Elegance

In 2004, I devoured Kathleen Tessaro's debut novel, Elegance. Tessaro's novel is inspired by the fashion and style guide, A Guide to Elegance: For Every Woman Who Wants to Be Well and Properly Dressed on All Occasions, written by the wonderful and witty Genevieve Antoine Dariaux (the elegant figure displayed on the blog).

After reading Tessaro's novel, I was obsessed with finding this gem. Unfortunately, the Dariaux novel (published in 1964) had been out-of-print for many years.

I searched online and used bookstores to track down a copy. Sellers on Amazon were pricing the book at $150 and higher.

In the midst of my search, I was spending a Saturday antiquing and noticed an older-looking book on bookshelf in a room display. (Those who know me know that books are the first things I am drawn to in an antique shop...or any shop, for that matter.)

Could it be? Could it be that book? Sure enough, it was. I hastily snatched the book off the shelf and looked inside. The price read $10. I checked the date, and it was the first edition of the book.

That afternoon, I became enveloped in the world of Madame Dariaux (former directress of the Nina Ricci salon in Paris). Some of the advice is outdated simply given the time, but Dariaux's direct and wise observations hold true. Very FITD. :)

After the publication of Tessaro's novel, A Guide to Elegance has been republished.

Check it out (via Amazon):

http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Elegance-Properly-Dressed-Occasions/dp/0060757345/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top