At times, clients looked to French designs for inspiration. The most detailed of the shop's day books, that for 1916 to 1919, is filled with examples of orders in which clients request Anna to copy from various sources. Sometimes the customers' wishes are quite clear, as in Mrs. Barnes Newberry's order of 1919. She requests a henna-colored chiffon evening gown based on the sketch of a garment published by B. Altman & Company under the name "Tosca" [fig. 17]. Other clients, such as Mrs. William Ely, requested that Anna combine elements of various garments to get the look that they wanted. In March 1917, Mrs. Ely ordered a gray-and-blue foulard gown using a variety of sketches as inspiration. The front of the waist was based on an illustration of a French design by the house of Premet, published by importer William H. Taylor. The Spring 1917 Harry Angelo Company's Book of Models provided the idea for the rest of the garment: the sleeves were taken from design no. 2, the back of the waist from design no. 28, and the front of the skirt from no. 13. Some clients were more vague about their desires. Anna was left to interpret the instructions of Mrs. Brigham, who ordered a black satin evening dress that she wished to look like something between Haas Brothers's sketch no. 379 and Harry Angelo Company's no. 40, designed by Agnès.(7)

Although model books were available to tailors and dressmakers and were often used for design inspiration, they were published with another purpose in mind. American dry-goods importers and department stores produced model books semiannually and used them as sales catalogues in conjunction with week-long showings of their spring and fall models from Paris. With the model books, dressmakers from throughout the United States could acquire the texiles, trims, and notions needed to make true Paris designs. The majority of model books were illustrated with sketches of the designs or with photographs. In B. Altman's Advance Styles for Spring and Summer, 1918, photographs of the models are accompanied by detailed descriptions of the many materials available to create the gown. Of course, all of these components could be purchased from Altman's. Altman's model Ombrette, [fig. 18] could be constructed using "61ò4 yds. 22 in. lace edge; 15ò8 yds. 45 in. edge; 43ò4 yds. 8 in. lace insertion; 2 yds. white china silk; 15ò8 yds. chiffon; 31ò4 yds. georgette; 2 yds. 2 in. lace edge; 11ò4 yds white mousseline; 1 yd. green silk net."(8)

Importers and department-store buyers traveled to France at least twice a year to acquire the rights to Paris couture designs. Each design was accompanied by a list of the materials used in its creation, along with sources of supply. The American firm would acquire the materials used in the originals or make substitutions. The American showings included both the actual Paris models and the importer's versions of the designs, along with the fabrics from which they were constructed.(9) In 1918, the Harry Angelo Company acquired a dinner dress from the Parisian couturiere Jeanne Paquin and offered their interpretation of it in the 1918 spring model book [fig. 19]. The original dress was illustrated in Vogue, June 1, 1918 [fig. 20]. Although the dresses are similar, the lace used in the Harry Angelo Company model is of a more traditional design, giving the dress a somewhat conservative look. The Angelo lace would also have been less expensive, as it lacked the scalloped lower edge. Very few importers actually advertised in Vogue. One of them was Haas Brothers, who announced in the magazine that their "Blue Book of Paris Models can now be seen at the leading Dressmakers and Ladies' Tailors" [fig. 21].