Empress of Fashion (61 page)

1972–1987 (Costume Institute years
), 1, 267–317; as ahead of her time, 312; art and music in exhibitions, 275, 279, 282, 295; contract signed, 270; entertaining at 550 Park Avenue, 288, 290, 296, 307, 314; failing health and eyesight, 313–19; finances of, 277, 317; first reaction to position offer, 269; friends' help, 269–70, 276, 277, 278, 284, 288; the Girl and, 312; ideas on presentation of exhibitions, 274–75, 279; influence on other museums, 313; Japan trip, 1975, 291–92; nicknames for friends, 289; Party of the Year and, 278–79; perfumes used in exhibitions, 275, 279, 282, 295; persuading friends to part with clothes and, 273, 274, 279; replicas commissioned, 281–82; Russia trip and curators, 293–96; Saint Laurent exhibition controversy, 312; secretary for, 6, 282, 283; social status and lifestyle, 286–88, 296, 297, 307; working routine, 282–83.
See also
Costume Institute, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Vreeland, Elizabeth “Betty” Breslauer (daughter-in-law), 151–53, 168, 175, 184, 185, 214

Vreeland, Frederick “Freck”‘ (son): birth of, 70; childhood, 76, 95–96; cousin Emi-Lu and, 140; DV at
Vogue
and, 185; DV's dressing of, 76, 96; DV's final days and, 318; DV's severance terms from Condé Nast and, 261–62; in Geneva, 151–53, 214; government career, 151, 366n 215; at Groton, 137; Jackie Kennedy and, 175; marriages, 151, 304; in merchant marine, 140; in Morocco, 215–16, 366n 215; return to America, 1934, 101; sons of, 215; at Yale, 151

Vreeland, Herbert H. (father-in-law), 63, 347n 63

Vreeland, Jean Partridge (daughter-in-law), 151, 304

Vreeland, Lisa Immordino, 6

Vreeland, Nancy Stolkin (daughter-in-law), 304

Vreeland, Nicholas (grandson), 215, 292; DV and his Buddhism, 304–5

Vreeland, Phoebe (granddaughter), 304

Vreeland, Reed (great-grandson), 318

Vreeland, Thomas “Reed” (husband): aesthetic sense, 64–65; in Albany, New York, 69–71; aspirations for professional singing career, 148–49; as banker, 69, 71, 73, 76, 100, 349n 76; Blass and, 225; Brewster house, 148; character and personality, 150, 225, 367n 225; clothes and style, 149–50, 154; at Dar Nejma Ezzahra, 91–92; d'Erlanger job, 137; DV's self-esteem and, 98; education and talent, 64; in England (1929–1935), 73–102; family background, 63; final years and death, 219–22; financial problems, 139, 222, 223; good looks, 65, 68, 74, 98; home at 550 Park Ave, 153–55; at Hotel Beau-Rivage, Ouchy, Switzerland, 101–2; infidelity of, 141–42, 148, 150; lifestyle created for by DV, 63, 91–94, 124, 149–50, 179, 219–21; maid of, 221–22; marriage and, 89, 102, 149–51; meets and marries DV, 63–68; parenting by, 76, 95–96; post-war roles 148; return to New York and DV, 1947, 148; trips with DV to Germany, 1930s, 93–94; war years in Montreal, 137, 141–42, 148; women and, 97–98, 352n 98; World War II and, 124

Vreeland, Thomas “Tim” (son): as architect, 151; birth of, 70; childhood and parents, 76, 95–96, 140; cousin Emi-Lu and, 140; DV's dressing of, 76, 96; DV's final days and, 318; DV's Hollywood exhibition and, 281; father's death and, 222; at Groton, 137, 140; marriages, 151, 304; return to America, 1935, 102; Swiss prep school and, 102; at Yale, 151

