few years across the water. There might indeed, 1 must think, be a very great advance made, and the advantage in practical dressmaking be still with Americans. When I found myself in Paris, to which city I had gone in the interest of my profession, I had leisure to test the world-famous dressmaking of that art-loving city. T began by ordering a finely pictured fashionable costume, at a cost of $125. The first fitting was the trying on of a lin- ing. The cutter began by pulling it up on the shoulders and cutting the arm-seyes, then pinning in all the seams. At the second fitting the outside was put on. Then the fitter began pinning the shoulders and taking in the lining, continuing until I could scarcely move. I made no complaint ; it was my wish to see with my own eyes how dressmak- ing; in the g-reat Parisian establishments was done. I went the third time to try on my waist. The seams were not then stitched, and the waist was so narrow across the bust that the litter at once took it oif, saying, " I will be l)ack in a few minutes." After a period she appeared, and again tried on the waist. It had not been improved ; I felt as if 1 were squeezed in a vise. She still kept cutting out the arm-seyes, which I knew was the worst thing she could do. She took oft'.the waist, saying, " It is all right." I looked at the shoulders, which measured not more than three inches ; this I knew to be wrong. She asked me to come again, to have the trimming adjusted to the waist. On troinff attain I found the hooks and eves had been sewed on : and I was compelled to hold my breath while she hooked it together. "This is not comfortable," I said. ''It will be all right," she again affirmed. It was not in my plan to remonstrate further. The fifth time I called there were still several alterations to be made. The sixth time the " finished " waist was ready ; and I put it on, and went with it to show it to the head of the department. 50 FOREIGN AND AMERICAN DRESSHAKERS I asked him : '' Are you satisfied to permit me to take this to the United States as an advertisement of Parisian fitting?" With the snavity of a genuine Frenchman, after elaborate apologies, he invited me to go into another room and be fitted by a different dressmaker. I did so; but I fonnd her scarcely an improvement on the other. As 1 had advanced $50 on my contract, I did not think it advisable to refuse to take the dress. The second time I went to the head of the department I wore a dress made Ijy my own system. I told him that, notwithstanding all the tronble I had given him, my figure was not a hard one to fit. He examined my dress-waist with great interest, and said : '' T do not l)elieve jou can be fitted in Europe so well as you are with the waist you have on." He was very fair; after I had paid the agreed price, he gave me the waists which had been spoiled, and goods to replace the parts made valueless. The skirt came out very well ; it was wholh' embroidered, and easily cut and fitted. 1 still keep these mementos of Parisian dressmaking ; I show them to such as may be curious in regard to '' three-inch shoulders." "Why do you cut such short shoulders?" 1 asked of the manager. " Only old people," he replied, " have long shoulders." It was very adroit. Would I admit, after that, that mv shoulders were lono-? But I did admit and affirm that my shoulders and bust were mismeasured, and I was made uncomfortable and unsiii-htlv Ijy such dress-fittino\ But I did not let that failure in P;n-is deter me from trying to find a fit in London. In the latter city I sought out a celebrated modiste, and began Ijy asking her if she could fit me with a waist like the one I had on, telling her I had not been very fortunate in being fitted in Paris. " Oh, yes, I can fit you nicely." This time I made no deposit, and plainly told her I should not take the dress unless it fitted perfectly She began with a plain crinoline ; pinned it on ; began to cut and pin together. At the second interview I tried on a lining, in the same old way. She pinned and pinned; there was no end of the pinning she did. I was soon convinced that she was not making a fit. I kept silent ; she kept fitting. The third time I called, finding the waist spoiled beyond remedy, my patience was exhausted. I told her and 51 5CIENTtFlC DRESS CUTTING AND flAKING convinced her that she was not coming near to the standard of perfec- tion on which we had agreed at the start. I offered to pay lier for lier trouble ; she resisted all my insistence, and would not accept a shilling. In Paris I visited the famous Frederick Worth. I miodit not have approached him as I did, if I had not been told by some of my custom- ers of his saying that he bid not supposed such fine-fitting dresses could be made in the United States as he had seen from the establishment of Harriet A. Brown in Boston. I told him my name and business. He courteously replied that he had had customers who wore dresses that I had fitted, and that I surely had shown great knack in the business. He further said that he did not think any of the dressmakers in Europe had got the art of fitting down so fine as we had in America. T had on at the time a waist with a seamless shoulder. Mr. Worth examined it carefully, and said exactly these words: '^' A great work!" The lady who was with me often recalls this conversation. I asked him why it was that T had not secured even a passably good fit either in Paris or London. '' I have no dressmakers," he said, '' who can give you a fit like the one you have on." If I had had the time then at my disposal, I think I should have had his dressmakers try what they could do for me. I asked Mr. Worth by what system his dressmakers did their cutting. " Oh, we cut hy no system," he said. " We get good fits hy working for them." At a subsequent interview, I Iniefiy explained my system to him. He asked me if it was patented in Europe ; and on my replying in the negative, he began proceedings to secure for me European patents. But the death of Mr. Worth soon afterwards changed the situation. I feel sure that had he lived till to-day, my system would be in his hands at the present time, and better known in Europe than it is now in America. "A WOMAN IS KNOWN BY THE CLOTHES SHE WEARS." We instinctively yield