One of Truman Capote's famed Swans is heading south this winter. C.Z. Guest, whom Capote called a "cool vanilla lady," is being honored with her first retrospective at the SCAD Fash Museum of Fashion + Film in Atlanta.
The exhibition, "C.Z. Guest: Portrait of an American Style Icon," opens Thursday and runs until Feb. 21. It was curated with Stefano Tonchi and presented by Max Mara, one of Guest's favorite ready-to-wear labels.
More than 40 complete outfits are included, most donated by her daughter Cornelia and preserved by SCAD Fash in its permanent archive. Cornelia Guest said SCAD was the right home because students could study the craftsmanship up close.
Born Lucy Cochrane in 1920, Guest was voted "Glamour Girl of Massachusetts North Shore" in a local beauty pageant. Her nickname reportedly began when her brother called her a sissy, eventually becoming C.Z. She moved to Hollywood, had a walk-on role in the "Ziegfeld Follies," and married polo player Winston Frederick Churchill Guest in 1947.
Tonchi stumbled across the collection two years ago while working on a separate SCAD exhibition in Savannah. He described her style as "a mix of pragmatism and elegance," noting she kept almost every garment and bought favorites in multiples.
Designers featured include Chanel, Courrèges, Valentino, Adolfo, Carolina Herrera and Mainbocher. Organized thematically, the show opens with photographs of Guest's private and public personas, from Slim Aarons vacation pictures to Tony Palmieri's paparazzi shots for WWD's Eye column.
The fashion reflects both sides: Guest at ease in Max Mara shorts or Huntsman jodhpurs, and Guest in floral embroidered Oscar de la Renta, whose glamour landed her on the International Best Dressed List in 1959.
Cornelia Guest said she hopes visitors see her mother was not just a socialite. "Her heart belonged in the country with her family and her horses in her garden," she said, adding that riding gear was especially dear because of their time together in Middleburg, Va.
Tonchi said Guest's life reflected the many turns of the American woman in the last century. Sixteen years after her death from ovarian cancer, he added, she remains a natural reference for designers.
Originally reported by WWD