C.Z. Guest: An Iconic Beauty of America and the First Recipient of the Fashion Icon Award

C. Z. Guest, an American stage actress, novelist, columnist, horsewoman, fashion designer, and socialite, was born Lucy Douglas Cochrane in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1920. She rose to prominence as a fashion icon. She regularly appeared in exquisite garments created by artists like Mainbocher. She was inducted into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1959 due to her uncomplicated, well-groomed appearance, which was seen as very American.

C.Z. Guest in the 1950s

In 1985, Guest designed a small fashion collection consisting mainly of cashmere sweaters that was introduced at a show of the Cuban-born American designer Adolfo, well known for dressing Nancy Reagan and Babe Paley, among others. In 1986, she expanded her design work to include a limited line of sportswear sold under license, and, in 1990, she came out with a fragrant insect repellent and other garden merchandise.

Guest died in 2003, in Old Westbury, New York, at the age of 83. Take a look at these glamorous photos to see the beauty of young C. Z. Guest in the 1950s.

C.Z Guest in blonde lace dress with molded bodice by Trigère, photo by Louis Dahl-Wolfe, 1950

C.Z. Guest in floral dress and jacket by Mainbocher, photo by Clifford Coffin, 1950

C.Z. Guest in what Diana Vreeland called “…one of the most beautiful dresses I have ever seen”, by Mainbocher, photo by Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Harper’s Bazaar, 1950

C.Z. Guest in a suit by Mainbocher at the Villa Artemis with one of her pet dogs, photo by Cecil Beaton, March 1951

C.Z. Guest is wearing a beautiful silk dress with beaded and embroidered bodice by Herbert Sondheim, photo by Avedon, Vogue, October 15, 1951

C.Z Guest wearing a party dress of white Italian pique that ties back in three satin bows by Hattie Carnegie, photo by Cecil Beaton, February 8, 1952

C.Z. Guest holding a poodle under her arm in front of a parked car in Southampton, New York, photo by Bert Morgan, circa 1953

C.Z. Guest photographed by Cecil Beaton, 1953

C. Z. Guest in oatmeal tweed suit by Mainbocher, photo by Irving Penn, Vogue, March 15, 1954

C.Z. Guest poses with an umbrella in Palm Beach, Florida 1954

C. Z. Guest beside the Grecian temple pool of her ocean-front estate, Villa Artemis, in Palm Beach, Florida, photo by Slim Aarons, circa 1955

C. Z. Guest beside the pool of her ocean-front estate, Villa Artemis, in Palm Beach, Florida, photo by Slim Aarons, circa 1955

C. Z. Guest reclines on a garden chair in front of the Grecian temple pool on her ocean-front estate, Villa Artemis, Palm Beach, Florida, photo by Slim Aarons, circa 1955

C.Z Guest and her son Alexander Michael Douglas Dudley Guest in front of their Grecian temple pool on the ocean-front estate, Villa Artemis, Palm Beach, 1955

C.Z Guest is wearing a boy-leg sun-suit at her home Villa Artemis in Palm Beach, Florida, photo by Slim Aarons, 1955

C.Z. Guest at her home Villa Artemis, Palm Beach, Florida, photo by Slim Aarons, 1955

C.Z. Guest at her Palm Beach ocean-front estate, Villa Artemis, photo by Slim Aarons, Palm Beach, Florida, circa 1955

C.Z. Guest poolside at Villa Artemis, Palm Beach, Florida, photo by Slim Aarons, 1955

C.Z. Guest with her dogs in front of the Grecian temple pool on her ocean-front estate, Villa Artemis, Palm Beach, Florida, photo by Slim Aarons, 1955

C.Z. Guest with one of her dogs at her Palm Beach ocean-front estate, Villa Artemis, photo by Slim Aarons, Palm Beach, Florida, circa 1955

C. Z. Guest in white shorts, standing by her Palm Beach swimming pool, with white poodle, posing on black pool-side sphinx, 1956

CZ Guest is wearing a Tiffany necklace by Jean Schlumberger with a gray flannel dress and ranch-mink waist length “barrel” jacket, both by Mainbocher, photo by Stephen Colhoun, Town & Country, December 1956