respect and extend courtesy to a woman who is well dressed. We involuntarily confess by our acts our belief that the outer garments are a true indication of character, and that there- .52 KNOWN BY HER CLOTHES fore the well-dressed woman is worthy of a certain respect we cannot pay to one ill dressed. By well dressed we do not mean expensively appareled. A hecom- ing dress may l)e of inexpensive material. Neatness in fit, taste in combininsi; colors, adaptation of the garments to the individuality of the figure, may, without great expense, cause a very economical woman, even one whose circumstances compel close economy, to be classed among the becomingly attired. On the other hand, one may habitually cover herself with elaborate and expensive dresses and costly hats and laces and jewelry, and never be mentioned or thought of as a well- dressed woman. Good sense and taste are requisite to l)ecoming dress, whatever one's means or station. Neither are we connnending an undue fastidiousness. The woman who confesses in her air that she gives the better part of her mind to her dress, at the same time involuntarily confesses that she has onlv a weak mind to uive to anvthinsi:. To be correctly dressed, and not overdressed, to have nothing in one's garments overobtrusive, and notliing out of harmony, to have well-fitting garments, with never-failing neatness ; this is a worthy ambition for any woman. There is something m ortli considering, also, in the style of the woman inside the dress. One who is by nature or by attainment '^styhsh," who stands gracefully, carries her head well, whose walk is natural, may be trusted to give any appropriate attire the right swing, and commend herself everywhere by her dress. The same attire on a Avoman who stands on her heels, who shambles, who is too full-fronted yet has a sinking chest and drooping shoulders, will be unbecoming. While it nuist be an exceptionally fortunate woman who can dress up to the passing fashion, a tasteful dress, well fitted and made, neat and appropriate, suited to one's age and social circle, is within every woman's ability. If one's income does not admit of costly material, or the employ- ment of an expensive dressmaker, the deficiency may l^e made up by a woman doing her own thinking and being her own dressmaker. This subject assumes very great importance when we realize the 53 SCIENTIFIC DRESS CUTTING AND HAKINQ extent to which " the dress bespeaketh the woman," and " a woman is known by the clothes she wears." HOMELESS WOMEN. " Do we ever think," asked a woman who is making her own way, " how many homeless women there are in the world : women who never know what it is to sit down and rest; who never expect the call of a friend, nor the opportunity to hang a picture, the same as women whose lives are made happy by home ; women who have to rise early and hastily in the morning, and have no time to arrange their room before going to work ; who have no one to say as they leave for the day's trials ' Good-by ; take care of yourself ' ; who go back to the same room at night, and find it dark and still as when left in the morning ; who on Sunday have to utilize the day by mending and stitching and fixing up the rents and pinned-up places of the week." Tens of thousands of women have no home excepting the Httle hall room or the back room on the top floor ; and when they wash out a handkerchief in their room the landlady glares at them, and they dare not speak. They have no time for company in the evening, and if they had, they have no place in which to receive such company. Is it any wonder we see so many women whose faces are white and lips ashen, and whose tapering fingers are purple ? Think of the women who have no time nor place to be loved, not even time nor place to hear one endearing word. Sometimes the burden becomes too heavy, and then there is a missing woman, until the water gives back its dead, and a three-line item of coroner's news is all that the world knows. The writer of this article is conversant with many facts bearing upon this line of thought, coming under personal cognizance. Home, to a woman, is the most enchanting spot. In her heart John Howard Payne's immortal poem, " Home, Sweet Home," finds its loftiest signifi- cance ; and woman herself is the very soul of the home. Whoever contributes to the sanctity and the blessedness of the 54 WELL-TRAINED TEACHERS home, confers an undying benefaction upon all, and especially upon womankind. WELL-TRAINED TEACHERS The Harriet A. Bi'own Dress-cuttinu; and Dressmakino- S\stem was the first to call for well-trained teachers. Its first teachers were sent out in 181)1. At that time verv little had l)een done to oive li-irls a training in manual work. Intellectual training seemed to be the whole theme of the few industrial institutions which then existed. From that time there has been a o-rowinu; demand for well-trained teachers. Many of the industrial institutions have met with failures by not employing the proper teachers in their industrial departments. In the past ten 3^ears the managers of many industrial institutions have seen the need of placing the industrial work on the same basis as the intellectual training. While so many who go to the large industrial schools are eager to learn the dressmaking trade, why not give it to them ? The hands, as well as the brain, should be trained. The effect of manual training upon the character is the development of the judgment, earnestness, readiness, independence, self-respect, enthusiasm, accuracy, steadiness and persistence. The will is disciplined and the mind l)roadened by industrial training in a profession recjuiring artistic taste and elements of character, such as those to which reference has been made. No teacher can be successful in the training of girls unless she her- self has had the proper training. Many think they can teach girls to become dressmakers, who are not themselves properly trained. A dress- maker can please her customers and understand dressmaking; but unless she be a well-trained teacher, and disciplined to impart knowledge, she will surely meet with failure in a teaching position. In order that a teacher nuiy be successful, she should be enthusiastic over her work. Then she will be al)le to enthuse her