Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-08-26
'DATELINE PARIS
Jewels and Perfumes Neon Much
Along the French Riviera
BY BRENDA HELsER

MONTE CARLO. - These
holidays are good, but not
quite as expected here in
Monte Carlo.
The sun shines for days in
a row; and that's good. Then,
blessedly, it rains; and that's
good. 1t cools and refreshes
the atmosphere, remining US
we're human beings and not
coffee beans drying up in the
heat. The air is perfumed by
pink laurel. orange, eucalyptus,
bougainvillea, and the perfume
that comes in bottles.
All women here wear it be-
cause men insist on it. They
love it and pride themselves
on recognizing a scent as much
as they pride themselves on
recognizing a wine. They're
as critical about jewels. Since
they have lavish tastes for
scent and gems, but must keep
their own to gentlemanly min
imums their women have the
pleasant jobs of doing it for
them. A man loads lovely
things on the woman he prizes.
She parades adornments of his
choice. The perfection of her
toilette is more of a credit to
him than to her, exactly as
fine tack credits the owner
more than the horse.
Real Jewels
Real jewels and impressive
ones are important nearly
everywhere outside the United
States. If a family has had.
has. or hopes to have again
any claim to social superiority,
the wife of the head of the
house must have "presentable"
jewels. They are more i'm
portant than a mink coat and
a car for her own use. She
travels everywhere with the
whole lot. so it's no wonder cat
burglars are as much in busi-
ness as ever they were in de-
tective stories. ThesRiviera is
having its normal rush of
summer jewel thefts.
Negative has been the note
for the season here. Com
pared with other years glamour
along the Cote is below par
and hotels and shops are see
ing very little business. Rooms
are going begging and fash
ionable beaches are relatively
lonesome. On the other hand
and for the first time so it
really shows. public beaches
and camping sites are swarm
ing with lust folks" Since
Monaco has no open spaces
they have no campers but
there are many day visitors.
Below Par Season
Even so. Monaco is not busy.
There never was much that
was appealing to buy here.
Souvenirs of Monaco are
CHASTITY and there is the hope
that Princess Grace will set
herself the task of doing some
thing about it. but shops used
to be full and stock moved
quickly. Now. if you see a
bauble you like, you can take
days to decide about it with
small risk of losing it mean
while. Bad business is no
fault of Princess Grace-it's
just an unflattering and en-
barrassing coincidence. In all
fairness, no Monegasque was
ever actually heard to expect"
an upswing in business be-
cause of the" marriage. 1t
was, in the memory of those
now living, always good
enough to keep them a very
happy people. But the None
gasques would be less than
human if they weren't a bit
worried about slower business
than expected. Maybe the poll
teal conventions in Chicago
and San Francisco have kept
exciting Americans from their
annual Monte Carlo filings.
But Cannes and Antilles are
no buster. They usually enjoy
. big movie-world trade. This
year movie people turned in
desperation to August for good
shooting" weather to make
UP for the cloud-hung earlier
months so stars are working,
not playing. Gary Cooper. his
wife, and lovely daughter
were around the Antilles area
and calling on Picasso. They
became even more famous for
their habit Of appearing every
where. to swim. at meals, to
shop, and together. They were
q trio never separated. like
Audrey Hepburn, Mel Ferrer,
and their yellow ThunoerblrG.
Dick Powell and Edgar Ber-