In New York City, George Petty, a talented painter, presses car magnate B. J. Manton to market his dull new model with a splash of glamour. His pitch stalls until Manton’s daughter, Mrs. Dezlow, interrupts the meeting, takes a shine to the handsome artist, and becomes his patron. She outfits him with a lavish apartment and a loyal butler, Beardsley, nudging him to abandon his cheesecake canvases in favor of more respectable portraits and opening a window into a glittering, high-society world.
Meanwhile, Victoria Braymore, Braymore College’s youngest professor, travels to New York to defend her school against charges of being outdated. She has led a sheltered life, raised by the older professors after the founders’ deaths, and is always chaperoned. Her ally is her friend Dr. Crutcher. She meets George in an art museum; initially resistant, she agrees to dinner only if he can arrange a date for Dr. Crutcher, prompting George to recruit Beardsley to pose as his uncle. The dinner is a disaster: Beardsley gets drunk, Dr. Crutcher mistakes him for George’s date, and Victoria remains wary. Despite the rocky start, George follows her to a nightclub frequented by artists, hoping for a second chance.
A police raid erupts in the club, and Victoria ends up arrested, dressed only in her slip. Her front-page photograph shocks the public and sets the tone for a new chapter in her life. After she’s released, she cuts short her trip and returns to Braymore. George follows and takes a busboy job at the faculty residence to stay near her, using the newspaper image to pressure her into another date. Their initial outings go awry, and a misinterpreted moment when she poses for a painting in his room adds to the tension, prompting Professor Whitman. Victoria questions her role at the college and the life she has been expected to lead.
Determined to prove a point, Victoria visits George’s apartment, where she encounters her rival for his affections, Mrs. Dezlow. She argues that she won’t be molded by others and then, back in the art world, replaces one of George’s paintings with a portrait of herself in a bathing suit. The resulting publicity lands her a starring role in a burlesque, and George quickly enforces an injunction to stop her from performing as the “Petty Girl.” Yet the injunction only covers public spaces, so Victoria crashes a private party hosted by Mrs. Dezlow to promote George. There, she performs with a male quartet and twelve beautiful women, each representing a month, including an uncredited appearance by Tippi Hedren as one of the Petty Girls. The dazzling number wins over B. J. Manton, who reverses his stance on George’s campaign. In the end, George realizes Victoria’s viewpoint was right all along, and they share a kiss, choosing to face the future together.
