Vogue 101

Strike a Rose! 📸 The glittering history of British Vogue, which always had the cultural barometer globally for the “idea of beauty”.

Vogue has defined the culture of fashion: how we dress, live and socialise, what we eat, listen to and watch, and who leads and inspires us. Victoria’s Secret was once described as the Olympics for supermodels, what does that make Vogue?

The word Vogue actually means ‘wave of success’ from the old French word voguer meaning to set sail. You can say the word Vogue virtually to anyone, anywhere in the world – but they won’t be thinking of sailboats! ⛵️

So, I’ve been putting the Pose in Posie as I sail through my new reading material.💋

In October 2024, Weidenfeld & Nicholson released Julie Summers’ book, The Biography of an Icon, as is an in-depth exploration into the history of British Vogue from 1916 to the current day. The exclusive Vogue archives grants us a unique insider’s perspective in this Biography of an Icon from Summers. Enthrallingly and accurately, this book chronicles the ever-changing fashion-world and creative climate, showing that Vogue has encapsulated the British culture, society, and artistic life in the 20th and 21st century.

Each page is a delicious reveal with a rich and juicy fact about the publishing phenomenon.

From WW2 to Covid-19, the history of Vogue has been chronicled against the backdrop of an extraordinary century of change. Well-researched and a joy to read. Julie Summers has written the fashion book of the year.

The Rizzoli book ‘In Vogue’, gives us the illustrated history of the world’s most famous magazine, comprised by Angeletti and Olivia and released in October 2012. In comparison, this complete compendium features the 1909 intervention of Condé Nast, the New Yorker who took Vogue from being a struggling society journal and made it the most glamorous and global fashion magazine of the twentieth century. In Vogue documents the runways, editorial meetings, and cover art, featuring first-person accounts, interviews, and excerpts. And of course, my favourite section which features the late Patrick Demarchelier, who I studied obsessively while taking A-Level Photography in London.

Feel free to quiz me on Vogue in the near or distant future, or grab a copy of the books to learn Vogue 101. Meanwhile, I’ll be turning ‘Vogue’ into an adjective, throwing #ThatsVogue around like a new trendy catchphrase à la Gretchen Wieners… Mean Girls, anyone?