Born 1915 as Barbara Cushing in Boston, Massachusetts, American socialite Babe Paley was known by the nickname “Babe” for most of her life. She was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1958. Her second husband was the founder of CBS, William S. Paley.
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| Portrait of young Babe Paley |
In 1938, Paley began working as a fashion editor for Vogue in New York City. Her position at Vogue gave her access to designer clothes, often given in exchange for Paley’s high profile image. In 1941, Time magazine voted her the world’s second best dressed woman after Wallis Simpson and before Aimée de Heeren. She was also named to the best-dressed list in 1945 and 1946.
Upon her second marriage in 1947, Paley left her job at Vogue.
In addition to entertaining, Paley maintained her position on the best-dressed list fourteen times before being inducted into the Fashion Hall of Fame in 1958. She regularly bought entire haute couture collections from famed fashion houses like Givenchy and Valentino SpA. Her style influenced many women, but as Bill Blass once observed, “I never saw her not grab anyone's attention, the hair, the makeup, the crispness. You were never conscious of what she was wearing; you noticed Babe and nothing else.”
Her personal, unconventional style was enormously influential. She often mixed extravagant jewelry by Fulco di Verdura and Jean Schlumberger with costume pieces, and embraced letting her hair go gray instead of using dye.
A heavy smoker, Paley was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1974 and died in 1978, the day after her 63rd birthday. Long after her death, Paley remains iconic in the world of fashion and style. “Babe Paley had only one fault,” commented her one-time friend Truman Capote. “She was perfect. Otherwise, she was perfect.”
Take a look at these gorgeous photos to see fashion styles of Babe Paley from the 1930s to 1960s.
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| Barbara Cushing (aka Barbara Cushing Mortimer Paley; Babe Paley) wearing evening dress with shirred bodice, velvet jacket, and matching gloves by Talbot, photo by Cecil Beaton, 1937 |
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| Babe Paley is wearing a be-winged marten hat and jabot revers on a natural marten hat by John Frederics, photographed by Horst P. Horst, 1939 |
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| Babe Paley photographed by Horst P. Horst, 1940 |
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| Barbara Cushing, a.k.a. Babe Paley, is wearing a Balinese-inspired turban, 1940 |
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| Babe Paley wearing a contrasting wool suit with a yellow bag with green crochet details, photographed by John Rawlings, 1941 |
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| Mrs. Stanley Grafton Mortimer Jr (later Mrs. William "Babe" Paley), photo by George Platt Lynes, 1941 |
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| Barbara “Babe” Cushing Mortimer photographed by Clifford Coffin for American Vogue, 1942 |
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| Mrs. Stanley Mortimer (future Babe Paley) in suit by Gerald James for I.Magnin and hat by Lilly Daché with her bulldogs on the steps of their house in Washington Square, photo by John Rawlings, American Vogue, September 1942 |
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| Babe Paley standing with hand against a wall, and wearing a dark gray floor-length faille robe with black velvet lining and folded-back sealskin collar by Lelong, photographed by John Rawlings, circa 1946 |
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| Babe Paley, photo by Erwin Blumenfeld, Vogue, September 1946 |
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| Barbara "Babe" Cushing Mortimer Paley wearing fashion by Balmain, photo by Clifford Coffin, Paris, December 1946 |
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| Barbara "Babe" Cushing Mortimer Paley wearing suit by Digby Morton, photo by Clifford Coffin, London, August 1946 |
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| Barbara "Babe" Cushing Mortimer Paley, photo by John Rawlings, Vogue, February 1, 1946 |
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| Barbara "Babe" Paley in dress by Norman Norell, photo by Horst P. Horst, American Vogue, 1946 |
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| Barbara “Babe” Cushing Mortimer Paley, dress by Paquin, jewelry by Van Cleef & Arpels, photo by John Rawlings, Vogue, November 15, 1946 |
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| Mrs. Stanley Grafton Mortimer Jr. (Babe Paley - formerly Barbara Cushing) at her home in Hobe Sound, Florida, photo by Bert Morgan, 1947 |
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| Mrs. Stanley Mortimer, later known as Babe Paley, photo by Erwin Blumenfeld, Vogue, February 1947 |
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| Babe Paley in her bedroom at Kiluna Farm, Manhasset, New York, photographed by Frances McLaughlin-Gill, 1948 |
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| Mrs. William Paley (aka Babe Paley) in a light green wrap dress, photo by Serge Balkin, 1948 |
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| Mrs. William "Babe" Paley, photo by John Rawlings, Vogue, February 1, 1949 |
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| Mrs. William S. "Babe" Paley in azure silk chiffon gown made to order at Hattie Carnegie, photo by John Rawlings, Vogue, February 1, 1949 |
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| Babe Paley at her home, Kiluna Farm, in Manhasset, Long Island, photo by Alexander Liberman, circa 1950 |
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| Babe Paley at home in Long Island, photo by Alexander Liberman, circa 1950 |
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| Babe Paley, circa 1950s |
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| 51 Mrs. William S. Paley, photo by Richard Avedon, Harper's Bazaar, October 1951 |
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| Babe Paley at her Kiluna Farm home in Manhasset, Long Island, in a Mainbocher evening dress, photo by Norman Parkinson, Vogue, December 1, 1952 |
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| Mrs. William S. Paley (Babe) in pale blue tweed jacket over a navy-blue skirt by Mainbocher, photo by Irving Penn, Vogue, March 15, 1954 |
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| Mrs. William "Babe" Paley, photo by Richard Avedon, 1957 |
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| Babe Paley and William Paley at their cottage in Round Hill, Jamaica, photo by Slim Aarons, 1959 |
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| Babe Paley beside the pool at her cottage in Round Hill, Jamaica, photo by Slim Aarons, 1959 |
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| Babe Paley beside the pool at Round Hill, her villa in Jamaica, photo by Slim Aarons, 1959 |
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| Barbara "Babe" Paley is wearing Jean Schlumberger's "Starfish" brooch, Women's Wear Daily, July 10, 1963 |
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| Babe Paley in shirt and pants from Givenchy Boutique at her villa in the outskirts of Paris, photo by Henry Clarke, American Vogue, August 1965 |
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| Babe Paley with hair by Kenneth, make-up by Arthur for Revlon, photographed by Richard Avedon at his studio in New York for American Vogue, May 1, 1967 |
