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

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.

A Collection of Vintage Photos Feat. the Glamorous Fashion & Style of the 192Os

Clara Bow

Gloria Swanson in the Queen Kelly, 1929

 

Josephine baker´s Eton crop haircut

Louise Brooks short bobbed flapper hair

Marion Morehouse in Chanel. Photo by Edward Steichen, Vogue, 1926

Norma Shearer giving thanks for her amazing wardrobe collection in A Slave to Fashion, 1925

Bebe Daniels with an exotic animal, 1927

1920s icon Gilda Gray looking very glamorous

1920s girl with monocle

1920s style

Stylish & Elegant Vintage Madeleine Vionnet Fashion Photography

Madeleine Vionnet (1876 – 1975) was a French fashion designer. Called the “Queen of the bias cut” and “the architect among dressmakers”. With her bias cut clothes, Vionnet dominated haute couture in the 1930s setting trends with her sensual gowns worn by such stars as Marlene Dietrich, Katharine Hepburn and Greta Garbo.

Vionnet’s vision of the female form revolutionized modern clothing and the success of her unique cuts assured her reputation. She fought for copyright laws in fashion and employed what were considered revolutionary labor practices at the time – paid holidays and maternity leave, day-care, a dining hall, a resident doctor and dentist.

Vionnet was also the first designer to introduce a prêt-à-porter (ready to wear) line based on her couture pieces, which she sold in the United States. Today, Madeleine Vionnet is considered one of the most influential fashion designers of the 20th century.

Madeleine Vionnet

Edward Steichen. Marion Morehouse and unidentified model wearing dresses by Vionnet. 1930 Courtesy Condé Nast Archive © 1930 Condé Nast Publications

Cecil Beaton, Madeleine Vionnet

Madeleine Vionnet, 1935

Vionnet hound’s tooth coat with three buttons and a transformable collar, 1930