Abstract Alison Settle was celebrated in her lifetime as the Grande Dame of British fashion journ... more Abstract Alison Settle was celebrated in her lifetime as the Grande Dame of British fashion journalism. Her career extended over five decades, from the mid-1910s until the mid-1970s, including nearly a decade as editor of British Vogue in the interwar period (1926–1935). This article examines the strategies she adopted to acquire and accumulate the specific knowledge, reputation and connections required to perform her professional role as a “cultural businesswoman” of the world of fashion. This research is based on private diaries that Settle wrote in the early 1930s, during the second half of her editorship at Vogue. The analysis of Settle’s journals focuses on the daily routines she performed in the public sphere, assiduously recorded in the form of lists of social engagements. Settle did not write specifically about dress and fashion in her journals. Yet her life was organised around, shaped by, and intertwined with her profession, making her diaries an invaluable primary source to investigate the social activities and the lifestyle that made Settle the editor of Vogue. This research applies an interdisciplinary methodology to develop an understanding of their content through the critical framework of Bourdieu’s theories—specifically through the concepts of habitus, cultural capital, and field.
Alison Settle was celebrated in her lifetime as the Grande Dame of British
fashion journalism. H... more Alison Settle was celebrated in her lifetime as the Grande Dame of British fashion journalism. Her career extended over five decades, from the mid-1910s until the mid-1970s, including nearly a decade as editor of British Vogue in the interwar period (1926–1935). This article examines the strategies she adopted to acquire and accumulate the specific knowledge, reputation and connections required to perform her professional role as a “cultural businesswoman” of the world of fashion. This research is based on private diaries that Settle wrote in the early 1930s, during the second half of her editorship at Vogue. The analysis of Settle’s journals focuses on the daily routines she performed in the public sphere, assiduously recorded in the form of lists of social engagements. Settle did not write specifically about dress and fashion in her journals. Yet her life was organised around, shaped by, and intertwined with her profession, making her diaries an invaluable primary source to investigate the social activities and the lifestyle that made Settle the editor of Vogue. This research applies an interdisciplinary methodology to develop an understanding of their content through the critical framework of Bourdieu’s theories—specifically through the concepts of habitus, cultural capital, and field.
Abstract Alison Settle was celebrated in her lifetime as the Grande Dame of British fashion journ... more Abstract Alison Settle was celebrated in her lifetime as the Grande Dame of British fashion journalism. Her career extended over five decades, from the mid-1910s until the mid-1970s, including nearly a decade as editor of British Vogue in the interwar period (1926–1935). This article examines the strategies she adopted to acquire and accumulate the specific knowledge, reputation and connections required to perform her professional role as a “cultural businesswoman” of the world of fashion. This research is based on private diaries that Settle wrote in the early 1930s, during the second half of her editorship at Vogue. The analysis of Settle’s journals focuses on the daily routines she performed in the public sphere, assiduously recorded in the form of lists of social engagements. Settle did not write specifically about dress and fashion in her journals. Yet her life was organised around, shaped by, and intertwined with her profession, making her diaries an invaluable primary source to investigate the social activities and the lifestyle that made Settle the editor of Vogue. This research applies an interdisciplinary methodology to develop an understanding of their content through the critical framework of Bourdieu’s theories—specifically through the concepts of habitus, cultural capital, and field.
Alison Settle was celebrated in her lifetime as the Grande Dame of British fashion journalism. He... more Alison Settle was celebrated in her lifetime as the Grande Dame of British fashion journalism. Her career extended over five decades, from the mid-1910s until the mid-1970s, including nearly a decade as editor of British Vogue in the interwar period (1926–1935). This article examines the strategies she adopted to acquire and accumulate the specific knowledge, reputation and connections required to perform her professional role as a “cultural businesswoman” of the world of fashion. This research is based on private diaries that Settle wrote in the early 1930s, during the second half of her editorship at Vogue. The analysis of Settle’s journals focuses on the daily routines she performed in the public sphere, assiduously recorded in the form of lists of social engagements. Settle did not write specifically about dress and fashion in her journals. Yet her life was organised around, shaped by, and intertwined with her profession, making her diaries an invaluable primary source to investigate the social activities and the lifestyle that made Settle the editor of Vogue. This research applies an interdisciplinary methodology to develop an understanding of their content through the critical framework of Bourdieu’s theories—specifically through the concepts of habitus, cultural capital, and field.
