When Carl “Eric” Erickson painted this cover for Vogue’s April 1, 1933, Paris Fashions issue, the racetrack was still a place—especially in France—where the well-heeled went to observe each other as much as to cheer on their favorite steeds. As this American artist saw it, the “afternoon of a lady” with winning style might well be spent in a rose-pink sheath and pearls. Comfort wasn’t yet driving fashion; as Princess Bibesco wrote in this issue of the season’s offerings, “There is a dress created for each circumstance of life.”

Vogue Cover by Artist Carl Oscar August Erickson, originally published on April 1933