Emdashes. Modern Times Between the Lines.
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Sempé Fi: Cover Art
Sempé Fi: Winter Flapper
Filed under: Sempé Fi Tagged: 1920s, art, Art Deco, Brian Stauffer, covers, dog, fashion, flapper, Helen Dryden, Pollux, Vogue
Pollux writes:
She’s knee-deep in a blanket of pure white snow. She’s out for a walk with her dog. Her faithful dog cannot be seen except for its tail. In fact, the dog is clearing a pathway for her as they make their way through the wintry landscape.
This is the scene depicted in Brian Stauffer’s cover for the March 1, 2010 issue of The New Yorker, called “Whiteout.”
A cold wind blows the woman’s scarf. She’s wrapped up tightly and stylishly in a fashion reminiscent of the 1920s. In fact, the entire cover evokes the 1920s covers for Vogue, which featured images of flappers and glamorous women in a minimal, Art Deco style. The focus of these Vogue covers was on the clothes, on the style, and on the attitude of the Jazz Age. This 1922 Vogue cover, for example, by the artist Helen Dryden, shows another dog-walking scene, this time from the summer or spring.
With his use of clean inked lines, Stauffer has created a cover that appears both timeless and vintage. For all we know, we could be seeing a scene from the confident 1920s or a scene from these uncertain 2010s.
Stauffer’s young lady knows how to add a touch of glamour and color to the otherwise empty landscape. Her bright red scarf flaps in the wind as confidently as a naval flag. The charcoal-black fur trimmings give her a sense of elegance and sobriety.
Just because she’s out for a walk with her dog doesn’t mean she has to dress down.
About us
Hello! We're a small band of media enthusiasts, culture addicts, and journalists based in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Emdashes, formerly a New Yorker fan site, is our collection of conversations—mostly civilized—about magazines, movies, politics, design, punctuation, and other things that stir us.
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Tell me more
Dashes, some say, “are particularly useful in a sentence that is long and complex.” Emdashes—like an em dash itself—provides a thoughtful pause amid the hubbub.
Emdashes, founded in 2004, is written and drawn by Emily Gordon, Martin Schneider, Pollux, Jonathan Taylor, and Benjamin Chambers, as well as occasional guest contributors. All posts before October 2008 are by Emily Gordon.
The site was designed by House of Pretty with illustrations by Jesse R. Ewing.
Additional drawings are by Carolita Johnson and Pollux (author of our web comic, "The Wavy Rule"). The Emdashes pencil logo is by Jennifer Hadley, based on a 1943 Dorothy Gray ad.
Other writing by Emily Gordon
- Writing on theater: reviews (for Time Out Chicago; imperfect but workable search results)
- Profile: Valerie Casey, Designers Accord founder, is spearheading the design of sustainability (for SXSW World)
- Feature: Rea Irvin: visionary art director, bon vivant, New Yorker founding father (for Print)
- Slide show: the Coney Island Mermaid Parade (for NYCgo.com)
- Feature: Muslim immigration iconography in the Netherlands, and an interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali (for Print)
- Review: King's Gambit: A Son, a Father, and the World's Most Dangerous Game by Paul Hoffman (for Newsday)
- Homage: Celebrating lindy-hop legend Frankie Manning (for NYCgo.com)
- Inquiry: Does a New Republic redesign mean a change of tune? (for Print)
- Interview: James Surowiecki on what's next for the wisdom of crowds (for Assignment Zero)
- Interviews: four up-and-coming designers under 30 (for Print)
- Profile: novelist and dance critic Laura Jacobs (for Newsday)
Blogroll highlights
- Box Office Boffo
- World of Pollux
- Jonathan Taylor
- Carolita Johnson
- Songs for blogroll lovers (more links)
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Comments
Well said!