In his 1975 autobiography, Things I Remember, Roman Petrovich Tyrtov - who the world knows as Ert - wrote: "I firmly believe that every human being has a duty to make himself as attractive as possible. Not many of us are born beautiful; that is why I have always attached so much importance to clothes. Clothes are a kind of alchemy; they can transform human beings into things of beauty or ugliness... Elegance is an innate quality, it cannot be acquired. A woman of humble background can be elegant by virtue of her appearance, her carriage and movements, her way of speaking and a thousand other details. Chic is elegance within a context of what is currently fashionable; woman can be elegant even it she is dressed in yesterday's fashions, or in a highly personal style." The height of Ert's career was in the 1930s: His designs, especially dancers and "decadent," luxurious and subtly erotic fashion images, became icons of the "Art Deco" style. A prolifi...