NEW YORK, Dec 20, 2001/ --- Diana Vreeland knew a thing or two about style, having been fashion editor of Harper's Bazaar for 25 years, editor in chief of Vogue for nine and sometime curator of fashion exhibits at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Now Visionaire, the art and fashion quarterly, has dedicated its 37th issue to Vreeland. The bound publication, which comes in a custom portfolio case, is devoted to the so-called "Vreeland Memos," her creative and colorful office-memo musings on fashion, models and photography.

The 150 of the dictated memos (she disliked using typewriters) address the venerable likes of Baron Nicholas de Gunzburg, Grace Mirabella, Carrie Donovan and Babs Simpson.

The memos were secretly discovered and sent to Steven Gan, editor-in-chief of Visionaire and creative director of Harper's Bazaar. Mr. Gan is keeping mum on the identity of the sender, saying simply that it was "a person who shall forever remain a mystery."

Vreeland, as her feisty and insightful memos show, wasn't much for keeping her views a mystery. Some tasty cases in point:

Photo by FWD

"In my opinion in the year 2001 so many physical problems will have been surmounted that a woman's beauty will be a dream that will be completely obtainable...women will have strong, supple and splendid body all her life, the vitality of her skin will be as she was born."

"I think it is essential that you all rethink these terrible looking curls next to the face...we agreed long ago they looked dipped in salad oil... they also look like poor white trash people with hair all broken off and they can't get the front to the back."

"I have just sent in some fake leather to Mrs. Ingersoll from France. I think it is absolutely superb. Please don't miss it. It comes in every known color. It will change the course of history...."

"Do beware of the delicate, sandally look of the '30s. This absolutely ruins your dress.... I still think the beautiful shoe is the one with the square toe and the large buckle. These girls have quite lumpy feet and legs and if the shoes don't fit them they look really bad."

"This girl [Lauren Hutton] is obviously on her way to being an important star.... We never change Lauren. She is still the bug eyed kid that we originally photographed and the girl has traveled a long way and her movie pictures are beautiful."

"Vreeland Memos" retails at $175. For information contact Visionaire at 212-274-8959, or Art Publishers at 212-627-1999.