Alison Settle, Grande Dame of British fashion journalism, was editor of British Vogue for almost ... more Alison Settle, Grande Dame of British fashion journalism, was editor of British Vogue for almost a decade in the interwar period, from 1926 until 1935. In the second half of her editorship, from 1930 to 1934, she wrote the private journals which will be the focus for this research.
In his book on the use of diaries for research, Alaszewski remarks that diaries tend to be neglected as a source of academic research, and that they can be utilised to provide ‘insight into taken-for-granted activities.’ The analysis of Alison Settle’s journals suggests that they were written for herself, as a memorandum, and also with an audience in mind, possibly both for her family and as a future record for an autobiography. However, Settle’s diaries were not conceived as a public document and their personal nature required in-depth research to contextualise their contents. This research applies an inter-disciplinary methodology to analyse the journals, to describe their wider context, and to develop an understanding of their content through the critical framework of Bourdieu’s theories - specifically through the concepts of habitus, cultural capital and field.
There is much that is exciting and dazzling about Settle’s life during these years: the famous people she mingled with, her travels by plane on business trips and holidays, the parties in fashionable nightclubs. Whilst these are mentioned in her journals and will be discussed where appropriate, this dissertation concentrates upon the everyday, habitual activities that constitute a large part of what Settle recorded in her diaries. These routine social activities facilitated Settle’s acquisition and accumulation of the knowledge, social connections and reputation that enabled her to be the editor of Vogue, a fashion magazine that aimed to be a taste leader in Britain.
‘A man may be known by his friends, but a woman… is best known by her dress’ wrote one of the an... more ‘A man may be known by his friends, but a woman… is best known by her dress’ wrote one of the anonymous authors of fashion articles published in the Court page of The Times in the interwar period.
Through the analysis of fashion columns written in The Times newspaper between 1919 and 1925, this dissertation aims to explore the identity of the female authors of the columns and to explore themes common to the post-war women readers of The Times Court page.
This dissertation utilises Bourdieu’s theories of taste as a social differentiator, fashion theories of dress as an enabler of social mobility, and material culture theories that consider the role of objects in social rituals, to analyse the ways in which the taste in dress of the middle-aged, upper-class and upper-middle class woman in London Society reflected social issues within her milieu in the years immediately after the First World War. By applying an inter-disciplinary methodology of autobiographies, photographs, period texts, and novels as sources, the role of fashion journalists as authorities of taste is explored, as well as the changing expectations upon the older Society woman. This dissertation seeks to examine the relationship between these fashion writers and their readers in matters of taste, style and notions of feminine behaviour and social place.
The role and importance of fashion journalism in the development of fashion history has not recei... more The role and importance of fashion journalism in the development of fashion history has not received as much consideration as the makers or wearers of fashion. Fashion journalists and fashion editors are the arbiters of taste with the authority to determine the content of fashion publications aimed at informing, influencing and educating both consumers and retail buyers on new trends in fashion. A core competency for professionals in fashion journalism is the ability to both lead and follow fashion, and to promote and generate new fashions whilst being also deeply immersed in mainstream culture. It is crucial to their success and is a skill acquired through specific social practices and strategies. This paper discusses some of the ways in which the relevant knowledge and authority to be a successful journalist and editor in fashion journalism were acquired by one of the most important British fashion journalists of the twentieth century.
Alison Settle’s career in fashion journalism spanned over five decades, from the 1910s to the 1970s. She wrote for publications including The Observer and The Lady, edited British Vogue for a decade in the interwar period, and belonged to government bodies tasked with improving British design and taste. Through the multi-disciplinary analysis of personal diaries, notes and letters privately owned by Settle’s family, this study utilises writings by Alaszewski, Stowe and Bloom on the use of diaries for research and Bourdieu’s theoretical framework of habitus, cultural capital and field to identify the ways in which Settle, and other key figures at Vogue, acquired and maintained the knowledge and authority required to perform their roles in fashion journalism.
