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In Vogue: An Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Fashion Magazine
In Vogue is a fascinating look at the history of the world's most influential magazine. The complete compendium is illustrated with hundreds of covers and archival interiors of past Vogue editions, featuring the work of some of the twentieth century's most respected artists, cover illustrators, and photographers—from Edward Steichen, Toni Frissell, and Erwin Blumenfeld to Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, David Bailey, Helmut Newton, Annie Leibovitz, Mario Testino, Steven Klein, Bruce Webber, and Herb Ritts. In 1909, an entrepreneurial New Yorker named Condé Nast took charge of a struggling society journal and transformed it into the most glamorous fashion magazine of the twentieth century. In Vogue traces the history, development and influence of this media colossus—from its beginning as a social gazette in the late nineteenth century, to the exploration of modern fashion photography and new visuals in the mid-twentieth century, to its status as the top style magazine today. The book explains the makings of the magazine—from runways, to editorial meetings, to the pages of Vogue.The thoroughly researched story incorporates first-person accounts, interviews with editors and photographers, and excerpts from stories written in the magazine by many world-renowned writers, including Truman Capote, Aldous Huxley, Richard Burton, Federico Fellini, and Marcello Mastroianni. Unparalleled in its scope and exceptionally illustrated, In Vogue is sure to be among the most important publications on the subjects of culture, art, fashion, photography, and media.
440 pages, Hardcover
First published September 22, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
July 21, 2009
Before reading this book I didn't know much about the history of Vogue. I read the magazine,bought a couple of copies,loved many of the editorials but didn't know anything about it's long history.
I didn't know about women like Edna Woolman Chase, one of the most influential women behind Vogue, who among many things was the creator of the first charity fashion show. One of the most disturbing , but funny quotes in this entire book is courtesy of her, "We at Vogue don't throw ourselves under subway trains my dear. If we must we take sleeping pills."
Jessica Daves , another inflectional woman was a conservative who introduced sportswear @ Vogue and was all about the career woman. She was against showing hips, women in "negligee" and banned the two piece bathing suit from Vogues pages.I thought it was pretty interesting that before her there where never any prices in Vogue. She introduced the pricing of featured clothing and the name of the stores where you could find them.
Diana Vreeland introduced 16 year old Twiggy and 17 year Penelope Tree with there "under nourished look"and they became the new standard. Now we all know who to blame for the super skinny models!! Before her models where "voluptuous" and where all different sizes and in there thirties. Even though she changed so much , she wouldn't change with the times even when Vogues circulation dropped.
Grace Mirabella who wanted to do sort of a overhaul, re-introduced the healthy fit woman and put Beverly Johnson the first black model on the cover.
Seeing the Vogue cover changes, from Painted and illustrated covers, to black & white photos,to color was pretty amazing.
Photographers like Deborah Tuberville who pushed the envelope was interesting to read about. One of her spreads had 5 female models in a public bathhouse in various positions. People called it a "lesbian scene." It was banned and people canceled subscriptions. Her photos where considered "scandalous" in those days but her influence especially in the bathhouse spread in my opinion can be seen in those D&G ads and the D squared ads.
Besides the written history there where so many beautiful photos in the Vogue Vault.On Page 104, The July,1 1932 cover by Edward Steichen, was the first cover in color.
Pages 116,117 The 1947 shoot by Irving Penn, had 12 of the best models of that time and they still use that set up in Vogue today.
Page 130,The May 15, 1941 Horst cover was clever with Lieberman writing the words Vogue but using the beach ball for the "o"
Page 145, The shot of Jean Patchett by Irving Penn in Peru. Irving was attributed for starting to make stories for the models, instead of just standing and posing, catching them in off moments.
Page 161, probably my favorite cover. Jean Patchett shot by Erwin Blumenfeld the 1950's cover. It's basically all white and all you can see is one eye her red lips and her mole.
Overall an amazing ,amazing read, which made me appreciate the magazine and all it's contributors over the years. It's lasted for so long. Anyone into fashion should read this, over 300 pages of influential fashion.
