Glenda Bailey OBE: New York Queen Of The Marie Claire Cocks Supplement
NEW York’s other British fashion queen, Glenda Bailey, is keeping docile feature writers busy, I see. The 52 year-old editor of Harper’s Bazaar has a book to flog, Harper’s Bazaar Greatest Hits (a mere £28.99 from Amazon; or if you prefer, £35.99 from Telegraph Books), and a V&A talk to publicise – September 18. Not to mention ‘Harper’s Bazaar: A Decade of Style’ which runs until 8 January 2012 at the International Centre of Photography in New York. Book return flights now!
In the Observer, a grazing fawner avers, ‘While running the American version of Marie Claire, [Bailey’s] penchant for risk-taking was legendary.’ I’m sure it was. But nothing compared to her pioneering antics on British Marie Claire – I wouldn’t expect any of the newspaper indentured tots to know anything about that time (the 80s-90s, darling); or even to imagine that sentience was alive and kicking even before their own natal birth.
Who can forget (if one knew to start with) Glenda’s notorious penises supplement? When I tell people who doze through Glamour now, they think I’m making it up. But Glenda Bailey OBE, and friend of Karl Lagerfeld, actually persuaded the dull Old Spice scrotes of IPC that what the world needed was the gift of a penises supplement. And there they were, dozens and dozens of different disembodied dicks, a bonanza of Bobbitt-like chopped, cropped choppers, all close-shot – and this before pajazzling. An Argos catalogue of sausages, winkles, cigars, buttons (?) all manner of types; some cut, some not; though all flaccid. This exhibition of cock caused a fuss at the time and sales rocketed.
Glenda’s genius was simply this: no mainstream women’s glossy editor had ever thought or dared to do this before. Like Warhol and his art. She was copied briefly of course; and then the novelty was done. And later, Glenda got her OBE.
Deservedly so, I’m sure. – Madame Arcati
Posted: 12th, September 2011 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
