There are his & hers cups, his & hers sinks, and now… his & hers books! I can’t remember when I got these, but I was looking through my books and realised that I have these two!
The Lost Art of Being a Lady and The Lost Art of Being a Gentleman are two very similar books that claim to give “vintage tips for the modern lady/man”. They are actually both very similar, hence me combining my review of both books into one. In general, both books cover things like etiquette, style, personal grooming, health, work, housework, etc. The big difference in content is that The Lost Art of Being a Lady has a chapter titled “A Lady of Leisure” which covers hobbies like flower arranging, fundraising, etc, while The Lost Art of Being a Gentleman combines work and play (thus truncating the hobbies section) and instead has a chapter titled “Behind the Wheel”.
Most of the advice given in the book is sensible and applicable for both sexes – such as the advice to split bills evenly unless someone is on a budget or has not ordered alcoholic drinks while the others have, etc. Some advice did make me raise an eyebrow; the most striking example is the advice to sip a glass of milk with a crushed garlic clove mixed into it to clear a stuffy nose!
While much of the advice is applicable to both men and women, the books are not a one-to-one. For example, the chapter on housekeeping has tips on what to clean on a daily/week/monthly basis for ladies, and tips on window cleaning and wallpapering for the men. Clearly, the more gendered advice is based on traditional gender roles, and that’s probably where the “vintage” angle of the book comes in. I suppose this is par for the course, since I couldn’t find anything else that screamed “vintage” in the book.
Honestly, these were books that I would have loved when I was younger and all about generic advice and how to be a ‘lady’. Thankfully, most of what in this book makes sense and if you’re looking for some Western-culture specific etiquette books, this isn’t too terrible as a basic introduction.