Description
Inside Dior’s golden age, by the English rose herself. Jean Dawnay — supermodel before the word existed — was Christian Dior’s favorite mannequin in the late 1940s and 1950s: the face of the New Look, photographed by everyone, adored by Paris. Model Girl is her memoir: what it was like inside the most glamorous machine fashion ever built.
Dawnay writes with charm and candor about the ateliers, the clients (from royalty to Hollywood), the rivalries, and the strange life of being looked at for a living. Her Dior — kind, shy, brilliant — is the most human portrait of the couturier we have, and her Paris is the Paris of legend.
A delight for fashion history lovers: the New Look from the inside, by the girl who wore it best. Elegant, gossipy, and unexpectedly moving. Pure postwar glamour. A charming, rare thing: a fashion memoir with real feeling behind the glamour. Dawnay’s Paris sparkles.
Before the term ‘supermodel’ existed, there was Jean Dawnay — the elegant English beauty Christian Dior himself dubbed ‘The English Rose.’ In Model Girl, part of the V&A Fashion Perspectives series, Dawnay recounts her extraordinary journey from wartime codebreaker to the most sought-after model of 1950s Paris and London.
n
nBorn in Brighton in 1925, Dawnay served in the WAAF during World War II — working at Bletchley Park and with the Special Operations Executive — before being discovered by the fashion world. She became a favorite of Christian Dior, gracing his salons and runways, and was photographed by legends like Cecil Beaton and Norman Parkinson.
n
nWith warmth and wit, Dawnay pulls back the curtain on the golden age of haute couture: the fittings, the photographers, the parties, and the demanding artistry behind the glamour. She also reflects on her later life as Princess George Galitzine, her charity work, and the MBE she received in 2012.
n
nCharming, candid, and rich with fashion history, Model Girl is a must-read for anyone who loves style, elegance, and the remarkable women who defined an era.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet