The Business Of Decoration Previous Page (85)
Page 104
CHAPTER VIII THE DECORATION OF SHOPS
SHOPS, in the designing of which decorators are employed, are devoted, for the most part, to the requirements of women. There exist a few exceedingly attractive shops for men exclusively, such as an occasional haberdasher, a fashionable tailor, a distinguished retail cigar store (although one of the latter class admitted selling from twelve to fifteen women's pipes a day!) but these are very simply clad in walnut wainscoting with little or no drapery effect and the least ostentations of lighting fixtures and furniture. The greatest expense and the most monumental display are resorted to only in those shops which cater exclusively or chiefly to the Sex, and it must be confessed that the majority have more of display than of beauty.
A vast majority of those enterprises carrying gowns, suits and millinery, whether at wholesale or retail, are done in a simplification or elaboration or distortion of the styles of Louis XVI or Adam, with ivory walls, panelled with mouldings and sometimes rosettes and garlands, with an ornamental cornice above, windows treated with net or lace or casement cloth and fringe, wall brackets and perhaps a center crystal chandelier, small side chairs and taupe carpet. Color is generally taboo because of the assumption that it will conflict with the wares to be shown, and the treatment results
104
Page 105
THE DECORATION OF SHOPS 105
in the production of a harmonious background, but one with few if any distinguishing features. It is a truism worth repeating that nothing is commoner today, or easier to secure, than good taste, and if one is satisfied to have a stereotyped shop or a tastefully commonplace home, one can readily find a hundred excellent models to copy.
The shops where women's footwear is displayed have shown a preference for the darker woods or for oak finished almost natural; the jewellers indulge in a touch of color now and again, and so do some of the furriers.
The Business Of Decoration Next Page - (87)
Bed In A Bag Sets Books - The Business Of Decoration