pupils. To become a teacher in the public schools one is required to spend time in the proper training ; the rule holds in regard to those who 55 SCIENTIFIC DRESS CUTTING AND HAKINQ would be efficient instructors in the industrial schools. Good teachers in dressmaking are not plenty. Teachers trained under the Harriet A. Brown System can always find good positions. Their success in a financial way is amply assured just as soon as the system has been mastered; for trained teachers in the art of dress-cutting and dressmaking are always in demand. Literature and Dressmaking Combined in the Career of Mrs. Kate W. Clements. Mrs. Kate Wallace Clements was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1861, but when she was a year old her family moved to Brooklyn, N. Y., and that city, now included in the Greater New York, has ever since been her place of residence. She was educated in the Brooklyn schools, and before she could use a pen scribbled stories with slate and pencil. Her father, who had himself a leaning toward literature, encouraged this propensity; and she was soon afterwards known to teacher and school- mates as an interesting writer. When she was about fourteen years old one of her compositions was specialized by being read before tlie school. It was entitled ''A Visit to Jupiter." It gave an account of a little girl's imaginary trip to that planet, with a description of its inhal)itants and their manner of living. Several years afterwards this little essay in fiction appeared in the juve- nile department of a magazine. Before she was fifteen some verses of hers, entitled " Thanksgiving," ^Yere■puh\is\ledmt\le Boi/s and Girls 1 Fee A- /^, and otlier of her similar productions appeared in different periodicals. A series of short stories written at this period, when she had only her limited experience to draw from, evinces power of imagination and description and the other mental qualities essential to a successf id writer. She at this period received help l)y a studious reading of the masters of English, like Dickens, George Eliot, and the supreme master of ex- pression. Lord Byron. But scarcely had her schooldays ended before she was by stern necessity compelled to turn from the inviting pursuit of literature to 56 LITERATURE AND DRESSHAKiNQ COflBlNED some calling wherein she conld hecome self-supporting. At this time she became acquainted with the Harriet A. Brown System of Dress Cutting and Making, and was captivated by its promise. She had a natural talent for dressmaking, and in a short time gained such pro- ficiency in the use of this system that she was called to fill a f)osition as its teacher in the famous Pratt Institute of Brooklyn. It seemed to her, at this period, that her cherished hopes of success in literature were blighted. Yet she found leisure to indulge in the occa- sional use of her pen ; her productions at this time being naturally de- voted to the application of art to woman's comfort and adornment in dress. Her life from that time has been burdened and busy. Yet her facility in writing, even under such difficulties, has won for her recog- nition as "one of the penwomen of Brooklyn." She hopes in the future, l)y securing more time for literary work, to accomplish some of the things which have long appealed to her ambition. She has surely one important element of success, — a determination to win, based on an assured Ijelief that it is in her to win. And those who know her have even more faith in a brilliant future for her than she herself possesses. It is a gratification to us to receive from Mrs. Clements this unqutili- fied and valuable testimonial: "I have used the Harriet A. Brown Sys- tem of Di'ess-cuttiug for ten years, during which time it has given, and still continues to give, entire satisfaction. For shnplicity, accuracy and perfection in lit, it has no equal. In all my experience as a fitter I have found no figure, no matter how poorly proportioned, that I could not fit without the slightest difficulty hy the use of this system. There is no guessing about it, no misfits. Its merits are manifold, its lines artistic and graceful. It possesses the advantage of lightness, and can be carried Ijy dressmakers going out by the day ; many other so-called ' systems ' which I have examined having awkward squares, heavy weights and clumsy appliances, rendering them unfit to carry from house to house. I have used the system when working as visiting dressmaker, mv customer.^ being among the elite of this city and New York. I have also used it in connection with my work as fitter in the special order department of dressmaking in one of the leading houses of New York." fi7 Specimen Testifflonials, TESTinONIALS A Scientific System of Dress-fitting. Dressmaking has in those days heconie one of the high arts, and the community acknowledges itself in the deht of any one who can better tlie personal appearance of womankind. The times when cutting a waist and sewing it together would constitute dressmaking, have gone by. Among those who have been successful in arranging a system of scientific rules for fitting the figure, in lines and curves that shall show a fine figure to advantage and obscure the blemishes of a poor one, is Mrs. Harriet A. Brown, who has devoted many years to the task, and whose success as a teacher has given Boston some of her best dressmakers. The Taylor system had everything about its own way until Mrs. Brown, several years since, perfected her rules, which not only gave a better shape to shoulders and waist, but did what no other rules ever pretended to do, — cut below the waist- line. Mrs. Brown has exhibited in both the last two fairs, being awarded last year the only silver medal for dressmakers given, and where her system attracted much attention, and since when she has both wittingly and unwittingly been the in- structor of cutters from all the fashionable dressmakers' establishments in this city, — a fact that is the best of endorsement of the system. Another compliment to her rules is having been selected as instructor in dressmaking at Lassell Seminary. The most superficial glance at the manner in which her work is done will convince one of its thoroughness, while a special advantage is in the fact that if the rules are