Empress of Fashion: A Life of Diana Vreeland by Amanda Mackenzie Stuart

This “assiduously” researched new book may just convince you that Diana Vreeland was “one of the 20th century’s premier figures.”

(Harper, $35)

“Cleopatra could not have been more fascinating,” said Craig Seligman in Bloomberg.com. Diana Vreeland, the fashion impresario who helped shape the industry’s aspirations for decades, was a larger-than-life figure from the moment she was hired at Harper’s Bazaar in 1936. Across the following 35 years, she insisted on having the soles of her shoes polished, outfitting her offices with leopard skin, and taking a swig of scotch with her midday peanut butter sandwiches. But she also “used fashion to project an entire worldview” built on her devotion to inventiveness and personal freedom. No one has ever doubted how influential Vreeland was during her 1963–71 run as editor-in-chief of Vogue. But this “assiduously” researched new book may just convince you that she was “one of the 20th century’s premier figures.”

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