Always in Vogue

by Edna Woolman Chase, Ilka Chase

An autobiography of Vogue's famous editor and the story of fashion in America through the past sixty years. Lavishly illustrated.

Genres: Fashion, Memoir, Nonfiction, Book Club

381 pages, Hardcover novel

First published January 1, 1954

Reviews

[Gail Brassard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this book with great enthusiasm--I am a costume designer and recently retired from a big 10 university where I taught design and costume history. I am also a HUGE consumer of non-fiction and biographies of this era (1900-1950). The book started out very promisingly: Chase started working at VOGUE as an 18 year old in 1895!! Imagine--a first-person narrative of a young working woman from that era!! After about 10 pages of that, the narrative settled into what it mostly remained: A blow by blow description of the minutia of the publishing of VOGUE--almost exclusively about who was a publisher/an editor/what their working strengths were, how they advanced, etc. Truly almost nothing about fashion, or my pressing question--How those editorial decisions were made. Yes--she skimmed by some of that--and her tales of WWII on British and French VOGUE were really interestng--but nary a word about how the wars (II as well as I) affected the AMERICAN fashion industry--the rise of American fashion as a distinct voice. I very much was made aware that this magazine (and I am very familiar with its older issues ) was totally in the thrall of French fashion to the exclusion of almost everything else. I hadnt noticed that--now I'll go back and revisit the older issues. The industry WAS very different then--and less democratic. If you are NOT well-acquainted with inside fashion names of the first half of the 20th century--or care about them, I fear this will be a SLOG. I finished it--but wanted so much more about fashion--not so much about publishing. If you desire a fashion press career, however, this is a must.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book is quite dated, it is a fascinating tale of the fashion press in the first half of the 20th century. And about women in the workplace - the few that managed career and family and the many who married and left their career. I also enjoyed reading about the history and politics of the era through the eyes of a fashion editor.

[Tranvías]

Estás son las cosas que me trago por trabajo. No me parece un libro especialmente interesante a no ser que seas una friki de la Vogue.

[Kar Wai Ng · Rating 4 out of 5]

best book title ever. always in vogue. amazing pun too! very inspiring