intelligently followed, it is impossible that the dress should not fit; it is as plain as that two and two make four, that the result must V)e the shape of the figure measured. Ladies who have been fitted by the system will invariably look for dressmakers using it, but as there are many counterfeits in the city, they should con- vince themselves by understanding it, that Mrs. Brown's rules are being employed. — Boston Home Journal. An Important Industrial Institution. It is very difficult for young men or women who are obliged to earn their own livelihood, to select something where they earn enough to meet their actual living expenses. Many articles have been printed showing how persons can exist on flOO per year. It looks very beautiful in type, but the facts prove it an impossibility, as they cannot provide themselves with the necessities essential to life in its lowest form. The large warehouses offer young women an opportunity to work from early morning until night, for $2.00 to $4.00 per week, with the prospect of an advance, w^hich, by the way, they rarely ever get. This is the principle by which many large houses get their work done for nothing, or very nearly nothing ; a few mo- ments late from the specific hours is speedily deducted from the wages at the end. of the week. 59 TESTinONIALS The profits Avhich are made b}' one of our largest houses are made in this way, directly from the labor which they thus obtain at a very small outlay. With the young man the prospects are somewhat better, as in a short time he learns what he is worth, and after acquiring a knowledge of the business, compels his emplo^^er to pay him what he can earn, on a business basis ; in this he sometimes succeeds, but more frequently meets with failure. To obviate this dithculty, and open to the working classes an opportunity for earning a good and substantial living, the Bos- ton Dress-cutting College oj^ened some years ago. It was established by a number of philanthropic ladies, on a purely charitable basis, with Mrs. Harriet A. I^rown as general manager. Large numbers of the working classes have here received their education, and are now earning handsome incomes throughout the United States, the west, south and southwest being fully represented. We have recently made an investigation, for the benefit of the reading public, to ascertain the facts, and we can safely say it occupies a prominent place among the institutions of Boston. It is claimed, and has been demonstrated by philanthropic leaders, that it is not charity to give to able-bodied persons, as it only leads to a life of idleness, but to force them to earn that which they receive and which they value in consequence. This is an established fact in nearly every business. Once a year an evening class is started for the working girls, and no distinction is made, if their occujjation is an honorable one. It is intended at a later period to add many other features, such as millinery, embroidery, feather stitching, crochet- ing, etc. Many classes have recently been formed in the different suburbs, teach- ers being furnished at the college. Xear Boston the good work is being rapidly pushed forward, under the instructive influence of able and competent teachers. Dorchester is a very good field for a branch of this kind, in which an active busi- ness man or woman could make a very handsome living, while benefiting the large number of working girls who are constantly pouring into Boston from the Cape and vicinity. — Dorchester Beacon. I have worked at dressmaking for twenty years, using the Harriet A. Brown System, which was a mathematical system. I took up her late invention, which is more simple and accurate, and can truly testif}^ to its real worth. When measures are correctly taken there is positively no refitting. The lines are artistic and pieces good shape ; gives an easy fit, which my customers have often remarked. In the last six years I have taught classes and find tlie system well adapted to class work, easy and interesting to the pupils. It should be at every industrial school. Mrs. Brown deserves great credit in placing such a great work before the public. S. A. Colby, Teacher, Connecticut Industrial School, Middletown, Conn. 60 TESTIMONIALS Louisville, Kt. Harrikt a. Brown, Dress Chitting and ^faking College, liostoti : For siiiii)licity we think your dress-cutting system the very best in school work. It is easily tauglit and the patterns made are very accurate and produce a perfect lit. The pupils take up the drafting very i-eadily and are always interested in the work. C. lloxiJoKOUGii, Instructor of Dressmaking and dewing. New Dress-cutting College. We are pleased to have our attention called to a new institution opened on Tremont Street, under the title of Boston Dress-cutting College ; and why should there not be a college connected with this branch of industry? Upon investiga- tion we are informed that its doors were opened several years ago by Harriet A. Brown, a woman who has for years made dress-cutting a study in all its points, until she succeeded in patenting rules for cutting, and also obtained the only pat- ent for perfection in putting work together, feeling sure that she had obtained results that would l)enetit all who desired to obtain a perfect and thorough knowl- edge of dressmaking, and who were desirous of taking the lead in this business by giving entire satisfaction, rewarded by compensation which would enable them to more than secure a paltry existence w^th their needles. Women and <»-irls have eagerly come, as they learned of its merits ; and after obtaining the required knowledge, have gone away gratefully acknowledging its benefits when situations were offered them and salaries obtained which were equal to the average business man's. Quietly and surely has this foundation been laid by the noble and philan- thropic woman whose life-desire is to give the most perfect and thorough under- standing of her work into the hands of all desirous of uplifting woman's work. Ladies should call at this worthy college and see for themselves that dress-cuttino- is a fine art, and of the greatest importance as regards beauty, comfort and utility. — " Truth,''^ in Woman s Journal. What a Boston Woman Has Accomplished. I have many