Style Icons | No. 01 Nan Kempner

Nan Kempner

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It seems

#ThrowbackThursday

has descended upon us once more

and in honor of that

we've made the decision to dedicate each

#TBT

to various

style icons.

These are

#Societygirls

of past days

who's dazzling ways and impeccable style

has left an impression,

not only us but on the world at large.

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With each of these entries

we will impart wisdom on you

that has derived from the lives

of some of the best to ever do it,

and by it we mean Live!

These are women who

practiced

and fine tuned

the art of living well.

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So with each of these entries,

as with all #societygirlsguide entries,

we do hope that you'll

save and store the information

for current and future use

in your own marvelous little existence.

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To begin

We're going with one of the

Bay Area's very own

An iconically thin and rich woman

born and raised in

San Francisco's Pacific Heights,

(which by the way has been named

the richest neighborhood in The US as of 2013)

who went on to be a

legendary style maven,

New York Society Hostess,

and

Queen of American Chic,

Nan Kempner.

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It was once asked in a small written article

of a Fall 2004 fashion column

in nymag

Under the New York Stories section,

where better to learn

The rules of New York Society

than in Nan Kempner's apartment.

The article provided a photo tour

of Nan's place,

and a captioned rule to accompany each photo.

Here are

The 5 rules

We've learned for being a

Park Avenue Princess

via

The Kempner apartment on Park Avenue.

Get your pens and pads out gals

you'll want to remember these.

* No.01 Spend Money

* No. 02 Always Wear Fur

* No.03 Never Forget Your Gloves

* No.04 Dress For Lunch

* No.05 Make The Effort

These are rules that come from a place of

#fabulous.

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Nan,

at a young age

was told by her father,

"You'll never make it on that face,

so you'd better be interesting",

and interesting she was.

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She wrote a book once

that MUST be in every #societygirls

literary collection,

It's titled

R.S.V.P: Menus for entertaining from people who really know how.

In the book she does things like

impart advice on

How to

Serve Foie Gras in a

"compact penthouse on the left bank".

* She was a treasure

that was full of jewels,

And we mean that literally and figuratively.

One of her main issues since youth was being burglarized.

In any event below you will find

a bit of the gems

she's left behind

in the form of quotes.

The wondorous words of Nan Kempner:

* "My dear, wait til you discover the wheelchair,

You go right to the front of the line.

They push you right through,

it's First Class plus."

* "I want to be buried naked,

because I'm sure

there must be a store

where I'm going."

* "I spend more money than I should and

less than I'd like to,

much less.

I couldn't keep my husband

if I spent more."

(This from the woman who converted her

childrens old bedrooms

into walk in wardrobes.)

* And when speaking about

the gruesome hassle of

filling out travel documents

before jetting off

to some far flung paradise

she exclaimed,

"I'm not rich enough to be a real philanthropist,

and I loathe being called a socialite.

So I write housewife."

She's stated that

YSL,

the designer she was partial to

and to whom she served as a

muse,

taught her a very important thing:

All a woman needs is

a good trench coat,

a pair of black pants,

a long black skirt,

a short black skirt,

and lots of tops.

She's also said to have been the woman behind

Tom Wolfe's defition of a Social Xray

in his classic literary piece,

'The Bonfires Of The Vanities',

also a #societygirl literary must have.

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Social xray = The Skeletal ladies who lunch

on the upper east side.

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In conclusion

we leave you all

with this

pariticularly important

piece

that MUST be documented,

Nan Kempners advice to IT Girls,

"Get tons of sleep,

entertain constantly,

and be yourself."

Also

"When you're trying on clothes,

look at yourself sitting down

and

look at your reflection

from the back side."

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As always

The marble floor below

is open

for comments, questions, and the like.

There's always instant

#societygirl ways

being posted on our

#instaguide

over on

#instagram.

Do drop by for a visit

and follow us around.

xoxo Darling Bonnie & Co.