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."
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| L - R: Denise Hale, Betsy Bloomingdale, and Carroll Petrie |
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| L - R: Baroness Sandra di Portanova and Norman Parkinson being photographed; John Funt and Heather Nye |
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| L - R: Cheryl Tiegs; Chessie Rayner and Donald Marron. |
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| L - R: Iris Love, Parker Ladd, Liz Smith, Arnold Scaasi, and Kimberly Farkas; Bill Blass and Lynn Wyatt |
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| L - R: John and Laura Pomerantz; Jolanta and Radoslav Jovanovic |
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| L - R: Nancy and Henry Kissinger; Rachel and Lewis Rudin |
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| L - R: Ralph and Rickie Lauren; Pat Buckley, Oscar de la Renta, and Mercedes Bass |
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| L - R: Princess Firyal of Jordan and Judy Taubman; Susan Brooks and Todd Merrill |
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| L - R: Warren and Yanna Avis; Rennie and Ellin Saltzman |
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| L - R: Paul and Mai Hallingby; Sarah Myer, Estee Lauder, and Evelyn Lauder |
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| L - R: Linda Horn and Richard LeFrak; Judy Peabody, Peter Allen, and Libet Johnson |
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| L - R: Jan Chipman; Joy Henderiks; Kathleen Hearst |
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| L - R: Karen LeFrak; Kim Alexis; Gale Hayman |
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| L - R: CeCe Cord; Gayfryd Steinberg; Cindy and Joe Roncetti |
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| L - R: Kelly and Calvin Klein; Donald and Ivana Trump |
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| L - R: Elizabeth Ross Johnson and Peter Allen; Henry Kravis and Carolyne Roehm |
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| The gala |
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