Antoinette Frissell Bacon was born in 1907 in Manhattan, NY, but took photos under the name Toni Frissell. At the beginning of her career, she worked briefly for Vogue, making captions and writing a bit for the magazine. She was fired because of her poor spelling, but was encouraged by Vogue’s fashion editor Carmel Snow to take up photography.
Frissell took up photography to cope with the illness of her mother, the death of her brother Varick Frissell, and the end of her engagement to Count Serge Orloff-Davidoff. She was known for her fashion photography, World War II photographs, and portraits of famous Americans and Europeans, children, and women from all walks of life.
She died of Alzheimer's disease on April 17, 1988, leaving hundreds of thousands of images. Here is a collection of stunning color photos that she shot fashion in the 1940s.
