In Vanity Fair: A Tale of Frocks and Femininity

The Parisienne, in her subtler phases, is a theme for a feminist of genius; and this little book does not venture upon the psychological deep seas.

Grave issues are tangled in the game of fashion-making; but the world through which My Lady of the Chiffons dances lightly to gay music reeks of frivolity, and the story of the fashionable Parisienne and of the haunts in which she obtains and displays her incomparable frocks must needs be a story of folly and extravagance, best told, perhaps, by snap-shots of the inner courts of Vanity Fair.

THE AUTHOR.

CONTENTS

IN VANITY FAIR

CHAPTER I

PAGE

FROCKS AND FEMININITY 15

The Frenchwoman's creed; the science of being gay; feminine types in French society; the demi-monde of Paris; Parisian salons.

CHAPTER II

THE TYRANTS OF THE RUE DE LA PAIX 28

Paris and the art of dress; Worth and the old masters; Paquin and the new school; the clientèles of the great men.

CHAPTER III

THE FAMOUS ATELIERS 47 How the work is done; the saleswomen; the mannequins; the ouvrières; the system; the launching of the modes.

CHAPTER IV

FIFI AND THE DUCHESS ON THE TURF 64

Racing near Paris; round the braziers of Auteuil; the day of the Grand Prix.

CHAPTER V

LE SPORT IN PARIS 78

Motor mania; Parisian golf and French golfers; fashion and tennis at Puteaux; the motor-boat fad.

CHAPTER VI

THE FINE ART OF DINING 97

Al fresco dining in the Bois; with le Roi galant at the Henri Quatre; where the Pompadour held sway; the restaurants of the town; Frederic, "King of the Ducks."

CHAPTER VII

IN NORMANDY WITH MADAME 118

Gay Trouville and chic Deauville; at the tables of the Hôtel de Paris; in the Casino; some inns and the motor.

CHAPTER VIII

THE MERRY-GO-ROUND 140

Winter in Paris; five o'clock tea and chiffons; the theatres of Paris; the Palais de Glace and its crowd; spring fêtes and follies.

CHAPTER IX

THE HUNTING SEASON 163

The Frenchman and la chasse; at the châteaux; venery new and old; with the hounds of the Duchesse d'Uzes.

CHAPTER X

UNDER SOUTHERN SKIES 182

Cannes and the world; Nice and the flesh; Monte Carlo and the devil.

CHAPTER XI

LES AMERICAINES 210

The French frock and the American woman; American buyers; feminine extravagance in America; some famous orders; the ready-made costume and its effect upon dress.

ILLUSTRATIONS

THE RETURN FROM THE GRAND PRIX _Frontispiece_

PAGE

PLAYING AT COUNTRY LIFE 20

DOEUILLET PASSES JUDGMENT 40

BEER AND HIS MANNEQUINS 52

THE DAY OF THE DRAGS 66

AT LONGCHAMPS 72

THE FIRST SPORTSWOMAN OF FRANCE 84

FASHION'S FERRY 90

THE LATEST PLAYTHING OF THE DUCHESSE D'UZES 98

"GOSSIP STREET" AT TROUVILLE 120

IN THE CLUB GROUNDS AT DEAUVILLE 130

AT A ROTHSCHILD GARDEN PARTY 154

BARONNE HENRI DE ROTHSCHILD AT THE MEET 166

THE BLESSING OF THE HOUNDS AT BONNELLES 178

THE PALACE OF FOLLY--MONTE CARLO 186

THE CROWD AT MONTE CARLO 196

IN VANITY FAIR

IN VANITY FAIR