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Discretions and Indiscretions by Lucy Lady Duff Gordon
A memoir by the first internationally acclaimed fashion designer, Lucy Duff Gordon, who went by the professional name Lucile. She pioneered the ‘mannequin parade’ which presaged modern fashion shows; trained the first professional fashion models; modernized lingerie; developed the ‘it girl’ concept popularized in fiction by her sister Elinor Glyn; and founded the first international couture line which was worn by influential members of the worlds of politics and entertainment. She also survived the sinking of the Titanic – which she discusses in this book – and narrowly escaped dying in the sinking of the Lusitania, having cancelled her travel plans due to illness. She and her husband testified at the British inquiry into the disaster, and several films and other dramatic works have depicted her, including A Night to Remember and James Cameron’s Titanic.
Description
‘Fame-hungry, fast-living and the subject of a whole series of scandals, Lady Duff-Gordon was THE fashion designer of the belle époque’ — Daily Telegraph
From the 2019 revised edition: Lucy Duff-Gordon was one of the original ‘It girls’ and the leading fashion designer and of the Edwardian era. Her infamous House of Lucile was one of the first global fashion brands and created plunging neck lines, slit skirts and trained the first professional models. But for all her achievements and accolades she is perhaps destined to be remembered for her and her husband’s role in the Titanic tragedy of 14/15 April 1912 which they escaped in the notorious ‘millionaire’s boat’, lifeboat No. 1. With a capacity of forty people, it was launched with only twelve aboard, the fewest to escape in any single lifeboat that night. Sir Cosmo later paid the crew members £5 each, (ostensibly to replace their lost kit and wages), a gesture interpreted by some as blood money for giving the male aristocrat a place on a lifeboat. One of Lucy’s motivations for writing her book was to attempt to finally clear her husband’s name, devoting three chapters to the sinking and their subsequent public vilification in the press.
Lady Lucy Duff-Gordon was born in London in 1863. She ran her fashion house Maison Lucile for over twenty years and served a wealthy clientele including aristocracy, royalty and theatre stars. She published her bestselling autobiography DISCRETIONS AND INDISCRETIONS in 1932. She died in 1935 penniless, survived by her daughter Esmé.
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