Queen of Reinvention
A Queen of Reinvention – not unlike Madonna – Lee Miller went through a number of amazing transformations in her life. But when she became a war correspondent in 1942, she really found her calling. « I had thought and burned with ideas for years and suddenly found a peg on which to hang them, » she wrote. Tackling the job with her own unique mix of glamour and grit, Lee insisted on getting fitted for her dark-green uniform on Savile Row. How proud she was every time the French mistook her a ‘femme soldat’! With her camera around her neck and notebook in hand, Lee created very personal dispatches that always hit the spot, from thrilling combat reports to intimate accounts of the war’s effect on everyday life.
And she was fearless, becoming the only female journalist to see combat, ‘exposing herself to machine gun, mortar and artillery fire, as well as bombing’ according to a colleague. A French nurse who recognized Lee as ‘the Surrealists’ blonde Venus’ wrote: « Now this living statue was among us, extraordinarily beautiful, against a background of ruins, in her strict khaki uniform. » Lee’s return was triumphant, but something was missing. « I seem to have lost my grip or enthusiasm when the war ended, » she wrote in a letter to a friend. However hard she tried; she would never quite find it back. It was as if, by taking off her uniform, Lee had slipped out of the only role that really fit her like a glove.
Marlies Says
fall|winter 20 preview
In January, I presented my newest FW20 collection during a show full of dance and entertainment in Rotterdam. All my work as a feminist designer is inspired by muses, powerful female icons from past and present. And for FW20, my muse will be crime writer Agatha Christie. A few months from now, you will get to discover the collections, and see how they tell stories like Agatha’s thrilling books do..
MD Friends
Running for your life
Dr. Bram Bakker is a psychiatrist, a writer, a runner and a provocateur. With his many bestselling books and columns – and yes, even his own theatre show – he urges us to think outside the box when it comes to our mental health. Not crazy about popping pills? Bram shared some interesting alternatives with me, from throwing out our phones to running ‘till we puke’.
MD Friends
Peas & peppers instead of pills
General practitioner Tamara de Weijer believes that we would feel a lot better if we hit the produce stand before we visited the pharmacy. “On a massive scale, we have been putting the wrong kind of fuel in our bodies.”
Marlies Says
Singles Day – You’ve Got this!
All the single ladies, listen up! With single women rapidly becoming the majority, it is high time to stop feeling singled out. This Singles Day, let’s celebrate our freedom and independence by sharing all those solo milestones that make us go: ‘You’ve got this!’.