A Fashion Show

Among the strangest sights of Moscow is the sight of a fashion show. Any man or woman may attend it with a ticket costing about half a pound... The ladies attend the show in clothes whose fashion went out long ago. The proceedings are presided over by a lady of grave demeanor, while the mannequin girls are not distinguished by any bewitching beauty like their sisters in Paris and London. A girl steps forward wearing a dress, and the presiding lady announces its official number, so that any lady may buy the pattern and have one cut like it — for only the wealthy women employ dressmakers, and how few they are. Questions rain down on the presiding lady during the show, such as: what kind of fabric is it, and how many meters must be bought to make one like it... The presiding lady may step forward and undo a few of its buttons, whereupon the sleeves fall away and she says it has now become suitable for the evening or the opera; or she undoes other buttons and its upper half falls away, leaving the wearer in a black skirt and a white blouse; or the marvelous dress becomes a tailleur — and so on.