Vreeland, Vanessa Somers (daughter-in-law), 304

Walker, Joset, 130

Wallis Shops, 200

Warhol, Andy, 30, 282, 291, 296, 306, 307, 376n 305; DV's relationship with, 5, 173, 288, 289–90, 291, 302, 305, 306, 314; portraits by, 291; recording DV and, 299–300

Warren, Mr. and Mrs. Whitney, 16

Weill, Kurt, 136

Weir, Charles Gouverneur, 18

Weir, June, 253

Weir, Mary Hoffman (grandmother), 18, 19, 25, 62; birth of DV and, 21; death of, 51; as DV's godmother, 21; farm in Katonah, New York, 22, 50–51, 53, 74; inheritance for DV, 50–51, 345n 51; supporting DV, 36, 49–51

Westwood, Vivienne, 326

Weymouth, Lally, 34, 146, 196–97, 302

Wheelock, Dorothy, 172

White, Kate, 170

White, Nancy, 171–73, 179, 180, 206

White, Stanford, 17, 340n 17

“Why Don't You?” column, 1, 112–19, 121, 139, 326, 354n 112

Wilde, Oscar, 55

Wilder Shores of Love, The
(Blanch), 213, 214

Williams, Harrison, 78, 359n 155, 369n 234

Williams, Mona (Mrs. Harrison).
See
Bismarck, Mona (formerly Mona Williams)

Wilson, Elizabeth, 323, 328

Windsor, Duke of, 60, 155, 218, 298, 316, 352n 100

clothes exhibition and, 270–72

Windsor, Duchess of, 99–100, 352n 100, 270–72

Wolf, Henry, 173, 362n 173

Woman's Home Companion
, 41

women: all-American girl, 1940s, 133–34;
beau idéal
, 1930s, 88; changing roles of, post World War I, 59–60; conservatism and, 251, 252; DV on the female body, 37, 38, 203–4; DV's assessment of fashion flaws, 1930s, 122–23; DV's future vision of, 250; DV's influence on, 180, 216; DV's misreading of career women, 250–51; fashion and, 229, 323; fashion of the 1930s, demands of, 88; feminism and, 226–27, 243–45, 249, 252–53, 261, 323; individualism of the 1960s, 236–37, 245; jobs in fashion industry, 130, 356n 130; jobs in fashion publishing, 6–7; “New Woman,” 57, 58, 107; personality development and, 88; the Pill and sexual liberation, 199, 227, 245, 247–49; retail shopgirls, 356n 130; Roaring Twenties and, 56–57; romantic fantasy and, 213–14; shopping and, 57–58; Snow's influence, 161–62; “types,” 57; working, and buying habits, 250, 251–52, 259–60; World War II and, 127, 130, 356n 130

Women's Wear Daily
(WWD), 174; DV interview, Jan. 1963, 185

World War II, 124–43: declaration of, Europe, 124; DV and Bacall in St. Augustine and, 135; DV leaves Europe and, 124–25; DV's career and, 136; DV's sons and, 140–41; U. S. Limitation Order L-85, 127, 143; women's employment, 130, 356n 130; women's fashions, 127–30, 144

Worth, Charles Frederick, 119

Wragge, B. H., 164–65

Wright, Frank Lloyd, 133

Wrightsman, Mrs. Charles, 274

Wyman, Bill, 288

Yarmolovich, Nina, 295

Ziegfeld, Flo, 296

Ziegfeld Follies
, 3

Zipkin, Jerome, 8–9, 224–25, 311

Zuckerman, Ben, 161, 164, 176, 177

About the Author

A
MANDA
M
ACKENZIE
S
TUART
worked as a screenwriter and independent film producer for a number of years before publishing her first biography, the critically acclaimed
Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Daughter and Mother in the Gilded Age
. She lives in Oxford, England.

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Also by Amanda Mackenzie Stuart

Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Daughter and a Mother in the Gilded Age

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EMPRESS OF
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Epub Edition © DECEMBER 2012 ISBN:
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