Harper's Bazaar is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly Harper's Bazar, another 'a' was added to the Bazar in December 1930. It is still being published in various countries' editions right now (information from Wikipedia). The image above was made at the Photofunia site, which has no copyright issues.
January 1915
Let's kick off with a pretty early cover, which is more a late Art Nouveau style. This is actually the first covers by Erté, who went on to become one of the most famous cover designers in the business.
December 1923
Christmas mood almost a century ago in this Harper's Bazar cover. The solitude of this image fits the Corona-stricken 'festive' seasons of recent years perfectly. No information about the designer.
May 1928
This is a real Art Deco beauty, with the combination of a butterfly and a butterfly shaped earring.
October 1929
Here
we have another great Art Deco cover with more than a hint of
Modigliani, unfortunately as so often by an unidentified artist.
December 1931
One of the most striking vintage magazine covers with a Christmas theme
that I have come across. Awesome late Art Deco at its best.
April 1933
An elegant springtime cover - just a few more months and we will have weather like that again.
November 1933
This
cover above is one of the very best for this magazine justly famous for
its covers. It was designed by Erte.
November 1934
This beauty is an imaginative take on a singer, a stunning colourful combination of vintage class, yet with a very modern look to
it as well. No information about the designer.
March 1937
The key to... the Paris openings. An almost surreal cover, that stands out after all this time. No information about the designer.
March 1938
More Paris openings, but now with a multiple mannequin display that somehow looks like a jigsaw puzzle gone wrong. One of my favourites. No information about the designer.
August 1940
Moving on to the next decade. This striking cover was designed by Herbert Bayer. A real eye catcher.
February 1959
This cover is a bit later than most in this blog - I
selected it not just for its look (which is excellent), but also for
the background story. The photographer is the famous Richard Avedon, the
model is Shanghai born (and recently departed) China Machado. This was
the very first Harper's Bazaar cover to feature a non-white model, and
that was not an easy decision in those days. From Wikipedia: the
publishers were saying, ‘We can't put this girl in the magazine.
Everyone in the South will quit subscriptions and no one will want to
advertise with us!’ In the end, Avedon threatened to quit the magazine if they did not go with this cover and they yielded.
Copyright statement: posting lower quality magazine covers is deemed fair use.
