Read more
"No nice girl swears was originally published in 1933."--Title page verso
List of contents
I: No Nice Girl Swears
II: Should She Ask Him In?
III: You're the First Man I've Ever Kissed
IV: Keeping an Amateur Standing
V: This Casual Era
VI: May I Call You Up Sometime?
VII: Out for No Good
VIII: Joining In
XX: Launching a Belle
X: Chaperons Do Exist
XI. Between Courses
XII. The Inevitable Details
XIII. Lunches and Teas; Or, Scarcely Worth the Trouble
XIV. Coming Out to Music
XV. Cutting In or Sitting Out
XVI. That Certain Someone
XVII. The Great Step
XVIII. In a Cloud of Tulle
XIX. Twice Shy—?
XX. Travel Broadens the Mind
XXI. Never Speak to Strangers Unless They Speak to You
XXII. Out of Town
XXIII. Summer, Winter, Spring
XXIV. An Old English Custom
XXV. In a Strange Bed
XXVI. Pity the Poor Working Girl
XXVII. Serious Business
XXVIII. Hot Footlights
XXIX. The Hiccuping Fifties
XXX. Our Plastered Friends
About the author
Born in Mexico in 1908 as the only child of wealthy and prominent American parents,
Alice-Leone Moats was educated at Manhattan’s Brearley School and the Fermata School for Girls in Aiken, South Carolina, and was admitted to Oxford University, where she spent three days. As a young woman, Moats, fluent in five languages, danced in debutante balls and mingled with high society.
Moats was commissioned to author
No Nice Girl Swears in 1933, which met great acclaim and marked the beginning of her illustrious writing career. She later published prolifically as a foreign correspondent for
Collier’s magazine in Japan, China, and the former Soviet Union, and was a columnist for the
Philadelphia Inquirer. Over her lifetime, Moats authored nine books. She died in Philadelphia in 1989 at the age of eighty-one.
Summary
No Nice Girl Swears is the original, trailblazing guide to the "new etiquette," brimming with timeless advice on style, romance, and grace, and finally back in print 90 years after its original release. Forewords by today's editor in chief of Town & Country and the editor in chief of Vogue from 1914-1952.
Additional text
"A book of modern etiquette for the modern debutante and sub deb, with an eye on her mother. Definitely keyed to the city and suburban communities, rather than the small town. Humor and commonsense combined in due proportion in answering such questions as: Shall I ask him in? May I call you up some time? What is the technique of being picked up? What should be done if my escort passes out on me? And so on. In addition, the author gives the latest usage in the matter of debutante parties, chaperonage (you'd be surprised!), engagements, weddings, clothes, week-end parties, and other contingencies. In good taste, and yet distinctly smart. The book itself is another experiment in colored stock—yellow this time—but since the books are to be sealed with cellophane wrappers, the prospective buyer wont know what she is getting until the purchase is made."
—Kirkus Review
“In spite of such reminiscent titles of 'Shall She Ask Him In?' and 'Never Speak To Strangers Unless They Speak to You,' these chapters contain serious advice—the pragmatism of it all cloaked in a flippant and humor-flecked style.”
—New York Times
