FAHION FRIDAY // DIANA VREELAND
FashionFriday//
On Monday The Met Gala 2021 should have taken place, this year it has been postponed until September, and will be scaled down. Last year the event was cancelled completely. So, for this weeks FashionFriday I’ve explored a little history of the late great Diana Vreeland the OG Gala organiser.
She was an advocator for women to embrace their individuality and was would be deemed as imperfections. And had her own signature style until the end of her life- rouged cheeks, lips and nails, lacquered black hair, consistency wore black, turtlenecks or elaborate tunics. She loved the colour red so much her apartment on Park Avenue was decorated in red and she famously painted her offices in a deep bold shade, thought to be a nod to aristocrats.
She enjoyed a long 40 year + career in the fashion world, she was called an oracle, the high priestess of fashion, a myth maker. In 1936 started a column for Harper's Bazaar called ''Why Don't You . . . .’' ''Why don't you put all your dogs in bright yellow collars and leads like all the dogs in Paris?'' The column encouraged women to wear fruit hats, tie black tulle bows around their wrists and pair velvet mittens with any outfit. The next year she was made fashion editor of the magazine, until 1962, when she moved to Vogue. There, she was editor in chief until 1971.
She went on, as consultant to the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, staging annual fashion exhibitions making the museum a center of fashion excitement for New York City and the world. Beginning in 1973 with a retrospective showing of Balenciaga's clothes.
The Met gala today is organised and curated by Anna Wintour and Andrew Bolton. A fundraiser or the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, with the gala coinciding with the opening of the museums annual fashion exhibition.
The night itself, always scheduled on the first Monday in May, is top secret even down to the guest list. Guests aren’t allowed to take mobile phones. Someone high-profile will perform, guests visit the exhibition and all sit down for dinner. You can pay to attend, however you could probably also buy a 1bed flat in London for the price of a whole table.
During her time as host Vreeland was in the center of the action, she became the undisputed voice of the fashion world.
I recently read that the professional relationship between herself and photographer Richard Avedon, at Harper's Bazaar and Vogue was the inspiration for the movie ''Funny Face'' starring Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn. ''She was and remains the only genius fashion editor,'' he said on her passing.
Many fashion designers say she gave them a crucial boost at an early stage in their career. When Oscar de la Renta first arrived in New York DV advised him on which career path to follow.
Her memoirs, ''D. V.,'' published in 1984 by Alfred A. Knopf,
Documentary Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel is really worth a watch. I think you can rent it on prime.
