Dovima Pure 1950's Pure Glamour

Sofia Haziran 14, 2021

Happy Monday everyone! Lets start off the week by discussing one of my favorite 1950's fashion models.. Dovima. She epitomized that decade's ideal woman- regal and removed, angular and haughty. This post is a nod to her refined beauty and pure glamour.

I hope you enjoy the read!

Dovima was born Dorothy Virginia Margaret Juba in 1927 in New York City. The half-Polish, half-Irish daughter of Stanley Juba was raised in Jackson Heights, Queens. Dovima was discovered on a sidewalk in New York by an editor at Vogue, and had a photo shoot with Irving Penn the following day. She was an overnight success and soon was the highest paid model in the business. Jerry Ford of Ford Models said, "She was the super-sophisticated model in a sophisticated time". Dovima appeared on the covers of all the fashion magazines and worked with every major photographer of the day. She formed a particular bond with Richard Avedon who would take the most famous photos of Dovima. The two managed to transform Doe into the epitome of fifties haute couture, what Christian Dior coined "The New Look". After her death, Richard Avedon said, "She was the last of the great elegant, aristocratic beauties.. the most remarkable and unconventional beauty of her time." On another occasion, Avedon said, "The ideal of beauty then was the opposite of what it is now. It stood for an extension of the aristocratic view of women as ideals, of women as dreams, of women as almost surreal objects. Dovima fit that in her proportions." Dovima and Avedon created arguably the most famous fashion photograph of all time, "Dovima with Elephants", in Paris in 1955. The photo shows Dovima in haute couture with circus elephants surrounding her. There are prints in The Metropolitan Museum, and The Museum of Modern Art. The gown was the first evening dress designed for Christian Dior by his new assistant, Yves Saint-Laurent.