AMY VERNER
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail Published on Wednesday, Aug. 01, 2007 12:00AM EDT Last updated on Friday, Apr. 03, 2009 12:15PM EDT
Among the names on Vanity Fair's 68th Annual International Best-Dressed List, to be published in its September issue, are Princess Mafalda of Hesse, Marjorie Gubelmann, Hidetoshi Nakata, Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele and Lapo Elkann.
Let's just say that if you can pronounce their names, we'll excuse you for not knowing who they are.
The Italian royal, New York socialite, former Japanese soccer star, French fashion photographer and Italian heir to the Fiat fortune, respectively, are a far cry from more recognizable, albeit less august, names on wardrobe rankings such as Richard Blackwell's Ten Worst Dressed Women.
Published yesterday on Vanity Fair's website, this top-50 list is determined by “fashion professionals and people who are in a position to view fashion,” according to the magazine's executive director of public relations, Beth Kseniak. Many voices as opposed to the singular Eleanor Lambert, who founded the list in 1940.
“It was originally based on socialites and the very rich, who may or not have been celebrities,” Barbara Atkin, vice-president, fashion direction, for Holt Renfrew, says in response to the glut of deliciously aristocratic names.
How times have changed. Michelle Obama, the wife of U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy underscore political correctness in every way.
And Hollywood dominates the couples category. Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, Victoria and David Beckham and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have been crowned alongside bona-fide bluebloods Earl and Countess of Cawdor and Viscount and Viscountess Linley.
The young bloods, meanwhile, are represented by Ivanka Trump and Bee Shaffer, the daughter of Vogue editor Anna Wintour.
Doubling back are former football star Tiki Barber and rocker Lenny Kravitz, who were also chosen in 2001 and 2008, respectively.
Becks (photographed in Alexander McQueen and Christian Dior) better have more than his soccer kicks to show off when he visits Toronto with his L.A. Galaxy team this weekend. At least a sighting of the stylish stud would be consolation enough for local fashionistas, who may feel umbrage that no Canadians made the cut.
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