Some Links to a few of my favorite photos from the book:
http://photo.goodreads.com/photos/124...
http://photo.goodreads.com/photos/124...
http://photo.goodreads.com/photos/124...
http://photo.goodreads.com/photos/124...
http://photo.goodreads.com/photos/124...
I didn't know about women like Edna Woolman Chase, one of the most influential women behind Vogue, who among many things was the creator of the first charity fashion show. One of the most disturbing , but funny quotes in this entire book is courtesy of her, "We at Vogue don't throw ourselves under subway trains my dear. If we must we take sleeping pills."
Jessica Daves , another inflectional woman was a conservative who introduced sportswear @ Vogue and was all about the career woman. She was against showing hips, women in "negligee" and banned the two piece bathing suit from Vogues pages.I thought it was pretty interesting that before her there where never any prices in Vogue. She introduced the pricing of featured clothing and the name of the stores where you could find them.
Diana Vreeland introduced 16 year old Twiggy and 17 year Penelope Tree with there "under nourished look"and they became the new standard. Now we all know who to blame for the super skinny models!! Before her models where "voluptuous" and where all different sizes and in there thirties. Even though she changed so much , she wouldn't change with the times even when Vogues circulation dropped.
Grace Mirabella who wanted to do sort of a overhaul, re-introduced the healthy fit woman and put Beverly Johnson the first black model on the cover.
Seeing the Vogue cover changes, from Painted and illustrated covers, to black & white photos,to color was pretty amazing.
Photographers like Deborah Tuberville who pushed the envelope was interesting to read about. One of her spreads had 5 female models in a public bathhouse in various positions. People called it a "lesbian scene." It was banned and people canceled subscriptions. Her photos where considered "scandalous" in those days but her influence especially in the bathhouse spread in my opinion can be seen in those D&G ads and the D squared ads.
Besides the written history there where so many beautiful photos in the Vogue Vault.On Page 104, The July,1 1932 cover by Edward Steichen, was the first cover in color.
Pages 116,117 The 1947 shoot by Irving Penn, had 12 of the best models of that time and they still use that set up in Vogue today.
Page 130,The May 15, 1941 Horst cover was clever with Lieberman writing the words Vogue but using the beach ball for the "o"
Page 145, The shot of Jean Patchett by Irving Penn in Peru. Irving was attributed for starting to make stories for the models, instead of just standing and posing, catching them in off moments.
Page 161, probably my favorite cover. Jean Patchett shot by Erwin Blumenfeld the 1950's cover. It's basically all white and all you can see is one eye her red lips and her mole.
Overall an amazing ,amazing read, which made me appreciate the magazine and all it's contributors over the years. It's lasted for so long. Anyone into fashion should read this, over 300 pages of influential fashion.
Some Links to a few of my favorite photos from the book:
http://photo.goodreads.com/photos/124...
http://photo.goodreads.com/photos/124...
http://photo.goodreads.com/photos/124...
http://photo.goodreads.com/photos/124...
http://photo.goodreads.com/photos/124...
February 22, 2013
For anyone researching magazine history, fashion photography, or the evolution of 20th century style this is a great starter book. It covers every little detail about the most influential American fashion magazine, Vogue, through illustrative photos and illuminating text that follow the chronolgy of Vogue from its inception to the modern day. I found the early chapters a bit over my head because they deal with American culture that's far removed from my conscious, but the later chapters that deal with Anna Wintour and Diana Vreeland as editors in chief are extremely informative and dynamic.
September 11, 2014
Amazing pictures and recounts of how Vogue became the VOGUE of today!
March 29, 2023
Made me yearn for Dior new look to be back in vogue.
January 30, 2026
This is a very large and heavy book, because it would be a crime to print the beautiful Vogue fashion spreads too small. The book is not all fashion images though- it also includes a lot about the history of the magazine, from the 1800’s before Condé Nast bought the magazine, all the way up to the present day and how the magazine was able to outperform the majority of the other women’s magazines of the day to become The definitive fashion magazine; only a few of their competitors still survive today.
