There are a couple of quite famous images taken by Jonathan Becker in 1979 and portraying Diana Vreeland in her New York apartment.
One shows her dressed in an ample black gown, sitting cross-legged on a sofa in her living room. In the second one she is standing next to a door, at her feet the bust of an ancient statue with its head bent, almost as if it were staring the editrix's feet. Apart from the location and the prevalence of Vreeland's favourite shade of red, the two pictures have one fashion element in common – the shoes.
The red crepe de chine court pumps with a rich satin cocarde and the red snakeskin boots were indeed made by Rome-based artisanal company Dal Co' (please refer to previous posts to know more about it).
Diana Vreeland and, together with her many ladies shopping at Bergdorf Goodman, used to be Dal Co's customers. While it's not a mystery that Vreeland was a fan, it was actually Nives, the daughter of the late founder of the company Alberto Dal Co', who recently told me how the shoes in these pictures were made by them.
There is actually also a connection between Dal Co'-Vreeland and the Met Museum: Vreeland worked as a special consultant at the Met Museum's Costume Institute from 1972 to 1989, and the Met Museum currently preserves around 34 pairs of shoes designed and made by Dal Co' between 1954 and 1960.
Since this year it's Dal Co's 60th anniversary, I guess the time has come for a special Dal Co' exhibition at the Met. In the meantime, will I ever find Vreeland's lasts in the Dal Co's archives? Follow tomorrow's post to discover it.
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