Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Winter 2013 - (Page 130)

H e r i ta g e Gloria Vanderbilt t H e r i t z - c a r lt o n , n e w Y o r k , D e c . 3 1 , 1 9 3 7 130 w w w. r i t z c a r lt o n . c o m Bettmann/CORBIS On the final night of 1937, Gloria Vanderbilt, 14, joined a New Year’s Eve party for the smart set of young New York society. In such circles, teenagers were known as “subdebs,” marking the rite of passage that would end at age 18 with a coming-out ball, which formally inducted young women into grown-up society. Gloria Vanderbilt had already been pulled, rather less elegantly, into the adult world three years earlier, when the bitter custody battle between her mother, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, and her aunt, family matriarch Gertrude Vanderbilt, shocked the world. America’s last gilded age, a time of Rockefellers, Astors, cocktails and Cole Porter, paradoxically hit its zenith during the Great Depression; in those dark days, the sensational tale of a 10-year-old heiress, apparently neglected and abandoned by her gallivanting mother, branded her as the “poor little rich girl” and a symbol of the ruling class’s indifference. Other headlines would follow as the press thrilled to her romances with Howard Hughes, conductor Leopold Stokowski and film director Sidney Lumet. But she would go on to find her path as an author of several novels and memoirs, an artist and a fashion personality. Gloria Vanderbilt Jeans, which carried her name stitched on the back pocket, ushered in the age of celebrity designers. She continues to exhibit her artwork and makes occasional public appearances to speak about her interests in psychology and spirituality. http://WWW.RITZCARLTON.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Winter 2013

Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Winter 2013
Contents
Contributors
Editor’s Letter
President's Letter
Falling in Love With ... Beijing
Design
Technology
On the Boulevards
Shopping
Jewelry
Watches
Family
Local Knowledge
Outdoors
Puerto Rico
Montreal
Culinary
Let Us Stay With You
Heritage

Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Winter 2013