times been attracted by a group of fashionably dressed ladies on Tremont Street, eagerly discussing a dress waist with no seams on the shoulders. From further observations and inquiry the writer ascertained that this was the Boston Dress-cutting College, of which Harriet A. Brown, the well-known in- ventor and patentee of scientific dress-cutting, is the principal, Wishino- to learu more of this now much-talked-of institute, the writer, for the benefit of thou- sands of readers, called at this college, and was received in its elegantly-fitted-up 61 TESTinONIALS rooms by Mrs. Brown, who has won honors that any lady could but feel proud of. I find that after years of hard struggles and battles against the fraudulent sys- tems, Harriet Brown was victorious in accomplishing what no other one in Europe or America has been able to do : that is to secure patents on a seamless shoulder for dress waists. I looked at it as being very nice for a man's coat. I find, upon investigation, that many of our leading dressmakers owe much of their success to the brilliant ideas which have come from Mrs. Brown's brain. The tine work accomplished at this college is wonderful ; also the charitable work carried on there would make many charitable institutions of New England look well to their laurels. The rich as well as the poor flock there to learn her meth- ods. Hundreds of poor girls who have graduated from this college are to-day in good circumstances and command good prices for their work. Another great com- pliment Mrs. Brown should feel proud of is that one of the largest industrial insti- tutions in America decided to make the best possible improvement in the teaching of dress-cutting ; after a thorough investigation of many systems taught in Europe — Paris and London — also in America, preference was given to Harriet A. Brown's methods that are taught at the college. Boston should feel honored in having such talent in this line of industry. — J/i, in Sunday Budget. Science in Cutting. Often in woman's finest field — the domestic — helpful originators and splendid workers are worthy of renown in song and story. Such an originator is Harriet A. Brown, who has given twenty years of her life to distinguishing the right from the wrong way of dressmaking. Hers has been the science of the scissors and the art of basting. Not a dart or a curve but has received her serious attention. She had watched working girls in Boston, and saw talent for sewing everywhere without the scientific knowledge to make it of account. She determined to make scientific dressmaking her mission in life. To do so she bent all her energies upon achieving the simplest and most correct system. She was the first woman to whom a patent for basting was granted. Then followed all kinds of patents, until at the World's Fair she took the highest medal for her system. Harriet A. Brown was the first to open in Boston a dress cutting and making college for the educa- tion of women and girls. She has proved herself a great benefactress to many of her own sex, and to-day more than three thousand women and girls bear Mrs. Brown's endorsement on their dressmaking cards, showing that her faithful teaching among needy women is reaping a harvest. That what has been said above is fully justified by the facts, is evidenced by the number of industrial-educational institutions which, after a careful examination of all the various dress-cutting systems, both in this country and Europe, adopted the Harriet A. Brown System. 62 TESTinONIALS Mrs. Brown lius many valuable patents on her nietliorls of cutting and basting. All her work is original, and gained through long experience in dressmaking, and it has been acknowledged by artists in dressmaking, also leading tailors, that Har- riet A. Brown was the tirst and only one to invent a tailor system of inch measure- ment so simple that all classes of girls can acquire more perfect knowledge in less time than by any other system now used. With Mrs. Brown's late improvements on her system, it is bound to explode the use of all complicated squares with scales and mathematical ])roblenis. She speaks, from her own experience, as the first system was a square, and, like all, intricate and hard to understand, yet better than many now taught. For many years the leading dressmakers of Boston have a{)plied to this college for girls who have been under her training. Also ladies who have their dressmaking done at home depend largely upon Mrs. Brown for their dressmakers. Those who are seeking for a higher knowledge in the art of dressmaking should not fail to visit Mrs. Brown's college, 149a Treniont Street, lioston. — iSaturday Eoeniag Gazette. Mrs. H. A, Brown^s Fine Exhibit at the Mechanics^ Fair. In the dress-cutting department at the Mechanics' Fair nothing is more worth notice, nor is there anything more attractive to ladies, than Mrs. Brown's exhibit. Her work is unrivaled, and the results shown are artistic in the extreme and worthy of the great admiration they receive. Her scientific rules for basting and dress-cutting are superior in every way, as her perfect tits have so often testified, and the firm adherents to her mode would make a list of remarkable length. We find that Mrs. Brown was the tirst to per- fect the system of scientific dress-cutting. She has made dress-cutting a study for years, and cannot be equaled in her rules for obtaining a perfect fit and imparting her method to others. Three years ago Mrs. Brown made the finest exhibit of scientific dress cutting and basting in the Mechanics' Fair, and was awarded the silver medal and diploma. So great is Mrs. Brown's reputation in preparing pu})ils for filling remunerative positions that her dress-cutting college keeps her very busy, while many are wait- ing to get in for instruction. When Mrs. Brown enters her space at the fair she usually finds several await- ing her. She was heard to remark that she could take no more pupils till the mid- dle of December, and cutters from her college are in such demand that many of her lady patrons are obliged to await their turn. A lady was heard to remark at the fair the other day : " It is most wonderful to see what her pupils can do, for I have employed them." In the face of all these facts, we hear that