Richard Avedon, Dovima wearing a Leopard fur coat by Bernham-Stein, 1950 via
Richard Avedon, Dovima, Harper’s Bazaar, 1950 via
Category Archives: Richard Avedon
Beautiful Vintage Portraits of Gloria Vanderbilt by Richard Avedon (1950s)
Dovima by Richard Avedon (1955)
Veruschka & Richard Avedon in Japan for Vogue (1966)
US Vogue October 1966: ‘The Great Fur Caravan’ shot on location in the Japanese Alps by Richard Avedon and stars Veruschka
US Vogue October 1966: ‘The Great Fur Caravan’ shot on location in the Japanese Alps by Richard Avedon and stars Veruschka via
US Vogue October 1966: ‘The Great Fur Caravan’ shot on location in the Japanese Alps by Richard Avedon and stars Veruschka via
US Vogue October 1966: ‘The Great Fur Caravan’ shot on location in the Japanese Alps by Richard Avedon and stars Veruschka via
Amazing Vintage Photos of Barbara “Babe” Paley
Barbara “Babe” Cushing Mortimer Paley (1915 – 1978) was an American socialite and style icon, whose second husband was the founder of CBS, William S. Paley. She was known by the popular nickname “Babe” for most of her life. She was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1958.
Long after her death, Babe Paley remains an icon in the world of fashion and style. “Babe Paley had only one fault,” commented her one-time friend Truman Capote.
“She was perfect. Otherwise, she was perfect.”
Richard Avedon, Portrait of Barbara “Babe” Paley, 1960’s via
Babe Paley by Erwin Blumenfeld via
Clifford Coffin, Portrait of Barbara “Babe” Paley, British Vogue, 1946 via
John Rawlings, Portrait of Barbara “Babe” Cushing Mortimer Paley, Vogue, February 1946 via
Babe Paley in 1940 Wedding Gown by Mabel McIlvain Downs via
Marilyn Monroe by Richard Avedon (1957)
Vintage Photos of Glamorous 1950s Model Suzy Parker
When modeling agent Eileen Ford met the model Dorian Leigh’s fifteen-year-old redhead sister, in 1948, she ‘almost fainted with delight’. Suzy Parker became a prominent model of her times who, with her high dimpled cheeks, short flame hair and dark blue eyes, captured the attention of the most famous photographers such as Richard Avedon who believed ‘she was something else – a redheaded force of nature, a wolf in chic clothing, the one flesh-and-blood woman in a world of exquisite creatures’ (source).
Her modeling career reached its zenith during the 1950s. She appeared on the cover of dozens of magazines and in advertisements and starred in movie and television roles.
Suzy Parker in Harpers Bazaar, wearing a little feathery hat. Photograph by Richard Avedon via
Suzy Parker for Mauboussin. Photograph by Henry Clarke, 1953 via
Richard Avedon & His Amazing Stylish Muse Dovima
Dovima (1927-1990) was reputed to be the highest-paid model of her time. Richard Avedon (1923 – 2004) was an American fashion and portrait photographer. An obituary published in The New York Times said that:
“his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America’s image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century”
Dovima was the muse of Richard Avedon who depicted her, in a legendary photograph posing in a Christian Dior evening dress with elephants from the Cirque d’Hiver, Paris, in 1955.
In 2010, a record price of £719,000 was achieved at Christie’s for a unique seven-foot-high print of the photo. This particular print, the largest of this image, was made in 1978 for Avedon’s fashion retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and was bought by Maison Christian Dior.
Richard Avedon, Dovima with elephants,
evening dress by Christian Dior, Cirque d Hiver, August 1955 via
Richard Avedon, Dovima with elephants,
evening dress by Christian Dior, Cirque d’Hiver, August 1955 via
Dovima, dress by Claire McCardell, Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt, January 1951 via
Richard Avedon, Dovima dress by Claire McCardell, Egypt, January 1952 via
Richard Avedon, Dovima, evening dress by Jacques Fath, Paris, August 1950 via
Judy Garland by Richard Avedon (1951)
Beautiful Vintage Millinery by Lilly Daché (1898 – 1989)
Lilly Daché (1898 – 1989) was a French milliner and fashion designer. During her career she was the most famous milliner in the United States.
In her native France, Lilly Daché was considered (by her mother, no less) a homely child. Lilly’s thin, strong face with its green cat’s eyes and framing of straight red hair were deemed ugly. Not too surprisingly, little Lilly turned to adornment to amend her failings: braiding cherries into her hair & making hats from grape leaves. Her passion creating beauty took her to Paris to study hatmaking (after all, as Lilly says, if your hat is correct, it can compensate for a world of faults).
Lilly Daché designed for Hollywood films and had many clients who were movie-stars. International star Maria Montez loved her Lillys so much, she created a scene at Chicago’s Union Station when she discovered 2 of her 8 Daché hatboxes were missing. Never mind that she was being reunited with her medal-strewn soldier-husband whom she hadn’t seen for a year–Maria had bigger fish to fry. “I want my Daché hats!” she stormed after briefly smiling for the photographers.
Her designs and hats are valued highly by collectors of vintage clothes. Both the designer Halston and the hair stylist Kenneth worked for her before going into business for themselves.
Lily Dache checking out her hat design via
Hat by Lilly Daché via
Barbara Mullen wearing a headpiece by Lilly Daché, New York, 1951. Photo by Richard Avedon via
Hat by Lilly Daché via
Carmen Miranda wearing hat/turban by Lilly Daché via
FROM THE BYGONE 