A Guide to Elegance : For Every Woman Who Wants to Be Well and Properly Dressed on All Occasions

Rating:
Summary: Exquisite!
Review: From Accessories to Zoology, this volume in its Tiffany blue dust jacket covers in exquisite detail everything one needs to be elegantly attired. Women will appreciate the trimmed down, but versatile and chic, wardrobe ideas as well as tips on beauty during pregnancy (E for Expecting) and for dressing your man (M for Men). Also amusing (and true!) is the section that contrasts what men think they like versus what is really attrative to men (S for Sex). In sum, Mme Dariaux's book is a breath of fresh air in our part of the world, where more is not always better and elegance is in short supply.

Highly recommended, but you may have to look for it: The Borders in Sacramento had it in the fiction section, under D for Dariaux~I suppose confusing it with Kathleen Tessaro's charming and evokative novel!

Rating:
Summary: A book by a truly lovely lady
Review: Gentle observations from an experienced sharp eye. I devoured this volume and returned toute suite to the first page......Study Hall! Graciously, supercilious comments on American popular culture are ommittd. Mme Dariaux includes astute, useful ones which do not offend my provincialism, but instruct my elegant intentions. I am now combing my wardrobe for inferior articles to give away. I am on the lookout for a quality handbag or two, shoes that work and a very few soft tweeds, sweaters, and well-tailored skirts, jackets, and trousers. Where will the money come from? I'm not going to worry about it. (indirect quotation from Skarlett)
Volume shopper, no more!- lolliefarms

Rating:
Summary: I hate to admit it
Review: I hate to admit but since I bought Elegance and started following its advice I look much better. People have actually stopped to comment. Although I'm cringing (what did I look like before?) it has been fun to get the compliments. Madam Dariaux was a designer, a director of Nina Rici and a fashion writer. She arranged the book in alphabetical format with instructions and observations about everything from alligator bags to materntiy wear. The editors have updated the book just a tiny bit but it does no harm. It's like having your own stylist.

Rating:
Summary: You don't need it if you already have good TASTE
Review: If you already have a good sense of style and know what works for you, this book is not for you. The target audience of this book are gals who are in the midst of developing their dress sense/color coordination/accessorizing skills etc and are still two minds about the do's and dont's in vogue. That said, while the book added little value to me as I have identified my definitive style years ago, it is well worth a read as Madame Geneviere Antonine Dariaux had generously documented tips written in an easily decipherable A-Z format, offering clues on fashion know-how that would probably make a difference to women who are aspiring to look chic and elegant. My advice is: cultivate your own individual style (and not just mimicking what fashion guides dictate) and being comfortable in your own skin whether you decide to dress up or down for the day is chic. True elegance comes from confidence and acceptance of yourself from within, not from what you decide to put on before you walk out of your house to face the world.

Rating:
Summary: how refreshing
Review: One of the many great things here is the author's consistent, underlying attitude toward older women. When this book was originally published, real clothes and real elegance were the province of the woman over forty, who had money, taste, and the ability to use both to her advantage.
Americans now expect a girl to come out of the gates a completely formed Barbie/teenager, run through her twenties, slow in her thirties, disappear off the course in her forties. In our era, attractiveness is inexorably bound to giving the impression of carrying viable eggs. How depressing. The stories that current fashion advertising and editorial content tell us are designed to inculcate self-loathing in us, in order to sell more and more product. Madame Antoine-Dariaux's voice is not just wry and intelligent-- it's subversive.

Rating:
Summary: Dangerous elegance
Review: This book is a rather dangerous little flower. It appears to be very sweet and innocent, but before you know it, Madame has you following her every word. This book makes What Not to Wear seem careless. Madame advises on "everything" and even though this edition has been recently revised,it still is rather rigid and old-fashoned. On the other hand, if you already posess some taste and personality,it is a wonderful source of inspiration to never let our modern times get in the way of glamour. The glamour of simplicity,that is. And as a lover of all things retro, I can definitely recommend this book as a how-to on retro dress.

Rating:
Summary: Elegance for a lifetime
Review: Yes Yes Yes! I was given the original by my mother long, long ago. Every page was a revelation. As one's appearance speaks so emphatically about one, I can't think of any gift more useful to a young woman about to take her place in the world. However, Madame Dariaux has sage wisdom and common sense advice for women of any age. Who knew that being elegant was really so very simple! And it's certainly not money that creates elegance. I wish that this book had been given to more women, especially those that have made careers in the entertainment industry. Ahem. In any case, I look forward to reading the updated version of "Elegance". And I, too, am delighted that the author is alive, well and thriving. She is truly one of my idols. I would give many more stars were they available.