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Diana Vreeland: An Illustrated Biography – A Definitive Tribute with Exclusive Photographs from the Vogue Legend's Private Collection
“Vreeland . . . spotted, attracted, and showcasedthe most talented designers, photographers, illustrators, models, and fashionicons and gave their genius a glamorous theater. This book is a beautifultribute to her.” —Diane Von Furstenberg
“Eleanor Dwight's great achievement is. . . anuanced portrait of a twentieth-century woman, socially liberated andintellectually unfettered, a modern careerist who never shed her Edwardianproprieties, a woman in full.” —Harold Koda, directorof the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Eleanor Dwightdelivers the definitive biography of Diana Vreeland, the twentieth century’smost influential fashion editor. Lavishly illustrated with exclusivephotographs and personal materials from the legendary style maker's privatecollection, and featuring a new preface from Vogue ’s André LeonTalley, Diana Vreeland is an indispensible look at a grand dame of greatcouture.
“Eleanor Dwight's great achievement is. . . anuanced portrait of a twentieth-century woman, socially liberated andintellectually unfettered, a modern careerist who never shed her Edwardianproprieties, a woman in full.” —Harold Koda, directorof the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Eleanor Dwightdelivers the definitive biography of Diana Vreeland, the twentieth century’smost influential fashion editor. Lavishly illustrated with exclusivephotographs and personal materials from the legendary style maker's privatecollection, and featuring a new preface from Vogue ’s André LeonTalley, Diana Vreeland is an indispensible look at a grand dame of greatcouture.
308 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2002
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410 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
January 30, 2022
Прекрасное дополнение к мемуарам самой Дианы. Тут меньше веселых баек, зато много про индустрию моды и светскую жизнь с десятых до восьмидесятых годов. И, конечно, бесценная коллекция фотографий, которых так не хватало в мемуарах.
August 22, 2012
Bought this $50 book for $3 at a bookstore going-out-of-business sale. I'm thrilled to own this biography of DV, to have it on my bookshelf, to look through its large glossy pages filled with gorgeous color photos whenever I want to visit her bygone world. This is what a celebrity bio should be - a chronological scrapbook of her life, careers, and homes,amply illustrated to quench one's vicarious longings. Vreeland's red apartment of paisleys and mirrors and table lamps giving a golden glow is a highly theatrical background for her later single years. This is an apartment I covet, but I lack the haute queenlike manner to do it justice, and so am resigned to living in it in my imagination.
Vreeland was a self-made tastemaker and the queen of the world of fashion for 3 or so decades. That her field of operation was fashion, rather than nuclear physics, does not mean she and her work, while ephemeral, was unimportant. DV, quite an ugly duckling, created a glamorous life for herself, one in which she took center stage, while raising two sons with a handsome husband she adored. How she accomplished what appears to be the feminist goal of "having it all" is in the narrative story sandwiched between the multitude of fabulous photographs.
Vreeland was a self-made tastemaker and the queen of the world of fashion for 3 or so decades. That her field of operation was fashion, rather than nuclear physics, does not mean she and her work, while ephemeral, was unimportant. DV, quite an ugly duckling, created a glamorous life for herself, one in which she took center stage, while raising two sons with a handsome husband she adored. How she accomplished what appears to be the feminist goal of "having it all" is in the narrative story sandwiched between the multitude of fabulous photographs.
July 11, 2007
Haven't actually read the words, but the pictures are enough to make me pee with envy and inspiration, especially the interiors of her house. Red never seemed so right. Assembling creative people and work was her art, and as far as I'm concerned, she was the master.
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December 17, 2010Opening the striking red-lacquered cover of Diana Vreeland, you experience a little bit of awe and admiration -- quite the way I imagine you’d feel stepping into Diana Vreeland’s red-lacquered office at Vogue in the 60s. Eleanor Dwight’s biography reveals a lifetime of ambition, creativity, and eccentricity, creating an all-encompassing picture of legendary fashion editor Diana Vreeland. Dwight isn’t afraid to address Vreeland’s flaws and follies, but always maintains an underlying respect for her formidable subject. She charms the reader with descriptions of Vreeland’s work ethic and the products of her creative mind. There is a certain nostalgia expressed for a time when women were charmed and inspired by Vreeland’s “Why Don’t You…” column at Harper’s Bazaar (“Why don’t you rinse your blonde child’s hair in dead champagne as they do in France?”) and by her lavish and fantastical photo spreads. Her ability to spot potential in a model and to draw out a particular pose or representation of beauty is especially praised.
While the book may be heavy on historical detail, with a tendency toward tangents, this quality also helps to contextualize Vreeland’s role in fashion history and the progress of style since the 30s. Rife with family photographs, illustrations, and portraits of the glamorous players in Vreeland’s personal and professional life, the book is a treasure trove of intimate detail and clues into the mind of one of fashion’s most enduring figures. The chapters on her youth may be dry at times, but they express Vreeland's growing awareness of the importance of image, and her pivotal decision to carefully cultivate a distinguishing look for herself. Even as a teenager, she was wise enough to understand the implications of image yet not be deterred by her unconventional looks. One of the lasting impressions of this biography is of this very wisdom, and its role in her observations of the fashion world. Compared to trite and fleeting members of the fashion community, Vreeland is naturally ensconced there due to her intuitive understanding of the meaning of style, rather than the superficiality of trend: “A new dress doesn't get you anywhere; it’s the life you're living in the dress.”
