"The Power Of Style" 1994 TAPERT, Annette and EDKINS, Diana
$125
The Women Who Defined The Art Of Living Well
TAPERT, Annette and EDKINS, Diana
[224] pp.
Crown Publishers, Inc.
1994
10 1/4" x 7 3/4"
Fine/ Fine
Reveals the inner qualities of 14 remarkable women who define style in ways that have lasted for generations. Witty and fascinating excursions into the worlds of Coco Chanel, Pauline de Rothschild, Diana Vreeland, Elsie de Wolfe, and others are captured in lavish photographs and entertaining anecdotes. We discover not only the preeminent influence that these women held over fashion and culture, but also the wry, often poignant tales of their personal lives.
Truman Capote’s legendary Swans have never really been out of style, but this book, published in the mid-1990s, renewed interest in them. Babe Paley, Gloria Guinness, Slim Keith, and C.Z. Guest are covered in a special section in the book under the heading “The Swans” with a half-page quote by Truman Capote. Their inclusion was a natural progression for this book’s author, Annette Tapert, who had co-written Slim Keith’s memoirs several years earlier. The book introduced the great 20th Century tastemakers to a younger and appreciative audience. In addition to the Swans, it includes heiresses like Daisy Fellowes and Millicent Rogers. More typical, however, are the women whose beauty and style practically demanded that they marry into great fortunes—the Swans (of course) and also Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Pauline de Rothschild. Rounding out the group are those whose energy and creativity paid their own way—Diana Vreeland, Coco Chanel, and Elsie de Wolfe.
“[The Swans] have enjoyed a renewed currency as style icons. Their clothes have been copied by designs, and a great many people now know what is meant by a Babe Paley luncheon shift or the Slim Keith trouser look or a C.Z. Guest twin set.”
--Annette Tapert