Diana Vreeland Memos: The Vogue Years

SPIRITUALITY AND VITALITY I wish that we could have a spiritual article that would give people a bit of a lift.

Mrs. Vreeland had a vital kind of body. She always stood bolt upright, sat straight, and believed that a healthy constitution is built upon both a spine that is in line and the right pair of shoes. She had the most amazing feet— very small and fat and they had no bones. There was no question of her entering a shop to try on a pair of shoes because nothing would fit. Her shoes had to be specially ordered with T-straps to hold her feet in place. During Mrs. Vreeland’s trips to Paris, she spent an ungodly amount of the morning locked in her suite’s bathroom at the Crillon, while the rest of us started the workday in an office we’d constructed in another suite. No one knew what went on during those mysterious bathroom hours, but some of us suspected that she was meditating or doing exercises. Yoga and meditation were very fashionable at the time. SUSAN TRAIN

When designers made clothes for Vreeland’s Vogue, they learned not to cut corners. Fur coats had to be lined in silk, because the models wearing them could move more freely and comfortably. Every article of clothing was meant to be finished—even for a model like Veruschka, who stood six feet two inches tall and had to have everything made especially for her. Mrs. Vreeland believed that Vogue photographers should let the unexpected happen during a shoot. If a model took off her fur and just threw it on the floor, it had to look beautiful whichever way it fell. She didn’t want the stylist to jump in and ruin a spontaneous moment. Her insistence on preparation was never a bore, because she promoted spontaneity and the desirable mistakes that can electrify a photograph. POLLY MELLEN

Mrs. Vreeland turned herself out every day with enormous attention to her adornments—to her outfit, the sweater over the sweater, the shoes and stockings. She was as interested in the buckles on the shoes as she was in the earrings. FELICITY CLARK

Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook