SAALBURG ONCE WROTE THAT THE “ENGLISH MAKE AN ART OF DRESSING WELL FOR EVERY OCCASION TO AN ENGLISHMAN, DRESSING WELL INVOLVES RESTRAINT. THE RESULT IS ELEGANCE. AMERICANS ARE INCLINED TO ASSOCIATE ENGLISH ELEGANCE ONLY WITH FORMALITY”.
“He has been both an influence on, and an example of, the best practice of the art of wearing men’s clothes”, wrote about him the famous journalist George Frazier in a clear summary of his legacy. Leslie Saalburg was born in London in 1897 to American parents. His father was a political cartoonist for a paper of San Francisco, as well as for The Chicago Examiner and The New York World.
At the age of twenty, Saalburg became a freelance fashion illustrator for women’s fashions and he did many covers for top magazines. From the point in time, he never lacked work. Though Europe never attracted him in terms of art, he had nothing but the utmost admiration for its Old World traditions.
Leslie also provided illustrations for Esquire, Apparel Arts, Town and Country, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Holiday, Collier’s, as well as other periodicals, for as long as two decades in some cases. The hallmark of Saalburg’s work has always been his attention to detail and in his works everything is done meticulously, in truly elegant fashion.
Following his weltanschauung, Leslie believed throughout his life that society was not really constituting progress.
In the manner of Elbert Hubbard, William Morris or Ralph Adams Cram, he was convinced that the glorious twenties and thirties had more to offer with regard to workmanship, design, style, dress codes, and savoir vivre.
In addition, in his mind, elegance was setting down despite its vital quality in the fashion world. But elegance still lives in his fashion illustration today.