This research offers the perspective that professionals in fashion journalism should be understood as “fashion-makers.” Unlike advertising executives, fashion editors of prestigious fashion publications engage in a subtle form of promotion that must not be seen as commercial. It aims to appear authentic, and can be compared to the one performed by art traders with artists, directing the focus onto the apparent producer of fashion – the couturier – whilst concealing the process by which prestige is invested onto the couturier through the prestige of the fashion publication, and in turn, the prestige of the professional employed to produce its content.
There is a scarcity of research and literature on British women journalists. This study focuses o... more There is a scarcity of research and literature on British women journalists. This study focuses on female journalists writing for the British newspaper The Times before, during and after the First World War.
Shortly after buying the prestigious newspaper The Times in 1908, the press baron Lord Northcliffe introduced features aimed at appealing to female readers, whom he recognised as vital to attract advertisers. Special supplements aimed at women were published, and regular articles about fashion and other topics considered of interest to female readers were introduced to the pages dedicated to Court and Society events.
This research identifies and analyses the main three women journalists employed by The Times between the early 1910s and the late 1930s to write regular articles on Paris and London fashions. It describes shared characteristics and focuses particularly on the years of the First World War, reflecting on the ways expectations regarding topics covered in their articles changed to reflect the reality of war.
Abstract Alison Settle was celebrated in her lifetime as the Grande Dame of British fashion journ... more Abstract Alison Settle was celebrated in her lifetime as the Grande Dame of British fashion journalism. Her career extended over five decades, from the mid-1910s until the mid-1970s, including nearly a decade as editor of British Vogue in the interwar period (1926–1935). This article examines the strategies she adopted to acquire and accumulate the specific knowledge, reputation and connections required to perform her professional role as a “cultural businesswoman” of the world of fashion. This research is based on private diaries that Settle wrote in the early 1930s, during the second half of her editorship at Vogue. The analysis of Settle’s journals focuses on the daily routines she performed in the public sphere, assiduously recorded in the form of lists of social engagements. Settle did not write specifically about dress and fashion in her journals. Yet her life was organised around, shaped by, and intertwined with her profession, making her diaries an invaluable primary source to investigate the social activities and the lifestyle that made Settle the editor of Vogue. This research applies an interdisciplinary methodology to develop an understanding of their content through the critical framework of Bourdieu’s theories—specifically through the concepts of habitus, cultural capital, and field.
Alison Settle was celebrated in her lifetime as the Grande Dame of British
fashion journalism. H... more Alison Settle was celebrated in her lifetime as the Grande Dame of British fashion journalism. Her career extended over five decades, from the mid-1910s until the mid-1970s, including nearly a decade as editor of British Vogue in the interwar period (1926–1935). This article examines the strategies she adopted to acquire and accumulate the specific knowledge, reputation and connections required to perform her professional role as a “cultural businesswoman” of the world of fashion. This research is based on private diaries that Settle wrote in the early 1930s, during the second half of her editorship at Vogue. The analysis of Settle’s journals focuses on the daily routines she performed in the public sphere, assiduously recorded in the form of lists of social engagements. Settle did not write specifically about dress and fashion in her journals. Yet her life was organised around, shaped by, and intertwined with her profession, making her diaries an invaluable primary source to investigate the social activities and the lifestyle that made Settle the editor of Vogue. This research applies an interdisciplinary methodology to develop an understanding of their content through the critical framework of Bourdieu’s theories—specifically through the concepts of habitus, cultural capital, and field.
