Gloria Guinness (née Rubio y Alatorre; 27 August 1912 – 9 November 1980), previously Countess Gloria von Fürstenberg-Herdringen, was a Mexican socialite and a contributing editor to ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...

'' from 1963 to 1971. She was photographed by

Cecil Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as costume designer and set designer for stage and screen. His accolades ...

Slim Aarons Slim Aarons (born George Allen Aarons; October 29, 1916 – May 30, 2006) was an American photographer noted for his images of socialites, jet-setters and celebrities. His work principally appeared in ''Life'', '' Town & Country'', and ''Holiday' ...

, Alejo Vidal-Quadras; designed for by

Cristóbal Balenciaga Cristóbal Balenciaga Eizaguirre (; ; 21 January 1895 – 23 March 1972) was a Spanish fashion designer, and the founder of the Balenciaga clothing brand. He had a reputation as a couturier of uncompromising standards and was referred to as "th ...

Elsa Schiaparelli Elsa Schiaparelli ( , , ; 10 September 1890 – 13 November 1973) was an Italian fashion designer from an Italian nobility, aristocratic background. She created the Schiaparelli (fashion house), house of Schiaparelli in Paris in 1927, which she ...

Hubert de Givenchy Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy (; 20 February 1927 – 10 March 2018) was a French fashion designer who founded the luxury fashion and perfume house of Givenchy in 1952. He is famous for having designed much of the personal and professi ...

, Yves Saint-Laurent; and was also a close friend and inspiration to

Truman Capote Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics ...

Family and childhood

Gloria Rubio y Alatorre was born in Guadalajara, Mexico. She was the daughter of José Rafael Rubio y Torres (1880, Michoacán, México – 1916, San Antonio,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

),''The Heirs of Europe: Niarchos''
27 December 2010. a liberal journalist who supported

Francisco I. Madero Francisco Ignacio Madero González (; 30 October 1873 – 22 February 1913) was a Mexican businessman, revolutionary, writer and statesman, who served as the 37th president of Mexico from 1911 until he was deposed in a coup d'état in Februa ...

for which he died in exile, in the United States, and his wife, Maria Luisa Alatorre y Diaz-Ocampo (1882–1961, Zapotlán el Grande, Jalisco)Etti (Mrs Arpad) Plesch, ''Horses & Husbands: The Memoirs of Etti Plesch'', Dorset: The Dovecote Press, 2007. who belonged to a

Spanish colonial The Spanish Colonial Revival architecture (), often known simply as Spanish Revival, is a term used to encompass a number of revivalist architectural styles based in both Spanish colonial architecture and Spanish architecture in general. These ...

landowning family from

Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...

, who made their fortune in sugar (descendants of

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

Don Diego de Ochoa-Garibay), partly described by their relative, Alfonso Reyes Ochoa, in his book ''Parentalia''. Through her paternal family, Gloria was a relative of the celebrated 19th-century art collector Ramón de Errazu y Rubio de Tejada and of the wealthy Mexican aristocrat Jesús Colón de Larreátegui y Vallarta (a direct descendant of the 1st Duke of Veragua, eldest son of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

). Gloria had two elder siblings: Rafael and Maria Luisa. Gloria's childhood was unstable, mainly because of her father's political persecution during the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...

and early death in exile (due to health complications at a health clinic in San Antonio, Texas when Gloria was age 5). She and her siblings spent most of their childhood with her mother's relatives, members of Mexican elite, such as the Ochoa-Garibay, Villaseñor-Jasso and Sánchez de Aldana families, with whom the Rubios lived for periods of time. Nevertheless, the

Cristero War The Cristero War (), also known as the Cristero Rebellion or , was a widespread struggle in central and western Mexico from 3 August 1926 to 21 June 1929 in response to the implementation of secularism, secularist and anti-clericalism, anticler ...

in Jalisco forced both them and their relatives to leave the countryside for Mexico City, where she eventually met her first husband.

Legendary origins

Without any known explanation, Guinness frequently downplayed or directly lied about her origins, often saying she was from Veracruz, that her father was a revolutionary soldier killed in action, and that her mother was either a laundry maid or a seamstress. Her mysterious true origins were the cause of numerous rumors and speculation, many intended to diminish her social position, but eventually did little to destroy her reputation as "the most elegant woman in the World,” in the words of

Eleanor Lambert Eleanor Lambert (August 10, 1903 – October 7, 2003) was an American fashion publicist. She was instrumental in increasing the international prominence of the American fashion industry and in the emergence of New York City as a major fashion c ...

