The Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Dinner with D.V.”

The year was 1987, and New York was in the midst of its "Nouvelle Society." The Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art held its annual benefit, "Dinner with D.V." that year. After being abruptly fired as editor of Vogue after 18 years of employment, Diana Vreeland joined the museum to arrange displays for the Costume Institute in 1971.

Mrs. Vreeland got to work since she never received the million-dollar salary that Anna Wintour is rumored to get now. Some of her friends, notably Babe Paley, banded around her and helped her land a job at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (and were rumored to have contributed to her stipend). In the meanwhile, she placed the Costume Institute in the spotlight by organizing twelve shows over the following decade or so. Pat Buckley, her friend, put the yearly event on the social and financial radar.

Attendance at the yearly Costume Benefit in the 1980s was more fashion and social than celebrity, but the garments were still the center of attention. Despite the fact that the year 1987 was meant to be the end of the flashy "pouf" era, many of the dresses were still lavish, something that is seldom seen on women now — at least not among those who buy and wear their own clothes. "Did you ever see such terrible dresses?" exclaimed one guest. It's a calamity on par with World War III." But Carrie Donovan, the fashion editor of the New York Times Magazine, predicted a "return to romantic grandeur... striking but more majestic in silhouette."

L - R: Denise Hale, Betsy Bloomingdale, and Carroll Petrie

L - R: Baroness Sandra di Portanova and Norman Parkinson being photographed; John
Funt and Heather Nye

L - R: Cheryl Tiegs; Chessie Rayner and Donald Marron.

L - R: Iris Love, Parker Ladd, Liz Smith, Arnold Scaasi, and Kimberly Farkas; Bill Blass and Lynn Wyatt

L - R: John and Laura Pomerantz; Jolanta and Radoslav Jovanovic

L - R: Nancy and Henry Kissinger; Rachel and Lewis Rudin

L - R: Ralph and Rickie Lauren; Pat Buckley, Oscar de la Renta, and Mercedes Bass

L - R: Princess Firyal of Jordan and Judy Taubman; Susan Brooks and Todd Merrill

L - R: Warren and Yanna Avis; Rennie and Ellin Saltzman

L - R: Paul and Mai Hallingby; Sarah Myer, Estee Lauder, and Evelyn Lauder

L - R: Linda Horn and Richard LeFrak; Judy Peabody, Peter Allen, and Libet Johnson

L - R: Jan Chipman; Joy Henderiks; Kathleen Hearst

L - R: Karen LeFrak; Kim Alexis; Gale Hayman

L - R: CeCe Cord; Gayfryd Steinberg; Cindy and Joe Roncetti

L - R: Kelly and Calvin Klein; Donald and Ivana Trump

L - R: Elizabeth Ross Johnson and Peter Allen; Henry Kravis and Carolyne Roehm

The gala

The Eccentric Aristocrat: Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, Duchess of Alba

María del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart was born on March 28, 1926, at Liria Palace in Madrid, the only child of the 17th Duke of Alba and his wife, Mara del Rosario de Silva y Gurtubay, 9th Marchioness of San Vicente del Barco. Cayetana, as she was known among her acquaintances, was one of only three women to claim the dukedom of Alba in her own right. When Cayetana's mother passed away when she was eight years old, she inherited the majority of her titles. Her upbringing was reported to be tough because her father relocated her to England to become the Spanish government's ambassador. Cayetana befriended the young Princess Margaret during her time in England.

Cayetana's first marriage, at the age of 21, to Pedro Luis Martnez de Irujo y Artacoz, in 1947, drew widespread attention throughout Europe, and the ceremony was the most sumptuous in the world at the time. Thousands of people filled the streets to watch the Duchess, who donned a pearl and diamond crown and arrived in a horse-drawn chariot at Seville Cathedral.

Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba, wearing a
ballgown and tiara, circa 1947

Cayetana with her husband, Don Luis Martínez de Irujo y Artázcoz,
and their first child, Carlos Fitz-James Stuart, Duke of Huéscar, 1948

Cayetana in the “Palacio de Liria,” Madrid, Spain, 1966

On her visits to Spain, the Duchess was a huge hit on the global social scene, even hosting celebrities like Audrey Hepburn. In 1959, she persuaded Yves Saint Laurent, a French fashion designer, to hold a Dior fashion show from her Madrid mansion. When Jackie Kennedy visited the country, she spent time with the Duchess.

