Dear Diary... The Eccentrics

The Curiosity Cabinet's daily dose of inspiration for the aesthetically inclined...  

By following their own aesthetic instincts, the women below have chartered the most individual, creative and inspiring course for fashion from the 1970s until today. Eccentric, theatrical, unique and a law unto themselves, they have inspired and directed style by not following the crowd. They are artists of fashion. 

"Exaggeration is my only reality." 

Diana Vreeland

Diana Vreeland: the infamous and eccentric fashion editor in her New York all-red apartment which she wanted "to look like a garden, but a garden in hell."

The legendary and often feared Harpers Bazaar and Vogue editor and later Curator of Fashion at the Metropolitan Museum of Art helped change the domain of fashion from that belonging to 'society ladies' to that which existed within the sphere of culture, art and creativity.

Iris Apfel for MAC

For Iris Apfel the worlds of art and fashion have always collided. From an Art History student who won the Vogue writing prize to a textile designer and business woman that reproduced antique fabrics for interiors, Iris Apfel became recognised as a New York style icon much later in life. 

Impossibly hip: At 90 Iris Apfel graces the cover of Dazed & Confused for November 2012

 

Challenging Italy's classic, chic style Anna Piaggi's column for Italian Vogue was a precursor to the blog - conversational, personal and witty.

Karl Lagerfeld's muse and Vogue Italia's creative consultant, Piaggi was a style icon who championed the theatrical in her dressing. 

Isabella Blow: the ultimate of the British eccentrics, Isabella Blow will forever be remembered for discovering Alexander McQueen and always bedecked in a Philip Treacy hat.

Isabella Blow in her signature style, a Philip Treacy hat

Peggy Guggenheim: the New York art collector and gallerist accessorised with lap dogs and exaggerated, winged glasses. She even incorporated art in her dress by wearing Alexander Calder earrings to the opening of her first gallery Art of This Century.

Peggy Guggenheim in her Venice Palazzo which later became an art gallery.


"Style is everything. It helps you get up in the morning. It helps you get down the stairs. It's a way of life. Without it, you're nobody."

Diana Vreeland