Diana Vreeland? Christopher Hemphill? Valerie Steele? Marion Hume?
Question for Quote Investigator: Apparently, a prominent fashion maven asserted that an obsession with good taste was misguided because a person with “terrible taste” could make a “damn good living” selling items.
This notion has been attributed to Diana Vreeland who was the editor-in-chief at Vogue in the 1960s. I do not recall the exact phrasing. Would you please help me to find a citation?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1980 Diana Vreeland with Christopher Hemphill published an over-sized fashion photography book titled “Allure”. The work included extensive commentary from Vreeland. She described an encounter with a young journalist in Boston, Massachusetts in 1979. Boldface added to excepts by QI:1
In Boston a few weeks ago, I had another question thrown at me. “You see, in Boston,” the girl began, “anyone who’s well-dressed is considered in bad taste…”
Vreeland was irritated by this claim and indicated that it was a foolish viewpoint. Further, Vreeland made a provocative comment about “good taste” and “terrible taste”:
“But why do you worry about good taste?” I said. “That’s part of the problem—the worry, the eternal worry. Lots of people have terrible taste, you know, and make a damn good living off of it.”
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
In 1991 Valerie Steele published the book “Women of Fashion: Twentieth-Century Designers” which included quotations from Vreeland:2
“We mustn’t be afraid of snobbism and absurdity,” she declared. “And we mustn’t be afraid of luxury.” Luxury, yes, glamour, allure, elegance. And sex: Vreeland described a sexy dress as “something for the chaps.” But not boring good taste. She once said to a journalist, “Why do you worry about good taste? …. Lots of people have terrible taste, you know, and make a damn good living off it.”
In 2001 “Harper’s Bazaar” magazine published an article titled “The Taste Test” by Marion Hume which included the following:3
“Why do you worry about good taste?” Diana Vreeland once demanded. The diva fashion editor (at Bazaar from 1939 to 1962) trusted implicitly in her own sense of style and found “the eternal worry” a waste of time. After all, she said, “lots of people have terrible taste and make a damn good living off of it.”
In 2012 the “Boston Sunday Globe” published a piece about Diana Vreeland which contained a section titled “The quotable Mrs. Vreeland” with ten items including these three:4
‘I loathe narcissism, but I approve of vanity.’
‘Lots of people have terrible taste, you know, and make a damn good living off of it.’
‘Lettuce is divine, although I’m not sure it’s really food.’
In 2012 Amy de la Haye published a compilation of quotations titled “A to Z of Style”. The entry for “Taste” included this:5
‘But why do you worry about good taste? That’s part of the problem — the worry, the eternal worry. Lots of people have terrible taste, you know, and make a damn good living off of it.’
Diana Vreeland, curator and editor of Harper’s Bazaar and American Vogue, 1980
In conclusion, Diana Vreeland deserves credit for this quotation. It appeared in the 1980 book “Allure”. Subsequently, other fashion specialists have repeated the remark while crediting Vreeland.
Image Notes: Picture of clothing displayed at a retail store from Burgess Milner at Unsplash.
Acknowledgement: Thanks to Eli Burnstein who inquired about a different quotation: “Elegance is refusal”. This led QI to the book “Allure” by Diana Vreeland with Christopher Hemphill which contained the entertaining remark about taste.
- 1980, Allure by Diana Vreeland with Christopher Hemphill, Quote Page 203, Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York. (Verified with hardcopy) ↩︎
- 1991, Women of Fashion: Twentieth-Century Designers by Valerie Steele, Chapter 10: Think Pink!, Quote Page 130. Rizzoli International Publications, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 2001 March, Harper’s Bazaar, The Taste Test by Marion Hume, Start Page 442, Quote Page 444, Column 1, Hearst Communications, Inc., New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 2012 September 23, Boston Sunday Globe, The Divine Mrs. Vreeland by Mark Feeney (Globe Staff), (Continuation title: A woman for whom fashion was always in fashion), Sub-section: The quotable Mrs. Vreeland, Start Page N9, Quote Page N10, Column 6, Boston, Massachusetts. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 2012, A to Z of Style by Amy de la Haye, Entry: Taste, Quote Page 112, Abrams, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