If, like myself, you are in to documentaries (especially fashion documentaries) then you might have seen one of my personal favorites, The September Issue. Upon its release much of the interest was no doubt driven by the chance to get a glimpse into to the life at Vogue and even more a glimpse at Editor In Chief Anna Wintour. Surprisingly though, it can be argued that Vogue Creative Director Grace Coddington stole the limelight (at least for this blogger)—her way of standing her ground when Wintour disagrees with her and ever so calmly, her affinity for black (Wintour’s least favorite color) and that long unruly but gorgeous hair. Not to mention her natural ability for story telling. I mean the way she talks about the past makes me pine for a time I’ve never known and also makes me all the more excited about her memoir which is set to release on November 20th.
Just yesterday, Vogue released a 5-page excerpt of the book… Let me just say I may be the first in line at my local bookstore that morning. I’m positive that fashion lovers everywhere will be flooding the social media world with quotes directly from Grace Coddington’s life.
Here are a few excerpts from the excerpt that I found fascinating, humorous, amusing, and just insanely interesting.
“There was no such thing as a stylist, either, so the better your accessories, which you carried in your bag, the more jobs you were likely to get….But however well equipped you might be, as with most situations in life, friends with influence are much more useful than face powder and rouge.”
“… I dressed up in my smartest Kiki Byrne two-piece, which had a cropped jacket and a box-pleat skirt that I poufed out with some nice crisp petticoats (my secret was to wash them in sugar water to make them stiffer), and off I dashed to meet him at his studio in Chelsea.”
And then she mentions Cinderella … oh how I love this lady!
A model competition ran in British Vogue in 1959, publicized with a picture of a pretty young girl, Nena von Schlebrügge (later to be Uma Thurman’s mother), and a caption asking, “Could this be you?” Someone at the Stockpot said to me, “Why don’t you try this route?,” and so I did… I won the Young Idea section. Suddenly, everyone began asking for me. I was a success! It was truly a Cinderella moment. My mother was over the moon with excitement.”
Will you be in line with me to get your copy of Grace Coddington’s memoir?
By Kristianne Young
Source: Vogue.com