Cayetana's marriage was a huge success, with six children as a result. Pedro, however, died abruptly in 1972, leaving the Duchess distraught. Six years after her first husband died, she married Jesus Aguirre y Ortiz de Zarate, a man 11 years her junior. Friends and family of the Duchess frowned upon her husband, a scholar and former Catholic priest, as their marriage shook Spanish aristocracy.

The Duchess maintained an extremely active social life. She was a fan of flamenco, a traditional Spanish dance, and bullfighting, frequently occupying front row seats at bullfights in her hometown of Seville. There had even been rumors that the Duchess was "more than pals" with a number of attractive matadors throughout the years. Her life, however, took a devastating turn when her husband, Jesus, died in 2001, leaving her widowed for the second time. The majority of people assumed her second marriage would be her final one.

Close up of Jackie Kennedy and her hostess, the Duchess of Alba, during Mrs. Kennedy's stay in Spain

Cayetana with her daughter Eugenia in Vila Cañas, Marebella,
Malaga, Spain, 1971

Cayetana in her summer residence in Marbella, 1973

The Duchess of Alba with Jesus Aguirre, 1973

It was widely assumed that the Duchess would spend the remainder of her life alone after her second husband died. All six of the Duchess' children were shocked when she married her third husband, government employee Alfonso Diez Carabantes. Because Alfonso was 25 years her junior, King Juan Carlos openly labeled him a gold digger, wanting to gain access to Cayetana's vast fortune. Hundreds of people gathered outside Cayetana's home to celebrate the new couple, despite the fact that the wedding in Seville was a tiny affair. The Duchess afterwards performed a flamenco dance for her friends outside her palace. The couple was believed to have had a great marriage, despite the fact that the Duchess was no longer the "mover and shaker" of her heyday due to her worsening condition.

Cayetana possessed more titles than anyone else in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records: she was a duchess seven times, a countess 22 times, and a marquesa 24 times. All of Cayetana's Alba titles were passed down to her eldest son, Carlos Fitz-James Stuart, 14th Duke of Huéscar.

The duchess in the garden of the Palace of Liria, 1980

Cayetana at her daughter Eugenia's wedding in Seville, 1998

Cayetana and her children Cayetano Martinez de Irujo and Eugenia Martinez de Irujo are photographed in the inner courtyard of the Palacio de Duenas for Vogue Espana on March 15, 2010 in Seville, Spain

The Royal Rebel: Edwina Mountbatten, Countess of Burma

Edwina Cynthia Annette Ashley was born on November 28, 1901, in London, United Kingdom, and she was up in a safe but solitary environment as her parents didn't spend much time with her or her younger sister, Mary. When their mother passed away from tuberculosis, her death had little influence on her daughters. Her father, Wilfred, a conservative Member of Parliament and eventual baron, remarried and sent Edwina to boarding school at the request of his new wife.

Lord Louis Mountbatten, King George's cousin, with his
fiancee Edwina Ashley on the liner Majestic arriving in New
York on April 10, 1922

The formal wedding portrait of Lord and Lady Louis Mountbatten at Brook House, London on 18th July 1922. Back row, left to right: Princess Marguerite, Louis 1st Earl of Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten, The Prince of Wales, Princess Theodora; front row, left to right: Miss Mary Ashley, Miss Joan Pakenham, Princess Sophie, Lady Mary Ashley-Cooper and Princess Cecile

Sir Ernest Cassel, a German-Jewish financier who had converted to Catholicism at the request of his wife, came to her rescue. He took Edwina under his wing after his daughter died, and she resided with him in Brook House, his Park Lane London mansion. Grandfather's house had so many servants that one was just responsible for cleaning the flower vases. Footmen in uniforms, governesses, valets, chauffeurs and a cook with four assistants became acquainted with the child. Cassel had bought the property in order to attract members of the nobility, a maneuver calculated to distance him from his immigrant background. Cassel's hobby was rearing thoroughbreds, and his biggest victory came during a race when he met the Prince of Wales. Cassel rose through the ranks of the privileged by becoming the financial advisor and confidant of the future King Edward VII.

Edwina's marriage cleared the path to the enclave of the blue bloods since she was a wealthy and desired heiress. At a ball thrown by Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, the society sweetheart met Prince Louis Mountbatten, dubbed Dickie by the royal family. Dickie was connected to nearly every king, prince, and grand duke in Europe through his mother, Princess Victoria, who was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Their lavish wedding took place in 1922 at St. Margaret Church. They spent their honeymoon in Spain as guests of King Alfonso XIII and Queen Ena, and the Vanderbilts were thrilled to be their Manhattan hosts. With his pedigree and her money, the newlyweds became the "It couple" of the Roaring Twenties when they returned to London. Visitors like Charlie Chaplin, Noel Cowart, Winston Churchill, and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. arrived regularly at Brook House.

