Newspaper Fashion Editors in the 1950s and 60s: Women Writers of the Runway (Palgrave, 2021)

This book explores the complexity of the sections and the reporting the women did. Fashion editors worked in the women’s pages of newspapers. When the women’s pages turned into lifestyle sections, many fashion editor positions were largely eliminated at metropolitan newspapers. But prior to the loss of the women’s pages, the post-World War II years through the early 1970s were considered the Golden Era.

Fashion editors pulled wire copy, interviewed local women about their fashion choices, and visited local stores to see what was available. They also traveled to national and international fashion shows, interviewed designers, and offered their opinions on trends. Many of them also served as beauty editors – writing about new products, weight loss options, and the popular hairstyles. The editors interacted with each other and were able to network at a time when they were usually excluded from journalism organizations. Most fashion editors stayed in their position at their newspapers for many years and became experts on what their readers were interested in.

How did you come across this subject? Why did it interest you?

Despite the importance of clothing as an industry and in a person’s individual life, scholarship on newspaper fashion reporting is lacking. Even the more recent research on women in journalism has ignored the traditional women’s section reporting, focusing more on women whose work reached the front pages of newspapers. Yet, areas like fashion journalism were where women were making their mark for decades. When it came to fashion journalism beginning in those post-World War II years, fashion editors held dominant positions. They chronicled the fashions worn in professional and personal worlds and in doing so served as social critics. They also promoted the work of American designers at a changing time in the business as designers became household names.

What archives or research materials did you use? 

Much of the material for the book came from archives and oral histories. One of the most helpful archives was the National Women and Media Collection (NWMC) in Missouri, especially the Penney-Missouri Award papers. The editors who won the annual fashion award wrote letters back and forth to the director of the awards. These letters revealed how the women covered fashion in their communities and at their newspapers. These papers also included speeches given by several of the fashion editors, which revealed their views on fashion and journalism. Marjorie Paxson, who helped establish the NWMC archive, also donated papers that led to many fashion clips from the Houston Chronicle in the 1950s. Washington Star fashion editor Eleni Epstein also gave her papers to the NWMC. They revealed not only her fashion reporting but correspondence with her editors and her readers. Several other archives provided additional information such as fashion editor Aileen Ryan’s materials at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

My research also led me to the oral histories of Nina Hyde, located at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and Marylin Bender, located at Columbia University. Both histories also focused on their law degrees – although neither women practiced law. Two other oral histories examined were of Nadeane Walker Anderson, at the Associated Press archive, and Virginia Pope, at the New York Public Library.

How does your book relate to journalism history? How is it relevant to the present?

Women’s liberation leaders wanted newspapers to eliminate the women’s pages and put news about women on the front pages. It was an interesting theory but it did not work in practice. Instead, much of the news about women was eliminated. Some women’s page editors wanted to save their sections and raise the standards of the sections. Ultimately, these sections became lifestyle or feature sections. It also meant the loss of many fashion editors’ jobs. This project, like my previous books, documents the significant material in the women’s pages. It leads to a better understanding of soft news and the work of women’s page journalists.

What advice do you have for other historians that are working on or starting book projects?

Find your writing process and honor it. I try to write early in the morning before teaching and service commitments come up. I also make a plan for what I will cover next after each writing session. It helps provide a structure for the next writing moment. Writing groups can be helpful for accountability. Overall, simply finding time to write is the most important thing.