Fashion Editor. She was recognized as a leader in American fashion, known as "Babe". As the second wife of Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) founder and chairman William S. Paley, she was a fashion and social doyenne and often voted best-dressed. She was well-known for her many lavish parties, which included many prominent people as her guests. Born the youngest of five children of a wealthy surgeon and professor at Yale University, one of her sisters married a Roosevelt and the other an Astor. In 1934, she was in a devastating auto accident, receiving facial injuries that required cosmetic surgery, altering her appearance. After being a debutant in October of 1934, she started in 1938 her career as a fashion editor with "Vogue," a fashion magazine in New York City. She was donned in the creations of designers Christian Dior, Coco Chanel, Balenciaga, Valentino and Givenchy. In 1940, she married Stanley Grafton Mortimer Jr. an heir of Standard Oil; the couple had a son and a daughter and was divorced by 1946 with her having a trust fund. By 1940, she ranked second-best on the "Ten Best Dressed" list for the first time, and by 1947, she had reached first place, remaining there for over a decade. She left "Vogue" the same year. In 1948, she married Paley, and the couple had a son and a daughter. In 1959, she was inducted into the Fashion Hall of Fame. In 1975, she was named the "Superdresser of Our Time." After years of smoking two packs of cigarettes daily, she died from the complications of lung cancer in 1978 at the age of 63, and even her funeral was one of her lavish parties. Hundreds of professional photographs have been published of her. Her biography was published in 1997 in "The Lives and Times of the Fabulous Cushing Sisters"
Fashion Editor. She was recognized as a leader in American fashion, known as "Babe". As the second wife of Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) founder and chairman William S. Paley, she was a fashion and social doyenne and often voted best-dressed. She was well-known for her many lavish parties, which included many prominent people as her guests. Born the youngest of five children of a wealthy surgeon and professor at Yale University, one of her sisters married a Roosevelt and the other an Astor. In 1934, she was in a devastating auto accident, receiving facial injuries that required cosmetic surgery, altering her appearance. After being a debutant in October of 1934, she started in 1938 her career as a fashion editor with "Vogue," a fashion magazine in New York City. She was donned in the creations of designers Christian Dior, Coco Chanel, Balenciaga, Valentino and Givenchy. In 1940, she married Stanley Grafton Mortimer Jr. an heir of Standard Oil; the couple had a son and a daughter and was divorced by 1946 with her having a trust fund. By 1940, she ranked second-best on the "Ten Best Dressed" list for the first time, and by 1947, she had reached first place, remaining there for over a decade. She left "Vogue" the same year. In 1948, she married Paley, and the couple had a son and a daughter. In 1959, she was inducted into the Fashion Hall of Fame. In 1975, she was named the "Superdresser of Our Time." After years of smoking two packs of cigarettes daily, she died from the complications of lung cancer in 1978 at the age of 63, and even her funeral was one of her lavish parties. Hundreds of professional photographs have been published of her. Her biography was published in 1997 in "The Lives and Times of the Fabulous Cushing Sisters"
Bio by: Linda Davis
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