Babe Paley

If you're interested in Babe Paley you should get Party Of The Century: The Fabulous Story Of Truman Capote And His Black And White Ball. There are quite a few pictures and stories about her. She even has her own chapter.
 
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here's another shot of hers!
 
Ooh! So glad to see a Babe Paley topic here! A little while ago I finished a biography on the Cushing sisters and I've been interested in finding out more about her ever since.
 
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source: vanity fair

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source: oneartworld.com

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source: bunkycushing.com
 
ALL photos source:bunkycushing.com

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At the wedding of her daughter

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oh,thanks so much!never seen the last two before...it really suddens me though that we can't find many images of one of the most stylish woman of all time,epecialy since she was quite famous and admired in her time
 
I share your fascination for Babe Paley. I first heard of her when I read the book The Power of Style, which contained a section called "The Swans", featuring her, Slim Keith (another extraordinary icon), C.Z Guest (they don't make women like that anymore, it goes with a certain culture of simplicity and refinement which is gone), and Gloria Guinness.
If I remember correctly, Babe Paley was in a car accident and had intensive surgery on her face. So she does look frozen, but in a different way from today's stars and starlets. I always find there is an expression of sadness through that surgical mask, like a soul that wants to come out but remains contained. Yes, she is "perfect" and eerie, as if she were more of a drawing (I say drawing because of the strength and power of her facial lines) than a real person, or as if she had decided to be what people fancied her to be, an icon. But it was a choice, a philosophy of life, she was an actress whose one and only role was to be perfect. At least that's how I perceive her through the few pictures available. She is more a living portrait than a human, and I feel that if I look at her long enough, as one does with portraits, I'll capture her essence and mystery. She invokes a trance-like attitude, as if she calls on us to imitate her own trance and reach some infinite nirvana.
 
fashion_debutant, you're welcome! I'm surprised too that there's not more photos of her around given how much press she got when she was alive.
 
Jeanne,i'm actually planning to buy"The Power Of Style"!it's as if every woman who has influenced style profoundly is in there!and i completely agree with your perception of Babe.
 
fashion_debutant, you're welcome! I'm surprised too that there's not more photos of her around given how much press she got when she was alive.

i know!we don't even have a biography aside from that quite shallow one on all 3 Cushing sisters:(
 
^ Thank you so much for posting that photo, never seen it before. :heart:

Here is another where she looks the epitome of chic:

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wwd.com
 
Babe Paley in antique shopping in Paris with Legendary interior designer George Stacey.

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Housebeutiful.com



Beautiful photo of her from W magazine:

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storemags.com
 
As Truman Capote said of his friend, Babe Paley, "The only thing wrong with Babe is that she's perfect."
 

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