Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel
2011
Directors: Lisa Immerdino Vreeland and Bent-Jorgan
Perlmutt
http://www.dianavreeland-film.com
Based on the memoires of Diana Vreeland.
I recommend this movie. I recommend this movie on a cold day on the couch when you
don’t want to seem to get out of your pajamas. The story of Diana Vreeland is one of excitement, color, and
making life your own. I had
forgotten this joie de vivre momentarily.
Or rather had forgotten that life can be mingled with fantasy to
incredible ends. This visual memoire
is a great reminder.
Diana Vreeland: the
Eye Has to Travel tells Diana’s story with her own words and the words of
those closest to her. It describes
the greatest parts about her and the reasons she is famous. It is balanced as well, hinting at the
areas of her life that were not as exceptional but not dwelling on them. The result is a balanced and complete
view of her life and a reminder of the greatness that life can be.
Spoiler Alert!!! Synopsis:
Diana Vreeland (pronounced Dee-anna) was born in Paris
during the Belle Epoque. Born to a
beautiful woman and “a very British” father. Her mother used to tell Diana, “Too bad for you that you
have such a beautiful sister and you’re so very ugly,” and her father did not
allow much emotion. What her
childhood lacked in nurture, it was filled with excitement from the start.
These themes emerged through her life.
“My education was the world.” Diana described the Belle
Époque as being full of excitement.
She loved the Ballet Russes.
Both to watch and in life as her parents were good friends with the
dancers. When Diana was 10 years
old the family moved to New York. She
saw the country and out west met Buffalo Bill. She described him as beautiful and had great adventure in a
new land. While there was great
adventure she did not have an easy time.
Diana could not speak English and did not do well in school. They moved her to a Russian
school. She indicated she did not
need to speak. All she did was dance. It was here that she learned, “If I was
going to make it I was going to have to stand out.” Her name then was Dalziel Gaelic for “I dare.” And she dared.
“You have to be alone in your suffering in youth,” said
Diana. Until one day you wake up
and see the light. For Diana, this
awakening came in the roaring 20s’ the favorite time of her life. She recollected people saw her as fast
but she didn’t care. “Never before
did women wear exposed backs, or dressed cut off at the knee.” She remembered of Josephine Baker that
she was the only one that stood out in the chorus line, “She had that pizzazz.” It was a time of excitement; a time
when being different was beginning to be celebrated.
Diana was never comfortable about her looks until she met
Reed Vreeland. She described him
as very elegant, and it was love at first sight. He took her to London just before the market crash of
1929. She described London as the
first place she truly learned English.
She also described, “the best thing about London” as being Paris, “It
was raining all the time. People
danced with strangers… It was hideous and Marvelous.”
In Paris she began her introduction to clothes. She adored Coco Chanel and felt she was
the word on style. Coco would
personally complete fittings for Diana.
On this process Diana commented, “I adored fittings. I would go to three fittings for a
night gown.” Diana then started
her own shop for ladies undergarments.
She commented that she fitted Ms Wallis Simpson for three nightgowns for
a weekend getaway. It was after
this getaway that Edward abdicated his claim to the thrown in lieu of giving up
Ms Simpson. Whether it was the
nightgown that brought down the crown is hearsay but Diana’s affair with
clothing and style was long confirmed.
Diana and Reed had two sons and moved back to the US. Diana described her family life as not
very exciting. She glazed over
questions about her children. Redirecting
the conversation to tidbits of historical grandeur. Her son’s described her as a horrible mother. So focused on being different, to be
average was not acceptable. They
wished for their mother to be more motherly. The relationship with Reed was described as one of a dancers
partner, supportive and catching her when she needed but letting her freedom to
dance as she pleased. It is
implied, as a mother she lacked the nurturing she received as a child.
“Money is vital” Diana felt and she went to work because
they never had much of it. She was
discovered at a party for her fashionable dress. She had never worked a day in her life. “Why don’t you try it?” She was enticed
to join Harpers Bazaar and stared writing “Why don’t you…” in the midst of a
recession throwing out ideas that were adventurous, perhaps even frivolous, to
take people away. Her writing,
like her comments, appeared not to be edited but where rhythmic and a
surprise. She rejoiced in working.
She was made fashion editor of Harpers Bazaar and was
attributed with contributing “imagination and an original point of view.” Here she highlighted the fashion of the
time as well as made it. She
brought her view of the world to the magazine and focused on taking the reader
around the world through the pages.
“Before she came in magazines were all about pie and how to fit in… but
Diana said ‘pie, who cares about pie when there’s Russia.’” Angelica
Houston. She provided adventure
and fantasy.
Not an easy woman to work for Diana was described as
“threatening, and awesome.” She would disagree with this point, “I am easy to
work with, I’m charming but I expect people to work as hard as I do.” She
discovered people and started their careers. She was particular and didn’t provide instructions but described
a way of thinking and let them run with it. Only relenting when the finished product matched her vision.
