What could be more personal than a woman's wardrobe? - Lot 0

What could be more personal than a woman's wardrobe? The great originality of Liliane Ruault's wardrobe is that it tells us much more than the story of the woman who wore it, chose it and cherished it. With Liliane Ruault, the intimate story follows in the wake of the great story, and that's what makes it so striking, important and fascinating. The clothes, hats, couture jewelry and archival photos, not to mention the tableware and furnishings in her Avenue Foch apartment, transport us back to the heyday of her brother-in-law's lavish parties from the '60s to the '90s, producer Eddie Barclay, surrounded by beautiful women, his sublime young wife, Caroline, and a host of the greatest stars of French chanson, from Johnny Hallyday to Dalida, to name but a few. Above all, Liliane's chic outfits reflect an era when luxury was not about being identifiable in order to look like everyone else, but rather about asserting a difference - one's own. They take us back to the Saint-Tropez of the white evenings, or the social dinners and cocktail parties of Paris, where women vied with each other in beauty and elegance, simply because they liked being beautiful, and that was their pleasure as women. The protagonists in question were actors in their own lives, aware of their freedom and, above all, of who they were. This freedom was so dearly won by the Ruault brothers, provincials from modest backgrounds who came to Paris together to try their luck. Both born between the wars, Liliane's husband Paul won his freedom in the Resistance, and was promoted to Prefect of Versailles after the war. A career at odds with his younger brother Édouard, an artist and musician, who resisted the Germans by organizing clandestine parties in the cellars of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, another form of resistance, already more artistic, but no less admirable. In spite of their obvious differences, the two brothers share a common bond and a deep brotherly love that will bind them together forever, as free men and mavericks. As for Liliane, née Gautherot, she comes from the upper middle class of the Champagne region. Her ancestors, winegrowers since the 17th century, made their fortune in the Belle Époque with their eponymous champagne. While Paul's chosen destiny was that of high public office and service to the state, Edouard became Eddie Barclay, the American, a French Gatsby the Magnificent who became king of the LP. But there's always a woman behind every great man, and that's exactly what I felt through Liliane's dressing room. First of all, I discerned the love that bound her to her husband Paul, and the deep, reciprocal affection she had for her brother-in-law Eddie, whom she obviously admired, and to whom she gave the gift of her discreet but brilliant presence at his Tropezian parties, as attested by the so many photos she meticulously archived and filed away. I also perceived so many other things about her, such as the faith she had in love, life, beauty and faith in general, which she expressed in the donation of her fortune, which she generously chose to offer to a Catholic association, and finally her whimsical temperament, that touch of madness she brought to the fashions she collected, but which she tempered with French classicism, no doubt inherited from her upbringing, and then that allure of a grande dame which characterized her and which she knew very well how to translate into her outfits, and those prestigious French brands she was so fond of: Monsieur Dior's cut, the material and insolent chic of Chanel, extended by Karl Lagerfeld, Sonia Rykiel for knitwear and casualness, and finally Yves Saint-Laurent for bohemian chic, travel and fantasy. This sale is a tribute to her taste, for Liliane is a little bit of every woman: the solemn prefect, the radiant mistress of the house, the amorous midinette, the fashion victim and the Café Society of white evenings. She remains the conservatory of that French art de vivre that we don't want to see disappear, for it is the profound emanation of our cherished culture, of what it has done best, with that unparalleled blend of charm, festive flair, insolence and good manners. So thank you, Liliane, Paul, and hats off to the artist, Eddie, for bringing the legend back to life, for a moment, always salubrious! Delphine Antoine-Morhange, Paris, November 2024. * We would like to thank Caroline Barclay for her kind cooperation.