A SOCIALITE LIFE: CZ Guest

CZ Guest in 1950 photographed by Clifford Coffin

A look at the world of CZ Guestan American socialite and style icon, who married Winston Frederick Churchill Guest, a descendent of the famous Duke of Marlborough Spencer-Churchill family

 

CZ Guest in Pam Beach in this iconic shot taken by Slim Aarons

 

Born Lucy Douglas Cochrane in in Boston, Massachusetts in 1920 to an investment banker and his wife. Her brother started calling her “Sissy” which translated into “CZ” with time.

 

C.Z. Guest in Palm Beach with the Duchess of Windsor

Although known primarily for being a fashionista and hostess to the rich and famous, she dabbled in acting in her early years, appearing in the famous Ziegfeld Follies, and later became a gardener, writer, horsewoman and designer.

CZ Guest by the pool, wearing pink

 

 

Marrying well

Upon marrying Anglo-American polo player Winston Guest in 1947 at Ernest Hemingway‘s home in Havan, Cuba, she joined a formidable family, descended from the famous Dukes of Marlborough who’s ancestral home is Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, one of the best stately homes in the world, and now a World Heritage Site.

 

Mrs Henry Phipps and Her Grandson Winston by John Singer Sargent 1906-07

Mrs Henry Phipps and Her Grandson Winston by John Singer Sargent 1906-07

 

Winston Guest was the son Frederick Guest, a British politician, and his wife, Amy Phipps, the daughter of American businessman and philanthropist Henry Phipps, Jr, a great friend of Andrew Carnegie.

 

C.Z. Guest and Consuelo Vanderbilt Spencer-Churchill Balsan

 

On the English side, Sir Winston Churchill, grandson of the 7th Duke of Marlborough and son of Lord Randolph Churchill and American heiress, Jennie Jerome, and American railroad heiress, Consuelo Vanderbilt-Spencer-Churchill-Balsan were both relations, Consuelo having been married to Charles Spencer-Churchill, the 9th Duke of Marlborough.

 

See more here:

Nineteenth Century Fashion in Detail by Lucy Johnston.jpg

Recommended reading: British and American "upper class" social history 1870s-1930s

Recommended reading: British and American "upper class" social history from the Gilded Age to the Jazz Age

 

 

Winston Guest’s parents were Ivor Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne, and Lady Cornelia Henrietta Maria Spencer-Churchill, daughter of John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough, and Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane. Lady Frances was the daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry and Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane-Tempest.

Lady Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales, also belonged to an off-shoot of the Spencer-Churchill family. Essentially, it was a fine pedigree for a high society hostess.

 

CZ Guest in a beaded evening dress photographed by Lord Snowdon for Vogue April 1959

Home and family

CZ and Winston Guest had two children, Alexander and Cornelia, and divided their time between homes in New York and Palm Beach, Florida. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor who were the godparents of their children.

 

CZ Guest and the Duke of Windsor

 

Famous friends

As well as being considered one of Truman Capote’s “Swans”, the Guests knew everyone who was anyone, including Cecil Beaton, Sawai Man Singh II of Jaipur, Barbara Hutton, Diana Vreeland, Babe Paley and William S. Paley, Gloria Guinness and Thomas “Loel” Guinness, Diego Rivera, Salvador Dalí, Kenneth Paul Block and Andy Warhol.

 

CZ Guest with Truman Capote

 

CZ Guest died in New York in 2003, aged 83.

Don’t miss this post which includes Babe Paley, CZ Guest and Millicent Rogers: Books to buy: “The Power of Style” and “The Power of Glamour” by Annette Tapert

 

 

 

