May 1940
Gone With The Wind came out in January 1940, and I INSIST that this cover was inspired by it. This whole thing feels like a Scarlett O'Hara knockoff. The cover lines being so tiny is a welcome sight -- you can barely see "incorporating Vanity Fair," for example, or the 35-cent price tag.
1941
I sincerely love this. Vogue would NEVER be this whimsical today with its beloved masthead -- maybe the current scenario, and lack of ability to do photo shoots, will lead to a fresher attitude. I would love to see them shoot this with, say, Zendaya.
1945
I just noticed that in this era, Vogue was semi-monthly, except during the summer, which explains why some of the covers specify "May 15" as the date. I didn't realize Vogue was ever more frequent than monthly. This is also unnervingly futuristic for the Vogue we know.
1946
The hot summer tip for brides in 1946 was to cut off their own heads and lay them beautifully next to a country sink.
1950
Look at that bracelet -- if one can even call it that -- and that lipstick and that pristine sly mischief on her face. I believe this woman is plotting her own Drinks With Broads in this photo, which was shot by Irving Penn, and could be the inspiration for an entire novel. (I think the model is Lisa Fonssagrives, a repeat cover subject whom many people call the first supermodel.)
We've also gone up to 50 cents now.
1951
The quotes around "local events" make that sound like SUCH a snarky euphemism. As if it's, wink-wink, "local events," as in, "your series of affairs," or, "poisoning your in-laws in the next suburb over." I also enjoy that this woman appears to be checking out the bottom of her purse and potentially dumping all its contents onto the floor.
1952
Wow, Vogue really thought women would be inspired by the sight of other women rooting around in their handbags. I also now want to write something called The Unspent Summer. This is Lisa Fonssagrives again, so I guess this novel will be a sequel to the one about the 1950 cover.
1953
Vogue's archive wasn't letting me get into the quizzes. I'm crushed.
1954
I'm trying to think who I'd pick to replicate this cover. For some reason I went to Pink. Maybe Shailene Woodley? They might not be aloof enough -- this model, Jean Patchett, was described at the time as one of the first ever to appear so consistently "aloof" on a cover. Debi Mazar could do this, actually. Also, if the "reducing diet" being prescribed here involves sugar and bread, then congratulations to me, because I'm on it.
1956
Imagine Kate Beckinsale recreating this (but I feel like... Serendipity-era Kate). I love how sassy this is. Coco Rocha is probably the only person who can ACTUALLY do that pos.
1957
Dr. Beauty?!? Is that a general term, do we think, or is there a Dr. Nick Riviera of beauty that Vogue was peddling?
1958
A ten-cent price hike! And yet we get ten percent less of the model's face. (This is model Anne St. Marie.)
1959
She looks like a Rosie Huntington-Whiteley ancestor. I also wanted to read that article about "Americanized bikinis" and who can wear them, and where, but Vogue's archives don't seem to acknowledge that I have logged into them.
1960
Do we think "The sound of fashion: what makes a summer wardrobe tick" is about watches? Shouldn't the model be WEARING one, in that instance? (Fun fact: This model, Dorothy McGowan, was on the cover the next month also, shot by the sme photographer. I wonder if it was just a REALLY fruitful single shoot?)
1961
Apparently Vogue's 1961 editorial team had amnesia about the May 1960 cover, because your summer wardrobe is ticking again. This cover does feel EXTREMELY trippy in the sense of it trying to chase something (that is Sophia Loren's eyes and mouth, and Anne St. Marie is the inset), but it soon gives up on it...
1962
... in favor of a more standard approach. This cover has a mildly evil feel. From this woman, 'How To Get What You Want From Your Hairdresser' surely involves blackmail. And then of course, there are the cliches that can KILL YOUR SUMMER CHIC, all of which are floating through this woman's mind as she silently judges you. (That whole list is so dry, otherwise. Yeesh.)
