What is a Midinette??
Wonderfully elegant, sexy, delightful, slender and
fine.
Who doesn't know them, this phenomenon of Paris sublime.
Always deeply in love
Annually, on St. Catherine's day, the Mindinettes of
Paris celebrate their grand festival, young girls from
sewing workshops and fashion salons, from hat and glove shops. Then the
streets in the garment center belong to these merry girls who've thrown
all caution to the winds and, in the evening live the high life.
Anyone who's kissed a Mindinette even once falls
in love with her! Because such a sweet little Mindinette is unique
in this world.
All of them are in love, these sweet little girls who
spend their days working hard in Farell's workshops sewing the
expensive, refined dresses
Nelly, the little seamstress, also is in love. And
while her blond head is bent over her work at the sewing table, she
thinks about Charlie the elegant, world famous fashion designer whose
dresses are all the rage. But he is out of reach for her, even if she's
talented herself and has even studied fashion design, not only sewing.
He doesn't even know that she exists. His thoughts are only about the
vain and mundane Suzanne after whom his newest fashion creation is
named. It's a wonderful evening gown, a dream made of sapphire blue silk
that's expected to be the highlight of the international fashion
conference that's scheduled for the next day.
The back is covered with fabric all the way to the top,
which makes it unusual. Nelly finds this horrible. But that's the way
Charlie wants it because lovely Suzanne can't show her bare back; in
fact, she's recently had a car accident and glass splinters have
embedded her once beautiful back
But Nelly doesn't know this; so she decides to disobey
orders and make the gown open backed. She hopes that the result will
prove that she was right, that Charlie will notice her and perhaps that
she can get a job as his assistant in the drawing studio, thus bringing
her closer to the object of her affections.
At the Mindinette's ball, Charlie is attracted to
beautiful blond Nelly, whom he'd never before noticed. She in turn feels
closer to her goal than ever before.
But, the next day, when Suzanne tries on her gown, all
fury is unleashed. The dress clearly shows Suzanne's bandaged back.
Charlie is livid; Madame Henriette, the manager rushes
about; and Suzanne yells and refuses to put on the dress. As for poor
Nelly, she sits at her sewing table and cries in despair, the gown lying
limply on her lap. She's ordered to repair without delay so that it can
be shown at the fashion conference.
Suzanne advises her boyfriend, the corpulent Philippe
Guilbert, not to pay for the gown, especially since he is in enormous
financial difficulty anyway. The big fur company in which he's invested
his fortune is bankrupt and all that he could get out of it is 70'000
monkey pelts. And nobody but monkeys wears monkey pelts anymore anyway!
Fat Guilbert doesn't know what to do. Everybody is
laughing about him and his 70'000 monkey pelts. And Farell's refuses to
take back Suzanne's gown. What shall he do with it? - So he offers it to
Nelly in order to console her. "Those damned monkey pelts... and
70'000 of them!" he thinks.
Tension at Farell's is at its apex. The all important
fashion conference has begun and all the most important industry bigwigs
are gathered there. Mrs. Kéleman from Budapest is unhappy about all the
slender designs; as a result she isn't selling any of her corsets.
Farell is trying to get sapphire blue accepted as THE in fashion color;
he's stocked up on sapphire and hopes to make a killing.
Suddenly Mrs. Kéleman realizes that there are 13 of
them seated around the table... a very ominous sign! Something must be
done about this! Only Nelly is still at work - she must help. She
quickly slips into the sapphire blue high fashion gown that's still open
in the back and enters into the room of the gala conference. Charlie
quickly gives her some last minute instructions. A cocktail gives her
courage... and another... and another. Her courage continues to grow.
The whole world appears rosy red and sapphire blue to her. When a
controversy breaks out about which color to choose as "in" for
this season, little Nelly, the seamstress intervenes:
One wears red when one's in love.
One wears blue when one wants to be true.
One wears a green dress when one hopes it'll rain.
That color makes you look so slender and mundane
One wears red when one is in love.
One wears yellow out of jealousy.
In her choice a woman shows, into which direction her mood goes.
Today she wears red, tomorrow blue and after that who knows.
The conference participants - except for Farell himself
whose dreams of sapphire blue have just vanished into thin air
- are all delighted with the lovely new girl from his fashion house.
Charlie begins to like the open back cut of her dress. After all,
Nelly's back is first class to say the least. In fact everything about
her pleases him more and more with each passing minute.
But Nelly still isn't finished. Upon seeing poor, fat,
Guibert about whom everyone is laughing, she thinks of the 70'000 monkey
pelts. Why did fate bring her to the gala fashion conference? Well, ten
minutes later, Farell has learned that monkey pelts are going to be the
fashion hit of the new season. But where is Guilbert? Now is the time to
quickly buy and buy! The poor hapless fat guy, depressed, is lying in
his bed dreaming of monkeys swinging from tree to tree. He doesn't want
to hear the phone ring anymore, because he's sik of all his friends
stupid monkey jokes.
The next day, when Nelly innocently and wide awake
shows up at work, she's very astonished to learn that she's been
summarily fired. Farell will never forgive her for he sapphire blue
incident.
But she's in luck. Overhearing that Farell wants to buy
fat Guilbert's monkey pelts from him for a song, she intervenes.
He quickly understands. She's just become his business
partner and takes over the negotiations herself. Intractable, Nelly is
determined that Farell must bleed; Oh, sweet revenge!
Seeing this, Charlie comes to his boss's aid. Once he's
on the scene, the ice around Nelly's heart begins to thaw; in
fact, with each additional kiss it melts even more as the price of the
pelts gets lower and lower... until Guilbert steps into stop it.
For the couple of love birds, the sky is sapphire blue
and the clouds are red... all decorated with monkey pelts.
Charlie decides not to name his new fashion creation
Suzanne, but Nelly instead.
Anyone who's even kissed a Mindinette is in love with
her... oh, how in love with her!
