I fell in love with the first photo and, to complete the story, picked the other two to keep it company. The original version was in colour, which I stripped down to my favourite black and white. I feel that it makes Shalom look even more striking and flawless.
Photo source: Allure June 1997 (photography: David Lasnet, styling: Ricky Vider Rivers)
Allure by Diana Vreeland couldn’t have arrived at a better time. I kept it on my wish list, always postponing the purchase for the reasons I cannot really explain because I don’t have a clue myself. And then, two weeks ago, I got my copy – a beautiful heavy hardcover edition full of memories, stories, precious quotes and photos.
I sat in a garden on a hot summer afternoon, hiding from the scorching sun behind an old pair of oversized sunglasses and a trilby covered with a brightly coloured silk scarf and lost the track of time.
The book was more than just a wonderful read. It was my ticket into normality. The words pulled me out of the stale coma in which I have been emotionally sinking since my physical shape got out of order and affected pretty much every part of my life. As soon as I began to read and browse the photographs, the emotions began to fill my brain with endorphins and turning me into my good old self.
This is quite an extraordinary story told by an extraordinary woman who could see the life and people around her in a completely different, new and exciting light and had an ability to share her thoughts to give her readers a real hunger for beauty, creativity and zest.
Allure is about stories taped-recorded by Christopher Hemphill and accompanied by a potpourri of black and white photographs carefully chosen by Diana from her archives. She speaks about herself, but through the memories of people who inspired her, held her by having that special something that cannot be explained, but felt. Allure, as she puts it.
I read this book in one sitting. When I got to the last page I had two regrets – the fact that the story was over and that Diana was no longer with us.
How I wish she was still around, keeping things real and true, and presenting them in a completely different, never before seeing, fascinating light.
I don’t have a tendency to idolise people. I don’t have role models or icons, but Diana Vreeland is one of those few women who I admire to the point of a heartache. It was her birthday on 29 July and I wanted to take an opportunity to celebrate this unique woman and recommend Allure to you as an absolute must-read.
Photo source: first photo – unknown, all other photos are from the book, taken and edited by me – Cecil Sorel by George Hoyningen-Huene, 1930s, Balenciaga’s white linen blouse from 1953 by Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Richard Avedon 1966, Maya Plisetskaya by Cecil Beaton 1964, Marilyn Monroe by Bert Stern 1962.
I fell in love with the black and white photo, the fragility of it, the pixie, that beautiful delicate profile. Baby bird in a human form. A woman balancing between the sad and happy in the midst of summer heat.
Kylie Bax photographed by Satoshi Saikusa for The Close Line story featured in Allure 1997.
Photo source: Allure US May 1997
So did I get the title right to grab your attention? Today’s post was inspired by our on-going bathroom renovation project and my love for beautiful fashion editorials. I combined the two and came up with a small collection of images where bathrooms became a background for some of the most gorgeous fashion models.
Photo source: Elle Russia November 2010, Allure September 2011, Cosmopolitan UK June 2012, Tatler Russia 2010, Tatler Russia May 2010, ???, Vogue Germany July 2011, Vogue Italia 1993, Vogue Italia March 2011, Vogue Italia November 2002, Vogue Nippon June 2010, Vogue Italia May 2008, Vogue Russia December 2010, Vogue UK 1990s, Vogue Nippon March 2009, Vogue Paris March 2012, ???, Numero June/July 2008, Vogue US April 2012, Elle Spain April 2011, Elle February 2009, Elle UK April 2011, Allure March 2009, Elle France January 2007, Elle Italia May 2011, Elle Russia March 2008.
"Fashion is so close in revealing a person’s inner feelings and everybody seems to hate to lay claim to vanity so people tend to push it away. It’s really too close to the quick of the soul."
Stella Blum
Photo source: Allure February 1991