1963
And AGAIN, this May, the editors are as enraged about cliches as they were last year. I'm fascinated by this head piece here, because it hardly looks possible that the model -- Wilhelmina Cooper, as in, the future founder of Wilhelmina Models -- is wearing both the tall scarf AND a huge lace doily. Her beehive is also enormous. I guess what it took to be in beauty that summer was a ten-pound hairdo and a ten-mile hat. I do also need to remark upon the fact that the founder of a world-recognized modeling agency looks so... dead-eyed?
1964
This is Wilhelmina again, and what a difference some sinister Bond makeup makes. I really enjoy the aura of this picture and would like to hide in that slanket forever. These two cover line chunks KIND OF sound the same, though? "New wit and luxe for the beach life" reads like it was badly translated into a foreign language, then badly translated back again by someone else.
1965
This is Veruschka, and just... treat yourself to the profile photo on her Wikipedia page. She is also a hella-interesting lady whose full name is Countess Vera von Lehndorff-Steinort, and her jewelry here is PHENOMENAL. Also, "Why be a beauty loser?" is both way harsh, Tai, and a good question
1966
Let's have D'Arcy Carden re-enact this one. The cover lines here continue to be terribly awkward. I wonder of "the new skin idea" of summer was, "Don't burn yourself."
1967
Look here, a young vixen named Candice Bergen. I know she started as a model, but this is not... her strongest work. It IS however possibly her strongest hair.
1968: Katharine Ross
Their thoughts about the American woman in 1968 seemed limited. This was shot after Katharine's big break in The Graduate, by the way. She looks... lightly terrified?
1969
I didn't know bronzer was so popular in 1969.
1970
"The Boat Life and How To Live It" is so Tatler to me. This also could not have LESS of a summer vibe.
1971
Hi, baby Lauren Hutton! Vogue appears to have dropped its price down to 75 cents from a dollar, which is a modest price to pay for STAYING FIT FOREVER. Vogue is also deeply attracted to ellipses.
1972
This model, Karen Graham, became a widely respected fly-fishing expert in her later life. I suspect you did not anticipate that. She also looks like she could be Julianne Moore's relative. This is the second year in a row they've touted "The best looking summer clothes you can wear," also, and I guarantee you no ten-day diet leaves you feeling energized. Also... MORE...ELLIPSES.
1973
From January-Sept 1973, Raquel Welch here was the ONLY cover girl not named "Lauren Hutton" or "Karen Graham." That would never happen today -- I guess it speaks to the fact that the cover profile wasn't a thing yet. Jaclyn doesn't seem all that jazzed to be there, but maybe she just got an early peek at the cover stories and couldn't get energized.
1974
And, now we have Cher, who has put her eye shadow on with a paintbrush. It's also a mildly sick burn to say "SURPRISE" about the discovery of good city fashion.
1975: Jerry Hall
I couldn't get a good version of the US Vogue from this year, so we're popping over to Vogue UK instead, because this Jerry Hall photo is honestly fantastic. The phone! Under her swim cap! And the look on her face! It's fabulous. It is a MOOD. It is the mood I wish I was in.
1976: Rene Russo
The deeper I dig, the more I find Vogue's cover ruts. In 1975-1978, Rene Russo here had six Vogue covers, Rosie Vela had 13, Patti Hansen had 12... those three almost singlehandedly accounted for all of 1976. This also begins Vogue's weird fascination with fragrance -- here, an expose on why men give perfume to their mothers...
1977: Rosie Vela
... and here, what perfume means to you...
may-1978-cover-vogue-1587953555
... and HERE, fragrance is the new sex appeal all of a sudden, a mere two years after men were showering their mothers in it. I am creeped out a little, Vogue. (That's Patti Hansen, by the way, who is still married to Keith Richards.)
1979
NOW fragrance is Your Personal Signal. Vogue seems pretty sure its readers have fragrance amnesia.
1980
That's Nastassja Kinski, carrying us into the '80s. They are easing off on fragrance news -- it's THERE, but just sort of casually. I did misread the bottom right corner as "California upbeat -- the life, the lesbians," which would have been an AMAZING cover for 1980. Alas.