1962–1971 (Vogue years), 181–264; aging and, 260; Blahnik discovered by, 263–64, 372n 264; consulting work, 264–65; decline of career, 253–59; dominant theme of heroine of one’s own life, 194–97; Dynel period of, 208; on editing, 192; entertaining at 550 Park Avenue, 219–21, 225; feminism and, 244–45, 260, 261; finances of, 219, 264–65; friends and, 219, 224, 264, 265; “the Girl” and, 194, 196, 209, 210, 230, 261; home life and marriage, 219–22; Hutton and Tree discovered by, 230–32; illness of 1972, 265–66; individual style and, 243, 245, 248, 253; on intellectualizing fashion, 192; internationalism and expansion of the reader’s experience, 211–16, 218; Kennedy assassination, 201; Liberman accusation of drinking, 258; on Liberman’s cowardice, 259; liberties with designers’ work, 193–94; London Sunday Times article on, 239; on male identity, 245; politics and, 239–41; Reed’s death and, 221–24; “swinging London” of the 1960s and fashion, 197–99; Vogue arrival and clash with Daves, 184–85; Vogue Consulting Editor, 262–66; Vogue editor in chief, 1, 185–219, 223–59; Vogue firing and reaction, 258–59, 261–62; Vogue hiring of, 181–82; Vogue severance terms, 261–62; Vogue vision and philosophy, 187, 241–43, 260; wildness and the 1960s, 226–27; WWD interview, Jan. 1963, 185; Youthquake and, 202–4, 236. See also Vogue
1972–1987 (Costume Institute years), 1, 267–317; as ahead of her time, 312; art and music in exhibitions, 275, 279, 282, 295; contract signed, 270; entertaining at 550 Park Avenue, 288, 290, 296, 307, 314; failing health and eyesight, 313–19; finances of, 277, 317; first reaction to position offer, 269; friends’ help, 269–70, 276, 277, 278, 284, 288; the Girl and, 312; ideas on presentation of exhibitions, 274–75, 279; influence on other museums, 313; Japan trip, 1975, 291–92; nicknames for friends, 289; Party of the Year and, 278–79; perfumes used in exhibitions, 275, 279, 282, 295; persuading friends to part with clothes and, 273, 274, 279; replicas commissioned, 281–82; Russia trip and curators, 293–96; Saint Laurent exhibition controversy, 312; secretary for, 6, 282, 283; social status and lifestyle, 286–88, 296, 297, 307; working routine, 282–83. See also Costume Institute, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Vreeland, Elizabeth “Betty” Breslauer (daughter-in-law), 151–53, 168, 175, 184, 185, 214
Vreeland, Frederick “Freck”‘ (son): birth of, 70; childhood, 76, 95–96; cousin Emi-Lu and, 140; DV at Vogue and, 185; DV’s dressing of, 76, 96; DV’s final days and, 318; DV’s severance terms from Condé Nast and, 261–62; in Geneva, 151–53, 214; government career, 151, 366n 215; at Groton, 137; Jackie Kennedy and, 175; marriages, 151, 304; in merchant marine, 140; in Morocco, 215–16, 366n 215; return to America, 1934, 101; sons of, 215; at Yale, 151
Vreeland, Herbert H. (father-in-law), 63, 347n 63
Vreeland, Jean Partridge (daughter-in-law), 151, 304
Vreeland, Lisa Immordino, 6
Vreeland, Nancy Stolkin (daughter-in-law), 304
Vreeland, Nicholas (grandson), 215, 292; DV and his Buddhism, 304–5
Vreeland, Phoebe (granddaughter), 304
Vreeland, Reed (great-grandson), 318
Vreeland, Thomas “Reed” (husband): aesthetic sense, 64–65; in Albany, New York, 69–71; aspirations for professional singing career, 148–49; as banker, 69, 71, 73, 76, 100, 349n 76; Blass and, 225; Brewster house, 148; character and personality, 150, 225, 367n 225; clothes and style, 149–50, 154; at Dar Nejma Ezzahra, 91–92; d’Erlanger job, 137; DV’s self-esteem and, 98; education and talent, 64; in England (1929–1935), 73–102; family background, 63; final years and death, 219–22; financial problems, 139, 222, 223; good looks, 65, 68, 74, 98; home at 550 Park Ave, 153–55; at Hotel Beau-Rivage, Ouchy, Switzerland, 101–2; infidelity of, 141–42, 148, 150; lifestyle created for by DV, 63, 91–94, 124, 149–50, 179, 219–21; maid of, 221–22; marriage and, 89, 102, 149–51; meets and marries DV, 63–68; parenting by, 76, 95–96; post-war roles 148; return to New York and DV, 1947, 148; trips with DV to Germany, 1930s, 93–94; war years in Montreal, 137, 141–42, 148; women and, 97–98, 352n 98; World War II and, 124
