A Farewell to Arms

I have been enjoying looking at Assouline's book High Society, written by Nick Foulkes (quite the dandy himself as you will see from his photograph on the back sleeve of the book).  It is an entertaining look at Manhattan's high society and although the title may mislead you into thinking that it is just a light romp through the so called society, it is actually a fascinating look at the history of Manhattan as well.  There are lots of great photographs too.

I love this image of Mrs. Iva Patcevitch - the wife of Vogue's President and chairman Iva Patcevitch.  It really shows how a woman can age gracefully AND interestingly.  Just because you are getting older does not mean you have to retreat into a world of comfortable clothing.  Not that you have to be uncomfortable but nor do you have to forsake fashion.  Of course, maybe poor Mrs. Patecevitch is 33 years old in this photograph!  I need to do a little more research there.

The other thing that struck me, were the arms on the old trouts.  (Love that expression from Robert Altman's 1991 film, Gosford Park!)  At a certain point, society ladies definitely said farewell to those arms!