Title: The Saleswoman

Author: Colette
Theme Category: Fashion in the 1920s
Characters:
-The client- a middle class woman who walked into a hat store in French,
most likely an expensive one
- The saleswoman- Talkative, improvisatory saleswoman who knows
how to handle her customer well, maybe to the point where it becomes
really annoying for the customer

Key Vocabulary:
Young tyrant (299; 2)= a young woman who wants to put her
authority to use
Velour (299)= soft but thick fabric found in hats
Miraculous (299)= having the nature of miracle
Silhouette (299)= a black clothing model, displayed behind
glasses
Shark (300)= describing a person using shark means that that
person is taking advantage of other person for personal gains
Mortify (301)= cause someone to feel embarrassed or
ashamed
A Brief Synopsis
The Saleswoman by Colette is a shorty story based on a day-to-day action
in a hat shop in France. It is most likely to be set in the 1920s when
wearing a hat that covers the hair was a popular fashion trend. In this
short story, the talkative saleswoman talked the client into buying a little
blue hat from her store. She first started by complimenting the clients
hat but eventually, she kept talking and dragged the client to the topic of
buying the blue hat. The client seems to be a middle-class woman
because the saleswoman refers her as the second type of woman: the
middle-class woman. Additionally, from the fact that she has been driving
the grey sedan for six years suggest that the client was not very wealthy.
The saleswoman creates drama by saying how the client is causing her an
embarrassment and made the client sympathize towards her. We can
clearly see the clever tactics of the saleswoman there.

A Special

I am showing this hat styles to let my classmates have a brief

understanding of the kinds of hat they wore in the 20s. I think it is
important that they know because in my opinion, hats are very glamorous
and represent a state of a person.