Sally Kirkland (editor)
Encyclopedia
Sally Kirkland was a manager at Lord & Taylor
, a fashion editor at Vogue
and the only fashion editor at Life
for 25 years.
Born as Sarah "Sally" Phinney in a small town called El Reno (about 10 miles West of Oklahoma
City) in Canadian County, Oklahoma
, she was the daughter of Col. Robert Truman Phinney and his wife Ruth Ida "Minnie" Naill. She had one brother Robert Phinney, Jr., who was a Vice President of Braniff
. In both 1920 and 1930 Sally was living in Washington DC with her parents. She Graduated from Vassar College
in 1934. Sally married in "the early Autumn" of 1938 in New York City
to Frederic McMichael Kirkland, the son of a wealthy Pennsylvania Main Line
family; their only child was the actress Sally Kirkland
, her mother's namesake.
After graduating from Vassar College
in 1934, she worked in the college shop at Lord & Taylor
, then the headquarters for the best casual American clothes. In 1939 she became an assistant editor of Vogue magazine. By 1946 Sally was a fashion editor at Vogue magazine. She joined Life magazine after working as a correspondent in the Pacific during World War II
From 1947 to 1969 she was the fashion editor of Life magazine, making that general-interest weekly influential in international fashion. She was noted as the first fashion editor to do multiple-model sittings, in which a dozen or so models would be stretched across one and even two pages; her innovation was widely copied. She stopped traffic in the Place de la Concorde
in Paris
to get a fashion picture. A cover photograph of Sybil Connally, the Irish designer, put Ireland
on the fashion map. She put Grace Kelly
, Audrey Hepburn
, Faye Dunaway
and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
on Life
magazine as fashion icons.
She received the Order of the Star of Solidarity in 1954 from the Italian Government for her reports on Italian clothes. I was secretly pleased, she told a friend, because the medal was green and gold and looked well on an orange evening dress I had to whip up for the affair. Along with Grace Kelly
and Vera Maxwell
, the designer, she received a Neiman-Marcus award in 1955 for contributions to fashion. She was one of a "trio of formidable and colorful women" the other two being: Mary Letherbee,movie editor; and Mary Hamman
, modern living editor. Together they led the "back of the book" at LIFE and were given free rein by Ed Thompson
as managing editor and later editor in chief. After she left the magazine, she wrote a book about designer Claire McCardell
and contributed articles to the RAM
Report, a monthly trade journal.
, aged 77, at St. Vincent's Hospital, New York City. She lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor, colloquially known as L&T, or LT, based in New York City, is the oldest upscale, specialty-retail department store chain in the United States. Concentrated in the eastern U.S., the retailer operated independently for nearly a century prior to joining American Dry Goods...
, a fashion editor at Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
and the only fashion editor at Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
for 25 years.
Born as Sarah "Sally" Phinney in a small town called El Reno (about 10 miles West of Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
City) in Canadian County, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, she was the daughter of Col. Robert Truman Phinney and his wife Ruth Ida "Minnie" Naill. She had one brother Robert Phinney, Jr., who was a Vice President of Braniff
Braniff International Airways
Braniff International Airways was an American airline that operated from 1928 until 1982, primarily in the midwestern and southwestern U.S., South America, Panama, and in its later years also Asia and Europe...
. In both 1920 and 1930 Sally was living in Washington DC with her parents. She Graduated from Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
in 1934. Sally married in "the early Autumn" of 1938 in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to Frederic McMichael Kirkland, the son of a wealthy Pennsylvania Main Line
Pennsylvania Main Line
The Main Line is an unofficial historical and socio-cultural region of suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, comprising a collection of affluent towns built along the old Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad which ran northwest from downtown Philadelphia parallel to Lancaster Avenue , a road...
family; their only child was the actress Sally Kirkland
Sally Kirkland
Sally Kirkland is an American film and television actress.-Early life:Kirkland was named after her mother, fashion editor Sally Kirkland, who was a fashion editor at Vogue and LIFE magazines, and was raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father, Frederic McMichael Kirkland, worked in the scrap...
, her mother's namesake.
After graduating from Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
in 1934, she worked in the college shop at Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor, colloquially known as L&T, or LT, based in New York City, is the oldest upscale, specialty-retail department store chain in the United States. Concentrated in the eastern U.S., the retailer operated independently for nearly a century prior to joining American Dry Goods...
, then the headquarters for the best casual American clothes. In 1939 she became an assistant editor of Vogue magazine. By 1946 Sally was a fashion editor at Vogue magazine. She joined Life magazine after working as a correspondent in the Pacific during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
From 1947 to 1969 she was the fashion editor of Life magazine, making that general-interest weekly influential in international fashion. She was noted as the first fashion editor to do multiple-model sittings, in which a dozen or so models would be stretched across one and even two pages; her innovation was widely copied. She stopped traffic in the Place de la Concorde
Place de la Concorde
The Place de la Concorde in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées.- History :...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to get a fashion picture. A cover photograph of Sybil Connally, the Irish designer, put Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
on the fashion map. She put Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who, in April 1956, married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, to become Princess consort of Monaco, styled as Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, and commonly referred to as Princess Grace.After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of...
, Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
, Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway is an American actress.Dunaway won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Network after receiving previous nominations for the critically acclaimed films Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown...
and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Five years later she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle...
on Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
magazine as fashion icons.
She received the Order of the Star of Solidarity in 1954 from the Italian Government for her reports on Italian clothes. I was secretly pleased, she told a friend, because the medal was green and gold and looked well on an orange evening dress I had to whip up for the affair. Along with Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who, in April 1956, married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, to become Princess consort of Monaco, styled as Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, and commonly referred to as Princess Grace.After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of...
and Vera Maxwell
Vera Maxwell
Vera Huppe Maxwell was a legendary sportswear and fashion designer until her retirement in 1985.She was the first American designer to make clothes with Ultrasuede material...
, the designer, she received a Neiman-Marcus award in 1955 for contributions to fashion. She was one of a "trio of formidable and colorful women" the other two being: Mary Letherbee,movie editor; and Mary Hamman
Mary Hamman
Mary Hamman was an American writer and editor. She was an editor for Pictorial Review, Good Housekeeping, Mademoiselle, the modern living editor for LIFE, editor in chief for Bride & Home....
, modern living editor. Together they led the "back of the book" at LIFE and were given free rein by Ed Thompson
Edward K. Thompson
Edward Kramer Thompson was an American writer and editor. The Smithsonian Magazine called him "one of the great editors of the last half [of the 20th] century." He was the editor of LIFE from its early days as a weekly and was the founding editor of Smithsonian Magazine.-Biography:Thompson was...
as managing editor and later editor in chief. After she left the magazine, she wrote a book about designer Claire McCardell
Claire McCardell
Claire McCardell was an American fashion designer in the arena of ready-to-wear clothing in the 20th century. From the 1930s to the 1950s, she was known for designing functional, affordable, and stylish women’s sportswear within the constraints of mass-production, and is today acknowledged as the...
and contributed articles to the RAM
Ram
-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
Report, a monthly trade journal.
Death
She died of emphysemaEmphysema
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
, aged 77, at St. Vincent's Hospital, New York City. She lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.