READ THIS: DIANA VREELAND The Eye Has to Travel By Lisa Immordino Vreeland Essays by Lally Weymouth, Judith Thurman, and Judith Clark Sponsored by Parisian Luxury Lingerie Label Les Jupons De Tess
Parisian Luxury Lingerie Label Les Jupons De Tess (http://www.lesjuponsdetess.com) is taking the United States to a higher level of quality lingerie that previously was yet to be discovered beyond the borders of Paris. The 2011-2012 collection remains true to the four-year-old brand with its exceptional pieces, expressing the luxury and coquettish style of women in the 18th century with class and distinction. Created by master designer Caroline Tannous, Les Jupons De Tess boasts lustrous fabrics such as silk crepe and French “leavers” lace, as well as new additions such as revamped leopard print, and you know animal prints are cutting edge this fall. It is Highly Recommended by Whom You Know (and Diana notice it is in red):
The styles available are: underwired bras, halter neck triangle bras, smocked cotton bra tops, camisoles, slip sets, thongs, briefs, shorts, full briefs, corsets, suspender belts, and "soft" basques. Chosen as a “coup de cœur” label by Chantal Thomass and Christine Walter-Bonini, Director of the prestigious ESMOD fashion school, at the salon de la lingerie in January 2009, Les Jupons de Tess is clearly a very promising young label whose new collection we absolutely adore!
Where Les Jupons de Tess is sold :
Cazar in Germany
Faire Frou Frou in LA
Marques de Noblesse in France
And you will see when you read this book that Diana Vreeland herself had her own little lingerie shop in London-Mayfair to be exact. We believe that if she still had it today, this is a brand she would be carrying. (see page 29!)
"Wallis Simpson had become a close friend of Vreeland's prior to marrying the Duke of Windsor. Frederick Vreeland recalls: 'When Wallis Simpson, twice-divorced American, was invited to spend the weekend at the Prince of Wales's small country house, she went to Mom's lingerie shop and equipped herself appropriately, and of course, the rest is history. It was one of the most successful seductions in contemporary history, and it led to the abdication of a king, which, at the time, was a major political event.'" (page 181)
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"I was always mad about clothes. You don't get born in Paris to forget about clothes in five minutes." -Diana Vreeland
Put your feet up and lie down on the tiger rug you'll find on page 49- the cover of Harper's Bazaar November 1941- and listen to the colorful tale of Diana Vreeland! She may have passed away in 1989, but Diana Vreeland's spirit and influence transcends time and makes this book incredibly relevant today. To know where one is going, you must look in the review mirror to gain perspective and whether or not you realize it at this very moment, Diana Vreeland has influenced your aesthetic life. The world of fashion boasts many levels of originals, but few if any have been as strikingly in their own class with the level of influence of Diana Vreeland, and it is a pity we never met her.
In everyone we've met or heard of in fashion, we believe Diana is the best celebration of different we've ever found and she was a tremendous social success as well. Through this major work of art and heartfelt clear passion and admiration for what Diana did, Lisa Immordino Vreeland, married to Diana's grandson, gives every reader the best opportunity to get to know her through 256 remarkable pages that will leave you entranced, inspired and ready to get dressed! In fairness, Lisa never met Diana either however she clearly has access to the best sources around-her children and grandchildren so that makes the quality of content of this book that much greater.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is undoubtedly one of the most if not the most influential person in fashion in the last century...and guess who got the first photos and White House Story in 1961? Vreeland did! ...with Bazaar. She and Jackie had a strong friendship that continued to Jackie's editor days when she edited Diana Vreeland's autobiography (you'll remember in Read This we previously reviewed Reading Jackie... which is as close to an autobiography on Jackie as you'll get in our humble opinion.)
Born in Paris, Diana Vreeland was a major player in international fashion for several decades with a worldwide reach. A fashion editor at Harper’s Bazaar starting in 1936, Vreeland began her influential career on the cutting edge of what fashion should be, and stylistically colonized the masses through her work at Bazaar until 1962, finally becoming editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine from 1962–70. Though we had never met her, our clearcut interpretation implies that the word character does not even begin to approach the full realm of her animated personality that has become legendary throughout the ages. What we wouldn't give to go to a cocktail party with her...In 1914 she moved to New York City from Europe. In New York, she lived at 550 Park and the book mentions that food was secondary to drinking at her parties; in the 1960's Mick Jagger broke her chandelier....she was the first to publish his photo in America in 1964. We love her silk striped dining room, and we cannot emphasize enough how strong a component of this book the photography is. Her genius for anticipation coupled with Avedon's photography was a clearcut winning formula for newsstand success. And, we of course adored the shoes on page 106-107 by Andy Warhol. But who influenced Diana?
