Slim Aarons: Once Upon a Time
- Low stock - 1 item left
- Backordered, shipping soon

Slim Aarons: Once Upon a Time is a luxurious photography book presenting the ultimate insider’s view of the lifestyles of the wealthy, privileged, and powerful.
“Aarons was a transitional figure at the height of the era of photojournalism, when magazines like Life were read by millions. The public had become fascinated by members of the affluent class, and Aarons captured them in all their splendor.” —Town & Country
Increasingly heralded for his influence, Slim Aarons has established his place in the pantheon of great postwar photographers. It was Aarons who perfected, if not invented, the environmental portrait while photographing the international elite in their exclusive playgrounds during the jet-set decades of the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s, carrying out his self-described mission: to document “attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places.”
Sexy women in tiny bikinis and handsome men dressed for dinner, fabulous homes and boats, and splendid pools and gardens are the playground of Slim Aarons’s world. You’ll find style and joy in visiting them in this rapturous coffee-table celebration of living well.
Join the Duke and Duchess of Windsor for dinner at the Waldorf Astoria. Visit novelist Elizabeth Bowen at Bowen’s Court, her ancestral home in County Cork, Ireland. Jump on a speedboat with actor George Hamilton and his beautiful friends. Pulitzer, Vanderbilt, Hearst, and Ford are just some of the bold-faced names who light up this Who’s Who of society.
Presenting Hollywood royalty, European aristocracy, the grandes dames of high society, captains of industry, media moguls, statesmen, and luminaries of various stripes, across a vast geography of opulent and glamorous settings, Slim Aarons’s photographs—some 250 of which are included here—define the legendary class known as the Beautiful People and document a lost era of style, grace, and grandeur.
This coffee table book is perfect for sharing, displaying, and gifting.

- Imprint: Abrams Books
- Trim Size: 10 x 12
- ISBN: 9780810946033
- Page Count: 240
- Rights: World/All
Slim Aarons (1916–2006) is now acknowledged as one of the most influential photographers of his generation. During World War II he served as a combat photographer for Yank magazine in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. After the war he became a freelance photographer for many magazines including Holiday, Town & Country, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, Travel + Leisure, Look, and Life.
Frank Zachary, legendary magazine editor, commissioned many of the photographs in this book for Holiday and Town & Country.

We strive to be inclusive in our publishing and our organization and to celebrate vibrant voices, cultures, and ideas.
At ABRAMS, we are committed to working to create an inclusive, fair, equitable, and diverse workplace where all employees feel valued and respected.
We see individual differences as a real source of strength—both in terms of our culture and our commercial and literary pursuits. We strive to make our company a place where everyone can be themselves, maximize their personal and professional potential, and simultaneously achieve our business goals.
Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiative includes the three key objectives below. These are the priorities where our on-going actions will further our inclusivity efforts:
- Workforce Diversity — we will recruit from a diverse, qualified group of candidates to add a wider range of thinking and perspective to our teams
- Workplace Inclusion — we will foster a culture that encourages collaboration, flexibility and fairness enabling all employees to contribute to their potential and increase retention
- Publishing Accountability — we will identify and breakdown systemic barriers for marginalized voices by embedding diversity and inclusion in policies and practices; we will equip leaders with the ability to both manage diversity and be accountable for the results
People are at the heart of what we do at ABRAMS. We understand that publishing diverse books from authors with varied backgrounds is best achieved when our team is reflective of the readers we serve and the world we inhabit. Every employee contributes to our company culture and the success of our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiative is dependent upon us all at every level of the company.
Use collapsible tabs for more detailed information that will help customers make a purchasing decision.
Ex: Shipping and return policies, size guides, and other common questions.