, founder of the

Met Gala The Met Gala, formally called the Costume Institute Benefit, is the annual haute couture fundraising festival held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in Manhattan. The Met Gala was and still is popularly rega ...

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning seven to nine days when international Fashion design, fashion collections are shown to buyers, the pres ...

and the

International Best Dressed List The International Best Dressed Hall of Fame List was founded by fashionista Eleanor Lambert in 1940 as an attempt to boost the reputation of American fashion at the time. The American magazine '' Vanity Fair'' is currently in charge of the List ...

Marriages and descendants

Gloria Rubio was married four times. Her first marriage to Jacobus Hendrik Franciscus Scholtens, the Dutch director of a

sugar refinery A sugar refinery is a refinery which processes raw sugar from cane or sugar extracted from beets into white refined sugar. Cane sugar mills traditionally produce raw sugar, which is sugar that still contains molasses, giving it color ...

estate in Veracruz took place in Mexico City, on 31 March 1933. Rubio was 20, and the groom, a son of Jan Scholtens and Maria Le Comte, was 47. They separated, shortly afterwards, and they finally divorced, in 1935, with no issue. Her second marriage was to Franz-Egon Maria Meinhard Engelbert Pius Aloysius Kaspar Ferdinand Dietrich, third Graf von Fürstenberg-Herdringen (1896–1975), whom she married on 4 October 1935, in Kensington, England; this being the second marriage to both and making her a stepmother of actress

Betsy von Furstenberg Elizabeth Caroline Maria Agatha Felicitas Therese, Graf, Gräfin von Fürstenberg-Herdringen (August 16, 1931 – April 21, 2015), known as Betsy von Furstenberg, was a German-born American actress who starred in several Broadway theatre, Broadw ...

. They were the parents of: * Dolores Maria Agatha Wilhelmine Luise, Freiin von Fürstenberg-Hedringen (31 July 1936 – 20 January 2012). She married Patrick Benjamin Guinness (her stepbrother) on 22 October 1955, who died in 1965 in a car accident in Switzerland. They were the parents of: ** Maria Alexandra Guinness (b. 1956), who married Foulques, Count de Quatrebarbes (b. 1948), with issue, in 1979, and, after their divorce, Neville Cook. ** Loel Patrick Guinness (b. 1957) ** Victoria Guinness (b. 1960), who married

Philip Niarchos Philip Niarchos (alternately: Phílippos or Philippe; ) (born 1952) is a Greek billionaire, the eldest son of the Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos and Eugenia Livanos, herself the elder daughter of Stavros Niarchos' bus ...

in 1984, son of Greek shipping magnate

Stavros Niarchos Stavros Spyrou Niarchos (, ; 3 July 1909 – 15 April 1996) was a Greek billionaire shipping tycoon. Starting in 1952, he had the world's biggest supertankers built for his fleet. Propelled by both the Suez Crisis and increasing demand for oil, ...

, with issue. * Franz-Egon Engelbert Raphael Christophorus Hubertus, 4th Graf von Fürstenberg-Hedringen (born 27 July 1939 in

Berlin-Wilmersdorf Wilmersdorf () is an inner-city locality of Berlin which lies south-west of the central city. Formerly a borough by itself, Wilmersdorf became part of the new borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf following Berlin's 2001 administrative reform. H ...

). He married Agneta Sundby (born 12 April 1943), a Swedish model on 20 August 1967, in Visnum church, Visnum, Sweden. After their divorce, he married

Adelina von Fürstenberg Countess Adelina von Fürstenberg-Herdringen (''née'' Cüberyan) is a Swiss curator specialized in contemporary art. Von Fürstenberg was one of the first curators to show an interest in non-European artists, thus opening the way for a multicultur ...

