English Summary/英文概要: Vogue at War is the untold story of our most iconic fashion magazine in its most formative years, in the Second World War. It was an era when wartime exigencies gave its editor, Audrey Withers, the chance to forge an identity for it that went far beyond stylish clothes. In doing so, she set herself against the style and preoccupations of Vogue’s mothership in New York, and her often sticky relationship with its formidable editor, Edna Woolman Chase, became a strong dynamic in the Vogue story.
But Vogue had a good war, with great writers and top-flight photographers including Lee Miller and Cecil Beaton – who loathed each other – sending images and reports from Europe and much further afield – detailing the plight of the countries and people living amidst war-torn Europe. Audrey Withers’ deft handling of her star contributors and the importance she placed on reflecting people’s lives at home give this slice of literary history a real edge. With official and personal correspondence researched from the magazine’s archives in London and in New York, Vogue at War will tell the marvellous story of the titanic struggle between the personalities that shaped the magazine for the latter half of the twentieth century and beyond.
Chinese Summary/中文概要: 誰說時尚雜誌不能關心時事?
在第二次世界大戰時期,當Audrey Withers接下英國版《Vogue》編輯之位時,她才三十五歲,而她決心要用這本雜誌做點什麼,她的一系列創舉不僅奠定了往後二十世紀《Vogue》的領導地位,更提升了女性的重要性和地位,為戰後女性主義的發展有重要的影響。
她的創舉包括任用女性戰地攝影師Lee Miller,Miller曾拍下身著時裝站在一片遭轟炸的斷垣殘壁中的女性背影,並題為「Fashion is Indestructable」(時尚是不可摧毀的),而在希特勒自殺後,Miller甚至到希特勒公寓中拍下自己在浴缸中的照片作為回應。
Audrey Withers的編輯為戰時定義了新的時尚風格,包括更節省布料和更易於行動的女性時裝,影響延續至今。當回應別人對《Vogue》加入戰爭新聞和攝影作品的疑問時,Audrey Withers說:「當你對身旁發生之事毫不在意,這一點也不時尚(modern)。」她亦稱呼留守家鄉的女性為「沒有槍的士兵」(soldiers without guns),宣揚當時在職婦女對社會的貢獻,成為推動英國戰後女性主義文化的先驅者之一。
本書講述了Audrey Withers大膽創新的故事,不只是一部二十世紀的時尚史,更是一個引領時代的勇敢女性的故事,講述了她如何力抗陳規,打破Vogue母公司紐約版的風格和規則,與她的戰地攝影師Lee Miller 及Cecil Beaton密切合作(而這兩位還互看不順眼),俐落地處理從歐洲各地傳送回去的戰地影像和人們戰時生活的真實面貌,包括在第一時間刊登來自集中營的照片,揭露納粹的真相。她的作為使時尚不僅是時尚,也成了能創造改變的重要社會影響力。
(Zoe)
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