We gathered earnest and early. Well, early in fashion terms that is. To some people - pedants, without exception - 11 a.m. may look terribly close to midday but for some of the day's participants the hour appointed for meeting was obviously the same as that for rising; they, accordingly, arrived late. The rest of us took succour in coffee and well-cushioned sofas. We had assembled in the apartment of Eleanor Lambert, a woman for whom the word doyenne was invented but then proved inadequate. Miss Lambert, as she is universally known, has been around for most of this century and is wearing better. But then, wearing well is her speciality because back in 1940 she invented the Best Dressed List and the purpose of our meeting was to decide who deserved inclusion on this for 1999.
Originally the BDL was an entirely American affair, created "as a patriotic gesture . . . to generate interest in home-grown fashion" but by the 1950s it had become a global affair. Best-dressed names from this country have included the late Sybil Connolly, Hilary Weston and former President Mary Robinson; Mrs McAleese's name (and dress-sense) has yet to come up for consideration but this would not appear to have upset her too greatly. Indeed, outside certain social circles in New York, making the best-dressed list is unlikely to occupy a great deal of anyone's attention.
This is, after all, hardly the Nobel Peace Prize and while there were one or two moments of friction among us (a particularly nasty incident involved suggestions of previous vote-rigging), for the most part the occasion was as light as one of Chanel's new summer-weave suits. The congenial atmosphere was helped by so many of the day's participants being old friends, very old (but very well-preserved) in some cases.
The arbiters included such famous socialites as Nan Kempner, Lynn Wyatt and Anne Slater, their favourite jeweller Kenneth Jay Lane - who, despite his mature years, likes to play the role of naughty boy - Vanity Fair's roving partygoer Bob Colacello, writers Amy Fine and William Norwich and myself, a token European presence. Our task, once we had all finally arrived: to choose 12 good men and the same number of women who in our estimation were the year's best-dressed. Much, inevitably, depended on how that term was interpreted. It has always been the case, for example, that several actresses feature on the list, not least because they are famous and will therefore be known to the general public.
Somewhere, there may be languishing the world's best-dressed woman or man but if she/he is not familiar to at least half the list's committee the likelihood of inclusion is slight. Hence the actresses - although there was some intense debate over whether they ever deserve to feature on the BDL since all their clothes are probably picked out by professional stylists. Much time was spent on Gwyneth Paltrow because of this year's ill-fitting Oscar ceremony Ralph Lauren dress (of her equally ill-fitting behaviour on stage, not a word was said).
It almost cost her a place, but in the end she just managed to scrape into the final spot principally because neither of the two other possibilities was as famous. Uma Thurman was a predictable inclusion but not necessarily so Cameron Diaz. Her presence is indicative of the committee's desire to produce a BDL of young people "whose fashion influence is present now and will go on into the next century". Youth, of a relative sort, accordingly tends to predominate on this year's list.
In addition to the three actresses, there is Aerin Lauder, grand-daughter of cosmetics queen Estee; Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece; Serena, Viscountess Linley; Jade Jagger; and Parisian jewellery designer Victoire de Castellane. As a perusal of these names will indicate, a steady income is an asset for anyone hoping to make the BDL grade. This applies as much to men as women. After all, both John Kennedy jnr, Prince Pierre d'Arenberg and Prince Michael of Kent enjoy certain material advantages which assist them when it comes to being among the world's best-dressed individuals.
But the committee could not be accused of allowing itself to become blinded by wealth and status. In a ballot of global fashion authorities the adolescent English Prince William had received a large number of votes but we chose to ignore these, confident his name on the list would lead to equal measures of publicity and ridicule (although at the insistence of some committee members, he was cited as displaying "an instinctive taste in dress that clearly assures his future as a fashion leader".) And while Rupert Everett was included to universal acclamation, Sting was barely considered before being dismissed as demode. Young American actor Dylan McDermott was classified as BDL material as was singer Lenny Kravitz, whose style was summarised as "made-to-measure hippy".
Singer Sean Combs, otherwise known as Puff Daddy, was strongly advocated by some of us until it was pointed out that he was currently facing assault charges and might therefore not make a suitable sartorial role model. So what ought you to do if your dearest ambition is to make a future BDL? Try any or preferably all of the following: move to New York and join some of the more socially-advantageous charity committees; spend inordinate amounts of money on your wardrobe; be photographed constantly; become a very famous actress; send a large bribe in used bills to the Irish Times fashion department.
