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| Oleg Cassini, couturier |
Ramona |
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In Florence at that time there were two bordellos — Saffo and La Rina — that served as educational institutions and also social clubs for young gentlemen of standing, as well as for town notables, including the mayor. They were places where one might go to play cards, have a drink or simply socialize; there was no pressure to patronize the girls, who circulated in a casual state of undress or draped themselves languorously on couches.
My indoctrination occurred at La Rina, which was named for its procuress, a Greek woman whom you were expected to treat with respect, as an equal. The facility was decorated as one might hope — rococo, heavily draped and mirrored.
I arrived there one evening with five or six friends, bragging and talking loudly to camouflage my near-panic. I was seventeen years old. We ordered coffee, and the girls wandered over desultorily for inspection. As the moment of truth approached, I stopped bragging and became quiet, withdrawn. We were expected to choose, and I was paralyzed. I couldn't. I didn't want to offend any of those young women by not choosing them — and then one of them (the prettiest of the lot, I thought) came over and chose me. Her name was Ramona: she was a brunette with blue eyes. She led me off to her cubicle and I couldn't deliver the goods. I was so nervous.
Ramona was very kind to me then. She said, "Don't worry. It happens to everyone. You're just a little nervous. You're thinking about it too much." True enough, but I was more than just a little nervous and quite incompetent. Finally she said, "I'll tell you what: come back tomorrow morning — on me. You'll be my guest."
I was elated by this and rejoined my friends, bragging, naturally, about my triumphant success. I might even have bragged that she invited me back for more. In any case, I returned there the next day and this time was able to perform. Ramona and I were friends now; it was no longer merely a financial transaction. (Florence, 1930)
from In My Own Fashion: An Autobiography by Oleg Cassini (Simon and Schuster, © 1987)
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