>> FASH INSTITUTE — We've flipped through plenty of tomes courtesy of Vogue, but come Fall 2009, its little sister is offering up The Teen Vogue Handbook: An Insider's Guide to Careers in the Fashion Industry. Written by Amy Astley with Lauren Waterman, the book will include interviews with designers (including Marc Jacobs), photographers, stylists, and others about their careers in fashion, accompanied by photographs and tips from the Teen Vogue staff. [Fashionista, Publishers Weekly]
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>> FASH INSTITUTE —Nina Garcia's follow-up to her Little Black Book of Style comes out later this month — Aug. 26, to be exact. Her newest outing, The One Hundred: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own, is already available for pre-order, and is illustrated by Ruben Toledo, just like her first book. [Amazon.com]
>> FASH INSTITUTE —The cover of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's much-anticipated book, Influence, which features interviews with the likes of Christian Louboutin, Lauren Hutton, and Terry Richardson, and exclusive photographs by Rankin, has been revealed. The book is released on October 28, but Amazon has already knocked down the price on pre-order. [Word Up!]
The Picture of Dorian Leigh
>> If a five foot, five inch woman tried to be a model these days, she'd hardly be taken seriously. Sixty-odd years ago, it was a different story . . . at least for Dorian Leigh, it was.
Ms. Leigh, who passed away earlier this week at 91 after battling Alzheimer's, was widely considered one of the world's first supermodels. In fact, her life was full of firsts: she was one of the first models to be known by name, and after her own modeling career, she opened what is called the first modeling agency in Paris.
Though Dorian started her career late — when she was 27 in 1944, she met with Diana Vreeland, told her she was 19, and landed a Harper's Bazaar cover right then and there — she appeared on seven Vogue covers in the 1940s, and claimed to be earning a whopping $300,000 a year.
She played muse to numerous bold name photographers: Cecil Beaton, Richard Avedon, Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Irving Penn — the last of whom she had an affair with, and may have been the inspiration for Holly Golightly in Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's. But she didn't take her job too seriously, declaring in 1953: "I'd rather have a baby than a mink coat."
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>> FASH INSTITUTE —Straight from the Conde Nast archives, a look at the first issue of Vogue ever, "A Debutante," dated December 17, 1892. [The Fashioneo]


