Carrie Donovan (March 22, 1928 – November 12, 2001) was an American fashion editor for ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'', '' Harper's Bazaar'' and ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...

''. In the 1990s she became known for her work in

Old Navy Old Navy is an American clothing and accessories retailing company owned by multinational corporation Gap Inc. It has corporate operations in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of the Old Navy stores are its ...

commercials where she wore her trademark large eyeglasses and black clothing, often declaring the merchandise "Fabulous!". In almost all of the commercials, she appeared alongside Magic the dog and various other stars from TV and fashion. She was parodied by

Ana Gasteyer Ana Kristina Gasteyer (born May 4, 1967) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1996 to 2002. She has since starred in such sitcoms as ABC's '' Suburgatory,'' TBS's '' People of Earth'', NBC's ...

on an episode of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serve ...

''.

Early life

Carolyn Gertrude Amelia Donovan was born in

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsbur ...

. Carrie and her sister, Jane, lived primarily with their grandparents until 1942 when they then went to live with their mother. Donovan did not have a relationship with her father who left early on in her life. When Donovan was just 10 years old, she mailed her own sketches for a design collection to the actress

Jane Wyman Jane Wyman ( ; born Sarah Jane Mayfield; January 5, 1917 – September 10, 2007)"Actress, P ...

, who replied with a handwritten letter. She later attended the

Parsons School of Design Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatt ...

, graduating in 1950. Donovan never learned how to sew, so she had bribed her classmates to sew her test pieces for school. She worked as a journalist for 30 years; she always wrote her copy out by hand, because she never learned how to use a typewriter.

Career

Donovan's first job was at

Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; colloquially Saks) is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street shopping district of Washing ...

, where she worked under Tatiana Liberman, who was married to

Alexander Liberman Alexander Semeonovitch Liberman (September 4, 1912 – November 19, 1999) was a Ukrainian-American magazine editor, publisher, painter, photographer, and sculptor. He held senior artistic positions during his 32 years at Condé Nast Publicatio ...

, the editor of ''

''. Donovan was recruited by ''

'' in 1955 after she graduated from

. A few years later Donovan was recruited by

Diana Vreeland Diana Vreeland (September 29, 1903 – August 22, 1989) was a French-American fashion columnist and editor. She worked for the fashion magazine '' Harper's Bazaar'' and as editor-in-chief at '' Vogue'', later becoming a special consultant to the ...

of ''

''. Donovan gained recognition as a style editor for ''

'', '' Harper's Bazaar'', and the ''New York Times Magazine''. Donovan later joined '' Harper's Bazaar'' and was senior editor from 1972 to 1977 before she went back to ''

''. She was known for being able to quickly recognize talent, being among the first to praise the work of designers

Donna Karan Donna Karan (, born Donna Ivy Faske), also known as "DK", is an American fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels. Early life Karan was born Donna Ivy Faske to mother Helen "Queenie" Faske (née Rabi ...

and

Perry Ellis Perry Edwin Ellis (March 3, 1940 – May 30, 1986) was an American fashion designer who founded his eponymous sportswear house in the mid-1970s. Ellis' influence on the fashion industry has been called "a huge turning point" because he int ...

. It was her work for Old Navy, however, that brought her into the public eye.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donovan, Carrie 1928 births 2001 deaths American magazine editors The New York Times editors American socialites American fashion journalists Fashion editors American women journalists People from Lake Placid, New York 20th-century American journalists Women magazine editors 20th-century American women