Abstract Alison Settle was celebrated in her lifetime as the Grande Dame of British fashion journ... more Abstract Alison Settle was celebrated in her lifetime as the Grande Dame of British fashion journalism. Her career extended over five decades, from the mid-1910s until the mid-1970s, including nearly a decade as editor of British Vogue in the interwar period (1926–1935). This article examines the strategies she adopted to acquire and accumulate the specific knowledge, reputation and connections required to perform her professional role as a “cultural businesswoman” of the world of fashion. This research is based on private diaries that Settle wrote in the early 1930s, during the second half of her editorship at Vogue. The analysis of Settle’s journals focuses on the daily routines she performed in the public sphere, assiduously recorded in the form of lists of social engagements. Settle did not write specifically about dress and fashion in her journals. Yet her life was organised around, shaped by, and intertwined with her profession, making her diaries an invaluable primary source to investigate the social activities and the lifestyle that made Settle the editor of Vogue. This research applies an interdisciplinary methodology to develop an understanding of their content through the critical framework of Bourdieu’s theories—specifically through the concepts of habitus, cultural capital, and field.
Alison Settle was celebrated in her lifetime as the Grande Dame of British fashion journalism. He... more Alison Settle was celebrated in her lifetime as the Grande Dame of British fashion journalism. Her career extended over five decades, from the mid-1910s until the mid-1970s, including nearly a decade as editor of British Vogue in the interwar period (1926–1935). This article examines the strategies she adopted to acquire and accumulate the specific knowledge, reputation and connections required to perform her professional role as a “cultural businesswoman” of the world of fashion. This research is based on private diaries that Settle wrote in the early 1930s, during the second half of her editorship at Vogue. The analysis of Settle’s journals focuses on the daily routines she performed in the public sphere, assiduously recorded in the form of lists of social engagements. Settle did not write specifically about dress and fashion in her journals. Yet her life was organised around, shaped by, and intertwined with her profession, making her diaries an invaluable primary source to investigate the social activities and the lifestyle that made Settle the editor of Vogue. This research applies an interdisciplinary methodology to develop an understanding of their content through the critical framework of Bourdieu’s theories—specifically through the concepts of habitus, cultural capital, and field.
Alison Settle, Grande Dame of British fashion journalism, was editor of British Vogue for almost ... more Alison Settle, Grande Dame of British fashion journalism, was editor of British Vogue for almost a decade in the interwar period, from 1926 until 1935. In the second half of her editorship, from 1930 to 1934, she wrote the private journals which will be the focus for this research.
In his book on the use of diaries for research, Alaszewski remarks that diaries tend to be neglected as a source of academic research, and that they can be utilised to provide ‘insight into taken-for-granted activities.’ The analysis of Alison Settle’s journals suggests that they were written for herself, as a memorandum, and also with an audience in mind, possibly both for her family and as a future record for an autobiography. However, Settle’s diaries were not conceived as a public document and their personal nature required in-depth research to contextualise their contents. This research applies an inter-disciplinary methodology to analyse the journals, to describe their wider context, and to develop an understanding of their content through the critical framework of Bourdieu’s theories - specifically through the concepts of habitus, cultural capital and field.
There is much that is exciting and dazzling about Settle’s life during these years: the famous people she mingled with, her travels by plane on business trips and holidays, the parties in fashionable nightclubs. Whilst these are mentioned in her journals and will be discussed where appropriate, this dissertation concentrates upon the everyday, habitual activities that constitute a large part of what Settle recorded in her diaries. These routine social activities facilitated Settle’s acquisition and accumulation of the knowledge, social connections and reputation that enabled her to be the editor of Vogue, a fashion magazine that aimed to be a taste leader in Britain.
‘A man may be known by his friends, but a woman… is best known by her dress’ wrote one of the an... more ‘A man may be known by his friends, but a woman… is best known by her dress’ wrote one of the anonymous authors of fashion articles published in the Court page of The Times in the interwar period.
Through the analysis of fashion columns written in The Times newspaper between 1919 and 1925, this dissertation aims to explore the identity of the female authors of the columns and to explore themes common to the post-war women readers of The Times Court page.
This dissertation utilises Bourdieu’s theories of taste as a social differentiator, fashion theories of dress as an enabler of social mobility, and material culture theories that consider the role of objects in social rituals, to analyse the ways in which the taste in dress of the middle-aged, upper-class and upper-middle class woman in London Society reflected social issues within her milieu in the years immediately after the First World War. By applying an inter-disciplinary methodology of autobiographies, photographs, period texts, and novels as sources, the role of fashion journalists as authorities of taste is explored, as well as the changing expectations upon the older Society woman. This dissertation seeks to examine the relationship between these fashion writers and their readers in matters of taste, style and notions of feminine behaviour and social place.
