Cecil Beaton (1904–1980) is recognised as one of the most significant fashion and society photographers of the twentieth century. His wartime photographs, produced primarily for the Ministry of Information, revealed the resilience of the British home front during the Blitz (1940–41).
Here, on assignment for British Vogue and subsequently published in their September issue of 1941, Beaton depicts Elizabeth Cowell, the BBC’s first female television announcer, in a Digby Morton suit and Hugh Beresford hat, gazing over the ruins of London’s Middle Temple.
Audrey Withers, the editor, wrote the following alongside Beaton’s photograph:
“It is now said that fashion’s goose is properly done in, for want of the best butter. But fashion is indestructible and will survive even margarine coupons… You cannot ration a sense of style.”
by ramenspoonz