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Singer turned designer, Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham ranked number one on the 2007 worst dressed list put out earlier this year by the originator of the snarky fashion critique, Mr. Blackwell. It was the 48th time the self-proclaimed critic of good fashion taste had selected his top 10 worst dressed. And it would be his last.
Mr. Richard Blackwell 1922-2008
Mr. Blackwell reportedly died yesterday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles due to complications from an intestinal infection.
For several decades, Mr. Blackwell’s annual worst dressed list was highly publicized and a Hollywood tradition. Some of the famous who have been dissed on the list are Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, Barbra Streisand, Dolly Parton, Madonna, Fergie and even Britain’s Queen Elizabeth. Occasionally, men made the list; notably Milton Berle, Boy George, and Elton John.
Mr. Blackwell, born Richard Sylvan Selzer in 1922, got his career start in entertainment as an actor. He appeared in small roles on Broadway and in the movies. Also, he did some modeling. In 1958, he launched a line of his own fashion designs with modest success. Real celebrity came for Blackwell in the 1960s when he began announcing his worst dressed lists.
Blackwell is considered the godfather of the chatty and sometimes catty commentators who are critiquing celebrity fashion styles today.
Blackwell was 86.