at an exhibit of skill in dress-fitting, to take place next Wednesday or Thursday, Mrs. Brown is excluded because her 63 TESTinONIALS method is to fit the outside cloth and lining together, not believing in fitting linings. Judging from appearances and Mrs. Brown's wonderful artistic work, this seems an unjustifiable proceeding, and one without reason or fairness. We advise all ladies to visit Mrs. Brown's exhibit at the fair, for the observa- tion of her processes of cutting will be a source of great pleasure and profit. — Sunday Times. A Noble Institution. Every one who is interested in the social and economic pi'oblems of the day should be informed as to what is being done to improve the condition of the labor- ing classes. This thought was especially emphasized in the mind of the writer recently by having his attention called to an institution of which he had had no previous knowledge, but which deserves to rank among the most important and effective provisions modern philanthropy has devised for lessening the disabilities and broadening the opportunities of hampered and unrequited labor. Harriet A. Brown, principal and general manager of the Boston College for Dress Cutting and Making, who is also the inventor and patentee of the famous " Brown Ameri- can System," deserves, as she is receiving, the encomiums due to one who, in a very practical and far-reaching sense, has proved a benefactress to great numbers of the working class of her own sex. Young and middle-aged women there are all over the United States and in foreign countries who are earning good comfortable in- comes, and are leading briglit and happy lives, as the result of the training received at this excellent institutu)n, and of the knowledge and use of the Harriet A. Brown System. They may well bless the day they heard of the college, and that upon which they decided to avail themselves of the knowledge its efficient principal and corps of instructors are so competent to impart. That what has been said above is fully justified by the facts is evidenced by the number of industrial-educational institutions which, after a careful examination of all other systems, both in this country and in Europe, have adopted the Harriet A. Brown System as the best. — Carnbridge Chronicle. Augusta, Me., Dec. 12, 1901. Mrs. Harriet A. Brown. Dear Madam .- I learn with pleasure that you are about to publish in book form your famous system of dress cutting and making. I know that many who are alone in life and are obliged to fight its battles with that small weapon, the needle, will find it an invaluable helper. A woman's life is made up of the little things which must be done over and over again. A work such as you propose can- not fail to be an inspiration. 64 TESTinONIALS From the constant use of your system I can speak of its merits. I wish that every school or institution where the young are taught might accept it and teach it, as I am aware a great many do already. Wishing you the Lest success, I remain, your friend, Lucie A. Smart. Boston, Mass., Jan. 11, 1902. My dear Mrs. Brown : Long before I ever saw you I heard a great deal about the Harriet A. Brown Dressmaking System, its perfect fit, symmetrical lines, graceful curves, French style, simple method and ease of adaptation. Consequently, like most ladies looking for such perfection in dressmaking, I began to examine the system. When I heard of the number of girls who had learned this system and are to-day not only supporting themselves but whole families by its use, I felt that the originator of the system was one of the benefactors of mankind. My interest increased after finding out that not only in Boston is it known as the most reliable and artistic system, but as such is used and taught extensively in all the large cities of our Union. Knowing the good it has done, I can say " God bless the inventor." You are to publish a book, I understand, so systematic in detail that a person of ordinary intelligence can learn dress cutting and making by careful read- ing. For a small sum you thus open a way to a large and remunerative business. Respectfully yours, Helen G. Nichols, 112 Berkeley Street. Harriet A. Brown. Dear Madam : It gives me great pleasure to testify to the merits and worth of your dress-cutting system. I learned your first system about fifteen years ago and used it about five years with good success. Then I took up the new simplified sys- tem in heart form, and found it much easier to draft with, and a great saving of time. Yours, Isabel A. Hammond, Kingston, Mass. Boston, Mass., Dec. 15, 1901. Harriet A. Brown. Dear Madam : It gives me great pleasure to give my endorsement to your valuable system of dress-cutting. Have been a dressmaker for twelve years, cut- ting by the S. T. Taylor System, which I only wish I had discarded before. I find the Harriet A. Brown System so simple and the work so accurate that too much cannot be said in its praise. I can nearly complete a waist before trying on the first time. My customers often remark hov/ easy and comfortable their waist tits. 65 TESTinONIALS Every dressmaker shoiild adopt such a simple and perfect system and save a great deal of time and worry in drafting and fitting. Yours truly, M. E. Campbell, 191 West Brookline Street. Newtonville, Mass., Jan. 20, 1902. My dear Mrs. Brown : I have used your system with very satisfactory results. I find it remarkably simple and accurate. My customers often speak of the comfortable feeling of the waists cut by your system, and are usually very much surprised and pleased by the small amount of time and strength required for trying on. For the use of any one who wishes to save time and patience in dressmaking, I heartily recommend the Harriet A. Brown System. Yours sincerely, Josephine C. Estes. Boston, Mass. Harriet A. Brown, , 149a Tremo7it Street. I am pleased to give my testimonial to your valuable system of dress cutting and basting. I have used the Harriet A. Brown System four years, giving perfect satisfaction to my customers, who often ask what system I use, as their waists feel so comfort- able, and so little trying on. No dressmaker can afford to he without such a per- fect and accurate system, which produces such perfect lines to the figure. The draft of the sleeve is very perfect for every different shaped arm, which saves much trouble in fitting. Madam Taylor, 3 Oxford Terrace. Wellesley Hills, Jan. 11, 1902. Dear Mrs. Brown : It gives me great pleasure to add my name in favor of your most wonderful dress-cutting system. I have used the Harriet A. Brown System for twelve years and taken all the improvements up to the present time. I have also taken the course ; having tired of dressmaking, have filled a position in Jackson- ville, Fla., in an industrial school. I find this system well adapted to the teaching of girls ; very simple and accm-ate. I should recommend it to all industrial schools. L.ofC. Mary A. Kexney, Wellesley Hills. 