In 1933, Dietrich crossed the Atlantic in the SS Europa making headlines for dressing in a gorgeous white pantsuit. The Parisian police warned her that she would be arrested if she wore menswear in the French capital. In response, Dietrich stepped off the train and onto the Paris platform wearing her most mannish tweed suit, complete with her hair slicked back under a beret and sunglasses fashioned after the monocle, a coded symbol of lesbianism.
Images and text taken from the Dietrich exhibition at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington (x)
So did she get arrested? What is the ending of this event?
Since you asked what happened:
That evening, Dietrich attended the police’s annual charity event, organized by the wife of the head of the police, Jean Chiappe. The site was decorated in the style of the famous German film Der Kongress tanzt, starring Richard Tauber. Dietrich convinced Tuber, a former lover, to attend. As a thank you and an apology, Chiappe gave Dietrich a sandalwood bracelet.
(The picture on the SS Europa is by Paul Cwojdzinski (I think) the other is credited in the exhibition to the New York Times Paris Edition May 1933 but I can’t find a photographer credit.)
