Barnes Ritchie, a businessman for his uncle's steel firm, prides himself on being a sworn bachelor, but in reality desires to marry someone with traditional values. Barnes and Jeanie Satterlee, a sophisticated businesswoman who runs an employment agency, meet in the lobby of a New York office building when Barnes accidentally steps on her lipstick, and they soon begin dating. As Barnes makes plans to attend a New Year's Eve party at his uncle Gordon's house with Jeanie and her younger naive sister Honey, Gordon, a philanderer, warns him about Jeanie, whom he believes to be a manipulative and materialistic girl. During the party, Gordon is attracted to Jeanie. Later, as she waits for Barnes before going to dinner, Gordon shows up in his stead and makes excuses for Barnes's absence. She at first refuses an expensive chinchilla coat that he offers her, but weakens when she tries it on and finally accepts it.