Articles from Vanity Fair Magazine
A glance at the 1921 wardrobe enjoyed by those fashionable fellows who were part and parcel of that Wall Street clique who might today be called the one percent.
The reviewer also devoted some column space to classic fox hunting attire and Chesterfield overcoats,hunting tweeds,wing collars and men’s suit from the early Twenties.
When the attached article first appeared in print the Balkan War (1912 – 1913) was over, however some of the swells of Europe put their crowned heads together and collectively came up with the best Medieval plan they could think of in order to insure the promise of peace in the region.
It was agreed that the Czar’s daughter, Grand Duchess Olga (1895 – 1918), would wed Serbia’s Crown Prince Alexander (1888 – 1934); while the Czar’s second daughter, Grand Duchess Tatiana (1897 – 1918) was promised to Romania’s Crown Prince Charles (1893 – 1959). All concerned felt that Romania’s Princess Elizabeth (1894-1956) and Crown Prince George of Greece (1890 – 1947) would make a simply splendid couple (they divorced in 1935).
Numbered among the many Monday-morning-quarterbacks who appeared in print throughout much of the Twenties and Thirties were the old horse soldiers of yore, bemoaning the fact that industrial warfare had deprived their kind of the glory that was their birthright. This was not the case on the Eastern Front, where Imperial Russian generals had seen fit to launch as many as 400 cavalry charges – while American troopers were ordered to dismount (along with most other cavalry units in the West) and suffer postings with the Service of Supply, among other assorted indignities.
An uncredited interview with the celebrated Russian composer, Sergie Rachmaninoff (1873 – 1943); his education, family and his work at the Moscow Conservatory as well as the Moscow Grand Theater. Attention is paid to his activities in the United States following his flight from the 1917 Russian Revolution.
With the 1922 American economy as strong as it was, questions regarding what to wear on the links were seen as important queries and were not easily tossed aside. The following article illustrate the best golf jackets offered by the master-tailors at Cohen-Rissman, Fashion Park and The House of Kuppenheimer.
Now our golfing cousins from the land of the Thistle and Rose are sending another pair, who might well be christened the New Mandarins of Golf. One is is George Duncan of Scotland. The other is Abe Mitchell of England. And in addition to giving battle in our in our Open Championship at Columbia, Washington, D.C., they will display their wares in exhibition matches before 250,000 of our golfing citizens in another one of those extended tours that bring in a lot of kale and almost as many blisters.
Golf shoes were the topic of this segment from a VANITY FAIR fashion review for men, as it appeared in the June issue of 1915.
This is a well-illustrated article in which the fashion journalist recalled a dinner party where the men in attendance were knowledgeable on which forks to use but cared little about the proper etiquette 
VANITY FAIR’s Edmund Wilson (1895 – 1972), reported his view on Dada as it existed in Paris, the influence of Jazz and the art of Jean Cocteau (1889 – 1963). The article is subtitled:
The Influence of Jazz and Americanization of French Literature and Art
Six very fine fashion drawings illustrate what was generally perceived to be the chic silhouette during the August of 1918.
There may be some women who can get along without satin frocks, but it is exceedingly doubtful..
Click here to read about military influeneces of feminine fashions.
The Irish playwright St John Ervine (1883 – 1971) wrote this article for VANITY FAIR in an attempt to understand Charlie Chaplin’s broad appeal; rich and poor, highbrow and lowbrow, all enjoyed his movies.
Mr. Chaplin is the small boy realizing his ambitions.
The urgent word from Belle Époque Paris on the matter of proper Tango gowns was published in this 1913 article and accompanied by seven illustrations.
What shall you wear to the Tango Teas? Let me whisper to you a secret, only to be revealed when it is found out, my dear, there is no Tango in America, or, at least in New York. But it is quite different in Paris and it is for Paris and the Tango that the French dance frocks are made.
Click here to read about feminine conversations overheard in the best New York nightclubs of 1937.
One of the unsung heroes of men’s fashions from the early part of the Twentieth century had to be the Triangle Hook. A nifty device, it was designed
to fit the soft collar for more fastidious wear; to make it fit the neck snugly, show the tie gracefully, and stay stylish…
Recognizing the importance of armored vehicles, a group of American millionaires, among them Henry Clay Frick (1849 – 1919), pooled their money and donated a number of such items to the New York National Guard. VANITY FAIR MAGAZINE pursued this story and produced this article as it developed with a thorough review of each of the donated military vehicles. Although the trucks are photographed, few are named.
When the Five O’Clock Whistle Blows in Hollywood is attached;
it appeared in VANITY FAIR eight years after Hollywood was declared the film capital of the world.
This single page cartoon was created by one of the great American caricaturists of the Twenties: Ralph Barton, and all the kingpins of the young empire are depicted (among others): Douglas Fairbanks, Marry Pickford, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Bebe Daniels, Bill Hart, Wallace Reed, Gloria Swanson, Nazimova, Charlie Chaplin, Jackie Coogan, Fatty Arbuckle and the writer Rupert Hughes.
Lording above them all, and represented simply by jodhpurs and riding boots, stands the founder of the feast – Cecil B. DeMille (and his brother).
Attached is a Vanity Fair cartoon from the days of silent film illustrating how unsophisticated those movies truly were and how wildly predictable the plots and characters always seemed to be. This cartoon, along with a number similar magazine articles on this site, illustrate that such thinking was not entirely rare.
Six very fine fashion drawings illustrate what was generally perceived to be the chic silhouette during the August of 1918.
There may be some women who can get along without satin frocks, but it is exceedingly doubtful..
When the smoke cleared following the close of that dreadful unpleasantness that spanned the years 1914 to 1918, there remained much work to do; bodies to be buried, cities to be rebuilt. Men and nations prepared to face the new realities that came with the new social structure; many weighty subjects had to be addressed that had been ignored for so long a time. The most pressing of these topics was deciding which was the proper combination of white waistcoat and dinner jacket? In an age of industrial slaughter, which was more suitable: double-breasted or single-breasted? and what of ties, shoes and overcoats?
