A black wool gabardine day suit with silk grosgrain inserts by fashion designer Patou, ca. 1937. Didion mentions Patou on page 23.

Wikipedia says:
Jean Patou (Paris, 1880-1936) was a French fashion designer.
The designer, who was born in Normandy, France, opened his couture house in 1919 and became known for eradicating the flapper look by lengthening the skirt and returning to a natural waistline. Patou also is credited with introducing sportswear for women and is considered the inventor of the knitted swimwear and the tennis skirt. He also was the first designer to popularize the cardigan, moving fashion towards the natural and comfortable. Patou's clothes were marketed mostly to wealthy American women. When the stock market crashed, however, so did the market for luxury fashion. The House of Patou survived through its perfumes, which remain well known today.

Find pictures of other fashions mentioned in Democracy when you click on the objects below. What do the images tell you about characters who wear them? about the society that Didion depicts in her novel?