Vogue by emily king

letter from the editor _____________________________________________

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By EMILY KING

VOGUE HISTORY merica was introduced toVogue in December 1892 by Harry McVicar and Arthur Baldwin Turnure as a “dignified, authentic journal of society, fashion and the ceremonial side of life” geared towards both men and women. Vogue’s bland advertisements struggled to keep the magazine alive during the turn of the century. The magazine was saved in 1909 by Condé Nast, the powerhouse publisher from 1909 until 1942, who saw Vogue as an

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opportunity to flaunt elegance and attract the taste of the upper class. 2 From the Condé Nast takeover to present day, Vogue’s Editors-in-Chief have steered the magazine to become increasingly focused on fashion, celebrities, and women. Out of the seven total Editors-in-Chief of Vogue, I believe that two classic trademark women, Diana Vreeland and Anna Wintour, have made the most enormous leaps for the magazine to drive it from a gossip column to “the world’s most influential fashion magazine.” 1

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1963-1971 _____________________________

DIANA VREELAND A fashionista mastermind ruled Vogue to become more focused on personality, rather than the looks of women. know what they’re going to wear before they wear it, what they’re going to eat before they eat it. I know where they’re going before it’s even there!” Diana Vreeland was nothing short of fashion genius. Vreeland was discovered by Carmel Snow of Harper’s Bazaar and made her big debut as a fashion editor for Harper’s Bazaar before working for Vogue. During Vreeland’s reign as Editor-in-Chief, Vogue served as a projection of fads and revolutions that were taking over and became trademark of the 2 VOGUE NOVEMBER 2011

1960s. Voluptuous pinup girls were replaced with skinny, gangly teenage models such as Lauren Hutton, and Edie Sedgewick, all of whom Diane Vreeland discovered. Vreeland was unlike any fashion editor of her time and remodeled America’s perception of a fashion editor. Previous fashion editors were thought of as snobby, boring, and conservative, but Vreeland transferred her magnetic personality to the pages of Vogue, which inspired millions. Vreeland once said, "Today only personality counts. I do not believe we should put in [the WWW.VOGUE.COM

magazine] so-called society, as it is démodé and practically doesn't exist… but ravishing personalities are the most riveting things in the world -- conversation, people's interests, the atmosphere that they create round them - these are the things that I feel are worth putting in any issue."4 Vreeland is of course guilty of living a lavish life, but she kept level-headed, which is very rare in the fashion world. When choosing clothing and accessories to make popular, she kept in mind what the average American woman would be comfortable in and what would be unreasonable. For instance, she rejected the idea of long skirts because they were not suitable for an American mother running around with children. She also concentrated on clothes and accessories that were well made of quality materials, regardless of their price. This remains one of the most significant characteristics of Vogue today. Vreeland maintained her mindset that the woman herself is more important than her looks, even in the harsh face of old fashioned critics. That is what initially made Vogue unique. Vreeland started wacky columns to get women to think outside the box, such as one called “Why Don’t You?” and listed crazy, adventurous things for women to try, such as washing your child’s hair in champagne. 5

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Vreeland took everyone’s image of what a woman should be and reshaped it. Before her influence, women were expected to dress in conservative dresses, have their body fully covered even in swimwear, and never act outlandish or strange. Vreeland did not discard dresses, but she made jeans and a jacket a popular, classic outfit for women, while maintaining femininity. She disregarded society’s thoughts about women being fully covered and became responsible for the popularity of the bikini. She encouraged women to embrace what makes them unique and flaunt it. Before Vreeland, Vogue often featured photos of a woman’s face alone. Vreeland wanted Vogue to me more concerned with the woman’s entire body, so she is responsible for granting importance to the full outfit photos that fill Vogue today. The thick, elegant red letters in Baskerville Old Face font at the top of every Vogue magazine have become a trademark symbol. Vreeland chose the color red to represent the magazine. Her home and office were covered in red because she felt as though it could never be boring.6 Still today, the only colored subtitles and side notes in the magazine are red. Diana Vreeland was a huge revolutionary building block for Vogue and a perfect embodiment of women taking pride of themselves in the 1960s. WWW.VOGUE.COM

