Vanity Fair Magazine – Page 8 – Old Magazine Articles

Campers of 1921
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1921)

Motor camping is in it’s infancy, observed the shrewd and sure-footed motoring journalist George W. Sutton in this 1921 VANITY FAIR report regarding the evolution of campers. To further illuminate his readers, he provided black and white plans illustrating the interior of two campers mounted on the back of Ford chassis (during the 1920s, Ford Model Ts were by far the most common make of automobile). Although there were a handful of camper-shell manufacturers at the time, the two featured here were custom made.

‘Paul Verlaine in London”
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1916)

British poet and literary critic Arthur Symons (1865 – 1945) remembered the time French poet Paul Verlaine (1844 – 1896) was his house guest.

The 1921 book review of Paul Verlaine can be read here…

Paris Fashion, 1913
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1913)

The unknown author of this article believed deeply that the Paris fashions of 1913 were very much in keeping with the grand traditions established and maintained by that city since the eighteenth century. This critic was very impressed with the recent work of Paul Poiret and Doeuillet and presented a number fashion illustrations to prove the point. Oddly, the article is credited simply to Worth which leaves one wondering whether the writer was one of the sons of Charles Frederick Worth (1825-1895); Jean Philippe Worth or Gaston Worth, both of whom had inherited their father’s great house of fashion.

Men’s Correct Clothes
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1919)

These images, as well as the headline, were from a paid avertisement for a fashionable fifth avenue shop that had originally appeared in a chic Conde Nast magazine.

The Monstrous Movies
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1921)

By 1921 the city of Los Angeles began to seriously grow, and the expansion was not simply due to the arrival of performers and extras and all manner of craftsmen that are required to launch a film production – but the city was also bringing in the sorts necessary to support a wealthy urban environment. Every thriving city needs a support system, and Hollywood imported tailors, milliners, chefs, architects and various other tastemakers who in turn attracted realtors, contractors, merchants and restauranteurs.

P.G. Wodehouse on the Virtues and Vices of Artists
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1916)

Written under the pen name P. Brooke-Haven, this very funny essay was in fact written by Vanity Fair’s drama critic, P.G. Wodehouse, who attempted to understand the criminal nature of artists.

Arthur B. Davies
(Vanity Fair, 1919)

An Arthur B. Davies (1862 – 1928) review written by VANITY FAIR art critic Frederick James Gregg following the opening of an exhibition highlighting the the private collection of N.E. Montross. The critic wrote:

Since the death of Albert Pinkham Ryder (1847 – 1917), Mr. Davies has been recognized, by persons abroad who are familiar with art in America, as the leading living painter on this side of the Atlantic.

Francis Picabia
(Vanity Fair, 1915)

In 1915, the year before Dada was created, one of the movement’s followers, Francis Picabia (1879 – 1953), was spotted in New York City by the editors of VANITY FAIR who quickly put him through the works.

The Action-Back Jacket for the Golfing Man
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1916)

Those young bucks who golfed and participated in other field and blood-sports during the early Twentieth Century were the lads who benefited most from the tailor’s craft. Pictured here are details of the pivot-sleeve (later to be called the ‘action-back’): a four button, deep-vented, self-belted, pleated golf jacket with matching knickers.

Also featured is a terribly natty English cheviot golf hat.

Men’s Summer Golf Apparel
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1918)

Attached you will find some kind words promoting brown linen as the preferred fabric for summer golf, yet what is most striking is the accompanying photo of a young rake in his period golf apparel sporting a pair of putees for his time upon the links. It is rare that one finds a photograph of a golfer in putees and one might get the sense that the look never really caught on.

Etiquette in the Movies
(Vanity Fair, 1915)

No doubt, this is one of the funniest pieces you are likely to find on the topic of acting and costuming in silent movies. It was written by Frederick Lewis Allen (1890 – 1954) and Frank Tuttle (1892-1963); both men approached the movies with the low expectations that were probably all too typical of theater lovers at that time. Frederick Lewis Allen is best remembered today as one of the better chroniclers of the Twenties and author of Only Yesterday (1931) while Frank Tuttle would find himself, in a few short years, directing movies in Hollywood. Tuttle was one of the few Directors who successfully made the jump from silent films to sound and continued working; at this writing, he was an Assistant Editor at Vanity Fair.

Summer Mode for an Era’s End
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1914)

The Paris fashion world that thrived during the August of 1914 was rightfully intrigued by the chic creations conjured up by the House of Worth, Drécoll, and Mme Paquin.

Three Brilliant Young Writers
(Vanity Fair, 1921)

The VANITY FAIR reviews of Stephen Vincent Benet’s (1898 – 1943) book The Beginning of Wisdom, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s (1896 – 1940) The Beautiful and Damned
and John Dos Passos’ (1896 – 1970) Three Soldiers:

The years following the war in America have been remarkable for the rise in popular and critical estimation of a small group of novelists who represent a revolt against the stillness and complacency of commercialized literature.

Art Sacandal: Aubrey Beardsley Forged
(Vanity Fair, 1919)

London’s post-World War I art world was rocked by a scandal involving a number forged drawings which were misleadingly signed with the name Aubrey Beardsley (1872 – 1898). This piece captures that moment.

Shoe Illustrations
(1913 Advertisement)

Heartlessly ripped from the binding of an ancient issue of VANITY FAIR was this page of shoe illustrations in which a smart pair of womens leather boots are the centerpiece, accompanied by Russian dancing shoes, a splendid pair of gold brocade slippers, white buckskin tennis oxfords and a pair of walking boots.

Legendary fashion designer Christian Dior had a good deal of trouble with people who would illegally copy his designs; click here to read about that part of fashion history.

1920s Prohibition created a criminal climate
that appealed to more women than you ever might have suspected…

New Portrait Busts by Jo Davidson
(Vanity Fair, 1916)

This single column reported on the 1916 busts that were created by the American sculptor Jo Davidson (1883 – 1952), during his tour of war-torn Europe.
By the end of the Twentieth Century, much of his work would be in the collections of many of the finest art museums, such as the National Gallery of Art, Washington, the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, the U.S. Senate Art Collection and the National Statuary Hall, both in Washington.

The Critics of the Russian Ballet
(Vanity Fair, 1916)

Man of letters and all-around swell-guy Frank Moore Colby (1865 – 1925) had a good time reading the flowery writing of the Ballet Connoisseurs who write for the New York papers…

World War I Fashions: Summer, 1916
(Vanity Fair Magazine, 1916)

Ignoring the general unpleasantness taking place outside of town, the taste-makers of Paris soldiered-on as best they could, creating garments for the summer of 1916 that were both original and feminine and bore the mark of Paris’ characteristic opulence.

Click here to read about the New York fashions of 1916.