In my search for the photo referenced in post #335 of this thread, I think we can only say that despite considerable effort over the past seven months, I badly lost round 1.
But, hope springs once again as the bell has sounded for round 2.
I present a photo in my collection that may finally light the way:
Gabrielle Reece
Elle U.S. January 1993
Gilles Bensimon
What is significant about this photo is I found this one at a time where I hadn't found anything for awhile. Which is exactly the same circumstance surrounding the photo that I am looking for as well. A big question is, which of these two photos came first?
The more I think about it, it's very likely the photo that I am looking for came first, so I am now thinking it almost has to be in the period from 1989-1992. The confusing part is that I did find three photos in late 1989 to late 1990 but they were all covers. Meaning, you don't really find those, they are right in your face as opposed to flipping through a magazine and then coming across something that you like. That said, I guess I would still say that 1990 is unlikely but possible. I'm now thinking the best bet is 1989 (really the earliest year my photo could be in, I think there is almost no chance it could be even a year earlier, given that I found this in December 1987:
Christy Turlington
Elle U.S. December 1987
Gilles Bensimon
So, where does that leave me?
Well, as previously stated, I'm almost positive the photo is between January-August (don't really think August but looking at that just in case). I seem to remember finding it in the spring or perhaps early summer (my best guess is April-June, I also remember it wasn't in a large issue, such as March often is).
Anyway, in the past couple of weeks I went to the U of A library a couple of times and looked at Harper's Bazaar and Vogue AGAIN for January-August for all years 1988-1995. I think I am finally going to have to put those two to bed. My very first guess back in September was Harper's Bazaar 1990-1995 - the 80's-90's turn-of-the-decade Table of Contents format looked so familiar but I have to admit the actual photography within the magazine itself probably fits less than any of the magazines that I have looked at. I mostly doubted my photo was in Vogue because it seemed to me that my photo came from somewhere that I didn't get many - or maybe even ANY others from.
Since those last two visits, I came to the conclusion that I need to look from 1989-1992, not 1991-1995. What's good about the earlier time period, is that it means I almost certainly bought the magazine from a corner grocery store in Brooklyn (as opposed to say an international magazine shop in Manhattan), meaning I think I can definitively rule out my photo came from a foreign magazine (I was fearing something from the UK). And can also rule out the always-unlikely-anyway Marie Claire U.S. as that didn't even begin until 1994.
In alphabetical order, here's what's left: Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Mademoiselle, Mirabella.
From least to most likely:
5) Mademoiselle: I've looked at this twice already. The one X-factor is it's always possible that I somehow passed over my photo already but my current feeling is it's that I have (amazingly) managed not to find the right magazine yet. If worse comes to worse, I will take one more pass at this, but setting this aside for now.
4) Mirabella: Just looked at all issues that LA had of this in late February - the good thing is that LA actually had ALL of the issues that are in the time period I am now considering. Still the small worry that I didn't look at a particular fashion editorial because the Table of Contents description didn't seem right though. Regardless, also setting this aside for now.
3) Cosmopolitan: I am adding this to my list for the very first time. I just think I would remember if I had gotten it from here. It's not a usual suspect. If 1994-1995 I'd say no way - but in 1989 I might still have flipped through this on occasion. What this has going for it is that I haven't looked at this at all, so it's at least possible. The U of A also has this as part of some Women's Magazine Database so I can actually look at these locally without making any kind of trip. So, within the next few days or weeks, this is the first thing I'm going to do. I don't expect to find it here. Either it will be or I will rule it out before taking more drastic measures.
2) Elle: This was second on my list at the very beginning - we find it here again now. When I went to LA in October, I looked at all issues from 1992-2001. So, that leaves the 1989-1991 issues currently right in the wheelhouse as still unlooked at. This is a problem as I'm not sure if anyone outside of the Fashion Institute of Technology or the New York Public Library even has this. I don't love spending close to $300 on a round-trip (not even overnight) to New York but probably even worse is the travelling time of 7-8 hours each way. I had gotten the Table of Contents for Elle from 1989-1991 (May 1989 missing though!) and nothing seemed to fit quite right - I have to review those again and reconsider. I can't quite get it out of my head that the model is Rachel Williams and sure enough, she's on the cover of the January 1989 issue... If everything else doesn't pan out, I will have to get a look at these issues one way or another.
1) Glamour: This was my fifth consideration before I set this aside in favor of Mirabella being more likely. I had gotten Table of Contents for various months and years and the format didn't seem quite right to me. In the period I'm now considering, I had gotten TOC for 1990, 1991 and Apr-Aug 1992. I had a request out there for 1989 but cancelled it when I shifted focus. That is now my best guess on where my photo is. This is similar to Cosmopolitan - if we were talking mid-90's there's no way I'd have still been looking at this but in 1989 it wouldn't be extremely surprising. It fits with getting a photo from somewhere I didn't usually get photos from - I have no other photos from Glamour. Arizona State University has Glamour on microfilm for 1989-1990 and the physical magazines for 1991-1992. They need five business days notice to get the magazines out of their archives - I will set up a trip to Phoenix once I see what happens with Cosmopolitan.
My guess where the fashion editorial was shot: either the Mediterranean or Adriatic Sea.
On pages 126-132 of the magazine (if I ever find it, we'll see how close I come).