And the woman who asks stars to autograph her petticoat
Dover Chronicle Saturday 27 August 1892
Among the many fads entertained by ladies of fashion and rank is one for collecting old boots and shoes of celebrated people,
The Queen of Italy is an enthusiastic collector.
She possesses the shoes of Marie Antionette, Mary Stuart, the Empress Josephine, Queen Anne and the Empress Catherine of Russia.
Lady Ermyntrude Malet, wife of the British Ambassador in Berlin, has a beautiful collection.
They are of all shapes and sizes, from dainty satin ball shoes to boots made for long tramps through the snow.
A fad among the wealthy matrons of New York is the collection of old laces. Mrs Vanderbilt has already invested more than £100,000 in these delicate treasures, while Mrs Astor values her collection at £60,000.
We are hearing a great deal just now about a fair American, whose high ambition is to obtain an autograph petticoat inscribed upon by various social and political stars of the first magnitude.
Certainly autograph collection is as interesting a fad as it is possible to conceive – but why the petticoat?
