Top Drawer by Mary Cable

Author:Mary Cable [Mary Cable]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History/United States/19th Century
ISBN: 9781640191358
Publisher: New Word City, Inc.
Published: 2018-01-11T16:00:00+00:00

The main reason why Society women went to Paris was to buy clothes. The very rich headed straight for the great couture houses. But many ladies of conservative tradition, especially those from Boston, thought it wicked to spend the fortunes asked at these establishments and hied themselves to out-of-the-way “little” dressmakers. At least four weeks were then spent ordering clothes and having them fitted, and in shopping for just the right shoes, accessories, and undergarments to go with each. It was an ordeal, but considered worth it. Paris clothes, though expensive, cost so much less than comparable American clothes that the difference paid for the trip. And, of course, people-we-know could tell a Paris dress from an American one, a fact that did wonders for prestige.

Very, very rich women crossed the ocean twice a year, discarding all last season’s clothes for new ones. Especially those who summered in Newport were sure to be in Paris in springtime, at the Ritz or the Meurice, where, between fittings, they lunched and dined with one another and made calls, almost as if they were at home. Richard Harding Davis, the noted author and war correspondent, observed in 1895, “They treat Paris as they would treat Narragansett Pier” - meaning, perhaps, that for them, Paris was just another resort - and not as good as Newport.

“It is hard on them,” Davis mused, “when the sun is shining out-of-doors and there are beautiful drives and great art galleries . . . ancient gardens lying free and open all around them, that they should be compelled to spend four weeks in this fashion.” Their husbands, sons, and brothers played lawn tennis, watched polo in frock coats, went to Longchamps, and then peeled off and went to London, where it was their turn for fittings. Sightseeing was not an important part of most agendas, except for bluestockings like Edith Wharton.

Life in a grand hotel could be very diverting and as comfortable as home, if not more so. Charles Ritz, who opened his hotel on the Place Vendôme in 1899, said that grand hotels had been inspired by the Americans. Elevators, private bathrooms, and steam heat were installed on their behalf. Charles Ritz required evening dress if one wished to dine at his hotel, which gave women a chance to show off their new finery.

“This hotel is crammed,” wrote Princess Daisy of Pless, “but with people one does not know.” That was a drawback of hotels. Even though the proprietors tried for nothing but upper-class clients, how could they tell whether a well-dressed, well-mannered couple from, say, Baltimore, would or would not be acceptable to other Baltimoreans who looked very much the same? Even the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII, said he couldn’t tell the social standing of Americans. He complained that whenever he asked American-born women of his set about the status of a newcomer, he would be told, “Oh, sir, she has no position at home; out there she would be just dirt under our feet.

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