(née Cuberyan). Her third marriage was to Ahmad-Abu-El-Fotouh Fakhry Bey (1921–1998), whom she married in 1946 and divorced in 1949. He was a grandson of King Fuad I of Egypt, as the only child of Princess Fawkia of Egypt (later Countess Wladimir d’Adix-Dellmensingen) and her first husband, Mahmud Fakhry Pasha. Through his mother, he was a nephew of King

Farouk I of Egypt Farouk I (; ''Fārūq al-Awwal''; 11 February 1920 – 18 March 1965) was the tenth ruler of Egypt from the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and the Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I of Egypt, Fuad I, in 1936 and reig ...

and Queen Fawzia of Iran (first wife of

Mohammed Reza Pahlavi Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, ...

Shah of Iran The monarchs of Iran ruled for over two and a half millennia, beginning as early as the 7th century BC and enduring until the 20th century AD. The earliest Iranian king is generally considered to have been either Deioces of the Median dynasty () ...

). No issue came from this marriage. Her fourth and final marriage was to Thomas Loel Guinness (1906–1988), Member of Parliament, shareholder of Guinness Mahon, as a member of the banking branch of the

Guinness family The Guinness family is an extensive Irish family known for its achievements in brewing, banking, politics, and religious ministry. The brewing branch is particularly well known among the general public for producing the dry stout beer Guinnes ...

. They married on 7 April 1951, in Antibes. By this marriage, she had three stepchildren: Patrick Benjamin Guinness (1931–1965), married to her daughter Dolores; William Loel Seymour Guinness (born 1939), and Belinda Guinness (1941-2020), wife of Sheridan Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 5th Marquess of Dufferin and Ava. Among Guinness's alleged lovers, in-between her successive marriages, were

David Beatty, 2nd Earl Beatty David Field Beatty, 2nd Earl Beatty, (22 February 1905 – 10 June 1972), styled Viscount Borodale from 1919 to 1936, was a Royal Navy officer and British Conservative Party politician. Early life Beatty was born on 22 February 1905. He was th ...

, and the British ambassador to France

Duff Cooper Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich, (22 February 1890 – 1 January 1954), known as Duff Cooper, was a British Conservative Party politician and diplomat who was also a military and political historian and writer. First elected to Parl ...

Fashion and cultural icon

In 1963, Guinness began a series of columns in ''

''. She famously asserted, in the magazine's July 1963 issue, that "Elegance is in the brain, as well as in the body and in the soul. Jesus Christ is the only example we have of any one human having possessed all three at the same time."

Artist's subject

She was painted by artists like René Bouché, Kenneth Paul Block and Alejo Vidal-Quadras. She was photographed for ''Vogue'', ''Harper's Bazaar'' and ''Women's Wear Daily'' by

Richard Avedon Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He worked for ''Harper's Bazaar'', '' Vogue'' and '' Elle'' specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater and ...

, John Rawlings, Toni Frissell,

Horst P. Horst Horst P. Horst (born Horst Paul Albert Bohrmann; August 14, 1906 – November 18, 1999) was a German-American fashion photographer. Early life The younger of the sons, Horst was born in Weissenfels an der Saale, Germany, to Klara (Schönbrodt ...

and Henry Clarke.

Capote's swans

Gloria was named, by

, as one of his "swans,” a group which included

Lee Radziwill Caroline Lee Radziwill (; March 3, 1933 – February 15, 2019), previously known as Lee Canfield and Lee Ross, was an American socialite, public relations executive, and interior designer. She was the younger sister of former First Lady of the ...

Marella Agnelli Marella Agnelli (; born ''Donna'' Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto ; 4 May 1927 – 23 February 2019) was an Italian noblewoman, art collector, socialite, style icon, and wife of Fiat S.p.A. chairman Gianni Agnelli. She often appeared in the fa ...

Gloria Vanderbilt Gloria Laura Vanderbilt (February 20, 1924 – June 17, 2019) was an American artist, author, actress, fashion designer, heiress, and socialite. During the 1930s, she was the subject of a high-profile child custody trial in which her mother, ...

Babe Paley Barbara Cushing Mortimer Paley (July 5, 1915 – July 6, 1978) was an American magazine editor and socialite. Affectionately known as Babe throughout her life, Paley made notable contributions to the field of magazine editing. In recognition of ...

Diana Vreeland Diana Vreeland (September 29, 1903 – August 22, 1989) was an American fashion columnist and editor. She worked for the fashion magazine ''Harper's Bazaar'' and as editor-in-chief at '' Vogue'', later becoming a special consultant to the Costume ...