"...Chanel became Vreeland's favorite designer. 'I met her [Chanel] in 1926, which was really the moment the world's clothes totally changed: the clean shirt, the little jackets and skirts.'...Vreeland said she loved clothes from the moment she was born, and so, living in London, she took trips to Paris and bough Chanel's clothes. 'I learned everything from Chanel as far as the way I like clothes.'" (page 20)
And how did she feel about color?
"Red is the Great Clarifier- Bright, Cleansing, and Revealing. It makes all colors beautiful. I can't imagine becoming bored with red-it would be like becoming bored with the person you love." (page 47)
It is widely known that one of the most coveted tickets in New York each year is a ticket to the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala...and she is the one that made this department and this event on the level it is today by building an unbreakable foundation beginning in 1972 through her vast knowledge and hard work until 1989 when she passed away. Her rigor equals success, and the world is better for this.
One of the best quotes, from page 11:
"Vreeland's passion for life was her driving force. 'Passion for passion, you can learn anything, you can do anything, you can go anywhere. Don't you think passion is very rare? And I think that it is getting rarer because there is so little around us.' The word passion is defined as a 'very powerful feeling'; this was Diana Vreeland's raison d'etre,, and she applied it to all aspects of her personal and public lives."
What we love about Diana:
Her rigor!
Her flawless taste!
Her drive!
Her extraordinary originality!
Her love of the excellent!
How else do you know her? If you have seen the movie Funny Face, she is played by Kay Thompson, who of course wrote all of the Eloise books we know and love. Actually at last count, Eloise held the record for having the most books featured in Read This....
Invigorate your spirit and read Diana Vreeland The Eye Has to Travel!
It's highly recommended by Whom You Know.
In the spirit of her column, we'll say: Why Don't You...READ THIS!
It's highly recommended by Whom You Know.
In the spirit of her column, we'll say: Why Don't You...READ THIS!
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Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel by Lisa Immordino Vreeland (Abrams; October 2011; U.S. $55.00/Can. $62.00; ISBN: 978-0-8109-9743-1) chronicles 50 years of international fashion and the incredible, rich life of Diana Vreeland. Called “the High Priestess of Fashion,” Vreeland (1903–89) was an American original whose impact on fashion and style in her time was legendary.
With more than 350 illustrations—including original magazine spreads and many famous images by such photographers as Richard Avedon and Irving Penn—this intensely visual book shows fashion as it was being invented, and how Vreeland shaped American taste through her superb vision.
Beginning in 1936, when she became a fashion editor at Harper’s Bazaar, Vreeland established herself as a controversial visionary who had an astonishing ability to invent and discover fashion ideas, designers, personalities, and photographers. She continued to be a force in fashion throughout her long career, eventually becoming editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine (1962–70) and muse-in-residence at the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute (1972–89). She was a memorable writer with a talent for coining aphorisms and a vivid personality, startling in appearance, who made an impact on everyone she met.
Author Lisa Immordino Vreeland, a filmmaker and fashion consultant, is producing a documentary on Vreeland as well. Vreeland’s many facets are also revealed in essays by well-known writers Lally Weymouth and Judith Thurman and costume curator Judith Clark.
About the Authors
Lisa Immordino Vreeland runs her own fashion design and production consulting business. She was the director of public relations for Polo Ralph Lauren in Italy; launched Industria, Fabrizio Ferri’s sportswear line; and founded two fashion companies, Pratico and Mago. The producer of a documentary film about Diana Vreeland, she is married to Vreeland’s grandson Alexander.
Lally Weymouth is a writer, journalist, and senior editor at Newsweek. She was the author of a seminal profile of Vreeland in Rolling Stone magazine in 1977.
Judith Thurman is a National Book Award–winning author (for Isak Dinesen) and contributing writer at The New Yorker, often on women and fashion.
Judith Clark is former curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, where she was a colleague of Vreeland’s.
About the Book
Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel
By Lisa Immordino Vreeland; essays by Lally Weymouth, Judith Thurman, and Judith Clark
Abrams / October 2011
U.S. $55.00 / Can. $62.00
ISBN: 978-0-8109-9743-1
Hardcover with jacket
10" x 12" / 256 pages
350 color and black-and-white photographs
Founded by Harry N. Abrams in 1949, ABRAMS was the first company in the United States to specialize in the creation and distribution of art and illustrated books. Now a subsidiary of La Martinière Groupe, the company publishes visually stunning illustrated books in the areas of art, photography, cooking, interior and garden design, craft, architecture, entertainment, fashion, sports, pop culture, as well as children’s books and general interest titles. The company’s imprints include Abrams, Abrams ComicArts, Abrams Image, Abrams Books for Young Readers, Amulet Books, Stewart, Tabori & Chang, and STC Craft/Melanie Falick Books. Abrams also distributes books for The Vendome Press, Victoria & Albert Museum, Tate, Royal Academy of Arts, Booth-Clibborn Editions, Five Continents and others.
