A Voyeur's Guide to WWD

For a neophyte, that first plunge into the gossip pits of Women's Wear Daily can be like a trip to the Tuaregs--everything seems veiled, pale blue and couched in some mysterious language. What follows is a rough translation of some of the more common nicknames and catch phrases that appear regularly in "Eye," "Eye Too" and other features of WWD.

BP: beautiful people; trend setters; the In crowd.

Catchup Room: the wrong room at the Frog Pond.

Chica: Chessy Rayner, owner of the interior-design firm Mac II.

Frog Pond: Manhattan's La Grenouille restaurant.

FV: fashion victims; BP whose clothes wear them instead of the other way around.

Grand Old Master (GOM): sarcastic reference to Norman Norell.

Her Drear: Princess Margaret.

Her Efficiency: Lady Bird Johnson.

Her Goodiness: Pat Nixon.

Her Happiness: Happy (Mrs. Nelson) Rockefeller.

Herself: Eleanor Lambert, doyenne of SA public relations women.

Jackie O: former First Lady, married to Daddy O.

Le Grand Hubert: Givenchy.

Lunch Bunch: BP seen regularly at the few Manhattan restaurants that WWD considers classy.

Man in the White Suit: Courreges.

Messy: Mica Ertegun, Chica's partner at Mac II.

Mr. Fashion Right: Bill Blass, now that he's back in WWD's good graces.

Polly Harness: Designer Mollie Parnis, a WWD nono.

Queen Mother: Mrs. Rose Kennedy.

Restaurant X: the Frog Pond.

Restaurant Y: La Caravelle, Lafayette, Orsini's, La Seine, etc.; in other words, class restaurants that are neither X nor Z.

Restaurant Z: La Cote Basque.

RTW: ready-to-wear clothes.

SA: Seventh Avenue.

The Ultimate: Gloria Guinness.

Venerable Old Master (VOM): snotty reference to Mainbocher; also referred to from time to time as "Remember the Main."

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