In and Out of Vogue [Hardcover]

Grace Mirabella (Author), Judith Warner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1995

The author recounts her rise from Macy's saleswoman to creator of Mirabella magazine, describing her celebrated dismissal as editor of Vogue and offering a behind-the-scenes look at New York's beau monde. 35,000 first printing. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

More than a fashion statement, this memoir covers the life and business times of former Vogue editor-in-chief and founder of Mirabella?just sold to Hachette after years of not making money.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Grace Mirabella, editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine for 17 years and founder of Mirabella magazine, tells (with the help of a coauthor) of her 38 years working in the fashion industry. Born to immigrant Italians and raised in Newark, New Jersey, Mirabella attended one of the finest women's colleges, ran with a society crowd, and through admirable persistence worked her way to the top of Vogue magazine. Her tale of life at Vogue is repugnant yet fascinating. While neither talent nor skill was required to land a job there in the 1950s, a pedigreed bloodline or a certain "look" could land you in the editor's chair. Mirabella tells of working under a bevy of vacuous prima donnas obsessed with their own visions, who never bothered with the day-to-day administration of the magazine and as a result nearly ran it into the ground. Interesting for its portrayal of intrigue and plotting in the dog-eat-dog world of high fashion, her book also provides a great historical perspective on society, style, and fashion. Ultimately though, this book is somewhat disappointing, for she never really condemns the industry for its shallowness. Kathleen Hughes

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 257 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1st edition (August 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385426135
• ISBN-13: 978-0385426138
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #600,920 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting read and woman, February 25, 2005

By 

Sarah Beckley-Chicago "Sarah B" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In and Out of Vogue (Hardcover)

Regardless of how you feel about fashion or Vogue, it is an interesting character study of a woman of that time, bucking the expectations of her family, her chosen industry, and of society in general as she married very late in life and never had children.

I admire Mirabella for refusing to allow cigarette ads in Mirabella and for being so independant. No, she didn't try to please anyone but herself, but what an amazing feat that was considering that Oprah has built her dynasty on teaching women how to do just that.

Not the greatest book in the world, but worth reading for the viewpoint. I would also recommend reading Katharine Graham's autobiography. That will roll your socks up and down.

Disclaimer: I worked for Mirabella magazine's Chicago office for the last nine months before it was sold to the publisher's of Elle magazine and was then hired by said company to work for another recent acquistion, Premiere. I met her "Grace" once and only to shake her hand and stand aside. She was pleasant, though.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inside the world of FASHION, September 30, 1999

By 

steve "[e-mail]" (Memphis, Tn USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In and Out of Vogue (Hardcover)

Grace Mirabella not only lets you in on her life and her rise throught the fashion world, but she also takes us you on a wonderful ride and adventure. She truly made VOGUE a wonderful magazine and when she was 'let go' she didn't pout instead she started her own successful magazine, MIRABELLA. Thank you Grace for writing your memoir and sharing your life with us all.

3 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mirabella blows hot air!, August 21, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: In and Out of Vogue (Hardcover)

Mirabella's scathing account of her time at Vogue reads like a bleeding heart story of how she was wronged. What her one-sided account leaves out intentionally is what an amazing fashion editor Diana Vreeland was; at Harper's Bazaar, fashion editor at Vogue and finally, editor-in-chief at Vogue. Vreeland is the quintessential fashion editor which is why she's studied in fashion schools, has had exhibits of her work at the Met, countless books written on her. Mirabella tries to claim she made fashion more democratic, but Vreeland was the true originator; her use of ethnic models, the photographers she chose to work with( Avedon, Bailey), the content of the magazine took it from being a society-rag, to a more modern take of the world of fashion and style. Mirabella turns her acid tongue not just on Vreeland but on the wonderful photographer Helmut Lang, Avedon, fashion editor Polly Mellen and of course, Anna Wintour. Mirabella doesn't take credit for her own downfall; she was an editor at fashion magazine-they show fashion in all its outrageous, banal or causal air-what ever way the winds of fashion fall, the magazine has to reflect that. Her decade was the seventies. She reflected what was happening in fashion and the world at the time; she showcased American designers like Halston, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren, Geoffrey Beene. She favored the tall, blued-eyed blondes Patti Hansen, Roseanne Vela, Lauren Hutton, Karen Graham with their "tiny noses and big white teeth...exotic, `interesting'-looking girls weren't for me. The word of the day was pretty." She admits her book. But the eighties was the complete opposite of the seventies, but she chose to stay firmly planted in the past instead of showing the fashions of the eighties; she despised Christian Lacroix's clothes choosing to ignore one of the hottest designers at the time while other fashion outlets(Bazaar, Women's Wear Daily, Elle, etc) where showing his popular designs. Is it no wonder than that Alex Liberman had to overrule her? Her ego is so over the top, she felt she was "saving" women from fashions she didn't care for. The irony of the situation is she was fired for the exact same reason Vreeland was: being out of touch with fashion.
Her book is an interesting read in a person so detached from reality and how they ruined their own career. What of Mirabella's own magazine, the magazine for real women? It folded like a stack of cards. It goes to show you what women really want.