, and others, which he used as inspiration for his characters, most notably in his chapter "La Côte Basque 1965".

Fashion

Guinness was dressed by various top-couture designers like

Marc Bohan Roger Maurice Louis Bohan (22 August 1926 – 6 September 2023) was a French fashion designer, best known for his 30-year career at the house of Dior. Early life and career Bohan was born in Paris and grew up in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, Sceaux. ...

Christian Dior Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer and founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Dior, Christian Dior SE. His fashion house is known all around the world, having gained promi ...

Chanel Chanel ( , ) is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. It is privately owned by French brothers, Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, through the holding company Chanel Limited, established in 2018 and headquarte ...

, Yves Saint Laurent,

Valentino Garavani Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani (; born 11 May 1932), known mononymously as Valentino, is an Italian fashion designer, the founder of the Valentino (fashion house), Valentino brand and company. His main lines include Valentino, Valentino G ...

Halston Roy Halston Frowick (April 23, 1932 – March 26, 1990), known mononymously as Halston, was an American fashion designer, who rose to international fame in the 1970s. Halston's minimalist, clean designs, which were often made of cashmere or ...

and shoes by

Roger Vivier Roger Henri Vivier (13 November 1907 – 2 October 1998) was a French fashion designer who specialized in shoes. He is best known for creating the modern day stiletto heel and for placing a chrome-plated buckle on an elegant black pump, whi ...

. She was one of the first models to wear

capri pants Capri pants (also known as three quarter legs, or capris, crop pants, man-pris, clam-diggers, flood pants, ankle pants, jams, highwaters, or toreador pants) are pants that are longer than shorts, but are not as long as trousers. ''Capri pants'' ...

Emilio Pucci Emilio Pucci, Marchese di Barsento (; 20 November 1914 – 29 November 1992) was an Italian Marquess, aristocrat, fashion designer and politician. He and his eponymous company Pucci designed geometric prints in many colors. Early life Pucci wa ...

. Among the 17 outfits, 12 hats and pairs of shoes that she donated to museum collections were a 1948 Balenciaga evening gown of

organdy Organdy, also spelled Organdie, is a kind of fabric. It is a lightweight, balanced plain weave made of cotton with features of sheerness and crispness. Characteristics Organdy is a stiffened material; sheerest among its peers, which include l ...

with flock flowers, an evening gown from 1965, a 1949 hand-painted evening gown by Marcelle Chaumont and a 1950s evening gown by Jeanne Lafaurie, the only dress by that designer in the collection of

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

The most elegant woman in the world

Despite being voted in second place at ''Time'' magazine's "Best Dressed Woman in the World" in 1962, after

Jacqueline Kennedy Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A popular f ...

famously asserted that, without a doubt, Gloria Guinness was "to me, the most elegant woman in the World". She appeared on the

from 1959 through 1963. The following year, she was elevated into its Hall of Fame.

Design and properties

The Guinnesses had an apartment in Manhattan's Waldorf Towers, an 18th-century farmhouse called Villa Zanroc in

Épalinges Épalinges (; ) is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Lausanne (district), Lausanne in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is a suburb of the city of Lausanne. History Épalinges is first m ...

, a 350-ton yacht, an apartment on Avenue Matignon in Paris, decorated by Georges Geffroy, a stud farm in Normandy, Haras de Piencourt, and Gemini, a mansion at

Manalapan, Florida Manalapan is a town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The population was 419 at the 2020 United States census. History United States President Benjamin Harrison granted Ge ...

. The Florida property, which is divided by U.S. Highway A1A, faces the lake, on one side, and the ocean, on the other; the two halves of the building, which was designed in the 1940s by architect Marion Syms Wyeth for Gerald Lambert, were ingeniously connected by a sound-proofed living room that was set beneath the bisecting road. In addition, the Guinnesses built a house in Acapulco, Mexico, designed by Mexican architect Marco Aldaco.Plumb, Barbara, ''Horst Interior'', Bulfinch Press, 1993, page 108–11. They also kept three aircraft: an Avro Commander, for short trips around Europe, a small jet, and a helicopter for Loel Guinness's hops between the Manalapan house and the Palm Beach golf course.

