A Collection of Horst P. Horst Classics (1930s)

Horst P. Horst (1906 – 1999) was a German-American fashion photographer. His first exhibition took place at La Plume d’Or in Paris in 1932. It was reviewed by Janet Flanner in The New Yorker, and this review, which appeared after the exhibition ended, made Horst instantly prominent.

Horst made a portrait of Bette Davis the same year, the first in a series of public figures he would photograph during his career. Within two years, he had photographed Noël Coward, Yvonne Printemps, Lisa Fonssagrives, Count Luchino Visconti di Madrone, Duke Fulco di Verdura, Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg, Princess Natalia Pavlovna Paley, Daisy Fellowes, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, Cole Porter, Elsa Schiaparelli, and others like Eve Curie.

Horst rented an apartment in New York City in 1937, and while residing there met Coco Chanel, whom Horst called “the queen of the whole thing”. He would photograph her fashions for three decades.

Horst P. Horst, Mainbocher Corset, 1939 via

Horst P. Horst Classics, Lisa with Harp, 1939 via

Horst P. Horst Classics, Coco Chanel, Paris, 1937 via

Horst P. Horst Classics, Still Life, 1937 via

Vintage Miss America Pageant Evening Gowns (1930s)

 Marion Bergeron, Connecticut, 1933 via

Bette Cooper, New Jersey, 1937 via

Marilyn Meseke, Ohio, 1938 via

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

Hollywood actress Virginia Bruce (1937)

Hollywood actress Virginia Bruce, 1937

Iconic Artist Tamara De Lempicka in L’Officiel (1935)

Tamara De Lempicka in Marcel Rochas Dress and Rose Descat Hat, in L’Officiel, 1935 via

Elegant Diana Vreeland Study for portrait by William Acton (1930s)

Diana Vreeland (1903 – 1989), was a noted columnist and editor in the field of fashion. She worked for the fashion magazines Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue and as a special consultant at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1964.

William Acton

Diana Vreeland. William Acton. DIAN VREELAND PRIVATE COLLECTION.

1930’s

 via

William Acton

Diana Vreeland. William Acton. DIAN VREELAND PRIVATE COLLECTION.

1930’s 

 via

Barbara Hutton by Madame Yevonde (1936)

Barbara Hutton by Madame Yevonde, circa 1936 via

Barbara Hutton by Madame Yevonde, circa 1936 via

Surreal Vignette by Cecil Beaton (1936)

Ruth Ford (1911-2009) was an American model and stage and film actress. As a model she posed for Harper’s, Town and Country and Mademoiselle. She was best known for the salon she created at her beautiful, art-lined Manhattan apartment, frequented by the likes of William Faulkner, Cecil Beaton, Truman Capote and Andy Warhol (source).

Her brother was the bohemian surrealist Charles Henri Ford.

Cecil Beaton Surreal Vignette, Ruth Ford with tapemeasure. 1936 via

Cecil Beaton Surreal Vignette, Ruth Ford with tapemeasure. 1936 via

Cecil Beaton Surreal Vignette, Ruth Ford with tapemeasure. 1936 via

Cecil Beaton Surreal Vignette, Ruth Ford with tapemeasure. 1936 via

Coco Chanel by George Hoyningen-Huene (1935)

Coco Chanel by George Hoyningen-Huene, 1935 via

Coco Chanel by George Hoyningen-Huene, 1935 via

Vintage Sportswear: Ski Outfit by Jean Patou (1933)

Jean Patou, Ski Outfit, 1933 via

Jean Patou, Ski Outfit, 1933 via