Vogue Women [Hardcover]

Georgina Howell (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2000

Vogue Women is a dazzling tour through the history of Vogue magazine and the history of fashion and beauty culture stretching from early fashion magazines depicting debutantes and royalty in formal dress to the chic and daring fashions of the 1920's and 30's. We see the heroic sentimentality of wartime, the rebirth of glamour in Paris, the rising status of fashion models, and the creation of fashion icons that were the forerunners of the Supermodels of the late 80's. Vogue Women scrutinizes the emblems of beauty that survive radical changes in style from the days of Queen Alexandra to today. We see the 'Vogue treatment' that includes expert photography, makeup and hair, and meticulous attention to detail. But we also see something more in these faces, a less tangible side of glamour from Marlene Dietrich to Josephine Baker, Jacqueline Kennedy to Madonna that is timelessly alluring.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Georgina Howell, former fashion editor of the Observer, went on to work on British Vogue as well as Tatler and Vanity Fair. She is now under exclusive contract to The Sunday Times Magazine. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156025288X
• ISBN-13: 978-1560252887
• Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 9.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,031,774 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "reveals our aspirations and the changing place of women", November 18, 2000

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Vogue Women (Hardcover)

This book is brilliantly written and edited by Georgina Howell about the images of women in British Vogue. As fine as the photographs in this book are (done by many of the 20th century's most talented photographers), the thoughts about these images are even more interesting and valuable.

Conde Nast's original purpose for Vogue was to "produce the most beautiful and tasteful magazine that had ever existed."

The subjects for the photographs have changed a lot since Vogue was founded. Originally, all of the subjects were either royalty or society women. As Ms. Howell points out, you can never get rid of royalty if you are Vogue, but you can move on in other areas. At the start of the century, the aspiration was to look like an aristocrat or an actress. By the end of the century, the desire was to "look like television presenters and the wives of football [soccer] stars."

The book is organized around type of photographic subject, with a marvelous essay in each case exploring the meaning portrayed by those photographs. The sections are royalty, society girls, inspirations, muses, dynasties, models, stars, exotics/eccentrics, waifs, and icons. Here are my favorite photographs from each section:

Royalty -- Helen Windsor, taken by Lord Snowdon, 1982

Society Girls -- Jemima Khan, taken by Oberto Gili, 1998

Inspirations -- Mother Teresa, taken by John Downey, 1981

Muses -- Ines de la Fressange, taken by Albert Watson, 1985

Dynasties -- (Mother) Nena Von Schlebrugge, taken by Norman Parkinson, 1958; (Daughter) Uma Thurman, taken by Albert Watson, 1994

Models -- Cindy Crawford, taken by Arthur Elgort, 1995

Stars -- Charlotte Rampling, taken by Clive Arrowsmith, 1970

Exotics/Eccentrics -- Diana Vreeland, taken by Horst P. Horst, 1979

Waifs -- Marianne Faithfull, taken by David Bailey, 1965

Icons -- Diana, taken by Patrick Demarchelier, 1997; Greta Garbo, taken by Cecil Beeton, 1946

Where many books with photographs of beautiful women simply try to overwhelm you, this book instead features photographs to illustrate the essays. The theme here is to examine "beauty that survives radical changes in taste and fashion." The subjects are "distinguished or notorious, pretty or striking, and sometimes all four . . . ." This is done in a way consistent with Vogue's purpose to "dress the mind as elegantly as the bodies" displayed here.

The essays don't take the subject as seriously as all this sounds. For example, Ms. Howell is quick to point out that "happy endings have been few and far between" for those who have been portrayed in Vogue's pages. So we are dealing with an illusion of a perfect person and a perfect life. Illusions can be helpful in setting appropriate aspirations. The question the Vogue images raise is whether following the "trendiest" of the time is appropriate. The book itself suggests that it is not. In fact, I found the essays to be an interesting counterpoint to Vogue's usual monthly issue in suggesting what timeless values are and should be for women. And that was more than I expected or had a right to expect from this book. So I was very pleased with it.

My expectation had been to see some terrific photography done by great photographers. And there was plenty of that. But the social commentary is the most valuable part of this book.

To better put this book in perspective, you will find it valuable to take a look at David Bailey's "Birth of the Cool" to see lots of terrific Vogue photography from the 1960s. You will be struck by the contrasts immediately between establishing a look and a feel as fashion in that book, and seeing images here for establishing a socially meaningful perspective. I think you will enjoy both books.

After you have finished viewing these books and their fine images, why don't you think about what your aspirations are for yourself. Are these consistent with your own heart? If not, could some of these aspirations come from the popular media? If so, can you identify which ones? Then, examine each to see if it merits your support.

Be yourself, beautifully!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars okay, November 24, 2001

By 

liana kay (tx) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vogue Women (Paperback)

although this book was at times, nice to look at and read, they have appeared to leave out a lot of people. some of the pictures are good, good enough to be called photographs, they seemed to gloss over each and it left out some sort of magic. i guess by normal standards the book is okay, but you may be looking into the beauty and not the presense. i suggest you check out scavullo photographs 50 years.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars stunning, October 23, 2001

By 

Kristin (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vogue Women (Paperback)

This book is just stunning. The photographs all have such beauty in so many aspects wether it be in the composition or person in the photograph! This book really reminds the reader why vogue is a fashion icon. It contains many stories about its featured women which cover all walks of life and celebrity. A visual and (for it's genre) literary gem.