66 INSTITUTIONS ^ r Catholic (Uomen's J1$$oclation (UNIVERSITY EXTENSION CENTER) no. 10 Prospect Place, Brooklyn, Hew VorR CLASSES IN Sewing Hand Embroidery Arithmetic Elementary English Millinery Machine Embroidery Penmanship Stenography Dressmaking Cooking Bookkeeping Typewriting Physical Culture Voice Culture Modern Languages LECTURE COURSES ON SCIENTIFIC AND LITERARY SUBJECTS An Emplovnit'iit Bureau and a "Woman's Exchaufie are important adjunots t" tlie . Johnson', President. Young Woman's Ciikistian Association, Xewakk, N. J. Harriet A. Brown, Boston^ Mass. l)ear Jladinu : We wish to say that in our dress cutting and making classes we have used your charts for seven years; we are entirely satisfied with them. In fact, helieve them preferahle to any in use. At the annual exhibition of work ^ R.ev. MattHew^ Anderson, A.M., Principal. THIS is one of the several institutions which have grown out of the well-known Berean Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, founded by its present pastor, Rev. Matthew Anderson, A.M. To merely repeat the names of the useful institu- tions which originated in this live and fruitful church, cannot be otherwise than interesting. " The Berean Kindergarten," opened in 1884 ; "The Berean Building and Loan Association," founded in 1888 ; "The Berean Seaside Home," situated at Point Pleasant, N. J. ; "The Berean Bureau of Mutual Help"; "The Berean Man- ual Training and Industrial School " : such is the list of prosperous institutions which have been born of the parent church. How can we estimate the benefit that these institutions confer on those who most need help in the struggle of life. The " Manual Training and Industrial School " is among the more recent insti- tutions of the parent church, having been founded in November, 1899. It began with thirty-five pupils ; at the beginning of 1902 its enrollment numbered more than two hundred. The instruction conferred is very comprehensive, including from the first practical training in mechanical drawing, plain sewing, cooking, sight- reading of music, and the English language ; to which have been added millinery, dressmaking, typewriting, stenography and bookkeeping. Concerning the dressmaking department of this institution, the principal writes : "There are over sixty young women now in the sewing and dressmaking depart- ment alone. These pupils are making conmiendable progress. The excellent in- structors and the rapid strides that the dressmaking department is making, are due principally to the most excellent system that is used, the Harriet A. Brown System, which is taught in the Drexel Institute, as also in many other of the best schools of manual training." That the Harriet A. Brown Sj-stem proves its superiority under such a practical test, in such a deserving institution, is surely a recommendation we highly esteem. Philadelphia, Jan. 3, 1902. Mrs. Harriet A. Brown, Dress-cutting and Dressmaking College, Boston, Mass. My dear Mrs. Broion: In the fall of 1899 a bright young woman called on me to apply for the position as teacher of dressmaking in the proposed Berean Manual Training and Industrial School, which she had seen announced in the papers. 74 TESTinONIALS Prior to her call I had received letters from three clergymen in highest praise ot her ability and character. A few moments' conversation with her convinced me that she was at least extremely well posted on the various systems of dressmaking in use ahout the country. I questioned her about her system and methods. She replied by unfolding the most glowing account of the Harriet A. Brown System, the merits of which were at that time unknown to me. Since then I have been studying the well-known systems, and I am now free to admit that for simplicity, economy and scientific principle the Harriet A. Brown System excels them all. I consider that it was no more than right that this system should have received the highest award given by the World's Fair at Chicago for systems of dressmaking. It gratifies me to state that the Berean ^lanual Training and Industrial School of Philadelphia uses the Harriet A. Brown System of Dressmaking. Respectfully yours. Rev. Matthew Anderson, A.M., Priticipal. Dress Young. The inclination of American women who have passed thirty-five is to dress a little bit older than they ought to. When forty-five or fifty comes there is, of course, a certain quiet dignity required in one's gowns ; but if you have a particle of influence over her, my dear girl, don't let mother dress too old. There is no reason why a woman should look like a mummy when her heart is only twenty years old, even if she has a crown of gray hair encircling her head. Somebody wrote and asked about materials and gowns for middle-aged women. Now, the middle-aged woman is not doing her duty to herself or to mankind if she looks middle aged, and the elderly one is only correct when she suggests to you that she is just middle aged. The quiet, rich cloths, the heavy brocades for indoor wear, and the silks that seem to stand alone and have their purpose for ceremonial occa- sions, are suited to all. Round Shoulders. Round shoulders often may be cured by the simple and easily performed exer- cise of raising one's self upon the toes leisurely in a perpendicular position, several times daily. Take a perfectly upright position, with the heels together and the toes at an angle of forty-five degrees. Drop the arms listlessly by the sides, ani- mating and raising the chest to its full capacity rauscularly, the chin well drawn in. Slowly rise upon the balls of the feet to the greatest possible height, thereby exercising all the muscles of the legs and body ; come again into the standing posi- tion without swinging the body out of perfect line. Repeat this exercise, first on one foot and then the other. 