Different creative directors, photographers and illustrators are profiled, with entire subsections talking about what they contributed to the magazine and how it evolved over the years to suit the times. Sometimes Vogue drove the trends and sometimes they aligned themselves to the culture. The last part of the book talks about how the magazine was able to make the transition to online content, without sacrificing print media.
I read this entire book over the course of a week, but it was very big, so I had to use my lap desk to hold it: it’s not a reading-in-bed sort of book. The book is assembled in a chronological and sensible order so there wasn’t a lot of flipping back and forth, which was very nice. Because of the size of the book, it is like paging through a very thick Vogue magazine. There was a good range of images from all the eras, really showcasing the magazine’s famous creativity for over 100 years.
Pros:
-It is full of beautiful images from all the eras, which makes it a lovely coffee table book.
-It is an actual history of the magazine, not just a photo album. A perfect book for someone who is interested in history and vintage fashion, not just modern fashion.
-This is a very high quality book with a sleek design. The white-on-black board cover is so graphic and I love it. Even the dust jacket is beautiful.
-It fits on a bookshelf! Coffee table books are designed to be on a coffee table, of course, but that isn't always practical. It’s nice that this one fits on a shelf for easy access.
Cons:
-Like most fashion books and content, once you reach the 1960’s there will start to be nudity, which is not something I personally like to see. (I estimate under 10 nude images)
-The book is so big and heavy that it is a bit tricky to read. It’s a coffee table book, and all the large images are a treat, but since there is actually a lot of text in it, it would have been better to read if it was smaller size. But who wants to sacrifice those big, beautiful fashion images?
-On some of the pages there was a bit too much white space and the small magazine cover images could have been made larger. I understand the graphic design is very editorial, but it would have been nice to have them printed a bit larger.
-Stickers on covers. I wish that publishers would stop putting stickers on books; it’s a crime. Great to know that I have the “updated edition”, but couldn’t that sticker have been placed on the plastic wrap? Why did they have to desecrate the beautiful cover image?
In summary, this is a beautiful book and I do not regret adding it to my personal library. If you have a place to display large books, that would be even better. However, even if you have it on a standard bookshelf like me, it’s still a nice book to pull out periodically and page through for inspiration.
Different creative directors, photographers and illustrators are profiled, with entire subsections talking about what they contributed to the magazine and how it evolved over the years to suit the times. Sometimes Vogue drove the trends and sometimes they aligned themselves to the culture. The last part of the book talks about how the magazine was able to make the transition to online content, without sacrificing print media.
I read this entire book over the course of a week, but it was very big, so I had to use my lap desk to hold it: it’s not a reading-in-bed sort of book. The book is assembled in a chronological and sensible order so there wasn’t a lot of flipping back and forth, which was very nice. Because of the size of the book, it is like paging through a very thick Vogue magazine. There was a good range of images from all the eras, really showcasing the magazine’s famous creativity for over 100 years.
Pros:
-It is full of beautiful images from all the eras, which makes it a lovely coffee table book.
-It is an actual history of the magazine, not just a photo album. A perfect book for someone who is interested in history and vintage fashion, not just modern fashion.
-This is a very high quality book with a sleek design. The white-on-black board cover is so graphic and I love it. Even the dust jacket is beautiful.
-It fits on a bookshelf! Coffee table books are designed to be on a coffee table, of course, but that isn't always practical. It’s nice that this one fits on a shelf for easy access.
Cons:
-Like most fashion books and content, once you reach the 1960’s there will start to be nudity, which is not something I personally like to see. (I estimate under 10 nude images)
-The book is so big and heavy that it is a bit tricky to read. It’s a coffee table book, and all the large images are a treat, but since there is actually a lot of text in it, it would have been better to read if it was smaller size. But who wants to sacrifice those big, beautiful fashion images?
-On some of the pages there was a bit too much white space and the small magazine cover images could have been made larger. I understand the graphic design is very editorial, but it would have been nice to have them printed a bit larger.
