Vintage Photos of the First “Supermodel” Marion Morehouse (1920s)

Marion Morehouse (1906-1969), was a fashion model who rose to prominance in the late 20s and early 30s, sitting for Vanity Fair and Vogue photographer Edward Steichen. The pair created some strikingly modernist photographs. According to Steichen Morehouse was:

The greatest fashion model I ever photographed …. When she put on the clothes that were to be photographed, she transformed herself into a woman who really would wear that gown … whatever the outfit was.

She was also a favorite of Cecil Beaton and French Vogue‘s Baron George Hoyningen-Huene. Morehouse was of Choctaw Indian ancestry, with brown eyes and an angular frame  After her modeling career ended, she took up photography herself.

Later she became the third wife of author and painter E.E Cummings. When Cummings met Marion Morehouse in 1932, he was in the middle of a painful split from his second wife, Anne Barton. Although it is not clear whether the two were ever formally married, Morehouse lived with Cummings in a common-law marriage until his death in 1962. Morehouse died on May 18, 1969, while living at 4 Patchin Place, Greenwich Village, New York City, where Cummings had resided since September 8, 1924

Marion Morehouse in a Chanel ‘mermaid’ dress, 1929,

by Edward Steichen

Marion Morehouse, in the apartment of Conde Nast, wearing a beaded

white chiffon dress by Chanel, and ankle-strap shoes by Delman, 1927,

photo by Edward Steichen

ca. 1926, Marion Morehouse in back view, wearing a moire gown

with a plunging back and a huge bow; designed by Louiseboulanger

Image by © Condé Nast Archive/CORBIS

Lee Miller; Marion Morehouse, bromide print, 1929

by Cecil Beaton © Condé Nast via  National Portrait Gallery

Edward Steichen, Marion Morehouse wearing Cheruit, 1928

© Condé Nast Archive/Corbis.

Edward Steichen, Marion Morehouse, wearing sequined dress by Cheruit, 1927

© Condé Nast Archive/Corbis.