M. POIRET'S OPINIONS

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 106, 7 May 1931, Page 15

M. POIRET'S OPINIONS

LADY OXFORD SUMMED UP

M. I'oiret, the famous French de-

signer, in his amusing reminiscences, deals rather severely with .Mrs. Asquith (as she was at the time of writing), and says:— . '

"She was already one of ,tho most alive and vivid personalities in London. I will not attempt to skctehj her portrait. I will only recall that long njose, full of race, that sharp, profile, that bitter and contemptuous' mouth, close-lipped hnb always in movement, betraying all the" changes in her thought, that lofty bearing, those rapid and capricious gestures; a sort of Sioux chief. And in tbo ceaseless movements of her faeo, a cold find observant eye, the incisive glancq of a surgeon which, however, at moments reflected an infinite gentleness and a great goodness. "ENTERED LIKE A THUNDEKOLAP." :-.. "She entered my salons like a thunderclap, and while preparations we.ro being made to show her my collection oi" dresses, she explanied to mo how she was accustomed to dross; and sho showod mo that she was wearing knickers, which were of violet satin. Then she watched the parade of my creations, and she seemed transported by the spectacle I offered her. She had never thought, she said, that such beautiful things could exist. " 'Monsieur Poiret, Englishwomen must know your dresses. They are drosses for aristocrats and great ladies. I want to help you to reveal them to us. You will have an assured success. I am going to organise a tea, to which I shall invite my most elegant friends. "Would you like. to. bring your mannequins and your dresses? 5 "The day after our arrival we went to the fine house in Downing street where Mr. Asquith, tho Prime Minister, lived, and while the trunks were being unpacked I looked through the windows at the machine-like Horse Guards doing sontry-go in tho smoky courtyard of Whitehall. The parade was a triumph. The audience was the finest I had overseen. Mr. Asquith. came in for a moment; :t was presented to, him, theu ho went back to his study,.his demeanour rather grave. At seven in the evening there was a chill, and I was packed off without any standing on ceremony. But ne.-xt day, t.be., tnimgcte rang <mt

indeed. There wore sensational headlines —'Exhibition at Downing Street.' PRIME MINISTER QUESTIONED.

"In one paper there was a huge photograph of Mr. Asquith, and opposite a huge photograph of myself. I learned that the exhibition tho day before had been used in order to reproach Mr. Asquith, who was a Freo Trader, very severely for having lent his salons to a foreign merchant, and. for having betrayed the causo of English trade.

"Mr. Asquitli was questioned in Parliament and was called to order by Ins party; Mrs. Asquith, too, I think. As for me, I was launcbod in London. "I saw Mrs. Asquitli at a friend's in Paris, long after. The poor woman no longer dared to meet me. As a result of the indiscretion she had committed she had been persecuted by the English tradesmen, and she had had to order dresses in all the- shops in London to give them proof of her loyalty and fidelity. All her lovely friends camo to me for their dresses. She alone dared not como. I assured her of the gratitude I felt toward her in every circumstance for the very sporting way in which she had borne the trials that were, to me, so profitable-."