Gloves, Skirts, and Shady Deals at Palais Royal

January 21, 1895, will be remembered as the day the façade of luxury and sophistication at Palais Royal was revealed to be nothing more than a thin veil for a web of deceit. The high-end store in Washington D.C. was offering a tantalizing deal on muslin skirts, but something was amiss. The Palais Royal’s ‘extra offering’ of 100 dozen skirts at 85 cents each was just the tip of the iceberg. A closer look revealed that the store was selling these skirts to their most loyal customers, including notorious figures, at a fraction of their true value.