“Even if you’re wearing close toes and boots your toe nails need to be
perfect. Maybe it would make you
walk differently?” One model described her approach to details. She was demanding but in being so
encouraged greatness.
“Diana was fashion” and after years of working at Harpers
Bazaar without advancement nor barely a raise she listened when Vogue offered
her a position. As editor at Vogue
in the 1960’s she found another revolution like the 1920 she so loved. “Youth went out to life instead of
waiting for it to come to them.” Diana said of the time. She embraced fashion coming off the streets
of London, believing it was the way forward. She brought Vogue from being a “sleepy magazine” to being
the introduction of interesting people and new style.
She saw the model not as a mannequin but as a personality
and found models that others overlooked.
“Push their faults; make it an asset,” she said of the models
features. “If they have a gap in
their teeth or a long neck, focus on that and make it great.” Diane Von Furstenberg
said about Vreeland, “She saw things in people before they saw it for
themselves.” “She made it ok for
women to be ambitious and outlandish.” Said Angelica Houston of Vreeland. In supporting and celebrating art and
pop culture she gathered interesting friends. She was at Studio 54 and in Hollywood. She celebrated the individual.
Diana Vreeland did not hold staff meetings and was not much
for collaborative discussion.
Instead she sent memos. She
sent memos all day long about all kinds of things. Her thoughts on the way things should be and ideas. It was said, “She was the first blogger
with her memos.” Her voice was
entertaining and style making but it was not collaborative. While she didn’t judge people for their
decisions she often did not entertain discussion on topics she did not find
enjoyable. Her husband got sick
with cancer. She said of this, “it
was not something we talked about.
No one wants to talk about cancer.” Her coworkers described this as a
challenge to help her because she pretended like nothing was wrong. Her children also described this as one
of her flaws, “When you never express any negatives you never get to the
emotion.” Her sons described her
as having “no time for conventional things.” When her husband died she immersed herself in her work.
Diana’s visions were grand and so were the expenses of
creating her vision for Vogue. It
was said that it seemed she was “sailing very close to the edge” in the way
that she provided such extravagance. When the expenses continued but the readership at
Vogue reached a plateau it was Diana that paid for it with her job. It was her magazine and when she was
fired she commented, “They wanted to make a different magazine.”
Not having time for conventional, no longer working in a
position of influence changed her.
“She felt very conventional.”
She was not happy. The
confidence that she had exuded seemed to slip away.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art hired her as a special
consultant and again she was given the opportunity to awaken her spirit. She also brought life to the sleepy
world of the costume department.
She wanted to bring costumes out and to show them to the world. She made large exhibits, she put the
costumes on mannequins and set the scene like a story line she created in her
head. “Greater than a magazine it
was alive.” She painted the walls
vivid colors, accompanied the exhibits with music, and pumped fragrance in
through the vents. “It was about
ideas, and the vision of things.”
The opening nights became great social events, celebrity filled, but not
necessarily accurate to history. “She represented the history as she
remembered…. Fantasy eclipses the reality… She felt the pulse and promoted it.” She was comfortable with this and
called her representation not fact or fiction but “Faction.” When facing criticism from the museum
community about her lack of education she reminded them she was there for one
reason, “to get people in the door.” Her spirit certainly brought patrons to
the museum.
“I believe in the dream. I believe we only live through our dreams and imaginations.” Diana dreamed, and lived in this way
through decades of history. She
participated in history and was educated by the world. Diana Vreeland an inspiration for loving
life and living the adventure in your way.
Notable Quotes:
About Diana:
“Upside down original”
“Created beauty and she created wealth.”
“The Empress Vreeland”
“Diana was fashion.”
“The will, the strength, the determination were her
invention.”
“She didn’t pretend she was not inventing.”
From Diana:
On who has great style, “I think a race horse let out of the
gate has a certain pizzazz.”
On going to work, “I was mad about working, make about
taking the train, mad about it all.”
“The best thing out of the war was the bikini.”
“Since the Gondola nothing is as beautiful as the blue
jean.”
“Every girl should have Geisha training. You learn by exaggeration.”
“Style is a way of life. It helps you get out of bed & down the stairs. Without
it you’re nothing – And I’m not talking about clothes.”
“You’re not supposed to give people what they want. You’re supposed to give them what they
don’t know they want yet.”
“I love rouge- totally artificial. We live an artificial life.”
“Water is Gods tranquilizer. To be in it, to see it, to drink it, and to be a
surfer—Ahh!”
“Does anyone read a picture book from the beginning? The eye
has to travel.”
“I shall die very young. Maybe at 70, 80, or 90 but I shall be very young.”
