Years active: 1940-1990.
Known for: Actress, socialite, author, fashion designer.
Net worth: $5 million.
There’s nothing like royalty, and even though America has no kings or queens, C.Z. Guest is pretty close. Born to an investment banker and C.Z.’s real name is Lucy Douglas, but when her brother gave her the nickname “Sissy” during childhood, the name stuck even though it became C.Z.
She dabbled in acting, married Winston Frederick Churchill Guest, and Ernest Hemingway was the best man. She appeared on the cover of Time in 1962, and had numerous paintings done of her, including by Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol. She was, of course, a friend of Truman Capote. Guest died at the age of eighty-three in 2003.
Olivia Palermo
Years active: 2000-2010.
Known for: Socialite, blogger, designer, Instagram.
Net worth: $10 million.
Olivia Palermo made her entrance into the socialite life by taking on the queen of social circles at the time, and another It Girl on the list: Tinsley Mortimer. A New York cover story pitted this fresh twenty-year-old against Mortimer, and Olivia – the daughter of a real-estate developer and an interior decorator – went from socialite to model to blogger and designer.
She now boasts 3.8 million followers on Instagram, where she and her model husband Johannes Huebl put up pictures of their yachting, shows, and outfits.
Nancy Cunard
Years active: 1910-1920.
Known for: Shipping heiress, socialite, writer, political activist, promiscuity.
Net worth: $5 million.
Nancy Cunard loved two things: African-inspired personal design choices, and having intimate relations. To facilitate the second, she had a risky hysterectomy, which nearly killed her but left her unable to get pregnant.
Between spending time with famous artists and writers such as Aldous Huxley, Ezra Pound, Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Nancy devoted much of her life to fighting racism and fascism, but suffered from substance abuse. Due to mental illness, her physical health deteriorated, and when she died in Paris she weighed a shocking fifty-seven pounds.
Marella Agnelli
Years active: 1970-2010.
Known for: Noblewoman, art collector, socialite.
Net worth: $5 million.
A frequent face within the pages of Vogue, Marella Agnelli was the wife of Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli. She was an avid gardener and even authored a few books on the subject. Once again, she was friends with Truman Capote, and her life was portrayed in the biographical film " Infamous" in 2006 – Isabella Rossellini played her.
She was an occasional editor and photographer for Vogue, and also created her own textile line. Agnelli was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1963 and died in 2019 at the age of ninety-one.
Gloria Guinness
Years active: 1940-1980.
Known for: Socialite and fashion icon.
Net worth: unknown millions.
Gloria Guinness, born Gloria Rubio y Alatorre, was a Mexican socialite and fashion icon, as well as a contributing editor to " Harper's Bazaar" from 1963 to 1971, considered to be one of the most elegant women in modern history. She frequently lied about her origins, claiming she was from Veracruz, and that her father was a revolutionary killed in a war. In truth, she was born in Guadalajara, and her father was a journalist who died of natural causes.
She often wrote for "Harper's Bazaar" and was voted the second best-dressed woman in the world by Time in 1962, losing out only to Jackie Kennedy. There's even a rumor Gloria was employed as a spy. Gloria died in 1980 at the age of sixty-eight.