A Look Back at: Les Midinettes

"The Midinette is one of the most typical and best known characters of Paris. Born in Paris suburbs, she hurries each day to the workroom where she sits, with other girls like herself, sewing the smart clothes for which Paris is so famous. She has but little money, so she cannot afford much of a lunch; instead she goes round to the nearest snack-bar and buys her lunch there, takes it back to her workroom and while she is eating, devours the latest novel. But in spite of her lack of money, she can copy those expensive and elegant models in cheaper material, and sometimes looks smarter in her copies than her
rich clients do in their originals."

Spinster Midinettes (25 and older), "clinging to custom", would frequently sew a lock of their hair into the hems of the wedding gowns in the hope of snaring a husband in the future.

Anecdote: Mistress Quickly once met a clothing designer who said she could have employed her as a fit-model in New York City. Bummer I didn't know that sooner.