Harper’s Bazaar Magazine

Articles from Harper’s Bazaar Magazine

Christmas Shopping for Women in Service (Harper’s Bazaar, 1918)

Contrary to those trust-fund babies who lord over the Harper’s Bazaar of today, the editors and stylists of that magazine during World War I understood quite well the vital rolls American women were needed to fill while their country was struggling to attain proper footing in a state of total war. The attached file will show you seven photographs of various accessories recommended for W.W. I women war volunteers as well as two illustrations of various practical coats for winter.


From Amazon: Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil Warstyle=border:none

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Are We Our Bathrooms? (Harper’s Bazaar, 1922)

Most people, and you might very likely be one of them, tend to believe the old adage, Show me your friends, and I’ll tell you what you are; but fashion diva Lady Duff Gordon (aka: ‘Lucile’) was of the mind, Show me your bathroom, and I’ll tell you who and what you are and in 1922 she went out to prove it by scampering all over Paris in search of the finest bathrooms. Upon reading of the expedition, the editors of HARPER’S BAZAAR remarked:

It makes one realize that many of us who fatuously remarked, ‘So this is Paris’, were really not at the party at all.

Click here to read a 1937 article about feminine conversations overheard in the best New York nightclub bathrooms.

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A Trench Coat for the Fashionable Ladies (Harper’s Bazaar, 1918)

Attached, you will find one of the first elegant, elongated fashion figure drawings to depict the trench coat as an element of feminine mode. Although this drawing first appeared in a Harper’s Bazaar fashion editorial recommending the coat as one of the better private purchase uniform items that could be worn by an American woman in one of the auxiliary units, it is clear that the fashion potential of the garment was not lost on the magazine’s editors or anyone else on this side of the Atlantic. This particular one was produced in far nicer fabric than was made available for the men. The acquaintance between the trench coat and American fashion designers has remained a strong one ever since.


To see other examples of war’s influence on fashion, click here.

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Baron Adolf de Meyer and the Paris Collections of 1922 (Harper’s Bazaar, 1922)

A Paris fashion review written by pioneering fashion photographer Adolph de Meyer
(1868 – 1949). His column is illustrated by six of his photographs illustrating the autumnal offerings from the houses Worth and Chanel. The collections generated by Maria Guy, Jean Lanvin, Marthe Collot, Doucet, Cheruit, Poiret and Patout were also addressed at some length.

Of course ‘collections’ must be seen by me. The round of all the big maisons de couture must be made. I must know what is worn and what I shall decide to present to the readers of HARPER’S BAZAAR.

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The Town Cars of 1922 (Harper’s Bazaar, 1922)

This is a quick read from a 1920s HARPER’S BAZAAR comparing the European and American limousines (a.k.a., ‘coupe, town car, cabriolet’); these were the luxurious looking vehicles that we’ve all seen in pictures from that period in which the chauffeur was expected to perform his duties without the benefit of a roof over his head. The uncredited journalist talks about where cars such as these are likely to be found, their interiors, tufted seating upholstery, basket weaving applications, leather casings and more.

Click here to read about the first car radios.

Click here to read a magazine profile of W.W. I fighter ace Captain Eddy Rickenbacker.

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Feminine Hats from a War-Weary France (Harper’s Bazaar, 1918)

Six fashionable illustrations from Harper’s Bazaar of the Fall hats for 1918:

Paris is exceedingly critical in regard to hats even in wartime, and the new ones are most interesting. Black velvet of course is rampant, and Marie Louise especially is using much much black panne velvet…

This wartime fashion review makes one passing reference to the millinery efforts of Coco Channel.

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