Grace Coddington is Vogue's secret weapon (or last hope)

It's no secret that most (all?) magazines are struggling. Vogue has done very little to remain relevant in recent years. As a matter of fact, the most publicity it probably got was when Meryl Streep donned a pair of Manolos to play Miranda Priestly, a character based on Anna Wintour in The Devil Wears Prada. Then came another movie. This time a documentary, The September Issue, which has brought to the public's attention that Vogue is more than Wintour and Andre Leon Talley with their society obsession and celeb anti-culture. The movie allowed Grace Coddington, Vogue's wonderful creative director, emerge and shine from behind her boss' tiresome bob with her dry sense of humour and dry red hair.

It looks like someone in Vogue's PR department has been paying attention, which explains the email I and other subscribers got yesterday. The message, titled "What's Your Story" was signed by Grace Coddington and featured the above picture (photographed by Didier Malige) as well as a longish blurb in which Coddington told about her Welsh childhood and how Vogue has inspired her dreams and made her move to London and become a model.  Apparently, the magazine is finally trying to engage readers and urges us to send them our own personal Vogue stories, promising that the best ones would be published in the April issue.

You know what? I'm sending them mine. After all, who can resist either one of the faces in the photo?

Nina Ricci Farouche- The Lost Perfumes

I was well into adulthood the first time I visited Paris, so growing up, my idea of what is "French" was more than a little simplistic*. My parents favorite music: Yves Montand, Edith Piaf and Jacques Brel, subtitled movies with neverending dialogs (I didn't get it until being introduced to Eric Rohmer's films), fabulous desserts and Nina Ricci perfumes.

Why Nina Ricci? I'm not entirely sure. Chanel No. 5 was probably too global and universal and Miss Dior wasn't that far behind it. Nina Ricci was a more exotic name and embodied something I couldn't quite identify. White gloves? Hats? It doesn't make much sense considering I grew up in the 70s and 80s, and these images were already on the vintage side back then. My mother didn't wear any Nina Ricci perfume, though she received them as gifts a couple of times because her first name is Nina.

Farouche, an 1974 release is pretty much my childhood idea of a French perfume. An Aldehdyc floral with some spicy carnation and what I can now identify as an oakmoss base, but a relatively tame one. It's not a diva kind of chypre and it doesn't hang out in smoke-filled bars. Farouche keeps the pearls and gloves on from start to finish and doesn't let me in on its secrets, if it has any.

Farouche is pretty but aloof. It doesn't seem to belong in the 70s- consider other 1974 releases like Cristalle or Sisley Eau de Campagne. It would probably have done better a decade earlier, but then again, maybe its kind of tame prettiness was never meant to be a big hit. After all, if you compare it to Caleche (original formula), a quite iconic aldehydic floral chypre from the 60s, Farouche has absolutely no chance.

Nina Ricci perfumes are no longer what they used to be. The house changed hands and is currently in the business of churning out fruity-florals. Farouche has all but disappeared, though it can be occasionally found online. A few sellers still have the gorgeous Lalique bottle priced around $375, but I was lucky enough to find a sealed and still in paper gift wrap small (regular)bottle of the parfum sold for pennies, which is what I reviewed here.

*With endless apologies to my French readers.

Photo of Farouche in the Lalique bottle by Leora Long
Grace Coddington (yes, that Grace Coddington) in a Nina Ricci suit by photographer John French, 1965
Nina Ricci coats and hats from 1961 by Mark Shaw

Watching "The September Issue". Can Vogue Be Saved?

I watched The September Issue this afternoon. It was fun, interesting, and even the husband who accompanied me didn't look tortured afterwards. If you've suffered through the informative but badly written Front Row, Anna Wintour's biography by Jerry Oppenheimer, or (the even worse) The devil Wears Prada, you're already familiar with Anna Wintour's special charm and probably have a general idea how a Vogue issue is produced. But watching it on screen is much more powerful, and it cements the shock and awe at the power, creativity and egos involved.

The movie gives some screen time to the intentional and unintentional hilarity of André Leon Talley, but the real star is neither André The Giant nor Cruella de Wintour. Grace Coddington, Vogue's long-suffering creative director, steals the show. She's inspired, artistic, knowledgable and utterly charming. She embodies everything I've ever loved about Vogue, even before her (and Wintour's) days in the magazine. We get to see her in action, watch her creative process and her struggles. While I have no choice but respect Anna Wintour's skill and achievements, it's Coddington who commands admiration for her work and personality. We want to strangle Wintour on her behalf and cheer when she ends up getting her way in the end.

The movie comes out at a time Vogue (and the entire publishing industry) is at the lowest point it's been in years. The September 2009 issue is no longer "the biggest one ever". Subscriptions, circulation and ad revenues are falling; magazines and newspapers are shutting down. It's a new world and the old media is having a hard time adjusting. You, my reader, being here is part of that. After all, blogs like this one came to be because the Beauty section of the magazines didn't deliver. Consumers want easy access, immediate information, honest reviews and the ability react, interact and participate in the process.

Can Vogue be saved?

I think the answer to that is yes. Probably because I strongly believe that it should be saved. Vogue has so much value as part of our culture and art. I've been a Vogue reader for most of my life, have always admired the work of Grace Mirabella and Diana Vreeland and would like to see the magazine emerge from Wintour's reign of terror and become better. It's an important resource that should be preserved and allowed to thrive, but it needs to adjust. I would like to see it step up, embrace the social media and engage its loyal readers and subscribers in ways that would enforce the magazine's relevance.

How do you feel about it? Do you think Vogue can be saved? How would you like to see the magazine evolve?

Photo of Grace Coddington and Anna Wintour from the NY Daily News