Sally Kirkland Sr. (July 1, 1912 – May 1, 1989) was a manager at

Lord & Taylor Lord & Taylor was an American department store chain founded in 1826 by Samuel Lord. It had 86 full-line stores in the Northeastern United States at its peak in the 2000s, and 38 locations at the time of its liquidation in 2021. The Lord & Tay ...

, a fashion editor at ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

'' magazine and served as the only fashion editor at ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' magazine between 1947 and 1969.

Early life

Born as Sarah Kathleen Phinney in

El Reno, Oklahoma El Reno is a city in and the county seat of Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 16,989, marking a change of 1.55% from 16,729, recorded in the 2010 census. The city was begun shortly after ...

, the daughter of Col. Robert Truman Phinney and his wife, Ruth Ida "Minnie" Naill, she had one brother, Robert Truman Phinney Jr., who became Vice President of

Braniff International Airways Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until the cessation of air operations, was an American airline that operated from 1928 until 1982 and continues to ...

. In the 1920s and 1930s, Sally lived in

Washington DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

with her parents. She graduated from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

in 1934. She married in 1938 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to Frederic McMichael Kirkland, the son of a wealthy

Philadelphia Main Line The Philadelphia Main Line, known simply as the Main Line, is an informally delineated historical and Social class in the United States, social region of suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lying along the former Pennsylvania Railroad's onc ...

family. Their only child is actress

Sally Kirkland Sally Kirkland Jr. (born October 31, 1941) is an American actress and producer. A former member of Andy Warhol's The Factory and an active member in 1960s New York avant-garde theater, she has appeared in more than 250 film and television produ ...

(born 1941).

Career

After graduating from

in 1934, she worked in the college shop at

, which was then the headquarters for the best casual American clothes.

''Vogue''

In 1939, Kirkland became an assistant editor of

Vogue magazine ''Vogue'' (stylized in all caps), also known as American ''Vogue'', is a monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine that covers style news, including haute couture fashion, beauty, culture, living, and runway. It is part of the global collectio ...

and, by 1946, she was the magazine's fashion editor.

''Life''

Kirkland joined

Life magazine ''Life'' (stylized as ''LIFE'') is an American magazine launched in 1883 as a weekly publication. In 1972, it transitioned to publishing "special" issues before running as a monthly from 1978 to 2000. Since then, ''Life'' has irregularly publi ...

after working as a correspondent in the Pacific during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. From 1947 to 1969, she was the publication's fashion editor; Kirkland has been credited with making the weekly magazine influential in the area of international fashion. She was the first fashion editor to do multiple-model sittings, in which a dozen or so models would be stretched across one and even two pages; her innovation was widely copied. She halted traffic in the

Place de la Concorde The Place de la Concorde (; ) is a public square in Paris, France. Measuring in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées. It was the s ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to get a fashion picture. She was one of a "trio of formidable and colorful women" (the other two being film editor Mary Letherbee and modern living editor Mary Hamman) who led the "back of the book" at ''Life'' and were given free rein by managing editor and later editor in chief

Edward K. Thompson Edward Kramer Thompson (January 15, 1907 – October 8, 1996) was an American writer and editor. He was the editor of ''Life'' from its early days as a weekly and was the founding editor of '' Smithsonian'' magazine. Biography Thompson was born ...

. After she left the magazine, she wrote a book about designer

Claire McCardell Claire McCardell (May 24, 1905 – March 22, 1958) was an American fashion designer of ready-to-wear clothing in the twentieth century. She has been credited with the creation of American sportswear. Early life McCardell was the eldest of four ...

and contributed articles to the

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Report, a monthly trade journal. Kirkland was the first person to hire an African-American,

Gordon Parks Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks (November 30, 1912 – March 7, 2006) was an American photographer, composer, author, poet, and filmmaker, who became prominent in U.S. documentary photojournalism in the 1940s through 1970s—particularly ...

, at ''Life Magazine''.

Awards

In July 1954 in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, stylists including

Emilio Schuberth Emilio Federico Schuberth (1904–1972) was an Italian fashion designer, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Schuberth was called the "tailor of the stars", and his work was loved by many international celebrities like Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari, P ...

Vincenzo Ferdinandi Vincenzo Ferdinandi (29 November 1920 - 22 April 1990) was an Italian designer among the founders of Italian haute couture. Biography Born in the United States, he moved to Italy in the early 1950s to open an atelier in Rome in the fashionable ...

, and the Sorelle Fontana, awarded Kirkland a prize for her role as ambassador of Italian fashion in the United States during the "Alta Moda in

Castel Sant'Angelo Castel Sant'Angelo ( ), also known as Mausoleum of Hadrian (), is a towering rotunda (cylindrical building) in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. ...

", in the evocative setting of that famous castle. Kirkland also received, at

Palazzo Pitti The Palazzo Pitti (), in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, the "

Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity The Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity ( ) was founded as a national order by the first President of the Italian Republic, Enrico De Nicola, in 1947, to recognise civilian and military expatriates or foreigners who made an outstanding co ...

" in 1954 from the Italian Government for her reports on Italian clothes. Together with

Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982), also known as Grace of Monaco, was an American actress and Princess of Monaco as the wife of Prince Rainier III from their marriage on April 18, 1956, until her death in 1982. ...

and Vera Maxwell, Kirkland received a

Neiman Marcus Fashion Award The Neiman Marcus Award for Distinguished Service in the Field of Fashion was a yearly award created in 1938 by Carrie Marcus Neiman and Stanley Marcus. Unlike the Coty Award, it was not limited to American-based fashion designers. Recipients of th ...

in 1955 for her contribution to fashion.

Death

Kirkland died of

emphysema Emphysema is any air-filled enlargement in the body's tissues. Most commonly emphysema refers to the permanent enlargement of air spaces (alveoli) in the lungs, and is also known as pulmonary emphysema. Emphysema is a lower respiratory tract di ...

, aged 76, at St. Vincent's Hospital, New York City. She lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkland, Sally 1912 births 1989 deaths American magazine editors American women magazine editors Deaths from emphysema Journalists from New York City Journalists from Philadelphia Fashion editors 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American journalists