Barbara Goalen with gloves and hat
Photograph
1950 (published), 2009, October (printed)
1950 (published), 2009, October (printed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Barbara Goalen became known as "the most photographed woman in Britain" in the early 1950s, garnering the accolade of the most photographed woman in the country for the period of her brief career. Goalen threw herself into modelling at the age of 24, following the death of her first husband, the pilot Ian Goalen, in a plane crash in 1947. "I didn't have to work for money," she later recalled, "but I needed to for myself. I happened to be the right shape at the time: I was seven and a half stone and my measurements were: charlies 33, waist 18 - yes, really - and hips 31." She quickly became the face of the wasp-waisted 'New Look' era of the late 1940s and early 1950s. She retired from modelling when she got married for a second time in 1954, becoming a part-time columnist for the Daily Telegraph imparting fashion advice.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Barbara Goalen with gloves and hat (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Photography |
| Brief description | Fashion photograph by John French (1907-66). 'Barbara Goalen with gloves and hat', published in the Daily Express, 1950. |
| Physical description | A black and white portrait of a Barbara Goalen wearing a black hat and polka dot gloves |
| Dimensions |
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| Object history | The original photograph appeared in the Daily Express newspaper on 13 July 1950. |
| Production | Print made by Jerry Jack, from an original John French negative held in the archive of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. |
| Summary | Barbara Goalen became known as "the most photographed woman in Britain" in the early 1950s, garnering the accolade of the most photographed woman in the country for the period of her brief career. Goalen threw herself into modelling at the age of 24, following the death of her first husband, the pilot Ian Goalen, in a plane crash in 1947. "I didn't have to work for money," she later recalled, "but I needed to for myself. I happened to be the right shape at the time: I was seven and a half stone and my measurements were: charlies 33, waist 18 - yes, really - and hips 31." She quickly became the face of the wasp-waisted 'New Look' era of the late 1940s and early 1950s. She retired from modelling when she got married for a second time in 1954, becoming a part-time columnist for the Daily Telegraph imparting fashion advice. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.224-2011 |
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| Record created | March 14, 2011 |
| Record URL |
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