Babe Paley was undoubtedly one of America’s most celebrated socialites and style icons. Born into a wealthy family and later married to an oil tycoon, Babe Paley maintained lavish costume jewelry with which she inspired many fashion designers, including Charles James and Valentino.
Career
In 1933, Babe graduated from the Westover School, and the following year she made her debut at the Ritz-Carlton in Boston. By then able to afford such excess, Babe’s sister Betsey hosted the dinner dance attended by 400 guests. As Babe reached eighteen, she was swept into the social whirl of debutante parties and evenings in New York. In 1934, she was involved in a severe automobile accident while riding home with her beau from a party on Long Island. Her front teeth were knocked out, requiring extensive dental bridgework and jaw reconstruction. Babe handled the situation gracefully. Babe got an entry-level job at Glamour magazine because she wanted to be with Minnie and Betsey in Manhattan. She worked for Vogue magazine in the fashion department under Edna Woolman Chase and Carmel Snow from 1939 to 1941. Babe’s position at Vogue provided her access to designer clothes, often given in exchange for her high profile. Time magazine voted her the second-best dressed woman in the world after Wallis Simpson and before Aimée de Heeren in 1941. Additionally, she was named to the best-dressed list in 1945 and 1946.
Personal Life
Babe met and married oil heir Stanley Grafton Mortimer Jr. while working at Vogue.
The Mortimer-Cushing wedding, which took place on September 21, 1940, was one of the highlights of the social season. It took place in Kate Cushing’s East Hampton home.
Babe and Stanley moved into a small triplex apartment on the East Side. After retiring from her glamorous job, she had a son, Stanley III, nicknamed Tony, in 1942 and a daughter, Amanda, in 1943. Stanley Mortimer enlisted in the navy in 1943 and served in the Pacific. When he returned in 1945, he had changed. He drank heavily and had vivid mood swings. The couple divorced on May 29, 1946. Babe received a trust fund of $40,000. She continued to raise her children. Retrospectives have alleged that Babe neglected her children to attain social status and to support her lavish lifestyle. Her daughter Amanda has admitted that their relationship was “virtually nonexistent” and that the distance “was her choice, not mine.
After her divorce from Mortimer, she married William Samuel Paley. Even though Babe was flattered by Paley’s elaborate attentiveness, her mother was suspicious. Babe Paley gave birth to their first child, William Cushing Paley, on March 30, 1948.
Babe Paley’s death
Babe Paley was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1974 after a lifetime of smoking. She planned her funeral, including the type of food and wine served during the luncheon. She divided up her jewelry collection and personal belongings among friends and family, wrapped them in colorful paper, and created a complete file system with instructions for distributing them after her death. Babe died the day after her 63rd birthday from lung cancer on July 6, 1978. She is buried in the Memorial Cemetery of St. John’s Church, Cold Spring Harbor, New York.
