A Guide to Elegance by Genevieve Antoine Dariaux

[elisabethm]

This book was written in the early 60s as a collection of guidelines on how to dress with style and how to build a versatile wardrobe even on a budget. I thought it a fun read and much of the advice still makes a lot of sense. Just curious as to whether anyone else at FL has read it and what you think of it.

 

[BettyMaraschino]

I actually just bought this book from EBay (for the princly sum of £2.99!) and can't wait for it to arrive Ill let you know what I thought soon

 

[scarletgrenadine]

I bought a copy of this book in a used bookstore in Martha's Vineyard about twenty years ago. I think she does have good advice on choosing quality pieces, combining colors in a chic way, and dressing tastefully. However, I found that she was a bit elitist and judgmental. I believe she commented that an engagement ring ought to be at least three carats not to come off as pathetic. She also makes many remarks about how graceless and vulgar bosomy women look in clothes.

It is a fun book to read though, and it gives some insight into how an elegant Parisian woman might dress in the 1960s.

 

[elisabethm]

What I liked the most about the book was her descriptions of what a minimal wardrobe consists of in each season of the year—very useful, especially since I’m on a tight budget. I also liked the tips about coat hems, and what styles suit what kind of figure. Another surprising thing mentioned in the book is how it used to be considered vulgar to wear pants with high heels. Since pants were considered casual wear on women, I guess it does look incongruous to wear dressy shoes with them. And while I think heels look OK with wider legged or flared dress pants, I have to admit they do look rather cheap when worn with close fitting pants as so many people do these days.

Her being judgmental is something I had no problem with. In the preface she discloses the purpose she had in writing the book, which is basically to serve as a sort of style consultant for the readers—thereby in a way making herself available to those who can’t afford to walk into Nina Ricci and consult with her personally. A style consultant has to rely on her own taste and, yes, judgment, to guide her client. Without judgment, she’d have nothing to offer a client and nothing to write in the book!

I know “judgment” has been getting a bad rap in the popular culture these days, but it is really nothing other than the forming of opinions about what we observe around us. Telling people they “should not judge” is tantamount to telling them they should not think. This is neither realistic nor desirable. One would have to be terribly mentally inert to form no opinions or draw no conclusions about the world around them. I know that I for one would hate to be surrounded by such zombies!

Hmmm—maybe this explains the recent zombie fad among teenagers?

 

[BettyMaraschino]

Ive actually found that the descriptions of a minimum wardrobe brilliant. I love articles and bits and bobs like that, as I am currently putting together and making/sewing a wardrobe of vintage patterns, so any guidance is welcomed!
But this also means that on a tight budget, I know and can get the basics of what I will need then grow it slightly & slowly from there.
Some things I dont agree with in the book, such as what colours suit who etc, but then as you say that is her opinion and my judgment is different to that. Then again I dont have to take the book word for word and letter for letter.
Its a very good resource for quite a lot of things (and very much worth the £2.99 I paid!)

 

[scarletgrenadine]

I've actually found that minimum wardrobe section plagiarized in two other books. Arlene Dahl copies it in "Always Ask a Man." I also found a section of it nearly word for word in an eighties book I picked up in a thrift store titled "Dressing Rich." So, I guess a lot of people liked it. I always enjoy advice on capsule wardrobes, but living in much more casual times and a hot climate, I would not be able to adopt her advice in any straightforward way.

I did find this bit to be out of touch, even for the different era, but maybe the book was intended for wealthy women or socialites:

"An engagement ring is often the only real jewel that a woman owns. Therefore, to be brutally frank, it should not be too, too modest in size--let's say, not less than three carats--because a baby diamond drowned in a sea of platinum is very touching but at the same time a bit pathetic."

I know only one woman who had a three-carat diamond engagement ring. My aunt was given one by her fiance as it had been in his family. The ring was beautiful, but much larger than what is typically worn, and rather out of scale with her tiny frame.

Some other thoughts. I very much like her section on combining colors. It's still a great reference, and it helps me when choosing accessories and jewelry. I was lucky enough to come across this book while I was still just a teenager, so the advice on classic style and investing in quality accessories stayed with me. I also like her distinctly French point of view. As an American, I tend to overconsume, but her admonishments to choose quality over quantity have been a good reminder that there are other ways. She points out that a French woman will only have a few good lingerie sets at a time but replace them frequently to keep them fresh. I think this is sensible, especially if you are in the small-back, large-bust bra range like I am. It's near impossible to afford a large set of lingerie at once.

I was always a bit offended at her conflation of hourglass figures with vulgarity, though I think she is correct that it is hard to look elegant in clothes if you are bosomy and wide-hipped. But, well, I'm stuck with my body type, and her advice that women shaped like me ought to strongly consider a breast reduction is far too extreme in my opinion.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A similar book for women in less-privileged circumstances is Marjorie Hillis' "Orchids On Your Budget," published in 1938. Hillis was the author of the 1937 best-seller "Live Alone and Like It," one of the first popular guides for single working women, and "Orchids" is a followup to that work, focusing on ways in which live-aloners can achieve an elegant, aesthetically-pleasing way of life on a small budget. Much of the work is biased to a middle-class perspective -- it doesn't reflect the reality of women who worked in factories, for example -- but it does contain a lot of practical, useful advice that's still practical and useful today.

