The Best of Flair

by Fleur Cowles, Dominique Dunne (Foreword)

This highly sought-after volume detailing one of the most influential magazines of the twentieth century is now back in print at a newly affordable price. In 1950, Fleur Cowles established what would become one of the most important and talked about magazines ever created. Critically lauded for its sharp mix of clothes, literature, art, travel, decor, theater, and humor, Flair made publishing history with its combination of eclectic editorial content and lavish production quality. Recalled as "the first magazine that became an art form," The Best of Flair is a compilation of the magazine’s best content as chosen by the woman who created it. Along with its distinctive production values, Flair also features interviews and contributions from some of the most noted artists and celebrities of the past fifty years, including Lucian Freud, Jean Cocteau, Tallulah Bankhead, Saul Steinberg, Salvador Dalí, Simone de Beauvoir, Walker Evans, James Michener, Ogden Nash, Gypsy Rose Lee, Clare Boothe Luce, George Bernard Shaw, John O’Hara, Margaret Mead, and Tennessee Williams. Now, more than ten years after this book was first published by Rizzoli, and more than fifty years after the magazine ceased publication, this facsimile edition offers the same ingenious bookmaking of its predecessor, including multiple gatefolds with die-cuts, booklets, and accordion folder leaflets.

Genres: Art, Design, Nonfiction

336 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1998

About the author

Fleur Fenton Cowles was an American writer, editor and artist best known as the creative force behind the short-lived Flair magazine.

Reviews

[Maria Speidel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intriguing and visually arresting time capsule for anyone interested in words, pictures, and their glorious marriage in the modern magazine. This is the kind of capacious coffee table book you can dive into again and again always coming away with something different.

[Fang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! Absolutely stunning book.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely stunning book dedicated to a magazine that was ahead of its time and unfortunately short-lived. Well-written essays by people both familiar and now unknown; sections on travel, fashion and art; lovely layout. Nice for the coffee table but worth reading cover to cover.