Langtry started out wearing one dress as a newlywed…

.. and was considered “socially inept” when she moved to London with her husband in 1877.  Through the 1880’s she was THE fashion icon, whom women in Europe and America, including the Royals modeled themselves after.

At the peak of her career (and somewhere around affair #6 by our count), she had millions $ and spent lavishly.  The center of attention wherever she went because of her “luscious beauty”, intelligence, and humor – and her willingness to adapt to American society – men loved her and women wanted to be just like her.

She made it socially acceptable for a woman to pose for advertising.  In the “Wild West” of the 1880’s and ’90’s, she was the dream of the cowboy, and western heroes like “Judge Roy Bean” who tried to pay her to come out, though she never did.

Langtry challenged Victorian cultural attitudes towards women, but was absolutely not a suffragette.