All We Know: Three Lives (50 page)

“passion for clothes”
…homosexual: Spurling,
Ivy
, 263.

“clothes-conscious”
: Ibid., 364. Spurling also argues that Josephine has strong affinities with her creator.

“Oh, pray let…over-civilised”
: Ivy Compton-Burnett,
A Family and a Fortune
and
More Women Than Men
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 1965 [1933]) 434, 488, 311, 335.

“I have said…women”
: Compton-Burnett,
More Women Than Men
, 489–90.

“Ivy educated me”
: Garland, MG to Hilary Spurling, conversation, London, September 18, 1975.

“The whole thing…anyone”
: Sybille Bedford to author, interview, London, December 7, 1997.

“a wildly mixed…velvet”
: Garland, “A Friendship Without a Thorn.”

“in the end…drunk”
: MG to Hilary Spurling, conversation, London, September 18, 1975.

“deep tenderness”
: MG to Barbara Robinson, September 22, 1969.

“She might flay…safe”
: Garland, “A Friendship Without a Thorn.”

“I felt I…helplessness”
: Ivy Compton-Burnett to MG, June 7, 1968, quoted in Spurling,
Ivy
, 533.

“that it prevented…was”
: MG to Barbara Robinson, September 22 1969.

“submerged stones against…toe”
: MG to Hilary Spurling, interview, London, March 31, 1973.

“Ivy said nothing…point”
: MG to Hilary Spurling, quoted in Spurling,
Ivy
, 352.

“He’s getting married…knows”
: Quoted in ibid., 438.

“Will you come…coming”
: MG to Hilary Spurling, conversation, London, October 1974.

“Come on Madge…hers”
: Francis King to author, interview, London, March 21, 1998.

“discreet to the…obsession”
: Spurling,
Ivy
, 368.

“she never, as…life”
: Francis King to author, interview, London, March 21, 1998.

“didn’t make any…it”
: Sybille Bedford to author, conversation, London, January 12, 1999.

“tell her a…Lesbians”
: Cecil Beaton, unpublished diaries, September 2, 1927.

“It wasn’t Madge…married”
: Peter Ward-Jackson to author, interview, London, September 17, 1997.

“
She was always…women”
: Hardy Amies to author, interview, London, January 14, 1999.

“a wonderful bridge…second-rate”
: “Madge Garland,” obituary,
Sunday Telegraph
, July 17, 1990.

“was so furious…quashed”
: Madge Garland, “Rose Bertin: Minister of Fashion,”
Apollo
(January 1968): 40–45, 44.

“Madge came down…work”
: Rebecca West to Janet Flanner, November 2, 1958, JFP.

“What Camp taste…thing”
: Sontag, “Notes on ‘Camp,’” 286.

“great amount of…room”
: Peter Ward-Jackson to author, interview, London, September 17, 1997.

“parchment velvet…gowns”
: Madge Garland, “A Portfolio of Fashion,”
The Bystander
, September 20, 1933, 529.

“terribly tough, with…fun”
: Sarah Stacey to author, interview, London, December 7, 1997.

“the most percipient of friends”
: MG memoir drafts, MGP.

“smug, self-assured…did”
: Hilary Spurling, “Madge Garland,” obituary,
Independent
, July 17, 1990.

“within two years…life”
: MG memoir drafts, MGP.

“Everybody was one…flames”
: Sybille Bedford to author, interview, London, December 7, 1997.

“one of the…life”
: MG to Hugo Vickers, interview, London, March 8, 1980.

“was leaving me…man”
: MG memoir drafts, MGP.

“The years passed…May”
: MG memoir drafts, MGP.

“I cried and…crying”
: Peter Ward-Jackson to author, interview, London, September 17, 1997.

“I somehow wish…was”
: Olguita Berington to MG, n.d., [1945], MGP.

“It is 43…betrayal”
: MG memoir drafts, MGP.

“Of course I am a feminist!”
: Hoare, “Come into the Garland, Madge.”

“It is not…do”
: Compton-Burnett,
More Women Than Men
, 438.

“You are not…you”
: Rebecca West to MG, n.d., RWP.

“most of the…time”
: MG to Isabelle Anscombe, interview, London, July 2, 1980, IAP.

