Sentence:  There were the mad fashions sported by the extraordinarily (by turns over- and under-) dressed "Incroyables" and <WSD>"Merveilleuses</WSD>", the guzzling of champagne, and the ingestion of bountiful meals in smart restaurants (a recent invention). 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A fashionable young Frenchwoman of the late 18th-century, characterized by extravagant dress sense and anti-revolutionary ideas.