Cars in Vogue

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Actress Miriam Hopkins, leaning against convertible

Vogue has a long history of depicting women and their cars. Rolls-Royces, Mercedes, Peugeots, Pierce-Arrows, Chevrolets, Fords, and Pontiacs, both foreign and domestic vehicles, have all been photographed in Vogue.

The "Automobiling" issue of 1902.

One of the first automobiles to appear in the magazine is illustrated on the January 2, 1902 cover. It shows two women driving an early steam powered Locomobile for the “Automobiling” issue.

"The Motor Girl," depicted in color illustration of woman in green coat and fur hat

The first Vogue “Motor Girl” modeled what a fashionable woman should wear on a car trip, and the annual January “Motor” issue highlighted the new automobile models and discussed the benefits of owning and driving a car. During the early 1900s, motorcar driving became a liberating, exhilarating form of travel for many modern women. Vogue’s 1923 Book of Etiquette indicated “motors have been responsible for a great deal of liberty—[A woman] can step into her own motor and drive whom she will, without [an] attendant or chaperon.”

Vogue photographer and writer John McMullin wrote in a January 15, 1923 article, “Her Motor-Car as seen by Him”: “No women with any pretense of elegance could be without her own motor.” And in the June 7, 1930 issue, “The Woman Chooses a Car for its Style” outlined the knowledge a woman brought to automobile purchases, and the impact she had: “The modern garage is like a wardrobe with a car for every occasion, and the woman of the family is the deciding factor in their choice.”

During the 1940s and 1950s, not only were car companies frequent advertisers within magazine pages, the Vogue editorial staff gave them a clear nod of support by focusing on new car models in many fashion shoots.

Model in checked coat, dress, and hat by Bendel, standing with luggage near the trunk of a car

Model in leopard hat and stole, posed with a slide of a blue 1960 Mercury projected on her and the wall

Model Anne Saint-Marie, perched on a 1958 Imperial convertible parked on a golf course

Model, chauffeur, and small dogs in front of a forest-green Lincoln Continental Mark III

In 1961, Vogue ran a “Car Contest” to further solidify their relationship with car manufacturers. The November 15, 1961 issue photographed the most fashionable characteristics of 14 cars, including models by Buick, Cadillac, Dodge, and Volkswagen, in an editorial article on women and their cars. The reader who correctly named all the highlighted car features and the reasons a woman might like them won a car of her choice.

Whether she is escorted in a luxurious, chauffeur-driven sedan, driving a convertible sports car, or transporting her family in a station wagon, a woman and her car is a subject that Vogue has approached in a consistently moving fashion.

Model standing in 1959 Chrysler New Yorker convertible

Model driving an automobile,one arm raised, wearing a veiled Suzy hat and corduroy coat

Model in beige, posed in front of Oldsmobile Super 88 Fiesta station wagon

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