Death

In 1980, Gloria Guinness died of a heart attack at Villa Zanroc in Epalinges. She is buried next to her last husband at the Bois de Vaux Cemetery in Lausanne, who was transferred there, after his death in a health clinic in Houston, Texas in 1988.

Notes

References

* No author. "Thomas L.E.B. Guinness Weds", ''The New York Times'', 8 April 1951. * Ballard, Bettina, ''In My Fashion'', New York: David McKay, 1960. * Donovan, Carrie, "Mrs. Guinness: Rare Fashion Leader; Couturiers Are Guided by Her Personal Style Flair Has Plan for Dressing for Four Homes in Varied Locales", ''The New York Times'', 5 December 1961. * No author. "The Rich: Having a Marvelous Time", ''Time'', 26 January 1962. * Guinness, Gloria, "Gloria on Elegance", ''Harper's Bazaar'', July 1963. * Guinness, Gloria, ''Gloria Guinness'', New York: Hearst, 1966. * Bender, Marylin, ''The Beautiful People'', New York: Coward-McCann, 1967. * Nemy, Enid, "Venice Draws International Set; Masked Ball to Aid City's Craftsmen Gala to Be in Palace on the Grand Canal", ''The New York Times'', 4 September 1967. * Bender, Marylin, "A Prize for Mrs. Guinness", ''The New York Times'', 2 November 1967. * Klemesrud, Judy, "They Expected a Snob, They Heard a Comedian", ''The New York Times'', 3 December 1970. * Ginsburg, Madeleine, ''Fashion: An Anthology by Cecil Beaton'', London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1971. * No author. "Gloria Guinness, 67, Trend-Setter in Fashion and Hospitality, Dead", ''The New York Times'', 10 November 1980. * Payn, Graham and Sheridan Morley, editors, ''The Noel Coward Diaries'', Londong: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1982. * Jouve, Marie-Andree and Jacqueline Demornex, editors, ''Balenciaga'', Paris: Editions du Regard, 1988. * '' Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels'', Freiherrliche Häuser, Band XV, Seite 135–177, Band 69 der Gesamtreihe, C. A. Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 1989. * Join-Dieterle, Catherine, Train, Susan and Lepicard, Marie-Jose, ''Givenchy – 40 Ans de Creation'', Paris: Paris-Musees, 1991. * Tapert, Annette & Edkins, Diana, ''The Power of Style - The Women Who Defined the Art of Living Well'', Crown Publishers, New York, 1994. * Jouve, Marie-Andrée, ''Fashion Memoir - Balenciaga'', London: Thames and Hudson, 1997. * Plimpton, George, ''Truman Capote, in Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances, and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career'', New York: Nan A. Talese, 1997. * Mohrt, Françoise, ''Le style Givenchy'', New York: Editions Assouline, 1998. * Mower, Sarah, ''Oscar De La Renta'', New York: Assouline, 2002. * Mosley, Charles, ''

Burke's Peerage and Baronetage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish geneal ...

'', 107th edition, volume 2, p. 1695. * Vickers, Hugo, ''The Unexpurgated Beaton: The Cecil Beaton Diaries as He Wrote Them'', 1970–1980, New York: Knopf, 2003. * Horyn, Cathy, "On the Block, Grande Dame Décor", ''The New York Times'', 13 March 2003. * Zilkha, Bettina, ''Ultimate Style-The Best of the Best Dressed List'', New York: Assouline, 2004. * Wilcox, Clarie, ''The Golden Age of Couture - Paris and London 1947–57'', London: V&A Publications, 2007. * Werle, Simone, ''Fashionista: A Century of Style Icons'', Prestel Publishing, 2009. * Killen, Mary, "Make Mine a Guinness", ''

Tatler ''Tatler'' (stylised in all caps) is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. It focuses on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper and upper-middle c ...

'', November 2009. * Fiori, Pamela, "The Glory of Gloria Guinness", ''Harper's Bazaar'', October 2010, pp. 273–280. {{DEFAULTSORT:Guinness, Gloria 1912 births 1980 deaths Gloria Writers from Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexican people of Galician descent Mexican people of Italian descent Mexican people of German descent German people of Mexican descent German people of Spanish descent German people of Italian descent Mexican socialites American socialites