The role and importance of fashion journalism in the development of fashion history has not recei... more The role and importance of fashion journalism in the development of fashion history has not received as much consideration as the makers or wearers of fashion. Fashion journalists and fashion editors are the arbiters of taste with the authority to determine the content of fashion publications aimed at informing, influencing and educating both consumers and retail buyers on new trends in fashion. A core competency for professionals in fashion journalism is the ability to both lead and follow fashion, and to promote and generate new fashions whilst being also deeply immersed in mainstream culture. It is crucial to their success and is a skill acquired through specific social practices and strategies. This paper discusses some of the ways in which the relevant knowledge and authority to be a successful journalist and editor in fashion journalism were acquired by one of the most important British fashion journalists of the twentieth century.
Alison Settle’s career in fashion journalism spanned over five decades, from the 1910s to the 1970s. She wrote for publications including The Observer and The Lady, edited British Vogue for a decade in the interwar period, and belonged to government bodies tasked with improving British design and taste. Through the multi-disciplinary analysis of personal diaries, notes and letters privately owned by Settle’s family, this study utilises writings by Alaszewski, Stowe and Bloom on the use of diaries for research and Bourdieu’s theoretical framework of habitus, cultural capital and field to identify the ways in which Settle, and other key figures at Vogue, acquired and maintained the knowledge and authority required to perform their roles in fashion journalism.
This research offers the perspective that professionals in fashion journalism should be understood as “fashion-makers.” Unlike advertising executives, fashion editors of prestigious fashion publications engage in a subtle form of promotion that must not be seen as commercial. It aims to appear authentic, and can be compared to the one performed by art traders with artists, directing the focus onto the apparent producer of fashion – the couturier – whilst concealing the process by which prestige is invested onto the couturier through the prestige of the fashion publication, and in turn, the prestige of the professional employed to produce its content.
There is a scarcity of research and literature on British women journalists. This study focuses o... more There is a scarcity of research and literature on British women journalists. This study focuses on female journalists writing for the British newspaper The Times before, during and after the First World War.
Shortly after buying the prestigious newspaper The Times in 1908, the press baron Lord Northcliffe introduced features aimed at appealing to female readers, whom he recognised as vital to attract advertisers. Special supplements aimed at women were published, and regular articles about fashion and other topics considered of interest to female readers were introduced to the pages dedicated to Court and Society events.
This research identifies and analyses the main three women journalists employed by The Times between the early 1910s and the late 1930s to write regular articles on Paris and London fashions. It describes shared characteristics and focuses particularly on the years of the First World War, reflecting on the ways expectations regarding topics covered in their articles changed to reflect the reality of war.
Uploads
fashion journalism. Her career extended over five decades, from the mid-1910s until the mid-1970s, including nearly a decade as editor of British Vogue in the interwar period (1926–1935). This article examines the strategies she adopted to acquire and accumulate the specific knowledge, reputation and connections required to perform her professional role as a “cultural businesswoman” of the world of fashion. This research is based on private diaries that Settle wrote in the early 1930s, during the second half of her editorship at Vogue. The analysis of Settle’s journals focuses on the daily routines she performed in the public sphere, assiduously recorded in the form of lists of social engagements. Settle did not write specifically about dress and fashion in her journals. Yet her life was organised around, shaped by, and intertwined with her profession, making her diaries an invaluable primary source to investigate the social activities and the lifestyle that made Settle the editor of Vogue. This research applies an interdisciplinary methodology to develop an understanding of their content through the critical framework of Bourdieu’s theories—specifically through the concepts of habitus, cultural capital, and field.
