Grande Dames

Isn't it funny how certain people have a force of personality so great that the public immediately become fascinated by them. It's hard to pinpoint the exact reason why these ladies and men generate such interest, devotion and even derision. If I were to name three such figures, I think my list would include the following, each of whom possesses/ed a mysterious air in spades.

1) Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Initially the world was rightfully so swayed by her beauty, her impeccable fashion sense and appreciation of American history and her efforts to bring art and culture to the White House. Later on we would be moved by her grace, her insistence on the right to maintain privacy for herself and her children and her lifelong love of the written word. I worked at an auction house for many years and managed to get one of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis auction catalogues, produced when the house sold the contents of her homes. It is a treasure and in many ways an honor to see interior shots of her Fifth Avenue apartment.

2) Dame Elizabeth Taylor. I find her fascinating. So did her many suitors. Dame Elizabeth Taylor is/was nothing but charming to her husbands, her family, her audiences and more recently, the AIDS victims and supporters on whose behalf she champions. To see a young Elizabeth Taylor in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" is to see a wonderful combination of talent, beauty, sexuality and self-possession. Later work in films such as "Whose Afraid of Virgina Wolf" abundantly show her intense acting abilities. And then, the jewels. One could not mention Elizabeth Taylor without speaking about her fantastic jewelry collection. One of my favorite books is titled "My Love Affair with Jewelry" written by Elizabeth herself. Inside one finds the stories behind several of the better known or personal favorite pieces. The jewels are beautifully photographed and the accompanying pictures of Elizabeth wearing the many of the pieces make it clear why she was given so many priceless treasures.

http://www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-Taylor-Love-Affair-Jewelry/dp/0743254384/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243897299&sr=8-1

3) Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor. The twice divorced lady from America (Baltimore, no less) helped to change history when King Edward abdicated the throne for "the woman I love". DThe Duchess was always impeccably turned out (Mainbocher, Chanel, Schiaparelli) and had a jaw-dropping jewelry collection, much like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Dame Elizabeth Taylor, respectively. But the Duchess had to endure great public derision from a nation who could not believe that their king would give up his throne, his country, his people for a non-titled foreigner who came from humble beginnings, with two marriages set to pasture. Much has been written about the relationship of Wallis and Edward (a great deal of their personal effects were monogrammed with "WE" - from bed linens to purses to letterhead.) and their relationship seems like most others. At turns, it was directed by passionate, almost obsessive love and in other periods, sadness at what was given up and as a result, denied to them both.