“this wonderful-looking…beauty”
: MG to Flora Groult, interview, London, July 26, 1986.

farm in Sussex
: Miller’s photo essay about having friends and guests help run the property includes a photograph of Madge. “Working Guests,” British
Vogue
, July 1953.

“She was much…boys”
: MG to Flora Groult, interview, London, July 26, 1986.

“How are you…Lee”
: N.d., MGP.

“
TO DARLING KITTY
…tissu”: Colombe Pringle to author, interview, Paris, December 5, 1997.

“in my new…formidable”
: Woolf,
Diary,
June 9, 1926, 3:89.

“Jews swarmed…squalor”
: Virginia Woolf to Vanessa Bell, June 2, 1926, Woolf,
Letters
3: 269–70.

“hated the Cockney…lovely”
: Olivier Todd to author, interview, Paris, September 23, 1997.

“Art came first…Cubism”
: Ibid.

“merely accumulated quotations…Wittgenstein”
: Olivier Todd,
Year of the Crab
, trans. Oliver Ocburn, galleys to unpublished book [Henley-on-Thames: Aidan Ellis, 1975], 132.

“but was constantly…poverty”
: Olivier Todd to author, interview, Paris, September 23, 1997. 346 nigger brown: Garland, “Interiors by Eyre de Lanux,” 265.

“We always knew…that”
: Chloe Tyner to author, telephone interview, May 19, 1997.

“great friend”
: MG to Isabelle Anscombe, interview, London, July 2, 1980, IAP.

“two rather fruity old gentlemen”
: Peter Schabacker to author, interview, Shoreham, October 19, 2000.

“I know nothing”
: Patricia Laffan to author, interview, London, March 21, 1998.

“We were
very
close friends
”: Isabelle Anscombe to author, interview, Wittersham, January 11, 1999.

“It has entirely…today”
: MG to Isabelle Anscombe, interview, London, October 8, 1979, IAP.

LOOKING IS NOT VANISHING

“She was intelligent…wearing”
: Francis Wyndham to author, telephone interview, January 14, 1999.

“too frilly and feminine”
: Katharine White to Janet Flanner, September  7, 1928,
New Yorker
papers, New York Public Library.

“She has left no monument”
: Peter Ward-Jackson, interview, London, September 17, 1997.

HYMNS…WORDS
”: Madge Garland, ms., MGP.

“never vaunted or…did”
: Hilary Spurling to author, conversation, London, September 25, 1997.

“a key figure…achievements”
: “Madge Garland,” obituary,
Time
s (London), July 18, 1990.

“explosive, fast…gloves”
: Serena Sinclair to author, telephone interview, July 15, 2002.

“not a reading…book”
: MG to Flora Groult, interview, London, July 26, 1986.

“only a few…husbands”
: Garland,
Fashion
, 45

“valuable insofar as…time”
: MG to Isabelle Anscombe, interview, London, July 2, 1980, IAP.

“look up Cicilia
[sic]…
cent”
: Notebook, MGP.

“
She had a…now”
: Sarah Stacey to author, interview, London, December 7, 1997.

“even buying a…fun”
: Madge Garland, “Travel in
Vogue
: Malaya,” British
Vogue
, December 1962, MGP.

“Unexpected oddities of…cargoes”
: Madge Garland, “Cargo-Boats: It’s a Gift,”
The Spectator
, September 15, 1967, MGP.

“the panache of…jewellery”
: Madge Garland, “I Speak of Africa and Golden Joys,” British
Vogue
, October 1967, 62.

“real love was…‘Ainos’”
: Madge Garland, “Four Fearless Females”
The Saturday Book
24, John Hadfield, ed. (London: Hutchinson, 1964), 65.

“It is lovely…consciousness”
: MG to Barbara Robinson, March 22, 1970.

“I’ve been in…America”
: MG to Peter and Shaunagh Ward-Jackson, conversation, London, December 28, 1987.

“but despite this…abyss”
: Sarah Stacey to author, interview, London, December 7, 1997.

“spent five or…way”
: Peter Ward-Jackson to author, interview, London, September 17, 1997.

“I think that…interested”
: Sarah Stacey to author, interview, London, December 7, 1997.

