This is the second program in the From Exile to Avant-Garde: The Life of Princess Natalie Paley exhibition lecture series. 

Join Amy Fine Collins for this talk and book signing of her publication The International Best-Dressed List: The Official Story!

Founded in 1940 by fashion-publicity pioneer Eleanor Lambert, the International Best-Dressed List is the only original, continuous, authentic list of its kind. Every year it honors the most influential style leaders in a variety of categories. Initially, Eleanor devised the List to stimulate the buying and wearing of good clothing when fashion news from Paris was cut off by World War II. She understood that getting dressed could be a competitive sport, but even she could not anticipate that her improvised wartime instrument would become so powerful. Before long, the IBDL emerged as the universally accepted record of excellence and the aspiration of sartorially ambitious women and men everywhere. Viewed across decades, the List forms a snapshot of the culture, seen through the lens of fashion.  

Princess Natalie Paley, a beacon of chic during the first two decades of the List’s existence, was elected to the IBDL seven times. The talk will discuss some of the paragons of elegance who—along with Paley—populated the List, and track how it adapted to changing times. 

Image courtesy of Amy Fine Collins and Rizzoli.

HYBRID PROGRAM 

This lecture will be presented in the theater in the Ellen MacNeille Charles Visitor Center and will be livestreamed via Zoom. Visitors can submit questions for the speaker from any location. 

IN-PERSON TIMELINE

5:30–6:30 p.m. | Explore Hillwood

• Enjoy Hillwood’s mansion, gardens,  greenhouse, and exhibition, From Exile to Avant-Garde: The Life of Princess Natalie Paley
• Find the perfect memento from your visit at the museum shop

6:30–7:30 p.m. | Lecture 

7:30 p.m. | Book signing. The International Best-Dressed List: The Official Story will be available in the museum shop.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Amy Fine Collins was a Special Correspondent to Vanity Fair, where for more than 25 years she wrote features about fashion, art, culture, and society. An arbiter and owner of the International Best-Dressed List since 2003, she was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1996. A muse to artists and designers, including Geoffrey Beene and Thom Browne, Collins is a frequently consulted advisor and commentator on fashion, and is active at the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute. Previously Style Editor at both House & Garden and Harper’s Bazaar, she received three degrees in Art History from Swarthmore College and Columbia University, where she also taught for two years. In 2010, Collins received the New York Newswomen’s Club’s Front Page Award for Cultural Criticism, and in 2011 she won a Front Page Award for In-Depth Reporting. In 2011, she was presented with Lighthouse International’s Fashion Visionary Award.  She has appeared in numerous documentaries, feature films, and ad campaigns and has toured internationally, speaking at institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum. Currently Editor at Large for Air Mail and Contributing Editor (New York) for World of Interiors, Amy Fine Collins has written or contributed to more than a dozen books. Her most recent book is The International Best-Dressed List: The Official Story, published by Rizzoli. 

Image courtesy of Amy Fine Collins.