We Recommend: Diana Vreeland - The Eye Has to Travel

This engaging documentary, directed by Diana Vreeland's granddaughter-in-law, follows the life and career of the legendary fashion editor using audio from an interview conducted between George Plimpton and Vreeland.  The film weaves its way through a narrative which covers much of the twentieth century, and touches on the worlds of society, popular culture, and fashion, all of which Diana Vreeland was a part of.  It's brilliant to have a subject such as Vreeland tell her story herself, in her inimitable style and with her trademark flair for words.  More information is available on this very stylish site.

Vreeland became known early in her career for her Why Don't You? column.  Some of our favorite suggestions include:

Why Don't You... 

…have a room done up in every color green? This will take months, years, to collect, but it will be delightful—a melange of plants, green glass, green porcelains, and furniture covered in sad greens, gay greens, clear, faded, and poison greens?

… paint a map of the world on all four walls of your boys’ nursery so they won’t grow up with a provincial point of view?

...tie black tulle bows on your wrists?

...wash your blond child’s hair in dead champagne to keep its gold, as they do in France?
  
...remember how delicious champagne cocktails are after tennis or golf? Indifferent champagne can be used for these. 

... turn your child into an Infanta for a fancy-dress party? 

…give someone an enormous white handkerchief linen table-cloth, and in different handwriting and colors (black, acid green, pink, scarlet and pale blue) have embroidered all the bon mots you can possible think of?