Richard Blackwell – the original Hollywood fashionista whose cutthroat comments on stars’ wardrobes made him a household name, is dead this morning.
According to news reports, the 86-year-old fashion guru died Sunday of complications from an intestinal infection.
Prior to his passing Blackwell spent more than 50 years using his trademark sardonic, and at times acerbic, personality to poke fun at Hollywood’s most famous celebrities. His popular Best and Worst Dressed Lists became staples in the entertainment world and he took no prisoners.
In January 2007, Blackwell took aim at then BFFs Britney Spears and Paris Hilton calling them “two peas in an over-exposed pod … style-free and fashion deprived.” But the two blonde airheads were only a small part of Blackwell’s fashion musings. His favorite target (prior to her death) was actress Anna Nicole Smith of whom he advised in 2002, “Don’t bother with a new designer, Anna, just hire a structural engineer.”
But Blackwell’s prickly fashion reviews were not reserved exclusively for young stars. The fashion arbitrator once told reporters that he thought legendary actress Barbra Streisand looked like “a masculine Bride of Frankenstein.”
Other notable Blackwell criticisms included:
Meryl Streep: “She looks like a gypsy abandoned by a caravan.”
Patti Davis: “Packs all the glamour of an old, worn-out sneaker.”
Bjork: “She dances in the dark – and dresses there, too.”
Sharon Stone: “An over-the-hill Cruella DeVille.”
Lindsay Lohan: “From adorable to deplorable.”
Camilla Parker-Bowles: “The Duchess of Dowdy.”
Blackwell, who started out his career as a little-known dress designer, once told reporters that he simply had a knack for pointing out fashion disasters and his public skewering of celebs was not a reflection of their talent.
“I merely said out loud what others were whispering.” Blackwell famously said in 1998. “It’s not my intention to hurt the feelings of these people. It’s to put down the clothing they’re wearing.”
While some called Blackwell flat out mean (he once said a reigning Miss America looked “like an armadillo with cornpads”), others knew his outrageous remarks were just part of his shtick and more than a few of his famous targets said yesterday that Blackwell would be missed.