-Stickers on covers. I wish that publishers would stop putting stickers on books; it’s a crime. Great to know that I have the “updated edition”, but couldn’t that sticker have been placed on the plastic wrap? Why did they have to desecrate the beautiful cover image?
In summary, this is a beautiful book and I do not regret adding it to my personal library. If you have a place to display large books, that would be even better. However, even if you have it on a standard bookshelf like me, it’s still a nice book to pull out periodically and page through for inspiration.
August 7, 2019
So much better than I was prepared for. It's big, very big, which is great because it means they have room for actual text—so often this kind of thing is pretty pictures with no context, and that's absolutely not the case here. They delve into personalities of editors, design choices and the rationale behind them, looks at the major photographers, it's all here. I was entertained and enlightened, and it only escapes five stars because I wasn't moved to tears, say. I wish I could give it 4.5 on this site—it's just so close to perfection.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!
February 13, 2026
The book was an incredible illustrated and narrative journey of the century-old magazine from its humble beginnings to the most popular fashion magazine in the world today. I'm a huge photographer and fashion enthusiast so this was one book. It was such an amazing experience to learn about some of the greatest photographers (Helmut Newton, Annie Leibowitz, Mario Testino to name a few of my favorites) and their famous photoshoots with the top celebrities of all time and even some presidents and first ladies. I highly recommend to those who share a deep passion for fashion and photography as I do.
February 6, 2021
It provides what it says it will offer, but comes from a very biased point of view. Keep that in mind while reading, but it still has a lot to offer and learn from!
August 11, 2025
yes this was a coffee table boom but u best believe i read all 450 pages. such a fascinating look into the history of vogue and its evolution to today. definitely a very biased perspective and didn’t speak to how incredibly problematic it was/is so just have to know that going in
January 22, 2014
This book is just okay. It's HUGE first of all, so I was expecting more of the stunning photography Vogue is known for. Otherwise, what's the point? There were only 3 pages dedicated to Marilyn Monroe's final Vogue shoot, which was disappointing. Frankly, the book was just so incredibly large and lacking in full-page photos that I felt in the end that it wasn't worth the strain of lifting it. I nearly broke my back!
December 18, 2016
awesome book! i am hooked first paragraph into the introduction. "[This book will pay] homage to the editors, photographers, writers and designers who built Vogue in the past and continue to build it today - the women and men, invisible to the readers but highly visible to the industry, behind each cover and every page".
March 23, 2016
I never took Vogue too seriously. I chose to be analphabetic reader: all I cared was their visual essays. But after reading its history, it gave a lot of valuable information about fashion journalism, running a succesful magazine and fashion history. I will never look at Vogue in the same way like before
May 2, 2016
A great narrative of an illustrious journey of the fashion's most authoritative guide. Told through the voice of a visionary owner, Conde Nast, illustrators and photographers unveiling the status of women at a party, at home and at work.
Grace Coddington, Richard Avedon, Mario Testino, all leaving their marks
Grace Coddington, Richard Avedon, Mario Testino, all leaving their marks
January 10, 2008
I just skimmed this and looked at the pictures.
September 10, 2008
Amazing pictures and recounts of how Vogue became the VOGUE of today!
January 5, 2009
I read this book over the course of several book store visits, because it around $85! But it is beautiful and my side table stack is longing for it.
September 17, 2009
I borrowed this book from the library knowing I would enjoy the photography; happily, I discovered the narrative was equally fascinating.
October 13, 2009
Love my fashion!
October 10, 2011
Didn't read more than the first chapters, because that's what drew my interest. History of Vogue as a publication. Was at one time published twice a month.
February 9, 2012
my guilty pleasure :)
July 17, 2013
Vogue magazine has been one of my favorites my teens ( it's been that long ago). The photography was lovely and the history was very fascinating.
May 25, 2010
glorious
October 8, 2013
Este libro es maravilloso. Ojalá hubiera podido tenerlo cuando hice mi tesis.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews