In the late nineteenth century, American women of wealth and style were dressed in Paris by three masters of fashion: Worth, Doucet, and Pingat. Responding to the lure of these great couture houses, many clients patronized two or even all three, lavishing money on clothes and expecting lavish clothes in return. The House of Worth was the workshop of a family obsessed with the uses of incredibly rich French silks. The fabrics chosen for Worth's gowns and wraps were the most luxurious -- the sort that glimmer under gaslight. Designs from the House of Doucet reflect that family's long association with linens and laces, coupled with Jacques Doucet's own taste for eighteenth-century fashion., Emile Pingat's creations represent the very epitome of haute couture -- exquisit design and flawless execution -- and, like those of Worth, show an adeptness at taking an historical prototype and making it over in keeping with the styles of his own time. Here is an enchanting survey of fin de siecle couture, with 52 color reproductions of the most sumptuous gowns. It accompanies a major exhibition at The Brooklyn Museum, drawn from the Museum's own extensive costume collection and from museums around the world. Elizabeth Ann Coleman brilliantly discusses and compares the designs, fabrics, and clients of Worth, Doucet and Pingat, setting the work of the three couture houses in a larger social and cultural context and illuminating the complex role that fashion has always played in society. With 228 illustrations, 52 in color