Chic Reads: Cafe Society

If you looking for a book that chronicles those who used to be en vogue, I highly suggest Cafe Society: Socialites, Patrons, and Artists 1920-1960.  It's a fascinating primer on the heyday of international high society and their world.  The book includes includes a myriad of chapters that include aristocrats, wealthy Americans, socialites, chic places, interior designers, courtiers and jewelers, fashion editors and models, photographers, artists, ballet dancers, musicians, and writers.   Some of the people profiled are The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Marie-Laure de Noailles, Daisy Fellowes, Lady Cunard, Alexis de Rede, Porfirio Rubirosa, Lady Mendl, Elsa Schiaparelli, Balenciaga, Diana Vreeland, Horst, Alexandre Serebriakoff, Cole Porter, and Noel Coward. The best part has to be the pages reproduced from the scrapbooks of Baron de Cabrol that illustrate much of the book.  The collages made up of artwork and photographs are filled with images of a bygone era made up of over the top balls and holidays in the South of France.  As his wife Baronne de Cabrol was quoted, "We really were very lucky," she said with a hint of nostalgia. "Life just isn't like that any more." Ain't that the truth!