Photos Feat. Designs by Lucien Lelong

Lucien Lelong  (1889 – 1959) was born in Paris as the son of Arthur Lelong, the owner of a textile shop, he trained at the Hautes Etudes de Commerciales in Paris and opened his fashion house in the late 1910s. He was  eager to create garments that would highlight the body’s movements and elegance in motion: a kinetic fashion. He killed the 1920s “garçonne” look and privileged fluid garments inspired by neoclassical drapery, and later anticipated the New Look.

Lelong did not actually create the garments that bore his label. “He did not design himself, but worked through his designers,” wrote Christian Dior, who was a member of the Lelong team from 1941 until 1946, during which time he created the collections in collaboration with Pierre Balmain. “Nevertheless,” Dior continued, “in the course of his career as couturier his collections retained a style which was really his own and greatly resembled him.” Other designers who worked for Lelong included Nadine Robinson and Hubert de Givenchy.

Among Lelong’s clients were Marie Duhamel, Jeanne Ternisien (wife of the banker Georges Nelze), the Duchess de la Rochefoucauld, Greta Garbo, Gloria Swanson, Colette, and Rose Kennedy.

On the 10th August 1927 he married his second wife, Princess Natalie Paley (1905–1981), who had worked as a saleswoman in the Lelong perfume department. She was a daughter of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia and his morganatic wife, Olga Karnovich. Paley had starred in a few films, but found her succes being a Lelong model. They divorced in 1937.

Lelong retired in 1952, due to Poor health. Lelong’s third wife, who outlived him, went on to marry the French journalist Maurice Goudeket, the widower of Colette.

Deutsch Photographic Studio, Lucien Lelong Design, 1930s via

Marion Morehouse wearing a Lucien Lelong dress. Vogue, 1925 via

Dress by Lucien Lelong via

Nathalie Paley in a Lucien Lelong dress and evening coat by Dorvyne via

Deutsch Photographic Studio, Lucien Lelong Design, 1930s via

Princess Natalie Paley wearing a black sequined evening gown by Lelong. Photo by Man Ray, 1934 via

A Collection of Photos Feat. Meret Opphenheimer by Man Ray (1930s)

Meret (or Méret) Elisabeth Oppenheim (1913 – 1985) was a German-born Swiss Surrealist artist and photographer. Oppenheim was a member of the Surrealist movement along with André Breton, Luis Buñuel, Max Ernst, and other writers and visual artists. Besides creating art objects, Oppenheim also famously appeared as a model for photographs by Man Ray, most notably a series of nude shots of her interacting with a printing press.

Man Ray, Portrait of Meret Oppenheim, 1933 via

Man Ray, Meret Oppenheim with a drawing by her self, 1936 via

Man Ray, Portrait of Meret Oppenheim, 1934 via

Man Ray, Portrait of Meret Oppenheim, 1933 via

Man Ray, Meret Oppenheim, rue Val de Grâce, Paris, 1933 via

Man Ray, Portrait of Meret Opphenheimer via

Amazing Photographic Portraits of Dora Maar by Man Ray (1936)

Dora Maar (1907 – 1997) was a French photographer, painter, and poet. She was a lover and muse of Pablo Picasso.

Portrait of Dora Maar by Man Ray, 1936 via

Portrait of Dora Maar by Man Ray, 1936 via

Portrait of Dora Maar by Man Ray, 1936 via

Portrait of Dora Maar by Man Ray, 1936 via

Faboulus Photos of Vintage Snake Charmers

Vintage snake charmer via

Famous belle epoque snake charmer Madiah Surith via

Mademoiselle Héro as Snake Charmer, 1900s via

Vintage snake charmer, Lyon, France via

Vintage snake charmer, 1920s via

Man Ray, Miss Dorita, Snake Charmer, 1930 via

Vintage Circus snake act, ca. 1920s via

Incredible Vintage Photos of Flamenco Dancers by Man Ray

 Flamenco Dancer Vicente Escudero by Man Ray, 1928 via

 Flamenco Dancer by Man Ray, 1934 via

Flamenco Dancers by Man Ray, 1957 via

Karin van Leyden by Man Ray (1929)

Artist Karin van Leyden (Karin Elisabeth Kluth b. 1906-1971) by Man Ray.