75 INSTITUTIONS TopeKa Industrial and El^ducational Institute NON-SECTARIAN, C O • E D U C A T I O N A L Practical Training of the Negro Touth DEPARTMENTS: Industrial, TeacKers* Professional EnglisK Normal, Music and Business Training Thorough, Systematic and Christian THE course in Dressmaking is properly graded. We aim to give a thorougli training in all branches of dressmaking and cutting, so that girls may make themselves self-supporting, under the most able teachers and most approved method of cutting, which is recognized as the best system in the country. It is with pleasure that we testify to the worth of the Harriet A. Brown System of Dressmaking, Bostou, Massachusetts. Ithasheen used in our institution for the past six years, with the most satisfactory results. We have comjjared it with other systems, and pronounce it the best of all. It is the only syston that can be successfully tauglit to beginners. The progress made by our students is phenomenal. To persons desiring a progressive, accurate and thorough system of Dressmaking, we most heartily recommend the Harriet A. ]Jrown System. Sincerely yours, LOULA B. H.VKKIS, Instructor in Dressmaking. Willia:n[ R. Carter, Principal. J. B. Larufer, Vice-President Board of Trustees. INSTITUTIONS W I /ft /ft <»s /»> /ft /ft /ft /ft /ft /»^ /IN /»> f <» /ft /»> /ft /»^ I 5?^ Scotia Seminary Established by Rev. Luke Darland, D.D , 1870 jt^ N '«' ii^ ^ ^ iilL T^-r^™ h \%^ (6 .^1 ir^ Gi?AMMAi? SCHOOL, NORMAL and SCIENTIFIC COURSE Theory and Practice of Housekeeping Dressmaking and Cooking Carefully Taught I N our Dressmaking Department we have used for many years a system invented by Harriet A. Brown of Boston, Mass., which we have found very satisfactory, simple and easy of comprehension, and better adapted to our work than anv other we have tried. We have a Missionary Training School to supply the demand at our own door. Bible the textbook. D. J. Satterfiei.d, D.D., President. Mary C. Bell, Prmcipal. vV \»< \»/ \f> \l/ \l/ I ^f nK- \W vie vH- \»r \»/ \f/ \»> I \l/ \«^ \»/ \t/ vl/ f «^ \«> «;> \l/ \V \i^ INSTITUTIONS BENEDICT COLLEGE COLUMBIA. S, a Literary, Classical^ Industrial THOROUGH INSTRUCTION TO GIRLS IN Sewing, Dressmaking and Domestic W^ork A special thorough course for those who wish to follow dressmakincr as a business. Columbia, S. C, July lo, 1901. Mrs. HARRIET A. BROWN. Dear Madam: No higher proof of the appreciation in Benedict College of your system of Dress Cutting and Making could be given than the fact that it has been used in the college for six years, and is still used, to the exclusion of all other systems. By rendering simple, easy to be comprehended, and certain in its results, that which otherwise has been largely a matter of testing and trying, and hence difficult and of uncertain results, your work is really a benefaction. A. C. OSBORN, President. Miss ADALAIDE M. PIERSON, TeaeJier of Dressmaking. INSTITUTIONS Cbe Voung (Uomen's Christian dissociation f of lUilmington, Delaware. Organized in March, 1894. under adverse circumstances, but by untiring efforts a permanent home was soon established at 805 West Street CLASSES were formed in Dressmaking-, IMilliuerv, Embroidery, Phj-sical Culture, also other branches of industry. Dressmaking as being the most practical branch and appealing to the greatest number of ' people was the first class started, and while it was up-hill work for a time, we soon convinced the people of its success in uplifting the working classes, and preparing them to take up the duties of womanhood more luethodically and scientifically. The success of the dressmaking classes was due largely to the system used, invented by Harriet A. Brown, of the Boston Dressmaking College, a system so easy to comprehend that it soon became" very popular, and the classes increased rapidly, and our outgoing pupils have advertised the Harriet A. Brown System and instructions have been eagerly sought after. We have had several different dress systems shown tons, but we find in this system all that is required to make our work a success, and we heartily recommend it to any and all who desire superioritv and simplicity. — R. E. DOWNING, Suherinteudent of Y. W. C. A. INSTITUTIONS Rochester Athenaeum Mechanics Institute Founded 1885 ART ... SCIENCE ... INDUSTRY There are Three Departments : Department of Domestic Science and Art, MARY I. BLISS, Superintendent. Department of Manual Training, W. W. MURRA V, Superintendent. Department of Industrial and Fine Arts, E. C. COLBY, Principal. Classes are open to all, without distinction of nationality, sex, creed or color. There is equality of opportunity for all. During the last year, 1900-1901, there were 2,817 pi^^pihs enrolled." The class enrollment was 3,686. The Insti- tute is open for day and evening classes. The tuition in the evening is nominal. Normal courses extending over periods of from two to three years, are given in all the departments, and teachers are thoroughly trained for special work. Normal Course in Domestic Science. «« " " Domestic Art. '< " " Manual Training. " Art Course. In the department of dressmaking special attention is given to training dressmakers, and last year 157 were enrolled in these classes alone. The winter term began Jan. 2. 1902. Application may be made at any time. Our annual circular will be mailed to any address on receipt of postal card. ROCHESTER ATHEN.T:UM AND MECHANICS INSTITUTE, 55 Plymouth Ave., Rochester, N. Y. A system of dress-cutting, invented by Harriet A. Brown, Jias been used in t/ie Mechanics Institute for eight years, and lias given excellent satisfaction. It has the merit of being very simple, so that one may learn it in a short time, and for ttiis reason is specially adapted for use in Domestic Science institutions. We heartily recommend it. MARY I. BLISS, Superintendent. THERESA COLEMAN, Teactier of Dressmaking. / I K(\ kS 2'-^ Y^'i'i' !\1AY 22 W02 LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 014 061 918 s'o o \ ^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 061918 8 ^