The wedding did not prove to be a forerunner to a satisfying marriage. While the Mountbattens appeared to be a great fit on the surface, they actually had few things in common. His passion was the luxuries of life, and his lady, who had been up in a world of luxury, was immune to its allure. Edwina also refused to participate in her husband's second fascination: his role as First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy. He was so enthralled with the Navy that he modeled their bedroom after a ship's cabin. When discord arose in the boudoir, their wedding vows were jeopardized even more. The novice pair took pleasure in their joint introduction to the intimate life at first and they welcomed Patricia and Pamela into the world.

Countess of Mountbatten circa 1925

Lady Edwina with her daughter Patricia

Lord Louis Mountbatten with his wife Edwina at Buckingham Palace for an investiture ceremony, February 1943

Viscount Mountbatten, the new Viceroy of India and Edwina
invite Mahatma Gandhi to the Viceroy's house in Delhi, 31st March 1947

Part of their lack of physical connection may have stemmed from Mountbatten's preference for male relationships; while he was known as Dickie to his relatives, he was known as Mountbottom in other circles. Edwina, who was named one of the world's six best-dressed women, shopped at Chanel, played bridge, and danced the Charleston till three a.m., sometimes with Fred Astaire. Motherhood did not bring her out of her spiritual funk; though she adored her daughters, she demonstrated that maternal nurturing is not an instinct. “A lovely little daughter,” Edwina wrote in her diary after Patricia was born. “Too exciting, too sweet,” she said, before entrusting her children's care to nannies as she partied in the south of France. Edwina had a razor-sharp mind, but she was unable to pursue a job due to the oppressive character of her era and class, and instead turned to amorous endeavors. She juggled multiple lovers at times, and her bed, draped in pink satin sheets, became a musical chairs-style game.

Her affair with bisexual West Indian cabaret pianist Leslie Hutchinson was the most salacious incident in her hedonistic journal. Their adulterous affairs came to a stop when the publication The People reported that a woman who was well-connected and extremely wealthy was having an extramarital affair with a black man. To put an end to the issue, King George V commanded Edwina to return home after she had temporarily relocated to Malta, where her husband was deployed. The following day, the pair were formally invited to Buckingham Palace, successfully glossing over the fissures in their marriage.

Edwina's dismal journey came to an end in 1947 when she became engaged in a crucial historical event. After attending Queen Elizabeth II's wedding to Lord Mountbatten's nephew, Prince Philip, their lives were turned upside down when the Atlee administration selected Mountbatten as India's final Viceroy. His mission was to hand over the British Empire's long-serving jewel in the crown to the British people.

Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, with Edwina as
Viceroy and Vicereine of India, dressed in official regalia

Lady Edwina and her lover, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru was a lonely widower whose greatest passion was the independence of his nation, until he met the woman who proved the adage that opposites attract. They formed a compelling connection despite being of different races, faiths, cultures, and social classes, and Edwina relinquished her spiritual virginity. Unlike her "ginks," however, she went to great lengths to keep her adulterous affair concealed because Nehru's mission came first. Nehru took advantage of every occasion to pay a visit to the Viceroy's opulent mansion, the Rashtrapati Bhava, for a rendezvous. Following Gandhi's assassination, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill saw a newspaper photograph of the Mahatma's weeping Vicereine kneeling on the ground during his cremation. Sir Winston was furious that she had crossed the political divide and urged the Mountbattens to return to England promptly. Edwina assumed the role of the impoverished rich girl once more.

When Edwina visited India or Nehru was in England, the separation was easier to bear. The pair, who were on the same page intellectually and spiritually, had another thing in common posthumously. Lord Mountbatten, his fourteen-year-old grandson Nicholas, and the child's paternal grandmother were killed when an IRA bomb exploded on his fishing vessel off the coast of Ireland in 1979. His daughter Patricia and Nicholas's twin brother Timothy were seriously injured. In a similar sad tone, Nehru's only child, Indira Gandhi, who was acting as Prime Minister at the time, was assassinated by her two Sikh guards in 1984.

