Le Lycee Francais de Los Angeles - Actualites Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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Lilly Dache: ' Til Never Make Another Hat ' says, again flashing the pixie grin. Cole Porter ... I knew him. but not as well as I should have known him, if you understand me . . . considered Lilly Dache his lucky charm. He either used a line about her in one song of each of his musical come- dies, or he placed a big hat box with her name on it on stage in one of the scenes. Miss Dache notes, from a 1958 trip to Russia, that there were only two powders, light and dark, available to wom- en: one rouge shade; two lip- sticks; and teeth were filled with steel. Things like ap- ples cost a dollar a piece, so there were lots of kinds of breads and the women were very stocky. she recalls. Girls on the street would Come up and try to buy my shoes. From the more recent world tour, the fashion pic- ture seems to have changed. In the cities, much is alike. The influence of America, brought by films and tour- ists, is apparent in every ma- jor city. Miss Dache was first asked to do menswear as a cos- tume (now in the Metropoli- tan Museum) effort, but is now seriously in the practi- cal end of design. I like double-knits; I like comforta- ble fabrics; of course, I like pure silk, but it is expensive. My hats were all custom- made, but we must do fash- ion today that everybody can have. A shirt doesn t have to be individual. The liberated male is the new bird of paradise in fash- ion. Men should experiment with collar styles and should concentrate less on keeping their hair and more on using cosmetically what they have or can grow to improve their facial contours or reduce their years. She looks across the Centu- ry PJa .a room at her hus- band. I made Jean grow a moustache. See. il look 20 years off his face Hut he will wear those light sports ' jack- ets; even in New York he does. 1 suppose some girl told him how devastating he looks. His grin is appreciative. Miss Dache, who predicts a return of vests in silk bro- cades or lush velvets . . . At the Coty Awards the women all looked simple but the men were in flowing vel- vet and looked as if they had permanent waves . . . also prefers her husband in white shirt and white tie. His tie has the tiniest of initials hand-embroidered in the low- er left coiner. Both Miss Dache and her husband share an Oct. 12 birthday but she . . . Wom- en m the middle years should abolish their birthdays; even if a girl of 15 brags about her age it will catch up with her some day . . . doesn ' t cele- brate her birthday. I cele- brate his! I feel 19 and when you feel 19 you are permitted a great many things. Choosing to keep her maid- en name, bolh socially and professionally. Miss Dache is one of the first business women to do so . . . I will always be a Miss . . . and her husband does not object Even when I call the offk p and speak to her secretary I find myself asking for Miss Dache. I think I was raised right. The c o u p 1 e have one daughter, Suzanne Dache. 21. who is now holding her first job with Eleanor Lambert m New York. She doesn ' t like the boyfriends 1 like ' Miss Dache bemoans, but I think she imitates me. She twists her father around her finger. I love young people and I pay heed to them. I copied my daughter ' s foundation makeup. Of course, it didn ' t look the same on me. but it was better than what I had been wearing. To the age-worn question of how a woman can com- bine a successful marriage and a successful career. Miss Dache comments, The more I had to do the better I like it and the more I could do. I put first things first. First is my husband. In New York we live in the top two floors of a 12-story building I built. I never take my business to those top two floors. For many years I had a French housekeeper who was Jean ' s nanny. We always spoke French at home and now she lives in Pans and, at 9fi. still doesn ' t know a word of English. You can get married . . . anyone can get married . . . but staying married is some- thing different. We didn ' t fight and argue and say ' boom, boom ' ... we did boom, boom! 14

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Los Angeles Her,-: jay, Oct. 29, 1972 Herald- txaminrr Photos B» Bruce Howell Women are dressing so simply now, notes designer, Lilly Dache . However, she wears thres gold bracelets and multiple rings to accessorize her lavishly embroidered and appliqued black swearer and pants set. Below, her husband of 42 years, Jean Despres, who just retired after 50 years as an executive with Coty, chats with Eleanor Lambert of New York, a cocktail guest. isTf In Los Angeles to seiet :s3.-tment of materials fo which are manufactured here, tf ive Lilly Dache takes time out to share h f view on fashion, marriage, men, birthdays and raising daughters. 13

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LE LYCEE FRANCAIS DE LOS ANGEL HONORARY CHAIRMAN of the BOARD of TRUSTEES Consul General de France M. Jean-Francois Roux HONORARY CO-PRESIDENT HONORARY MEMBER Conseiller Culturel de France M . Jean Herve Donnard Mme Lilly Dache M . Jean Despres Professor Otis Fellows Professor Oreste Pucciani BOARD of TRUSTEES Nicholas Fisher James Johnson Esther Kabbaz Raymond Kabbaz Luther R. Man- Spencer Olin Dr. Marvin Stern Dr. Antonio Valle de Meduno FOUNDERS president: Mr. John D. MacArthur Bankers Life and Casualty Co. members: Mr. Guy D. Ward, Governor of the California Bar Association Judge Edward R. Brand, Superior Court Dr. Antonio Valle de Meduno M. et Mme Maurice Varsano M. A. Cohen 15