 

[BettyMaraschino]

A similar book for women in less-privileged circumstances is Marjorie Hillis' "Orchids On Your Budget," published in 1938. Hillis was the author of the 1937 best-seller "Live Alone and Like It," one of the first popular guides for single working women, and "Orchids" is a followup to that work, focusing on ways in which live-aloners can achieve an elegant, aesthetically-pleasing way of life on a small budget. Much of the work is biased to a middle-class perspective -- it doesn't reflect the reality of women who worked in factories, for example -- but it does contain a lot of practical, useful advice that's still practical and useful today.

LizzieMaine, you know you are fuelling my addiction I am off to look for both those books too now

 

[LizzieMaine]

I've been recommending Marjorie Hillis to young women for a long time -- she's one of the forgotten treasures of the thirties. In addition to "Live Alone" and "Orchids," she also wrote a cookbook of live-aloner recipies, "Corned Beef and Caviar," proving that just because you live by yourself you don't have to eat out of cans every night.

Her first two books have been reissued within the last ten years or so and should still be in print.

 

[elisabethm]

Thanks for the tip on Marjorie Hillis's books, LizzieMaine. Those sound like interesting reads and I will definitely keep an eye out for them. Especially since the 30's is my favorite decade in terms of clothing style.

 

[Mme Dariaux]

Elegance is one of my all time favourite books (to the point of adopting the authoress's name for my online life). I absolutely adore her judgements - even if I occasionally should not agree with them, I enjoy the writing style and directness. Be warned though that the somewhat recent early 2000's edition is much shortened and altered. I wish it were reprinted word-for-word as Anne Fogarty's and Claire mcCardell's style guides (Wife dressing and What Shall I Wear, respectively) have been. If Elegance is at times slightly sharp in criticism, Orchids on Your Budget previously mentioned in the thread is even more wonderfully caustic. Reading it is like a refreshing kick in the backside given with a shapely leg clad in seamed stockings and an elegant shoe, propelling one to the right direction and into action. It's a wonderful antidote to feelings of self-pity.

 

[Caroline H]

I love Elegance! I bought my copy on ebay years ago. Even when I find it impractical, I am still interested to see what she says and then try to figure out how to adapt it for my own time and circumstances. Of course I grew up on a 60's edition of Amy Vanderbilt's book of Etiquette (in the 1980's). I was probably the only teenager for miles around who would read a 3 inch thick outdated etiquette book for fun! I had not heard of the Marjorie Hillis books until now. I've already added them to my Amazon Wish List!!

 

[dearmrrabbit]

I'm definitely going to buy this book! If anyone has any more recommendations for vintage etiquette books do list them!
I have the Art of Being a Well Dressed Wife by Anne Fogarty (reprint) and The Modern & Complete book of Etiquette by Hallie Erminie Rives (1939), I'd love to have a collection.

 

[Frk.W]

Interesting! I like that structured, organized way of thinking around building a wardrobe, but when people make blanket statements about an entire bodytype not being elegant like that, I just tend to think they're displaying incompetence on that particular part of the subject, quite frankly. It's like when people in the fashion industry claim that it's impossible to cut for, fit and flatter larger bodytypes; my reaction is always "oh, so you can't do that." Why should I, as a person with an hourglass figure and the skills needed to cut clothes and dress to fit and flatter it, take the advice and opinions of someone who obviously can't?

 

[Amy Jeanne]

Interesting! I like that structured, organized way of thinking around building a wardrobe, but when people make blanket statements about an entire bodytype not being elegant like that, I just tend to think they're displaying incompetence on that particular part of the subject, quite frankly. It's like when people in the fashion industry claim that it's impossible to cut for, fit and flatter larger bodytypes; my reaction is always "oh, so you can't do that." Why should I, as a person with an hourglass figure and the skills needed to cut clothes and dress to fit and flatter it, take the advice and opinions of someone who obviously can't?

Even though I don't give a rat's behind about sylists and such, this is good way to look at it! I'm 5'7", 155 lbs, 40-32-41 and I've mastered cutting and fitting my patterns to my shape perfectly!

 

[Kim Covell-Campbell]

I too love this book. I got mine at an antique type mall!

 

[St. Louis]

I stumbled across Majorie Hillis's books in the public library when I was in the eighth grade. At that time I didn't fully realize that they were "vintage." I just read them as advice books. I was certainly aware that they had been published in the late 1930s, but I think I was too young to understand the implications of that. Either that, or maybe Live Alone struck me as modern & forward-thinking in spite of its publication date. In any case, the book influenced me deeply, and left me feeling that I could (and ought to) live an independent, responsible life. There's a strong sense of taking ownership of your own daily existence. To this day I rinse out my undies on the schedule prescribed by Mrs. Hillis. More to the point: considering the fact that no one in my family had the slightest idea of how to manage a budget without sliding into financial catastrophe, I'm pretty sure that I learned how to live within my means from Orchids.