In his book on the use of diaries for research, Alaszewski remarks that diaries tend to be neglected as a source of academic research, and that they can be utilised to provide ‘insight into taken-for-granted activities.’ The analysis of Alison Settle’s journals suggests that they were written for herself, as a memorandum, and also with an audience in mind, possibly both for her family and as a future record for an autobiography. However, Settle’s diaries were not conceived as a public document and their personal nature required in-depth research to contextualise their contents. This research applies an inter-disciplinary methodology to analyse the journals, to describe their wider context, and to develop an understanding of their content through the critical framework of Bourdieu’s theories - specifically through the concepts of habitus, cultural capital and field.
There is much that is exciting and dazzling about Settle’s life during these years: the famous people she mingled with, her travels by plane on business trips and holidays, the parties in fashionable nightclubs. Whilst these are mentioned in her journals and will be discussed where appropriate, this dissertation concentrates upon the everyday, habitual activities that constitute a large part of what Settle recorded in her diaries. These routine social activities facilitated Settle’s acquisition and accumulation of the knowledge, social connections and reputation that enabled her to be the editor of Vogue, a fashion magazine that aimed to be a taste leader in Britain.
Through the analysis of fashion columns written in The Times newspaper between 1919 and 1925, this dissertation aims to explore the identity of the female authors of the columns and to explore themes common to the post-war women readers of The Times Court page.
This dissertation utilises Bourdieu’s theories of taste as a social differentiator, fashion theories of dress as an enabler of social mobility, and material culture theories that consider the role of objects in social rituals, to analyse the ways in which the taste in dress of the middle-aged, upper-class and upper-middle class woman in London Society reflected social issues within her milieu in the years immediately after the First World War. By applying an inter-disciplinary methodology of autobiographies, photographs, period texts, and novels as sources, the role of fashion journalists as authorities of taste is explored, as well as the changing expectations upon the older Society woman. This dissertation seeks to examine the relationship between these fashion writers and their readers in matters of taste, style and notions of feminine behaviour and social place.
Alison Settle’s career in fashion journalism spanned over five decades, from the 1910s to the 1970s. She wrote for publications including The Observer and The Lady, edited British Vogue for a decade in the interwar period, and belonged to government bodies tasked with improving British design and taste. Through the multi-disciplinary analysis of personal diaries, notes and letters privately owned by Settle’s family, this study utilises writings by Alaszewski, Stowe and Bloom on the use of diaries for research and Bourdieu’s theoretical framework of habitus, cultural capital and field to identify the ways in which Settle, and other key figures at Vogue, acquired and maintained the knowledge and authority required to perform their roles in fashion journalism.
This research offers the perspective that professionals in fashion journalism should be understood as “fashion-makers.” Unlike advertising executives, fashion editors of prestigious fashion publications engage in a subtle form of promotion that must not be seen as commercial. It aims to appear authentic, and can be compared to the one performed by art traders with artists, directing the focus onto the apparent producer of fashion – the couturier – whilst concealing the process by which prestige is invested onto the couturier through the prestige of the fashion publication, and in turn, the prestige of the professional employed to produce its content.
Shortly after buying the prestigious newspaper The Times in 1908, the press baron Lord Northcliffe introduced features aimed at appealing to female readers, whom he recognised as vital to attract advertisers. Special supplements aimed at women were published, and regular articles about fashion and other topics considered of interest to female readers were introduced to the pages dedicated to Court and Society events.
This research identifies and analyses the main three women journalists employed by The Times between the early 1910s and the late 1930s to write regular articles on Paris and London fashions. It describes shared characteristics and focuses particularly on the years of the First World War, reflecting on the ways expectations regarding topics covered in their articles changed to reflect the reality of war.
fashion journalism. Her career extended over five decades, from the mid-1910s until the mid-1970s, including nearly a decade as editor of British Vogue in the interwar period (1926–1935). This article examines the strategies she adopted to acquire and accumulate the specific knowledge, reputation and connections required to perform her professional role as a “cultural businesswoman” of the world of fashion. This research is based on private diaries that Settle wrote in the early 1930s, during the second half of her editorship at Vogue. The analysis of Settle’s journals focuses on the daily routines she performed in the public sphere, assiduously recorded in the form of lists of social engagements. Settle did not write specifically about dress and fashion in her journals. Yet her life was organised around, shaped by, and intertwined with her profession, making her diaries an invaluable primary source to investigate the social activities and the lifestyle that made Settle the editor of Vogue. This research applies an interdisciplinary methodology to develop an understanding of their content through the critical framework of Bourdieu’s theories—specifically through the concepts of habitus, cultural capital, and field.