Paris, circa 1929 via

Paul & Nusch Eluard by Man Ray (1936)

Man Ray, Portrait de Paul Eluard, avec Nusch, à Montlignon. 1936 via

Nusch Éluard Photographed by Man Ray

Nusch Éluard (born Maria Benzn; 1906 – 1946) was a French performer, model and surrealist artist.

Born in Mulhouse (then part of the German Empire), she met Swiss architect and artist Max Bill in the Odeon Café in Zurich; he nicknamed her “Nusch”, a name she would stick to.

She moved to Paris in 1928 working as a stage performer, variously described as a small-time actress, a traveling acrobat, and a “hypnotist‘s stooge”. in In 1930 she met the poet Paul Éluard working as a model. They married him in 1934. She produced surrealist photomontage and other work, and is the subject of “Facile,” a collection of Éluard’s poetry published as a photogravure book, illustrated with Man Ray’s nude photographs of her.

She was also the subject of several cubist portraits and sketches by Pablo Picasso in the late 1930s, and is said to have had an affair with him. Nusch worked for the French Resistance during the Nazi occupation of France during World War II. She died in 1946 in Paris, collapsing in the street due to a massive stroke.

Nusch Éluard by Man Ray, 1936 via

Man Ray, Nusch au Miroir, 1935 via

Man Ray, Portrait of Nusch Eluard, 1934 via

Man Ray, Portrait of Nusch Eluard, 1936 via

A Collection of Photos by Man Ray Feat. Lee Miller

Lee Miller (1907 – 977) was an American photographer. She is one of the most remarkable female icons of the 20th century – an individual admired as much for her free-spirit, creativity and intelligence as for her classical beauty (source).

In 1929, Miller traveled to Paris with the intention of apprenticing herself to the surrealist artist and photographer Man Ray. Although, at first, he insisted that he did not take students, Miller soon became his model and co-collaborator, as well as his lover and muse. While she was in Paris, she began her own photographic studio, often taking over Man Ray’s fashion assignments to enable him to concentrate on his painting. In fact, many of the photographs taken during this period and credited to Man Ray were actually taken by Miller. Together with Man Ray, she rediscovered the photographic technique of solarisation. She was an active participant in the surrealist movement, with her witty and humorous images. Amongst her circle of friends were Pablo Picasso, Paul Éluard, and Jean Cocteau (she appeared as a statue that comes to life in Cocteau’s The Blood of a Poet (1930)).

After leaving Man Ray and Paris in 1932, she returned to New York and established a portrait and commercial photography studio with her brother Erik as her darkroom assistant

Lee Miller by Man Ray, Solarisation, 1931 via

Lee Miller [hand] by Man Ray, 1929 via

Lee Miller’s neck; Man Ray’s Neck. 2010 MAN RAY TRUST/ARS. COURTESY OF THE PENROSE COLLECTION via

Lee Miller by Man Ray via

Lee Miller via

Vintage Photos Featuring Fashion Muse Nancy Cunard (1896 –1965)

Nancy Cunard was a writer, heiress and political activist. She was born into the British upper class and devoted much of her life to fighting racism and fascism. In 1928 Cunard had become romantically involved with African-American jazz musician Henry Crowder. They lived in an apartment in Harlem together, which prompted outraged tabloid headlines on both sides of the Atlantic.

About this time she became seriously interested in African art and culture.

Her style became informed by her devotion to the artifacts of the same culture. This was startlingly unconventional at the time. The large-scale jewelry she favored, crafted of wood, bone and ivory, the natural materials used by native crafts people, was provocative and controversial. The trademark bangles she wore on both arms snaking from wrist to elbow were considered outré adornments, which provoked media attention, visually compelling subject matter for photographers of the day.

She was often photographed wearing her collection, those of African inspiration and neckpieces of wooden cubes, which paid homage to the concepts of Cubism. At first considered the bohemian affectation of an eccentric heiress, the fashion world came to legitimize this style as avant-garde, dubbing it the “barbaric look.”

Nancy Cunard 1926 by Man Ray via

Nancy Cunard by Cecil Beaton via

Man Ray, Tristan Tzara kneeling to kiss Nancy Cunard’s hand, Bal du Comte de Beaumont, 1924 via

Nancy Cunard via