A guide to elegance: For every woman who wants to be well and properly dressed on all occasions

2003

Private Collection

London: Harper Collins Publishers

‘What is elegance? It is a sort of harmony that rather resembles beauty, with the difference that the latter is more often a gift of nature and the former the gift of art…Elegance springs from the habits of a civilised culture…’. So writes Dariaux in her Guide. From A (Accessories –among the most important elements of an appearance) to Z (Zoology – leave the baby panther at home), Dariaux is on a mission to make even a plain woman elegant. Under ‘Girlfriends’ she advises us never to shop for clothes with a girlfriend, who as unwitting rival ‘…will unconsciously demolish all that suits you best’.