Journalist. Mother. Bunny enthusiast. Pop culture junkie.

Journalist. Mother. Bunny enthusiast. Pop culture junkie.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Diana Vreeland: The Eye has to Travel

Over the weekend I netflixed a very cool documentary. It is called "Diana Vreeland: The Eye has to Travel."


This short biopic showcases the life of one of the most influential fashion icons in history, Diana Vreeland, who was the fashion editor of Harper's Bazaar and eventually editor-in-chief of Vogue.

From the 1930s until the 1970s, Diana Vreeland WAS fashion.


She was an editor more terrifying than Anna Wintour. She was close friends with Coco Chanel. She brought the bikini to the United States.


She discovered future Hollywood legend Lauren Bacall, was the fashion adviser for First Lady Jackie Kennedy, launched Twiggy's career, and was instrumental in the modeling paths of Cher, Edie Sedgwick, Barbra Streisand, and a jaw-dropping number of iconic supermodels.



She celebrated physical flaws by accentuating models' quirky characteristics. For example, when she featured Barbra Streisand on the cover of Vogue, she focused prominence on Barbra's large nose, which was considered unattractive at the time. The photo shoot was legendary and changed people's perception of the famous singer.


The reason supermodels today are not cookie-cutter perfectly sculpted blondes is based on her direct influence. If it was not for Diana Vreeland, supermodels like mole-faced Cindy Crawford, gap-toothed Lauren Hutton, and wide-faced Tyra Banks would never have made it in the industry.

Some believe Diana's obsession with the imperfect stemmed from her own insecurities. Growing up, the socialite was always deemed "ugly" by her gorgeous wealthy mother.


By the 1970s, Diana was already a living legend. Instead of retiring into obscurity, the elderly style icon partied with Andy Warhol at Studio 54 and flirted with handsome movie stars Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty in Hollywood.


She died of a heart attack in 1986.


What do you think of Diana Vreeland? Did you know much about her before? Have you seen this documentary?

31 comments:

Melanie said...

I had never heard of her before! I love that you mention people that we all should know about but alas we do not!! So she is the reason why imperfection in modeling is grand? Well I'll have to give her a round of applause for doing that! =)

Ergo - Blog

Priyanka Sacheti said...


I have always associated Diana Vreeland with her famous remark, "Pink is the navy blue of India."

However, other than that, I knew little about her so nice to learn more...especially about her efforts to introduce imperfection into the modelling arena.

Would definitely like to catch that documentary about her!

Anonymous said...

I have not heard of her before this post but it's amazing that she launched some of my favorite models' careers!
www.kawaiicoffee.blogspot.com

A Very Sweet Blog said...

I've never seen that documentary but did read about her. She was a visionary! Excellent synopsis Jen.
http://www.averysweetblog.com/

Dina's Days said...

I haven't heard of her before. I love what she did with Barbara's photo. Now if only these models will eat a burrito or two....

Sherin said...

I love her! I saw this documentary a few months ago and thought it was incredible! She seemed like such an incredible woman.

FASHION TALES said...

I have not seen this entire documentary, but heard about it. I will have to grab it soon. Iconic and amazing lady! Great post Jenn. xx/Madison

Couture Carrie said...

Amaaaaaaazing review and pics!
Must see this documentary!

xoxox,
CC

Tights Lover said...

I hadn't heard of her, but I'd definitely love to check out that documentary...she was behind so many amazing people!

Josie said...

I'm putting this on my to-watch list -- it sounds so good!
xo Josie
www.winksmilestyle.com

ravenlocks said...

I feel very unfashionable because I don't think I've ever heard of her. But I do recognize her work with models. I've always loved models with "flaws." It's because of what she did that I felt better about myself when I was younger. Everyone in school looked the same (or tried to) and Diana made it cool to look different. This is one of the reasons why I started to love fashion...flaws in models were considered beautiful. I LOVED seeing unique models in Vogue, W, and Harper's Bazaar. Now I know where it all started from :) Thanks, Jen <3

Unknown said...

It's crazy I haven't ever heard about her before, she was incredible talented and her work looks great, I will research and try to find the documentary because sounds pretty interesting, I love Barbra's pic is really natural and special.
Kisses
City-aholic.blogspot.com.es

Blond Duck said...

I'd love to learn more about her.

Unknown said...

Hi Jennifer! It was lovely to have you visit my blog :) I am a big fan of your blog and have read all the posts in it :)

http://everythingthatclicks.blogspot.com

Glam up your Lifestyle said...

A really interesting post. You girl have a great blog.

Glamupyourlifestyle.blogspot.de

Unknown said...

Thanks for leaving the sweet comment :) You are quite famous in my office with many people reading your blog! One of the girls has reached Oct 2010 :D

http://everythingthatclicks.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

I followed you ;)

Aditi SoSaree said...

WOW..i m in love with this post.
There are so many ppl involvled in making fashion what it is today.
APpreciate u sharing it.
Following u now.

Aditi
So-Saree
www.sosaree.blogspot.in

Loving Evelyn said...

I didn't know her
http://loving-evelyn.blogspot.ro

FashionJazz said...

I loved reading this! Hope you been well babe! Mwah xx

wwww.fashionjazz.co.za/blog

Imogen said...

I don't know much about her but I would like to. I have heard the name around a lot recently so I think that would be really interesting.

Cafe Fashionista said...

I worship Diana Vreeland. And now that I've seen this, I recommend that you look into the life of Grace Coddington - you would find her fascinating.

P.S. It's definitely a sign - you need that skirt in your life! :)

Unknown said...

Thank you so much <3
xxx

http://infinityuniverse-ema.blogspot.pt/

ravenlocks said...

Quick question. I forgot to ask you...

Did you ever hear about Hugo Boss and the Nazi uniforms connection? Ever since you wrote about Chanel and the Nazis, I've been wondering about other designers.

And then I came across something else. Fucking Hugo Boss. Apparently he made the uniforms for the nazis using slave labor. Thought you might find this interesting:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2040943/Hitlers-Tailor-Hugo-Boss-apologises-using-slave-labour-make-Nazi-uniforms.html

Crazy shit!

xo Azu

Oh to Be a Muse said...

I knew her name but I didn't know her title. I can tell that she was a friend of Coco Chanel's based on how she styles herself.

www.ohtobeamuse.com

meghan silva said...

Gorgeous post , very interesting read.

xo Meg<3

Meghan Silva's Blog

Blond Duck said...

Have you ever seen the documentary on Gigi?

Abhilasha said...

wow!! i had no idea...what an interesting read (the post) and what a lovely find (ur blog)
looking forward to many more...n so im ur latest fan n follower...love
lookingoodfeelingfab.blogspot.in
do drop by

Unknown said...

I've never seen this documentary before, and to be honest, I didn't know about her! Thanks so much for sharing! I feel so much more educated now! I'm always up for learning about new things =D

http://sensiblestylista.blogspot.com/

Ann said...

I have not seen the documentary
but she's really famous so I know her my Mom used to talk about her. She's just so influential in the fashion world and she's so classy.
But I didn't know she's terrifying.

fabulousjunk said...

This makes me want to see the documentary even more! Thanks for another awesome post :)

becks
http://fabulous-junk.blogspot.com