tearsheets – Harper’s Bazaar May 1997
I’m going to be posting three Harper’s Bazaar archival excerpts because I can’t get over how dramatically the fashion zeitgeist – and a single magazine – can change in less than a decade. This is the second in the series – May 1997. The cover hints at a dramatic change since 1994 – what happened to all the supermodels? Who are these girls?
Editor-in-Chief – Elizabeth Tilberis. Cover – models in Gucci by Tom Ford.
Cathy Horyn muses about something I can relate to as a fashion bluestocking – a longing for what it must be like to be a truly fashionable, feminine woman, rather than an observer. Right-click the article for big.
From the editorials, it seems like the thing to do in 1997 is to have very wet-looking, partially naked, nameless models photographed in deeply saturated colours.
The only recognizable face in the editorials is Stella Tennant, who worked up a sweat in White Noise. Check the wet-look hair – remember that?
Isabella Rossellini contributes a “rap” about her own personal style which is candid and satisfying to read. Right-click article for big.
There were a lot of goodies in this issue which I didn’t include – an interview with Prince when he was married to Mayte, a profile of Tommy Hilfiger, articles on The Chemical Brothers, signature model walks, and Marni.
Isn’t it incredible at how vast a difference three years makes? Wait ’til you see the third magazine.
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i remember the wet hair. lol. oh it’s so interesting to read older fashion magazine. there is definitely history.
i miss fashion magazines having fairly anonymous cover models (or at the very least, non-celebrities). seems these days the cover is the domain of movie/TV personalities, musicians, and other famous folks, rather than models, in a general sense.
See, Tricia? The 90s wasn’t all bad =) The girls on that cover look like such KIDS though. A name and a personality is not a bad thing for a model.
I don’t mind celebrities. Looking at magazine archives reminds me that current fashions will also quickly fade and be forgotten. Models will have their day in the sun again.
I suppose you’ve read my posts where I rant and rave about the Glenda Bailey years at Bazaar. I worked there for Kate Betts, who succeeded Liz Tilberis after her death. Kate took some major chances with the magazine, and she was ceremoniously roasted by almost everyone for trying to keep the magazine relevant in a changing marketplace. Glenda Bailey then took over the editor-in-chief duties and churned out the Bazaar that you see today. It’s a ghost of its former self. I don’t even see it on newstands anymore.
loved the horyn piece.
[...] a series of tearsheets taken from a few old Harper’s Bazaars I found. See October 1994 and May 1997 too – what inspired me to turn these discarded magazines into posts was how dramatic and [...]
[...] across. This is another Harper’s Bazaar. I have not intentionally chosen four Bazaars in a row, but it does happen to be interesting to compare one publication at different [...]
From Supermodels to Blip Models:
It seems to me that fashion has evolved as something that feeds us these anonymous and clueless models which even more makes me sick of fashion today. Although the lasting power of supermodels of the nineties it turns out aside from having to maintain their physical looks is their innate ability to actually love fashion themselves. Naomi, Kate, Shalom, et. al. were reported to have walked the catwalk for John Galliano for years for free. This was the time when Galliano was still unknown. No wonder you could feel the respect that the industry gave to the Supermodel group. Nowadays you barely have the energy to first of all look for more than a second at models that have increasingly looked like horses, not human. It’s no wonder that there is a resurgence for Claudia and Linda, even if they are already way past their prime in the modelling world. You simply can feel their vibrancy and understanding of fashion, as opposed to someone who seems to have no connection with the clothes they wear whatsoever. I miss too the era of buying loads of merchandise from Guess for example, as a young kid, because of the awesome beauty and courage of Anna Nicole Smith. You may not like some of them but there is definitely personality behind the faces of the brands. And the famous quote of Linda. Anyway, I do hope for the best for the fashion industry, it has become stale lately. Thanks to Lady Gaga I still have an ounce of interest with fashion.