Empress Of Fashion

One of my holiday reads was the Kindle version of "Empress of fashion" by Amanda McKenzie Stuart.

The book is the biography of Diana Vreeland, the legendary editor- in- chief of Vogue from 1963 to 1971 and later a consultant to Costume Institute of Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

There are many books about her, no doubt she deserves them considering her influence on fashion. This is the first book I red about her and actually I believe it's a great biography.

What I liked most about this book is that by following the life of Diana Vreeland I was able to read about the fashion history decade by decade, her youth in New York during the 20s as a socialite, her career as an editor starting from Harper's Bazaar in 1936 with her famous column "Why don't you?", her many friends and collaborators, not to mention many important names she discovered and introduced to the fashion world. Photographers Richard Avedon and Cecil Beaton, models Dovima, Veruschka, Edie Sedgwick are only a few of the names you will read about while their lives cross with Vreeland's.

Personally, what strikes most about her is how she created her self image, the best of her own self "The girl" as she called it, who achieved much more than she expected.

When she was asked "What is Vogue?" Diana Vreeland answered "Vogue is the myth of the next reality." In fact, I believe now I understand Vogue.

Latest publishing about her is actually coming from her grandson Alexander Vreeland and it is named "Diana Vreeland memos". I will enjoy reading more about her.