Quaintrelle

It folweth nouht that thouh j be thus kembt and a litel make the queyntrelle that for swich cause j am fair

On this evening, however, Warthrop became as punctilious as the fussiest quaintrelle. I, as his impromptu valet, bore the brunt of his anxiety. His waistcoat was wrinkled. His shoes were scuffed. His cravat was crooked.

From Rosie the Riveter to Coco Channel^([sic – meaning Coco Chanel]) (in pants!), from Amelia Earhart to the quaintrelle (the female dandy), change in women's dress has symbolized everything from the right and need to work outside the home to wearing pants as a fashion statement to excelling at a profession (even as an aviatrix) to once again claiming the right to cultivate life's pleasures.

Her sparkling, hazel eyes emitted a pearly glow … the windows to to ^([sic]) an untarnished, unblemished soul. Her spirit was that of a quaintrelle. He was struck by her nuances, which did not seem so subtle after all.

She was the type of woman who deserved to live in a villa or a fancy hotel. The kind of woman you named a star after. A quaintrelle.

His smile becomes the flowering flame, a bunch / Of exquisitely beautiful daisies / Among which dandies and quaintrelles flourish / With parrot and chameleon power in full bloom.

[Jean] Painlevé presented Hyas and Stenorhynchus crabs as both masters of disguise—engaging in forms of camouflage or blending into their environment—and undersea dandies and quaintrelles.