Dorothy Virginia Margaret Juba was born in New York City and raised in Queens. She was discovered on a sidewalk in New York by an editor at Vogue, and became the most glamorous and highly paid fashion model of the 1950's. As a child she had an imaginary friend, whom she called Dovima- using the first two letters of each of her given names and this is what she became known as.

She appeared on the covers of all the fashion magazines and worked with every major photographer of the day. She formed a particular bond with Richard Avedon who would take the most famous photos of Dovima.  The two managed to transform Dovima into the epitome of fifties haute couture, into what Christian Dior coined "The New Look". Dovima and Avedon created the most famous fashion photograph of all time, "Dovima with Elephants", in Paris in 1955. The photo shows Dovima in haute couture with circus elephants surrounding her.