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Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Iconic: Lee Radziwill


The Bouvier sisters seemingly coined the term 'marrying well'. Jackie, the elder, married JFK and went on to become First Lady, then married Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, at the time arguably one of the wealthiest men in the world. Meanwhile, younger sister Lee (born Caroline) married three times. Her second marriage was to Prince Stanislaw Radziwill, whose name she kept.

Many comparisons have been drawn between the Bouvier and the Middleton sisters, and understandably so. The elder sister captured the heart of a nation by marrying royalty (the Kennedy's are still pretty much regarded as royalty in the US), while the younger makes a splash with her style and looks. Looking at images of Lee, it comes as no surprise to me that she was such an 'it' girl. Particularly in later years, her style evolved into an extremely sophisticated, cut-glass Park Avenue look. I think my favourite look is of her in the sixties and seventies, when she hadn't yet lost so much weight and looked gorgeous and relaxed, yet always incredibly stylish. Little wonder that she was named to the best dressed International Hall of Fame list in 1996.

Lee dabbled in a number of careers, acting being among the most short-lived of them. More successful, later on, was her work as interior decorator to the very wealthy. She was inspired by her own decorator,  Italian stage designer Renzo Mongiardino, who worked on a number of her homes. Her Paris and London apartments were featured in Elle Decor in April 2009. Following are some pictures for you to enjoy of both her personal style and home decor.



With sister Jackie Kennedy Onassis

With sister Jackie Kennedy Onassis
With Mick and Bianca Jagger

With Gianni Agnelli
With Calvin Klein


Paris apartment
Lee in her Paris apartment

Paris apartment

In her London apartment with her daughter Tina

Turville entrance

New York apartment
Library in New York

New York apartment






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