It is worth noting that the names in the Directory listings changed from personal to corporate as the nature of the clothing industry evolved. Rose Carraer-Eastman, a Providence dressmaker active as early as 1896 (under her birth name of Carragher) and still listed under "Dressmakers" in 1918, had exchanged this heading for "Cloaks and Suits" by 1924. Given the names of the other listings under the "Cloaks and Suits" category, it seems that Eastman had shifted the focus of her business from custom dressmaking to ready-to-wear sales, although at least until 1930 she was still purchasing small quantities of specialty fabrics from the French manufacturer Soieries F. Ducharne. By 1937, the business was called Zarr Rose Eastman Inc. and was listed under "Clothing Dealers -Retail, Women's and Misses." It had also moved from the downtown district, formerly dense with dressmaking establishments, up the hill to Thayer Street on Providence's residential East Side, a shopping street with many other small retail establishments conveniently located to its clientele.

The large amount of material preserved in the Tirocchi Archive allows a glimpse into the business activities of the sisters. In most other instances, all that remains as evidence of a dressmaker's work are advertisements, or perhaps a single labeled garment in the collections of a museum or historical society. It is not always easy to ferret out additional information. For instance, a dress from about 1918 in the RISD Museum collection has a label reading "Dowling, Providence" [fig. 85]. A check of the Providence City Directories for 1917, 1918, and 1919 reveals three possibilities: Louise G. Dowling, Mary J. Dowling, and Nellie T. Dowling. The 1911 Directory lists the two latter, and two additional: M. A. and A. E. (together at one address), and Nellie L. The three listed in 1918 are also listed as late as 1932, but only Mary J. survives in the listings to 1937. It is possible that the Mamie J. Dowling listed in 1901 is the Mary J. Dowling of the later directories, just as the Helen T. Dowling at 24 Mansfield Street in 1924 may be presumed to have been the Nellie T. Dowling of 24 Mansfield Street in 1918. There has yet to be uncovered any trove of written documentation of any of the Dowling businesses that might allow attribution of the surviving dress to one or another of these women. The dress is a work of art, but in the absence of documentary evidence, the artist must yet be considered unknown. Several other dresses with labels from Providence dressmakers, including Rose Carraer-Eastman, may be found in the RISD collection. These examples testify to the existence of several producers of high quality work and, by extension, to the probable existence of no little competition among dressmakers to retain their clients. The diary of Harriet Sprague Watson Lewis (Mrs. Jack Lewis) in the Rhode Island Historical Society"s collection provides evidence that at least one East Side society woman tried the Tirocchi shop for a season before returning to her previous dressmaker, Rose Carraer-Eastman.(34)

Custom-made clothes by dressmakers such as Carraer-Eastman, Dowling, and A. & L. Tirocchi were more common than either haute couture or ready-to-wear during the first two decades of the twentieth century. Custom dressmakers brought to their trade a wide range of both technical and artistic skills. To many, the word "dressmaker" connotes a technician. In fact, many custom dressmakers contented themselves with copying Paris models or interpreting styles from print sources in the client's choice of fabric and color. It takes something extra to turn a dressmaker into a designer. It is difficult now to gauge how original or creative individual dressmakers were. One is equally likely to undervalue as to overvalue their work. Even among the acknowledged designers, style leadership was not constant from year to year or season to season.