chic

Chic, in Dariaux's account, is the innate quality that elegance is not. It is intellectual, intuitive, partially unteachable. It has nothing to do with beauty: Marlene Dietrich had it; Elizabeth Taylor did not. It cannot be acquired through effort; it can only be diminished by it.

One baby in its crib may have chic, while another doesn't. Elegance, by contrast, can be acquired by any woman of intelligence, discipline, and self-knowledge.

Chic without conventional beauty — Dariaux's central evidence.

Chic and elegance combined — the rare case.

By trying too hard to be chic, succeeded in being neither regal nor elegant — only conspicuous.

Beauty without chic — the reciprocal cautionary case.