“
She died in…lost”
: Madge Garland, “Four Fearless Females,” 71.

“Fashion is like air”
: “Seven Ages of Fashion: The Regency,” Thames Television, 1975, videocassette (VHS), 26 min.

“for their charm…beneath”
: Garland, “Introduction,”
Fashion 1900–1939
, 7.

“I wish I…now!”
: MG to Isabelle Anscombe, interview, London, October 8, 1979, IAP.

excited about…that”
: Sarah Stacey to author, interview, London, December 7, 1997.

“What is there…again”
: Garland, “Artifices,” 81.

“Whether we like…age”
: Garland, “Artifices,” 85.

“I don’t like…clothes”
: MG to Isabelle Anscombe, interview, London, October 8, 1979, IAP.

“the ‘Good Old Days’”…her
: Garland, “Condé Charm.”

“This nostalgia thing…back”
: Neustatter, “The Magic Circle.”

“I am incapable…future)”
: Madge Garland, “You May Still Be on Your Holidays,”
Brittania and Eve
, September 1930, 72.

“how miraculous it…past”
: MG to Isabelle Anscombe, interview, London, July 2, 1980, IAP.

“bent as she…Balenciaga”
: Diana Scarisbrick to author, interview, London, September 26, 1997.

“feminine and sensual…Century”
: Royal College of Art Fiftieth Anniversary program.

“the [Palazzo] Pitti…girls”
: Garland,
Fashion
, 75–76.

“she said, ‘No…circumstances’”
: Diana Scarisbrick to author, interview, London, September 26, 1997.

“my friend
…Vogue”: MG memoir drafts, MGP.

“She was a…herself”
: MG to Hilary Spurling, conversation, London, March 29, 1989.

“less-than-always-honorable…full”
: Garland, “Condé Charm.”

Fashion
, 108.

“relief” to emerge…“gloves”
: Garland, “Condé Charm.”

My first thanks are to Hilary Spurling, Madge Garland’s literary executor and friend, who trusted me with Madge’s papers, shared her memories of her, and provided gracious guidance. In addition, I am deeply grateful to Peter and Shaunagh Ward-Jackson, Madge Garland’s executors, for crucial sources and perspective on her life; to Brenda Wineapple, for encouraging me to write about Esther Murphy and for her early support of this project; to Laura Donnelly, for allowing me to consult and cite the Donnelly/Murphy family papers; to Olivier Todd, for sharing memories and documents about his grandmother, Dorothy Todd, and his mother, Helen Todd; to John McHarg, Madge Garland’s nephew, for safeguarding and allowing me to quote the letters she sent his father; to Patrick Garland, for his memories of his father, Ewart Garland, and for allowing me to quote his wartime diary; to Elizabeth Al-Quadi and Charles Strachey, for kindly permitting me to quote material in the archive of their father, John Strachey; to Lindsey Pietrzak, keeper of the diaries of her father, Harry Yoxall; to Alexandra Berington, for access to the scrapbooks and photo albums of her mother-in-law, Olguita Monsanto Queeny Berington; to William Noone, Helen Todd’s son-in-law, for sharing his research on Dorothy Todd; and to Hugo Vickers, ever generous steward of Cecil Beaton’s legacy.

I am indebted to the following librarians, archivists, curators, and institutions for their expertise and assistance: Elizabeth Fuller, Judith Guston, and Karen Schoenewaldt at the Rosenbach Museum & Library, Philadelphia; Stephen Mielke and others at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas, Austin; Barbara Orbach Natanson, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress; Patrick Kerwin and others, Manuscripts Division, Library of Congress; the National Art Library and the Archive of Art and Design, Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the British Library (Colindale, Bloomsbury, St. Pancras); the Chelsea Library, London; the Royal College of Art Archives, London; the Guildhall Library, London; Nancy Kuhl, Leigh Golden, and others, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven; Jonathan Harrison, St. John’s College Library, Cambridge; Trish Hayes, the BBC Written Archives Centre, Reading; Charlie Scheips and Shawn Waldron, the Condé Nast Archive, New York; Camden Local Studies and Archives Centre, London; the State Library of Victoria, Melbourne; Chris Petter, Special Collections, McPherson Library, University of Victoria, British Columbia; Terence Pepper, National Portrait Gallery, London; Polly Thistlethwaite, Mina Rees Library, the Graduate Center, City University of New York; McCabe Library, Swarthmore College; the New York Public Library; Bobst Library, New York University; Olin Library, Wesleyan University; Peter Maplestone, St. Mary le Strand, London; Rebecca Mayne, Grand Rapids History & Special Collections Center; Nicky Sugar, Royal Holloway and Bedford College, London; Charlotte J. Kuhn, Monsanto family archives, St. Louis; Cynthia Curtner, Boston Latin School; Sharon Stearns, The Brearley School, New York; Anne Thomson, Newnham College Archives, Cambridge; Betsy Lowenstein, Special Collections, State Library of Massachusetts, Boston; The National Archives, London.

