We’ll Always Have Paris

Erwin Blumenfeld photographed a reportedly unharnessed Lisa Fonssagrives swinging her Lucien Lelong dress off the side of the Eiffel Tower in celebration of the monument’s fiftieth anniversary for French Vogue in 1939.  In August of 2009, the subscriber cover of Harper’s Bazaar shot by Peter Lindbergh portrayed Kate Winslet in a similar fashion, wearing a Ralph Lauren gown in

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Junon

Christian Dior’s Junon gown from the designer’s 1949 collection, which also featured gowns by the names of Venus and Hera, is constructed with a skirt of beaded ombré petals resembling peacock feathers, a bird possessing classical symbolism through its associations with the Queen of the Olympians. The ball gown, housed at The Costume Institute

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Down the Rabbit Hole

German photographer Erwin Blumenfeld’s Dada background is evident in his collage-like images and photographic manipulations. Blumenfeld’s Nude in Stockings, 1945 can be viewed as a precursor to the work of French photographer Guy Bourdin. Bourdin ‘s Spring 1979 campaign would become one of his most well-known images, typical of his work which featured disembodied legs wearing

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Sun Bleached

Featured in the June 1, 1941 issue of Vogue, John Rawlings photographed summer bathing suit fashions in his signature quintessentially American and low-frill style. Missoni’s Spring/Summer 2009 campaign by Steven Meisel features a comparable birdseye view of the sunbathers Natasha Poly, Danny Schwarz, Mat Gordon & Isabeli Fontana dressed for the sun. John Rawlings, Vogue

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Umbrella Weather

With a background in reportage and sports photography, Hungarian photographer Martin Munkasci became a pioneer in active, candid-style fashion photography. Puddle Jumper by Munkasci was published in Harper’s Bazaar in 1934 and has become one of the most recognized images in fashion photography. In 1957, Richard Avedon, who would also revolutionize fashion photography through dynamic,

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