This remark, which appears in the penultimate paragraph of the “Ladies’s Page” column in the October 1902 Illustrated London News, shows the columnist making a puff for a particular firm’s product for which an advertisement appeared in the following month. What is particularly interesting is the way she connects the usefulness of the product to the changes in the London social season to the effects of railways, which allowed rapid, convenient travel from country estates to London homes. — George P. Landow
Advertisement for the Parisian Diamond Company in Illustrated London News (1 November 1902): 665.
I dropped in a day or two ago at the Parisian Diamond Company’s establishment at 143, Regent Street, and saw some charming new designs that they are preparing for the coming “little season.” The days when smart people used to go away in August and not see London again till the following February are past — they were pre-railway times. Now there is nearly always a contingent of people in town — as the theatres have been showing — and in the autumn some of the pleasantest little parties of the year—the more agreeable because comparatively small—take place. For these, one needs fresh ornaments, and the woman must be hard to please who cannot find among the Parisian Diamond Company’s new stock an embarrassment of choice in lovely designs in brooches, necklets, pendants, and head-ornaments that she will be delighted to possess to adorn her appearance. These goods are, it must be remembered, as perfectly artistic in design and finish as the most costly gems.
Other material from this column
- The superior design of turn-of the century women's hats (1902)
- Who made women wear unhealthy, body-deforming corsets?
- A smart walking dress and a fancy tweed costume for Autumn
Bibliography
Filomena. “Ladies’s Page.” Illustrated London News. 50 (11 October 1902): 548. Hathi Trust web version of a copy in The University of Chicago Library. Web. 4 January 2016
Last modified 4 January 2016