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……………….Jac was 17 years old when she was chosen to be one of the 40 models selected to do the fashion show in Versailles, which was to be called “The Battle of Versailles”. When she joined her first model agency they immediately sent her to Paris as the French designers were making their selection for their ready to wear shows…..The first designer she saw was Hubert De Givenchy. Her mom was waiting for her in a cafe across the street. She was told by her agency in Paris that she was booked! They then sent her to see everyone telling all of the companies that this “new American model” was already booked by Givenchy…She got 6 bookings which was unheard of for a new unknown untested 17 year old model. When she got back to NY the agency had already set up many appointments for her and she started to get lots of work…..At one booking she was sitting next to another model who asked her if she was going to Versailles?….You have to understand, Jac was very very young, and very intimidated and shy, and didn’t know any of the models who were not all very friendly in an extremely competitive business….so she basically stayed to herself which also made her seem aloof….She answered she didn’t know anything about it. The model looked at her aghast, and told her to call her agency to find out. Jac hesitantly made the call…..The head of the agency said to her, “you stupid girl…in order to get the booking for Versaiiles you have to get 3 votes from the 5 designers who were going…..you got 4!”…..So off she went to Paris with 39 other models, 5 designers and their individual staffs. Out of the 5 designers in the show Jac did 3 of the segments. Steven Burrows, who she had worked with wanted her, but she was already assigned to Anne Klein who she also worked for, and who was first in the show. Then Steven was second and Bill Blass who was 3rd in the line up….so she couldn’t make the change to be in Steven’s segment in between AK and Blass….She did Anne Klein, Bill Blass and Oscar de la Renta who was the last to show. Jac had never worked for Oscar, but did work for Bill. When they got back to NY Oscar wanted to book Jac for his shows. He loved her in his segment twirling in a long white chiffon dress. She was so happy she told Bill. Bill told her she had to choose either Oscar or him. She was shocked at Bill’s response. but she was loyal to Bill who had been giving her lots of work….so she chose Bill, and never did an Oscar show….Back in Paris the model’s hotel accommodations were not good, but they spent most of the day at Versailles which was even worse!. The show was the brain child of Eleanor Lambert to raise money to bring Versailles back from its’ horrible condition. It was November of 1973, and Jac told me the palace was freezing cold. The models were wearing their coats to keep warm. There were few bathrooms set up and a lack of toilet paper! Plus no food. Chip Rubenstein, Anne Klein’s husband and business partner, made sure food was brought in for the models to eat. The French rehearsed all day, and the Americans were relegated to rehearse AT NIGHT!!! When the American sets were brought in they didn’t fit because the measurements were done in inches not centimeters….they were thrown out….Kay Thompson, an American musical actress know for the movie “Funny Face”, and also known for giving Judy Garland some of her signature stage moves. She was hired to produce the show which ended up being worse than a nightmare!!! The in fighting and bickering reached a fever pitch! She had 5 segments for each designer had little rehearsal time. There were no sets and 5 designers who were always arguing. Halston threw a fit after a huge argument with Kay and walked out. Kay walked out too. From what I understand Liza Minelli who just won her Oscar for “Cabaret”, and was also the goddaughter of Kay, saved the day, She was close to Halston and smooth the waters. She also gave all of the models a rousing speech! Liza was to open the show with a stage full of American models in trench coats, singing “BONJOUR PARIS”…….Jac spent most of the time hiding and keeping out of everyone’s way. It was all too much for her. The designers were horrible to one another and none of them thought Anne Klein, a lowly sportswear designer, should have bene there, and they let there feeling be known……..At one point Jac was alone in one of the Versailles rooms having a cigarette. She said the place was filthy, but was happy to be away from the madness. At one point two men walked into the room, and saw her smoking. She thought she was going to be admonished for smoking…..instead they came over to her and asked if she had a light for their cigarettes which she did. She noted one was extremely handsome. They walked away and started chatting in French, and she left the room. There was very little rehearsal, but Kay, being smart and taking the bull by the horns, kept things simple……giving certain models certain things to do to make each segment special…….For example…..Billie Blair played the part of a magician for the Halston segment. The empty stage was dark with one spotlight on Billie’s raised arm and hand. She started to pull colored chiffon scarves out of her hand like a magician, and with each new color scarf a model would come out in that color dress. She then led this line of models  like the pied piper, snaking around the stage, each model showing her beautiful long dress….it was simple but amazing………..The French opened first and their show was over 2 HOURS LONG!!!!!!! It was over produced with over elaborate sets that obscured the models…..It was a great BORE!!!. When they were done….The stage was cleared and left bare. Anne Klein started the show with the Black models in African inspired clothing….very bare with lots of skin gyrating to an African beat…..The audience was shocked, because it was so free…..so fabulous, and they had never seen models move in such a seductive way! It was not what they expected American sportswear to be….. Then came Steven Borrows with his brightly colored jersey and lettuce hemmed clothes. Something totally new to the French. The black models were magnificent, and danced and swayed across the stage like nothing the French could imagine. Next….Bill Blass……Jac came out with a fox trimmed long skirt and blouse. She wore a huge hat and a veil, and carried a walking stick. She came onto the dark stage with another model Carol Brant, Jac left Carol standing there and walked to the front of the stage in a very haughty manor….looked at the audience with distain and left as the rest of the models in the Blass segment came out. His theme was Deauville and the roaring twenties. Then the Halston’s segment with Billie as the magician, and then Oscar’s which Jac was in [second photo in from the bottom left] wearing white chiffon. Jac had told me there was a huge fight about who would end the show, and where each designer would be placed in what order, but she didn’t know how it was finally decided………As she was waiting in the wings for her first Anne Klein entrance…..the French were finishing their two hour plus boring show. Out of the wings on the opposite side of the stage comes a magnificent male ballet dancer……She recognized him immediately as the young handsome man who asked her to light his cigarette………It was Rudolf Nureyev….She had no idea who he was until that moment when one of the models told her…..She was in love!……..The American show with 5 designers took a little over 30 minutes! It was a triumph. The mostly French audience stood yelling Bravo as the stage filled will all of the American models. The golden pamphlets were thrown in the air like confetti…..it was unanimous, to the embarrassment of the French….THE AMERICANS WON THE BATTLE OF VERSAILLES. Every paper around the world reported the magnificence of the American show….It changed the way the world looked at American Fashion…..and American Fashion sored….Anne Klein and her husband offered all of the models an extra day in Paris at their expense if they wanted to take in the sights. Some stayed, but many were exhausted. Jac declined their offer. She wanted to get home……Nobody knew except a very few that this was Anne Klein’s last triumph…..and she knew it. She pulled out all of the stops for her segment and wanted to show the world that American sportwear could hold its’ own against anyone. She showed sexy wearable clothes that had not been seen before, and she came out on TOP…….This was the end of November of 1973…..by March of 1974 she would be dead from breast cancer. The fashion world was in shock…….Anne and her partners, knowing her cancer was now fatal, decided to hire me to work along side of Donna who was pregnant, and who also didn’t know until after the show at Versailles how sick Anne was…..Versailles was a triumph for the Americans that is still talked about today……but it was also Anne’s individual triumph………RIP