My research was supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Swarthmore College; the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas, Austin; the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies, City University of New York; the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, New York University; and Wesleyan University.

This book could not have been completed without the following people, who generously granted interviews and corresponded with me about my subjects: Jane Abdy, Hardy Amies, Jennifer Beattie, Wilder Luke Bernap, Moorea Black, Lesley Blanch, Joanne Brogden, Julia Burney, Francis Collin, Roderick Coupe, Anne Crosthwait, James Douglas, Helen Drummond, Sarah Drummond, Lila Duckworth, Gina Fratini, Mimi Hodgkin, Della Howard, Virginia Ironside, Chippy Irvine, Francis King, Patricia Laffan, Flora Groult Ledwidge, Frances Loyen, Robert Macpherson, Gerald McCann, Peter Miall, Barbara Morris, Diana Mosley, Veronica Nicolson, Bernard Nevill, Colombe Pringle, Tim Pringle, Carol Newman, Michael Parkin, Sheila Pearson, Ralph Pindar-Wilson, Tristram Powell, Violet Powell, Graham Reynolds, Barbara Robinson, George Rylands, David Sassoon, Diana Scarisbrick, Marian Seldes, Richard Shone, Serena Sinclair, Charles Sinnickson, Sarah Stacey, Quentin Stevenson, Chloe Tyner, Chris Tyner, Anne Tyrrell, Clive Wainwright, David Watts, Audrey Williams, Audrey Withers, Christopher Wood, Patrick Woodcock, and Francis Wyndham.

I am grateful to the editors who published early versions of some of this material: Tom Beer, Ann Cvetkovich, Annamarie Jagose, Sarah Pettitt, Frances Spalding, and Valerie Steele.

For consultation, inspiration, hospitality, and other assistance along the way, I thank Devon Allison, Hilton Als, Dag Bennett, Lauren Blumenthal, Hanna Bottomley, James Cohen, Sarah Cohen, Blanche Wiesen Cook, Caleb Crain, Christina Crosby, Prudence Crowther, Ann Cvetkovich, Richard Deming, Carolyn Dinshaw, Maureen Emerson, Eliza Gag non, Victoria Glendinning, Camilla Grey, John Griffin, Selina Hastings, Peter Kurth, Magdalene Lampert, Linda Leavell, Carolyn Lesjak, Nicola Luckhurst, Risa Mickenberg, Lisa Moore, Mark Morelli, Barbara Piscitelli, Deborah Rothschild, Robyn Selman, David Stenn, William Stowe, Judy Tucker, Amanda Vaill, Hella von Unger, Shelley Wanger, Steven Watson, Geoff Weston.

I will always be profoundly indebted to Ira Silverberg, formerly of Sterling Lord Literistic; Lorin Stein, formerly of Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Courtney Hodell, Mark Krotov, and Jonathan Lippincott, Farrar, Straus and Giroux; and Sarah Lutyens, Lutyens and Rubenstein. My thanks also to Charlotte Strick, Jim Rutman, Dwight Curtis, Stephen Weil, and Georgia Cool.

Without whom not: Sybille Bedford, Sylvia Brownrigg, Clifford Chase, Jill Ciment, Charlotte Gere, Isabelle Grey, James Lyons, Aliette Martin, Ann Reynolds, Matthew Sharpe, Siobhan Somerville, Patricia White, Elizabeth Willis. And finally, with love: David K. Cohen and Vanessa Haney.