CZ Guest by the pool in the iconic shot taken by Slim Aarons.jpgcz guest With her son Alexander by the pool in the iconic shot taken by Slim Aarons.jpegCZ Guest age 36 photographed for Town and Country in 1956 by Stephen Colhoun.jpgCZ Guest style icon - CZ Guest fashion.jpgCZ Guest style - C. Z. Guest - New York and Palm Beach style icon.jpgC.Z. Guest photographed by George Platt Lynes for Vogue August 1947.jpgCZ Guest simple-red - New York and Palm Beach style icon.jpgA 1955 photograph of CZ Guest, with Joanne Connelly in Palm Beach Fla by slim aarons.jpgCZ Guest New Years Eve 1956 - New York and Palm Beach style icon.jpgCZ Guest style - Luscious blog - 1955 mainbochersuit - CZ guest Vogue.jpgcz guest Passing on an amusing thought to socialite Chris Dunphy at the Polo Ball in Palm Beach in 1954.jpgCZ Guest photographed by her friend Cecil Beaton with one of her beloved dogs in 1951.jpgCZ and Duke - CZ Guest style icon.jpgC.Z. Guest in Palm Beach with the Duchess of Windsor.jpgCZ Guest style - CZ Guest glamour - New York and Palm Beach style icon.jpgcz guest With her son Alexander by the pool in the iconic shot taken by Slim Aarons5.jpegMr and Mrs Winston F. C. Guest at the Everglades Club Palm Beach 1956.jpgCZ Guest style icon - myLusciousLife blog - cz guest socialite.jpgCZ Guest style - Luscious blog - with her husband Winston Guest son Alexander and daughter Cornelia 1965.jpgCZ Guest style icon - CZ Guest - know your fashion history.jpgcz guest With her son Alexander by the pool in the iconic shot taken by Slim Aarons3.jpegCZ Guest style - Luscious blog - photographed by Lord Snowdon in New York 1959.jpgCZ Guest style icon - myLusciousLife blog - cz guest fashion.jpgCZ Guest style - Luscious blog - CZ Guest with estee lauder.jpgCZ Guest style - C. Z. Guest socialite.jpgCZ Guest style - C. Z. Guest glamorous.jpgCZ Guest watching the polo in Palm Beach with man-about-town Milton Doc Holden 1949 photographed by Contantin Joff.jpgCZ Guest style - Luscious blog - C. Z. Guest.jpgCZ Guest style - Luscious blog - Mrs Winston Guest left and actress Anita C.jpgCZ Guest style icon - C.Z. Guest fashion.jpgCZ Guest style icon - C.Z. Guest images.jpgCZ Guest style icon - C.Z. Guest fashion icon photos.jpgCZ Guest style - Luscious blog - cz-by-cecil-beaton.jpegCZ Guest style icon - cz guest in-polka-dots.jpgBob Colacello  1978 Capote and CZ Guest.jpgCZ Guest style - Luscious blog - ladies-who-lunched.jpgCZ Guest style icon - Luscious blog - CZ Guest.jpgCZ Guest style - Luscious blog - C.Z. Guest in Palm Beach.pngCZ Guest style icon - myLusciousLife blog - CZ Guest.jpgCZ Guest style icon - cz guest - dress like a lady.jpgcz guest - A 1967 portrait by Gianni Penati.jpgcz guest - Photographed at her Long Island home by Andre Leon Talley for HG 1998.jpgCZ Guest style - C. Z. Guest - ladylike style.jpgCZ Guest images - myLusciousLife blog - cz-guest.jpgCZ Guest style icon - C.Z. Guest photos  - New York and Palm Beach style icon.jpgCZ Guest style - Luscious blog - Socialite Lucy Cochrane Guest.jpgcz guest at the Frick two weeks before her passing also 2003.jpgCZ Guest style - Luscious blog - cz guest At the 2001 FiFi Awards in New York..jpgCZ Guest style - Luscious blog - photos.jpgCZ Guest style - Luscious blog - Mrs Winston Guest.jpgCZ Guest style - Luscious blog - cz guest and Cornelia.jpgCZ Guest at the Metropolitan gala in 2003 just before her death.jpgCZ Guest style - Luscious blog - cz guest and truman capote.jpgCZ Guest style icon - CZ Guest socialite.jpgCZ Guest style icon - cz guest aging gracefully in 2001.jpgCZ Guest style icon - cz guest images.jpgCZ Guest style icon - Luscious blog - cz guest - vintage photography.jpgCZ in 2003 - CZ Guest style icon - New York and Palm Beach style.jpgCZ with her daughter Cornelia showing that a broken arm is no barrier to elegance.jpgCZ Guest style icon - Luscious blog - CZ Guest fashion.jpgCZ on the cover of the April 2003 issue of Quest magazine.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See these posts for more style inspiration:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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See also this post about Cornelia Guest, daughter of CZ and Winston Guest, and the family’s home in Old Westbury, New York:

cornelia guest- in Old Westbury.jpg

Famous folk at home: Cornelia Guest at Templeton in Long Island

At home with Cornelia Guest at Templeton, her family home in Old Westbury on Long Island, New York

 

 

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Cheers, Natasha
www.myLusciousLife.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

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