1988-present ___________________________________

7, 8

ANNA WINTOUR The current Editor-in-Chief, “Nuclear Wintour,” is the gatekeeper of the fashion industry. he is the ranked number forty-six on Forbes List of the world’s most influential women. The movie “The Devil Wears Prada” was based on her extreme bluntness and disregard for anyone’s thoughts or opinions but her own. She prefers to wear sunglasses indoors. PETA activists often attack her at public events because they believe she is the reason people wear fur.9 She is a dictator of the entire fashion world and simply hearing her name is enough 4 VOGUE NOVEMBER 2011

reason for someone who has worked with her to get goosebumps. Her name is Anna Wintour, but “her reserved mien and decisiveness — what some call "the specificity of her vision" and others her inflexibility — have attracted fabulous nicknames like Nuclear Wintour.””10 She landed a job at Vogue in July 1988, and the fashion industry would never be the same again. Anna Wintour is undoubtedly one of the most influential fashion editors to ever live. She is dedicated to finding new talent in the fashion industry and is always successful. She WWW.VOGUE.COM

is responsible for the careers of some of the ANNA WINTOUR most prominent fashion designers in the world, such as Marc Jacobs , John Galliano "I have always for Christian Dior and Givenchy, and Thom Brown. Wintour believed that it is is a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, important to which raises money to fund and guide at least two new fashion designers each year. This gives her a significant amount of understand control of the industry. She chooses who will be successful and Vogue's mission in who will fail based on her tastes. If she does not approve of a broad and socially trend, it will never be printed again or it will be put on the “do not” list and slowly filter out of production. If she supports a responsible terms." trend, it will be repeated in Vogue photo shoots. Designers   will take note of it, emulate it, and soon the trend will filter down to department and commercial stores at more affordable prices.7 Anna is not only head of the fashion world, but she is also a major philanthropist. Wintour is a co-chair for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala fundraiser, which has raised $55 million in the past fifteen years. She also raised and donated $500,000 to Obama’s reelection campaign. 11 Wintour has capitalized on the same values Vreeland founded in the sixties. Vogue features clothing and accessories of the highest possible quality. The problem most Americans have with this is that these pieces are usually outrageously expensive.12 Vogue must continue to appeal to middle class American as well as the upper class in order to maintain such high circulation rates, so they are forced make such a lavish magazine more realistic. Vogue always recommends affordable alternatives to the high fashion prices. She has made the most expansions to Vogue since Condé Nast himself, most notably creating Teen Vogue, Vogue Living, and Men’s Vogue magazines. She may be terrifying to some, but she has protected Vogue’s top status with regards to prestige and circulation.13

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Endnotes 1

Weber, Colleen. “Fashion.” Web. 3 Dec. 2006. 28 Oct. 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/03/books/Weber2.t.html

2 “Dictionary

of Literary Biography on Conde Nast.” Page 5. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.

http://www.bookrags.com/biography/conde-nast-dlb/5.html 3

“Icon Of The Week: Diana Vreeland.” 15 July 2009. http://www.tonguechic.com/articles/1763-Icon-Of-The-Week-Diana-Vreeland

Dwight, Eleanor. “The Divine Mrs. V.” New York Magazine. Web. 28 Oct. 2011. http://nymag.com/nymetro/shopping/fashion/features/n_7930/

Thornton, Edie. “Fashion, Visibility, and Class Mobility in Stella Dallas.” American Literary

Hisory. Vol. 11, No. 3. Oxford University Press. Page 427. Web. 17 Oct. 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/490127 6 “Red

Alert.” Time Magazine. Web. 6 Apr. 2009. 28 Oct. 2011. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1889695,00.html#ixzz1cWtftcAT

“The 2010 Top 100 Poll.” Time Magazine. Web. 1 Apr. 2010. 27 Oct. 2011. http://img.timeinc.net/time/2010/time100_poll_walkup/wintour_anna.jpg

8 Orecklin,

Michelle. “Women in Fashion.” Time Magazine. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2015519_2015392_2015433,0 0.html 9 Cloos,

Carol. “Mink.” The North American Review. Volume 284, No. ¾. University of Northern

Iowa. Page 9. Web. 17 Oct. 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25126347 10 Walker,

Andrew H. “Wintour of Discontent: Those Vogue Editor Rumors.” Time Magazine.

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Web. 27 Jan. 2009. 28 Oct. 2011. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1873097,00.html 11 “Anna

Wintour Profile.” Forbes. Web. 17 Oct. 2011. http://www.forbes.com/profile/anna-

wintour/ 12 Cloos,

Carol. “Mink.” The North American Review. Volume 284, No. ¾. University of

Northern Iowa. Page 9. Web. 17 Oct. 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25126347 13 Orecklin,

Michelle. “Women in Fashion.” Time Magazine. Web. 9 Feb. 2004. 29 Oct. 2011.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2015519_2015392_2015433,0 0.html

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