Fashion Icon Gloria Vanderbilt Dies At Age 95

CNN has just reported that fashion designer and American socialite Gloria Vanderbilt has died this morning at the age of 95. For decades, Vanderbilt was known as an American icon in fashion branding and high society. For the past decade, she has been celebrated as the mother of openly gay CNN journalist Anderson Cooper.

Vanderbilt became known in connection with a line of fashions, perfumes, and household goods bearing her name. She was particularly noted as an early developer of designer blue jeans.

Here is a summary of the heiress’ childhood, of which she became famous before being a wealthy entrepreneur and philanthropist in her own right.

Vanderbilt was born on February 20, 1924, in Manhattan, New York City, the only child of railroad heir Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt (1880–1925) and his second wife, Gloria Morgan (1904–1965). When Vanderbilt was born, her father was heard to exclaim in delight, “It is fantastic how Vanderbilt she looks! See the corners of her eyes, how they turn up?” She was baptized in the Episcopal church by Bishop Herbert Shipman as Gloria Laura Vanderbilt. After her father’s death, she was confirmed and raised in the Catholic Church, to which her mother belonged. From her father’s first marriage to Cathleen Neilson, she had a half-sister, Cathleen Vanderbilt (1904–1944).

When Vanderbilt was 18 months old, she and her half-sister became heiresses to a half share each in a $5 million trust fund upon their father’s death from cirrhosis. The rights to control Vanderbilt’s share while she was a minor belonged to her mother, who traveled to and from Paris for years, taking her daughter with her. They were accompanied by a beloved nanny – Emma Sullivan Kieslich, whom young Gloria had named “Dodo” – who would play a tumultuous part in the child’s life, and her mother’s identical twin sister, Thelma, who was the mistress of the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) during this time. As a result of her spending habits, her mother’s use of finances was scrutinized by the child’s paternal aunt, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. A sculptor and philanthropist, Whitney wanted custody of her niece, which resulted in a custody trial. The trial was so scandalous that at times the judge would make everyone leave the room so as to listen to what young Vanderbilt had to say without anyone influencing her. Some people heard weeping and wailing inside the court room. Testimony was heard depicting the mother as an unfit parent; Vanderbilt’s mother lost the battle and Vanderbilt became the ward of her aunt Gertrude.

Litigation continued, however. Vanderbilt’s mother was forced to live on a drastically reduced portion of her daughter’s trust, which was worth more than $4 million at the end of 1937. Visitation was also closely watched to ensure that Vanderbilt’s mother did not exert any undue influence upon her daughter with her supposedly “raucous” lifestyle. Vanderbilt was raised amidst luxury at her aunt Gertrude’s mansion in Old Westbury, Long Island, surrounded by cousins her age who lived in houses circling the vast estate, and in New York City.

The story of the trial was told in the 1980 Barbara Goldsmith book and the NBC 1982 miniseries Little Gloria… Happy at Last, which was nominated for six Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Actress Jennifer Dundas played Gloria.

Vanderbilt attended the Greenvale School on Long Island; Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut; and then the Wheeler School in Providence, Rhode Island, as well as the Art Students League in New York City, developing the artistic talent for which she would become increasingly known in her career. When Vanderbilt came of age and took control of her trust fund, she cut her mother off entirely, though she supported her in later years. Her mother lived for many years with her sister, Thelma, Lady Furness, in Beverly Hills and died there in 1965.

Wikipedia

Anderson’s colleagues and friends have confirmed Vanderbilt’s passing as CNN is currently airing tributes to the fashion icon.

source: GListed