In his book on the use of diaries for research, Alaszewski remarks that diaries tend to be neglected as a source of academic research, and that they can be utilised to provide ‘insight into taken-for-granted activities.’ The analysis of Alison Settle’s journals suggests that they were written for herself, as a memorandum, and also with an audience in mind, possibly both for her family and as a future record for an autobiography. However, Settle’s diaries were not conceived as a public document and their personal nature required in-depth research to contextualise their contents. This research applies an inter-disciplinary methodology to analyse the journals, to describe their wider context, and to develop an understanding of their content through the critical framework of Bourdieu’s theories - specifically through the concepts of habitus, cultural capital and field.
There is much that is exciting and dazzling about Settle’s life during these years: the famous people she mingled with, her travels by plane on business trips and holidays, the parties in fashionable nightclubs. Whilst these are mentioned in her journals and will be discussed where appropriate, this dissertation concentrates upon the everyday, habitual activities that constitute a large part of what Settle recorded in her diaries. These routine social activities facilitated Settle’s acquisition and accumulation of the knowledge, social connections and reputation that enabled her to be the editor of Vogue, a fashion magazine that aimed to be a taste leader in Britain.
Through the analysis of fashion columns written in The Times newspaper between 1919 and 1925, this dissertation aims to explore the identity of the female authors of the columns and to explore themes common to the post-war women readers of The Times Court page.
This dissertation utilises Bourdieu’s theories of taste as a social differentiator, fashion theories of dress as an enabler of social mobility, and material culture theories that consider the role of objects in social rituals, to analyse the ways in which the taste in dress of the middle-aged, upper-class and upper-middle class woman in London Society reflected social issues within her milieu in the years immediately after the First World War. By applying an inter-disciplinary methodology of autobiographies, photographs, period texts, and novels as sources, the role of fashion journalists as authorities of taste is explored, as well as the changing expectations upon the older Society woman. This dissertation seeks to examine the relationship between these fashion writers and their readers in matters of taste, style and notions of feminine behaviour and social place.
Alison Settle’s career in fashion journalism spanned over five decades, from the 1910s to the 1970s. She wrote for publications including The Observer and The Lady, edited British Vogue for a decade in the interwar period, and belonged to government bodies tasked with improving British design and taste. Through the multi-disciplinary analysis of personal diaries, notes and letters privately owned by Settle’s family, this study utilises writings by Alaszewski, Stowe and Bloom on the use of diaries for research and Bourdieu’s theoretical framework of habitus, cultural capital and field to identify the ways in which Settle, and other key figures at Vogue, acquired and maintained the knowledge and authority required to perform their roles in fashion journalism.
This research offers the perspective that professionals in fashion journalism should be understood as “fashion-makers.” Unlike advertising executives, fashion editors of prestigious fashion publications engage in a subtle form of promotion that must not be seen as commercial. It aims to appear authentic, and can be compared to the one performed by art traders with artists, directing the focus onto the apparent producer of fashion – the couturier – whilst concealing the process by which prestige is invested onto the couturier through the prestige of the fashion publication, and in turn, the prestige of the professional employed to produce its content.
Shortly after buying the prestigious newspaper The Times in 1908, the press baron Lord Northcliffe introduced features aimed at appealing to female readers, whom he recognised as vital to attract advertisers. Special supplements aimed at women were published, and regular articles about fashion and other topics considered of interest to female readers were introduced to the pages dedicated to Court and Society events.
This research identifies and analyses the main three women journalists employed by The Times between the early 1910s and the late 1930s to write regular articles on Paris and London fashions. It describes shared characteristics and focuses particularly on the years of the First World War, reflecting on the ways expectations regarding topics covered in their articles changed to reflect the reality of war.