gloria1Annette Bette Kellow, Fashion & Vintage stylist
www.annettebettekellow.com

Before you even heard murmurs of Peaches, Pixie, Alicia Dellal, Daisy Lowe, Paris and Nicole there was an original, socialite, IT girl- Gloria Vanderbilt!

Queen of high society New York, she inherited $5 million dollars age 5, 1929 (it would be worth 18 times that amount today) and became a heiress, actress, fashion designer, artist and novelist in that order, starting with the most luxurious parties then eventually devoting time to art and writing.

One of the most beautiful of her generation, she lived in luxury in sunny L.A where she decided to have some rather lovely liaisons with Marlon Brando, Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Howard Hughes. And we thought they were innocent back then!

Scandal rose in the family when her mother ‘overspent’ Gloria’s trust fund, her father tragically died and a publicised court case arose when her sister tried to obtain custody of her (perfect gossip if only they had celeb magazines then!)

She launched the first ready-to-wear designer jeans, which were the best selling in America and then moved into scarves, accessories, leather goods, jewellery, sheets, shoes and fragrance in the late 1970’s aptly named Fatale (this was before every person who had half a name brought out an Eau de Promo piece of sniff!)

After sadly being ripped off by her lawyer and having to sell both her houses, she retreated without a penny from one of the biggest brands to which she did not have any power over anymore. After four husbands, she also had two sons, one whom died through heart surgery and the other sadly committed suicide. This left Gloria, questioning life and morals in devastation.

But Gloria, being born into money and ending with none, and with the positivity and spiritual optimism was certainly not one to wilt away, and through all her tragedy  moved into art then best-selling novels.

She now lives in New York in peace and still paints daily.