Wednesday 17 September 2014

Livres de la mode- Books on style that you should devour and internalize! Part 2








The next book on this list: D.V. by Diana Vreeland

Diana Vreeland was born in Paris on July 29, 1903 ( The leo connection with Coco?).
Beginning as the author of the infamous "Why Don't You . . . " column for Harper's Bazaar, Vreeland's immense success eventually made her the fashion editor at the magazine, and she became an authority in the fashion world. In 1962, she left to become the editor-in-chief at Vogue, and her highly successful tenure there was marked by her astonishing eye for trends and her inimitable style. She was an inspiration for a generation of designers, among them Yves Saint Laurent, Bill Blass, Issey Miyake, and Valentino, and she would help launch the careers of some of today's top designers, among them Diane von Furstenberg, Manolo Blahnik, and Oscar de la Renta.

Diana Vreeland- has been a part of the fashion world for fifty years.
In this autobiography she is her b
rilliant, funny, charming, imperious self.
She takes the reader into her dizzy world, spinning from the nightclubs of 1930s Paris to English palaces and the exclusive venues of New York high society- she moved in some of the most rarified circles comprising of renowned and famous figures of the twentieth century—artists and princes, movie stars and international legends, including Chanel, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Isak Dinesen, Clark Gable, and Swifty Lazar , and for a short while you are drawn into that smoky, seductive and glamorous world.

Since her death on August 22, 1989, Diana Vreeland's fame has only grown, she's been featured in many  magazines, been the subject of a costume exhibit, inspired a character in a film, someone's writing her biography, and her life has been the focus of two theater productions. One of them the Full Gallop, received rave reviews from critics.

Mary Louise Wilson, the star and co-author of "Full Gallop," wrote the foreword to the new paperback edition of D.V., Vreeland's 1984 autobiography. She recalls: "Someone once directly challenged her: 'Now, Diana, is this fact? Or fiction?' A tiny pause, and the reply came: 'Faction.'  Realities were simply not as important to her as the imaginative life."

Vibrant with her passion, her peculiar way of looking at life, and like her legacy, Vreeland's story is a classic to be celebrated by both loyal admirers and a new generation of style mavens.