ease and extravagance in which the ladies of the court were then immersed... Then came the Romantic movement, working a revolution in women's dress; then came the First World War, after which woman went down into the field of free employment — and behold, her dress was turned upside down: the dress rose to the knees, the waistline fell, the hair was bobbed, woman took on a boyish look, fabrics grew scarce and were used sparingly, and her dress became practical, suited to the circumstances of her new life.
In the history of fashion there are centers that have played important parts in this field, among them: Greece and Rome, Byzantium and Paris, and in the present age Hollywood and New York.
I do not exaggerate if I say that Paris leads the way in this field. Manuscripts describing ladies' costumes appeared there as early as the ninth century A.D.; and in the twelfth century the illuminated manuscript became a recognized art for depicting the fashions of the age. From the late fourteenth century France became the fashion leader of the Western world: dolls were dressed and sent as models to the English court, or sold to the merchants of Venice, who spread them throughout the civilized world. She ruled the world's fashions in the days of her kings at Versailles, when whatever the queens or the ladies of the court wore was reckoned the final word in women's dress. And there are names that played an important part in this field, among them La Vallière, Madame de Montespan, and Madame de Maintenon at the court of Louis XIV; Madame de Pompadour and Du Barry
at the court of Louis XV; and Marie Antoinette at the palace of the Trianon.
Then came the Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, who revived the weaving of silk in the mills of Lyon, after Worth had sewn her a gown made of that fabric. In the year 1850 there were in France one hundred fifty-eight salons for the making of gowns, and their number grew until by 1898 there were approximately one thousand nine hundred thirty-two salons.
From this we see that Paris is long-rooted in the art of dressmaking, and among the most delightful things the tourist can experience in this capital today are a few hours spent at the fashion shows in the famous couture salons. Chief among these salons are those of Dior, Balmain, Fath, Ricci, Germaine Leconte, etc. — names well known among us.
The importance of fashion designers is that they are creative artists whose moral standing equals that of the great artists. I remember that when Fath died, the daily press wrote more about him than it wrote on the death of André Gide, the great literary genius, and as much as it wrote about Claudel, the famous French poet. Last summer the University in Paris invited Dior to lecture in the Western civilization classes on his fashions and the manner of showing them. Among the latest news is that Madame Bonnet, wife of the French ambassador to Washington, now retired in Paris, has entered the management of the salon of "Dior."
I once visited an institute of vocational instruction for girls, whose course of study is three years after the intermediate stage, and
I asked the inspectress-general about the institute's aim. She said with pride: "We are training workers for Christian Dior."
In the face of such importance enjoyed by the fashion houses, we can do no less than glance at how creation, showing, and selling are carried on: invitations are personal, and are usually sent to clients who have bought before or who wish to buy. They are sent also to people of the press, the art institutes, statesmen, the diplomatic corps, the international institutions, and people of the stage and the cinema. Very often we see an audience mixed of both sexes... There is, however, one particular class that cannot enter a showing except upon payment of a sum of money amounting to one hundred thousand francs — the class of dressmakers, men and women; for the rights of creation are protected like an author's copyright, and Dior has many times hauled offenders before the courts on charges of copying or theft.
The minimum price of a gown is one hundred thousand francs. Hence the elegant women who enjoy these beautiful clothes are usually of the wealthy American and European class, the wife of the head of state, the French ambassadresses, some of the ladies of the diplomatic corps, and actresses of stage and screen.
Each of these houses is set apart by a particular style and an art that distinguishes it from the others, and after a short trial the critical spectator finds himself able to tell one couturier from another. Just as each of the famous painters has a style