Edwina spent her final years mentally adrift, heartbroken and despondent about her lover's enforced separation from her. She died of heart failure in North Borneo in 1960, and on her deathbed were many letters from Jawaharlal Nehru, all written on fine blue paper. But their love story was far from over. Edwina's body was transported by the Royal Navy to her sea burial in the English Channel, where her bereaved lover made a public statement of his love by sending his own Indian Navy frigate to lay a wreath of marigolds on her watery tomb. Edwina found love late in life—the ultimate jewel without price—and it granted her a brief but unforgettable Indian summer.

Lord and Lady Mountbatten with Jawaharlal Nehru in 1948

Queen Elizabeth II  and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh pictured together on the steps of Broadlands with Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, and Edwina, Countess Mountbatten of Burma in Romsey near Southampton, Hampshire on April 6th, 1957

Earl Mountbatten of Burma and Lady Edwina walking on the grounds of Broadlands, their Hampshire home, in 1958

The Art of Setting the Table

Pauline de Rothschild's passion for entertaining and preparing a table was particularly noteworthy, gaining both acclaim and a few magazine stories in such publications as Vogue (where Horst took the following images) and L'IL. And it's easy to see why both publications devoted space to de Rothschild's numerous designs when you look at images of her table settings, some of which are shown here. Entertaining at Château de Mouton, her husband, winemaker Philippe de Rothschild's rural home, was clearly an extravagant occasion, meticulously planned and supervised. Valentine Lawford, a writer at Vogue, put it succinctly: 

Menus are brought to her in bed.  So is a book with photographs of the luncheon and dinner services (one hundred and seventy of them, all told), and other books with swatches of the tablecloths and napkins (an equally prodigious variety) to choose from for the day.  Marie, the flower-arranger, telephones for instructions before going off on her little motor bicycle in search of moss and branches and blossoms.

For example, she used a blue and white paisley fabric to drape the table in a Vogue shot of a patio luncheon setting, while a brown and white variation of the same patterned fabric was used on a table set for pouring coffee in another photo. The paisley cloth reappears in L'IL, but this time in a purple tint, according to the magazine. 

Then there's de Rothschild's delicate Chantilly décor de brindille dinner service, a lovely blue and white china she used for the abovementioned patio luncheon as well as another table setting depicted in L'IL. A yellow tablecloth and napkins, 19th-century silver and vermeil silverware, and a moss and narcissi centerpiece completed the look. (The moss and blooms must have been picked by Marie, the flower arranger.)

"A forest of catkins, dried ferns and oak leaves spill over a mauve and white hand-blocked cloth. Polychrome Creil plates with hunting scenes. Vermeil, silver and horn knives and forks, the latter shaped like pistol handles. Emerging out of the vegetation are black metal candlesticks painted with a Japanese design. This photograph was taken in the dining room of the original house built by the present owner's grandfather. The walls are lined with linen printed in white and red. Green and gilt Napoleon III chairs."

"Another printed tablecloth, this one heaped with pine cones and needles and, almost invisible here, pots of flowers. This series of Creil plates tells the story of the capture of Orléans by the Duc de Berry. Vermeil and silver tableware."

Glamour, Cars and Yachts in Monaco

Monaco has always been a gathering spot for glitter and luxury, appearing to be exclusively for the highest echelon of society. From the ancient opera theater, constructed by Charles Garnier, the same architect behind Paris's Palais Garnier, to the cluster of boutique stores and the carefully maintained gardens, there's much to see and do in this charming microstate of opal, coral, and periwinkle-colored buildings. In Monaco, debauchery is woven into the fabric of every encounter.

Racing cars on the road track at the Monaco Grand Prix, Monte Carlo

Friends board a riva boat in Monte Carlo, Monaco, 1975

Princess Grace of Monaco taking a photograph at a swimming competition at Palm Beach, Monte Carlo, 1972

Film director Howard Hawks and his wife Dee spend a summer day by the pool in Monaco with producer Charles K. Feldman and Feldman's protegee Germaine Lefebvre, aka French actress Capucine

A view from a hillside in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin,
looking toward Monaco, August 1970

Diners on a cafe terrace in Monte Carlo, Monaco, August 1975

The entrance to the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo, Monaco, June 1977

Princess Caroline of Monaco, with her pet dog Tiffany, in Monte Carlo, 1977

Overhead of red umbrellas, Monaco

Alexander Onassis and his sister Christina at the Monte
Carlo Beach Club, 1958

Guests onboard of Italian Count Hannibal Scotti's
yacht, 'Scotland Cay', Monte Carlo harbour, Monaco,
August 1981