From Library Journal
More than a fashion statement, this memoir covers the life and business times of former Vogue editor-in-chief and founder of Mirabella?just sold to Hachette after years of not making money.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Grace Mirabella, editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine for 17 years and founder of Mirabella magazine, tells (with the help of a coauthor) of her 38 years working in the fashion industry. Born to immigrant Italians and raised in Newark, New Jersey, Mirabella attended one of the finest women's colleges, ran with a society crowd, and through admirable persistence worked her way to the top of Vogue magazine. Her tale of life at Vogue is repugnant yet fascinating. While neither talent nor skill was required to land a job there in the 1950s, a pedigreed bloodline or a certain "look" could land you in the editor's chair. Mirabella tells of working under a bevy of vacuous prima donnas obsessed with their own visions, who never bothered with the day-to-day administration of the magazine and as a result nearly ran it into the ground. Interesting for its portrayal of intrigue and plotting in the dog-eat-dog world of high fashion, her book also provides a great historical perspective on society, style, and fashion. Ultimately though, this book is somewhat disappointing, for she never really condemns the industry for its shallowness. Kathleen Hughes
From the Publisher
Here Is Grace Mirabella's Elegant Yet Outspoken Memoir Of Her Life At The Top Of The Fashion World And The Height Of New York Society : Her Thirty-Eight Years At Vogue (Seventeen As Editor-in-Chief, And Her Current Position As The Driving Force Behind The Great Success Of Mirabella. In this forthright, anecdotal memoir, Grace Mirabella describes her journey through the exciting and treacherous worlds of fashion, glossy magazines, and high society. Born in New Jersey, she worked her way from retail sales at Macy's and Saks to the top of the Vogue masthead. Along the way, she came to know and work with "the Beautiful People" who set the tone and look of the time. Apprenticed to the outrageous Diana Vreeland, she put up with the temper tantrums and fits of pique and genius of some of the most sought-after creative minds of the era. She also saw everything she thought was wrong with fashion magazines: their distance from reality, their disinterest in real women and their lives, their disregard for money.
When she succeeded Vreeland as Vogue's editor in chief in the 1970s, Mirabella redesigned and redefined the magazine. By the end of her seventeen-year term with the magazine, its readership had tripled. But in the 1980s, Grace was very publicly fired. Displaying the strength, grace, and sheer style for which she has come to be known, within months, she had taken the helm of a brand-new magazine, the nationally award-winning Mirabella.
In And Out Of Vogue is a fascinating examination of the cultural and political changes that led to Mirabella's dismissal, and a lively inside look at the gossipy, Machiavellian fashion and magazine worlds. Most important, it is the intimate, all-American success story of a woman who has always been just a little ahead of her time: A woman who, as the creator and editor of a magazine of unparalleled intelligence, has made it her life's work to put style in print.
