Lady lucile duff gordon biography examples

Although many of Lady Duff-Gordon's claims to originality and innovation are now discredited, her high-end dressmaking firm Lucile remains a potent example of early British couture. Although at the forefront of designing and merchanting clothes for society women at the turn of the twentieth century, these skills were eclipsed by her talent for literary biography demonstrated by the entertaining autobiography Discretions and Indiscretions (1932) that was intended to cement her reputation with a light, literary style of prose.

Divorced from an alcoholic husband and with little formal education, Lady Duff-Gordon persuaded her mother in 1889 to save her reputation by financially backing her as a dressmaker, capitalizing on her only practical skill of sewing.

Her first design was based on a tea gown, inspired by a dress worn by an actress on stage. It became her calling card for society ladies and was worn by the Hon. Mrs Arthur Brand on the occasion of her staying with a soc