True love

Caresse and Harry Crosby lived a life of utter dissolution off Harry’s inheritance which, when it ran out, had to be supplemented by telegrams to his banker father such as the infamous, “PLEASE SELL 10,000 WORTH OF STOCK. WE HAVE DECIDED TO LIVE A MAD AND EXTRAVAGANT LIFE”. They madly loved …

Dîner au lit

From their arrival in 1922, the Crosbys led the life of rich expatriates. They were attracted to the bohemian lifestyle of the artists gathering in Montparnasse. They embraced a decadent lifestyle, had an open marriage with numerous ongoing affairs, a suicide pact, frequent drug use, dinner parties from their bed …

Invention of some freedom

In 1910, at age 19, Polly (a.k.a. Mary Phelps Jacob a.k.a. Caresse Crosby was preparing to attend yet another débutante ball one evening. As was customary, she put on a corset stiffened with whalebone and a restrictive, tight corset cover  that flattened and jammed her large breasts together into a …