Vreeland, Thomas “Tim” (son): as architect, 151; birth of, 70; childhood and parents, 76, 95–96, 140; cousin Emi-Lu and, 140; DV’s dressing of, 76, 96; DV’s final days and, 318; DV’s Hollywood exhibition and, 281; father’s death and, 222; at Groton, 137, 140; marriages, 151, 304; return to America, 1935, 102; Swiss prep school and, 102; at Yale, 151
Vreeland, Vanessa Somers (daughter-in-law), 304
Walker, Joset, 130
Wallis Shops, 200
Warhol, Andy, 30, 282, 291, 296, 306, 307, 376n 305; DV’s relationship with, 5, 173, 288, 289–90, 291, 302, 305, 306, 314; portraits by, 291; recording DV and, 299–300
Warren, Mr. and Mrs. Whitney, 16
Weill, Kurt, 136
Weir, Charles Gouverneur, 18
Weir, June, 253
Weir, Mary Hoffman (grandmother), 18, 19, 25, 62; birth of DV and, 21; death of, 51; as DV’s godmother, 21; farm in Katonah, New York, 22, 50–51, 53, 74; inheritance for DV, 50–51, 345n 51; supporting DV, 36, 49–51
Westwood, Vivienne, 326
Weymouth, Lally, 34, 146, 196–97, 302
Wheelock, Dorothy, 172
White, Kate, 170
White, Nancy, 171–73, 179, 180, 206
White, Stanford, 17, 340n 17
“Why Don’t You?” column, 1, 112–19, 121, 139, 326, 354n 112
Wilde, Oscar, 55
Wilder Shores of Love, The (Blanch), 213, 214
Williams, Harrison, 78, 359n 155, 369n 234
Williams, Mona (Mrs. Harrison). See Bismarck, Mona (formerly Mona Williams)
Wilson, Elizabeth, 323, 328
Windsor, Duke of, 60, 155, 218, 298, 316, 352n 100
clothes exhibition and, 270–72
Windsor, Duchess of, 99–100, 352n 100, 270–72
Wolf, Henry, 173, 362n 173
Woman’s Home Companion, 41
women: all-American girl, 1940s, 133–34; beau idéal, 1930s, 88; changing roles of, post World War I, 59–60; conservatism and, 251, 252; DV on the female body, 37, 38, 203–4; DV’s assessment of fashion flaws, 1930s, 122–23; DV’s future vision of, 250; DV’s influence on, 180, 216; DV’s misreading of career women, 250–51; fashion and, 229, 323; fashion of the 1930s, demands of, 88; feminism and, 226–27, 243–45, 249, 252–53, 261, 323; individualism of the 1960s, 236–37, 245; jobs in fashion industry, 130, 356n 130; jobs in fashion publishing, 6–7; “New Woman,” 57, 58, 107; personality development and, 88; the Pill and sexual liberation, 199, 227, 245, 247–49; retail shopgirls, 356n 130; Roaring Twenties and, 56–57; romantic fantasy and, 213–14; shopping and, 57–58; Snow’s influence, 161–62; “types,” 57; working, and buying habits, 250, 251–52, 259–60; World War II and, 127, 130, 356n 130
Women’s Wear Daily (WWD), 174; DV interview, Jan. 1963, 185
World War II, 124–43: declaration of, Europe, 124; DV and Bacall in St. Augustine and, 135; DV leaves Europe and, 124–25; DV’s career and, 136; DV’s sons and, 140–41; U. S. Limitation Order L-85, 127, 143; women’s employment, 130, 356n 130; women’s fashions, 127–30, 144
Worth, Charles Frederick, 119
Wragge, B. H., 164–65
Wright, Frank Lloyd, 133
Wrightsman, Mrs. Charles, 274
Wyman, Bill, 288
Yarmolovich, Nina, 295
Ziegfeld, Flo, 296
Ziegfeld Follies, 3
Zipkin, Jerome, 8–9, 224–25, 311
Zuckerman, Ben, 161, 164, 176, 177
About the Author
AMANDA MACKENZIE STUART worked as a screenwriter and independent film producer for a number of years before publishing her first biography, the critically acclaimed Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Daughter and Mother in the Gilded Age. She lives in Oxford, England.
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Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Daughter and a Mother in the Gilded Age
Credits
Front cover photograph © by Baron George von Hoyningen-Huene, © R.J. Horst
Cover design by Robin Bilardello
Copyright
EMPRESS OF FASHION. Copyright © 2012 by Amanda Mackenzie Stuart. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Frontispiece illustration by Kenneth Paul Block, printed with permission by Morton Ribyat
FIRST EDITION
Epub Edition © DECEMBER 2012 ISBN: 9780062098023
ISBN: 978-0-06-169174-4
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