Word: ninon
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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This remarkable volume demonstrates that she was a great writer of another kind: a superb expositor of the self in the grand Gallic tradition of Montaigne, Rousseau and Ninon de Lenclos. From 2,000 pages of random reminiscences, which Colette published but never collected, Editor Robert Phelps has skillfully constructed a sort of accidental autobiography that reveals Colette as the richest character in her oeuvre-indeed, as one of the most extraordinary women of the century...
...lime-sized emeralds from the Iranian crown jewels. Other multi-carat emeralds and diamonds adorned a collar at her throat-and Jeweler Harry Winston, who had recently restyled her jewels especially for the party, described them as priceless. Jackie Kennedy, never one to be overshadowed, wore a chic Chez Ninon ball gown with a sleek white silk top and a "hot pink" silk skirt. Diamonds glistened in her ears and her hair, which had been whipped into a new coiffure known as "Brioche" and resembling a classical Japanese hairdo more than a French pastry. Before dinner, the two heads...
...workroom belongs to two sprightly grandes dames who are known collectively as Chez Ninon, a small and very expensive dress salon that was costly and exclusive long before it became famous as one of Mrs. Kennedy's favorite dress shops. The only difference now is that Proprietresses Nona McAdoo Park and Sophie Meldrim Shonnard, who would be wows in Auntie Mame, are so pleased to have Jackie's business that they flutter and worry that too much public notice will drive Mrs. Kennedy away. There is little chance of that; Chez Ninon has just what Mrs. Kennedy likes...
...weeks ago, they bought "a little of each," says Sophie. "Some customers adore Lanvin. Others like Nina Ricci and Cardin, Givenchy and Balenciaga." After ordering the originals, the ladies buy fabrics, buttons and other necessary materials. Back at the workshop, their custom seamstresses make up duplicates, and Chez Ninon announces a showing. A private one is held for important customers, such as Jackie and Mrs. Dillon; Jackie herself gets the first look at new clothes, if she requests...
...customer still wants it (and if the earlier buyer is Jackie, she nearly always does), she can have it. Nona and Sophie still cluck with dismay about the time last fall when Mrs. Paley, a woman who should know better, swept into the White House dressed in a Chez Ninon special, and then suffered the supreme embarrassment: there was Jackie in the identical dress. Sighs Sophie: "Jackie was a good sport about the whole thing...