Surveying her role at Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, and later at The Met’s Costume Institute, this biography evokes the passion, drive, and revolutionary eye of a woman who created a prominent place for herself in fashion history. You close the book feeling like you had the chance to know Vreeland, and pine for the days when Vogue really knew how to turn out original and provocative covers and photo shoots. book review by Meagan Allison-Hancock
While the book may be heavy on historical detail, with a tendency toward tangents, this quality also helps to contextualize Vreeland’s role in fashion history and the progress of style since the 30s. Rife with family photographs, illustrations, and portraits of the glamorous players in Vreeland’s personal and professional life, the book is a treasure trove of intimate detail and clues into the mind of one of fashion’s most enduring figures. The chapters on her youth may be dry at times, but they express Vreeland's growing awareness of the importance of image, and her pivotal decision to carefully cultivate a distinguishing look for herself. Even as a teenager, she was wise enough to understand the implications of image yet not be deterred by her unconventional looks. One of the lasting impressions of this biography is of this very wisdom, and its role in her observations of the fashion world. Compared to trite and fleeting members of the fashion community, Vreeland is naturally ensconced there due to her intuitive understanding of the meaning of style, rather than the superficiality of trend: “A new dress doesn't get you anywhere; it’s the life you're living in the dress.”
Surveying her role at Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, and later at The Met’s Costume Institute, this biography evokes the passion, drive, and revolutionary eye of a woman who created a prominent place for herself in fashion history. You close the book feeling like you had the chance to know Vreeland, and pine for the days when Vogue really knew how to turn out original and provocative covers and photo shoots. book review by Meagan Allison-Hancock
February 19, 2016
This was a treasure to look through. Channeling my inner Diana, "It simply was mad, darling!" She really is a true original and inspiration. I originally watched the documentary about her and feel in love with her whole right away. I needed to borrow the book and leaf through all the wonderfully dreamlike schemes she concocted. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves fashion and the inner workers of the big fashion magazines. A fantastic survey of Vreeland's own personal photos and pictures from her days at Harper's and Vogue, the Costume Institute, and the many parties she attended.
September 10, 2018
Vreeland’s life in a suitably crimson red tome, less so chronological and more episodic of key stages in her life: style advisor to Jackie Onassis, her travels pre-Harpers, the Met Years. To be honest, I think it could have benefitted with more photographs and less text!
But some interesting tidbits were revealed unbeknown to me: Vreeland ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch constantly (‘Peanut butter is the greatest invention since Christianity’), loves Russia, once ran a lingerie store and seemed more of a snob than I thought when she was younger.
But some interesting tidbits were revealed unbeknown to me: Vreeland ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch constantly (‘Peanut butter is the greatest invention since Christianity’), loves Russia, once ran a lingerie store and seemed more of a snob than I thought when she was younger.
April 13, 2019
A fine biography about a woman who took her lemons and spectularly made lemonade from them. She married the best looking man on the block. She became the most influential fashionista of her day and ended her career establishing the costume collecton at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a major collection not something of interest only to scholars .... and she did this well into her old age. As a bonus the book is finely illustrated.
May 25, 2019
Wow! A woman clearly ahead of her time that transformed so much talent
April 22, 2022
"Style—all who have it share one thing: originality." Plenty to feast for the eyes. Adore Vreeland; adding this to piggy back on my other Diana Vreeland book that sits on my coffee table…
January 22, 2023
great coffee table book
July 27, 2024
La biografia leggera di una delle donne più importanti per l’editoria di moda.
September 8, 2024
Insightful, well-written, unearths what made Diana Vreeland Diana Vreeland. Fab photos too.
April 2, 2025
I own this book.
April 16, 2012
A great view of 20th century fashion history. Diana Vreeland was at the epicenter of style and this book was a wonderful overview of her life with the added bonus of being illustrated so one can visualize the progress of style which is a reflection of any point in human history.
September 26, 2012
Como biografía e muy buena, llena de investigación y datos muy exactos que parecen difíciles de recopilar. Está bien armada, aunque se prolonga demasiado en ciertas épocas y se olvida de otras. Una de mis mejores compras de este año.
March 31, 2013
Yes, I loved this book and I'm upset I had to throw it away (only because I was leaving the country at the time). Vreeland was a colourful, remarkable spirit and Eleanor did a wonderful job at keeping neutral on this divine character.
January 14, 2016
Diana Vreeland is one of a kind, and Dwight does a stellar job of encapsulating her unique style and approach to life. It's a biography that doesn't get bogged down in details - but keeps you enthralled with the sparkling life of this fashion-magazine icon.
September 18, 2016
Biography of one of New York Fashion Goddess. This is an ILL that was so awesome to read. Hardcover, with all the pictures in large format. Lots of fun to read. Diana Vreeland was an amazing, yet somewhat quirky woman.
March 25, 2017
More like a coffee table book, instead of a left-to-right, beginning-to-end affair.
August 6, 2014
Adore this woman!
October 13, 2016
The many lives of a charming fashion maven documented with excellent prose and a plethora of photographs.
August 21, 2015
Beautifully presented book with a generous collections of photographs.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews