Nan Kempner, Pat Buckley, Judy Peabody, and now Carroll Petrie. It seems that so many of the socialites whom I read about as a child are dead. Back in the '80s, these were the boldface names that graced both the party pages of Town & Country and W as well as "Suzy", the best gossip column ever.
Carroll Petrie, who died recently, was one of my favorite socialites for a number of reasons. First, she was a South Carolina native who moved to Manhattan as a young woman, became a model, married the 17th Marquis de Portago, and, after two subsequent marriages, married retail tycoon Milton Petrie. Second, she was really quite beautiful. And third, her signature red lipstick always looked chic and never contrived.
Her Fifth Avenue apartment, which can be seen below, was equally as beautiful. Decorated by David Easton, the apartment was, as one would expect, well-appointed. But what some people might not have expected was that pink dining room. It was certainly not a conventional dining room, but I can only imagine that Petrie and her dinner guests must have looked like a million bucks while surrounded by that flattering shade of pink.
As the saying goes, "They don't make 'em like they used to."
Photo of Carroll Petrie, at top, courtesy of New York Social Diary; apartment photos from New York Apartments: Private Views by Jamee Gregory.
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