Babe Paley/Style Icon
Cecil Beaton said people of style know that abstract good taste counts for nothing, the real task is always to express their own personalities. Their personal tastes are more important than common chic, and they have always gone against the current in order to arrive at something intensely individual.
One of the twentieth century's stand-out style icons, Babe Paley epitomized New York jet-set cool in the 50's and 60's. Her personal unconventional style was and still is enormously influential. Much to her husband's chagrin, Mrs. Paley would do things like mix extravagant jewelry with cheap costume pieces. She was beautiful though not classically so and absolutely oozed style.
Photo credit: Top, Babe Paley, age 43, in her suite at the St. Regis, decorated by Billy Baldwin and photographed by Lord Snowden in 1958. Mrs. Paley is wearing jewelry designed for her by Fulco Verdura. The middle photo is one often referenced without credit. Bottom photo is also taken by Lord Snowden in 1958 which was the year she was inducted into The Fashion Hall of Fame.
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