The debutante was expected to look aloof. (debutante: deb, society newcomer; aloof: distant, detached, reserved) Her mother had chosen an affected smile for her to practice. (affected: unnatural, artificial, mannered) The girl thought the smile an affectation. (affectation: pose, pretense, pretension) Her own artless grin made the dressmaker laugh, which was a far better beginning to an evening. (artless: ingenuous, unaffected, natural) The truly haughty guest turned out to be a columnist in borrowed shoes. (haughty: arrogant, supercilious, disdainful)
He called the tailor an arriviste because she had come in by the front door. (arriviste: upstart, social climber, status-seeking newcomer) His condescending offer to show her the service stairs drew an unexpectedly assertive reply. (condescending: patronizing, superior, haughty; assertive: self-assured, confident, forthright) "I've made six of the gowns on those stairs," she said. "Let me know if any need service." The girl feared the columnist would spread an aspersion about her friend's manners. (aspersion: slur, calumny, slander)
Instead he lifted his heel. The borrowed shoe was coming apart. His arrogant demeanor collapsed with the sole. (arrogant: haughty, conceited, overbearing; demeanor: manner, bearing, deportment) The two women led him to a quiet chair, found a stout needle and gave him a choice. Black thread would be safer, red rather dashing. His first genuine smile of the evening was for the red.