Recently I was looking back at the covers of Bazaar and Vogue from the 40s, 50s and 60s and was struck by how fearless they were in composition and art direction. There was a reductive quality to the images and very little text. It was the message that mattered, delivered with wit and long on glamour. Collages, hands, silhouettes and heads cut off at the nose were possible then. The tides began to turn in the 60s when the model’s face became the focal point as it still is today except the models have now been usurped by celebs. It was fun while it lasted, here some of my favorites.
![Harper's Bazaar October 1947](http://www.primadarling.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/2-hbz-vintage-hb-covers-1947-580x870.jpg)
![Irving Penn December 1950 The Nifty Fifties](http://www.primadarling.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/3-vogue-cover-penn-1250-the-nf.jpg)
The Nifty Fifties
![Harper's Bazaar June 1951](http://www.primadarling.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/4-hbz-vintage-hb-covers-1951-580x870.jpg)
![1954 The Nifty Fifties](http://www.primadarling.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/4-Vogue-cover-1954-Niftt-fifties.jpg)
The Nifty Fifties
![Dovima by Avedon The Nifty Fifties](http://www.primadarling.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/3-dovima-bazaar-cover-By-AVEDON-nifty-fifties.jpg)
The Nifty Fifties
![Harper's Bazaar November 1956 The Nifty Fifties](http://www.primadarling.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/1-bazaar-cover-56-the-nf.jpg)
The Nifty Fifties
![Avedon October 1957 The Nifty Fifties](http://www.primadarling.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/5-bazaar-cover-Avedon-57-the-nf.jpg)
The Nifty Fifties
![Vogue 1957](http://www.primadarling.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/5-vogue-cover-57-580x821.jpg)
![Harper's Bazaar February 1965](http://www.primadarling.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/7-steve-mcqueen-harpers-bazaar-cover-1965-580x741.jpg)
http://theniftyfifties.tumblr.com