Identity area
Reference code
Beaton/A/A2/14a/61
Unique identifier
Title
Date(s)
- 6 June 1949 (Circa. Letter dated 'Whit Monday June 6th'.) (Creation)
Level of description
Item
Extent and medium
3 p. paper
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Photographer, artist, writer, and designer of scenery and costumes. Educated at Harrow and St John's College, Cambridge, 1922-5. Made his name as a photographer through portraits of the Sitwells. Employed by Vogue in London and New York. Published 'The Book of Beauty' (1930). Photographed the Duke of Windsor's wedding, 1937. War photographer, 1939-45. Designed 'Lady Windermere's Fan', 1945. Designed costumes for 'An Ideal Husband' and 'Anna Karenina', 1948. Worked on 'The School for Scandal', 1949, 'Quadrille' for Noel Coward, 1952, 'Turandot', 1961, and 'La Traviata', 1966. Designed costumes for 'My Fair Lady', 1956, and for the film version in Hollywood, 1963. His play 'The Gainsborough Girls', 1951 and 1959, was unsuccessful. Published 'The Glass of Fashion' (1954), and six volumes of diaries. Exhibited photographs at the National Portrait Gallery, 1968. Knighted 1972.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Complains about arguments with his mother. Lists his many activities during two days in London. Reports that Daisy Fellowes has invited him and David to join a party on her yacht in the summer, which she claims will consist of Greta Garbo and Cole Porter. Refers to his domestic help, Mrs Shoot, who mended a coat, which he tore whilst escaping from a herd of cows. Asks Garbo to send candy.