Diana Vreeland

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Lore & Background

Diana Vreeland was born in Paris in 1903 to an American socialite mother and a British stockbroker father. Her mother was a descendant of George Washington’s brother and a cousin of Francis Scott Key; Vreeland was also a distant cousin of writer Pauline de Rothschild. She had one younger sister. The family emigrated to the United States at the outbreak of World War I, settling on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, where they became prominent in society. Vreeland studied dancing under Michel Fokine, the only Imperial Ballet master to leave Russia, and performed in Anna Pavlova’s *Gavotte* at Carnegie Hall. In January 1922, she appeared in *Vogue* as a debutante entering her Cadillac. She married banker Thomas Reed Vreeland in 1924 and had two sons, one of whom became an architect and professor, the other a U.S. ambassador. After their honeymoon, the couple lived in Brewster, New York, then moved to London, where Vreeland danced with the Tiller Girls and met Cecil Beaton. She operated a lingerie business near Berkeley Square, counting Wallis Simpson and Mona Williams among her clients. She often bought her clothes from Chanel, whom she had met in 1926. In 1933, she was one of fifteen American women presented to King George V and Queen Mary at Buckingham Palace. Her husband’s job returned them to New York in 1935. Vreeland began her publishing career in 1936 at *Harper’s Bazaar*, where her column “Why Don’t You...?” offered imaginative suggestions, such as washing a blond child’s hair in dead champagne. She “discovered” Lauren Bacall during World War II, directing a 1943 cover shoot of the model leaning near a Red Cross office. She later called the bikini “the most important thing since the atom bomb.” She worked with photographers Louise Dahl-Wolfe and Richard Avedon, becoming the magazine’s Fashion Editor before moving to *Vogue* in 1962, where she served as editor-in-chief from 1963 to 1971. She was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1964 and later became a special consultant to the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Reader's Guide

Vreeland began her publishing career in 1936 as a columnist for Harper’s Bazaar, after the magazine’s editor was impressed by her personal style. Her column, “Why Don’t You...?,” offered whimsical suggestions, such as washing a blond child’s hair in dead champagne. During World War II, she directed a Harper’s Bazaar cover shoot featuring the then-unknown model Lauren Bacall, posing outside a Red Cross blood donor room. Vreeland later remarked that the bikini was the most important thing since the atom bomb. She worked closely with photographers and designers including Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Richard Avedon, and Alexey Brodovitch, eventually becoming the magazine’s Fashion Editor. After leaving Harper’s Bazaar, she served as editor-in-chief at Vogue, and later became a special consultant to the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1964, she was inducted into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame. Vreeland also coined a specific term in 1965. Her influence extended beyond editing; she was a tastemaker who championed bold, imaginative fashion and helped shape modern visual culture. A biographical documentary about her life, *The Eye has to Travel*, premiered in 2012.

Did You Know?

• Vreeland coined the term 'monokini' after Rudi Gernreich showed her his topless swimsuit design in 1962.
• She advised First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy on style during John F. Kennedy's presidency.
• Her Harper's Bazaar column 'Why Don't You...?' included the suggestion to 'wash your blond child's hair in dead champagne, as they do in France.'