ELIZABETH TAYLOR
Happy birthday, Liz! Elizabeth Taylor would have celebrated her 87th birthday this month, on February 27th, and inasmuch as stars like her are immortal, we offer this remembrance in her honor.
Happy birthday, Liz! Elizabeth Taylor would have celebrated her 87th birthday this month, on February 27th, and inasmuch as stars like her are immortal, we offer this remembrance in her honor.
When he was interviewed for the launch of his autobiography, Private, Mr. Giammetti recalled one of his early experiences with Elizabeth Taylor. It was 1961, and photographs of Taylor wearing a Valentino gown to the premiere of Spartacus had been syndicated worldwide. The day after the premiere, Mr. Giammetti recalled, Taylor showed up at Valentino headquarters in Rome and requested seven outfits. "She said, 'oh, you have so much publicity with me today—I deserve this, this, this,'" Naturally, Mr. Giammetti and Mr. Valentino obliged, providing Taylor with an embroidered velvet gown with a sable collar, among other looks. "We understood that this was a good way to promote the brand," he explained, "and it was fascinating to be sitting with Elizabeth Taylor."
And that, Mr. Giammetti went on to note, was the way it used to be—"you had Elizabeth Taylor coming to your office and choosing the dress." No publicists, no stylists—just Mr. Valentino and the biggest star in the world, rifling through dress samples, and they'd "discuss, and fight or not fight." Naturally, he went on to note, Elizabeth Taylor always got her way.
