Thursday, October 13, 2011

Vintage Alligator Etiquette



I was doing some reading on vintage alligator shoes and purses, and came upon this article by Genevieve Dariaux. It is from her etiquette book, "A Guide to Elegance" published in 1964, and goes a little something like this:
"I cannot restrain myself from expressing the dismay I feel when I see a woman carry an alligator handbag with a dressy ensemble merely because she has paid an enormous sum of money for it. Alligator is strictly for sports or travel, shoes as well as bags, and this respected reptile should be permitted to retire every evening at 5pm."

That's funny, I would have thought alligator accessories would be worn for dressy occasions, and especially at night. But, no, if you were a proper lady you would only show off your pricey reptile items during the day. I posted the 3rd photo to show what might happen if you were caught carrying your vintage alligator purse at night.

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