On Tuesday evening, October 28, 1873, an unforeseen calamity befell the world of fashion. The Paris Opera House, in which so many masterpieces had been performed, and which was so admirably adapted for music, was burned to the ground. One of the temples of Fashion had perished in a night; and for a time the splendid attire that had been wont to display itself at the Opera, had also to vanish and be seen no more. No more was the dazzling light of the great chandelier to be shed upon the “poufs” in English point, blond, jet, or tulle; the tiaras and “rivières” of diamonds, the state costumes, the magnificent Circassian belts! The destruction of the Opera House dealt a terrible blow to aristocratic finery, and forced it to take refuge in balls and promenades. The “toilette d’Opera,” which was to rival that “des Italiens,” had to wait until its temple should be rebuilt. The probation, however, was short. We are bound to admit that things were not so bad as might have been expected. At that very moment luxury and fashion were assuming gigantic proportions, and under the Third Republic women continued to wear clothes of excessive costliness. It was fortunate that persons of slender means were permitted to copy in simple materials the shape and trimming of high-priced costumes. The “cut” became the principal point in dress, other things being left to the choice and discretion of the wearer. On the occasion of a charity sale on behalf of the orphans of the war, at the new Opera House, Parisians perceived that the love of striking costumes had not passed away. The lady stall-holders—Mme. Thiers, Mdlle. Dosne, the Maréchale de MacMahon, and the Princesses Troubetskoï and De Beauvau—vied with each other in elegance of attire, and the lady purchasers were not left behind; their dresses were of various colours, more or less harmonious, and composed of mazes of material and floods of ribbon, heaps of lace, kiltings, flounces, and bows; in a word, all that can be conceived of richness and elegance. Under the peristyle of the Opera Garnier, parasols in “écru” silk spotted with blue or pink, trimmed with bows and two rows of lace; and also “cane” parasols with large handles, were seen. According to the strict laws of costume, the parasol should be suited to the costume, and even the fan should match. A ball was given afterwards at the same theatre for the benefit of the Lyons weavers, and the dresses were more magnificent than ever. But no one found fault. Mme. Musard made a great sensation in a dress of lime-tree colour, richly brocaded with bouquets of roses. The material had been manufactured at Lyons at a cost of 100 francs per yard. White predominated in the dresses of the queens of the ball—Mmes. de Mouchy, Aymery de la Rochefoucauld, De Béhague, De Pène, De Beaufort, Alphonse and Gustave de Rothschild. The latter wore a wonderful “apron” of pearls worth several fortunes.