Dolores Guinness (31 July 1936 – 20 January 2012) was a German-born "Freiin" (Baroness), socialite, fashion icon and

jet set In journalism, jet set is a term for an international social group of wealthy people who travel the world to participate in social activities unavailable to ordinary people. The term, which replaced "café society", came from the lifestyle of tra ...

member of the 1950s and 1960s. She has been a member of the

International Best Dressed List The International Best-Dressed Hall of Fame List was founded by fashionista Eleanor Lambert in 1940 as an attempt to boost the reputation of American fashion at the time. The American magazine ''Vanity Fair'' is currently in charge of the List a ...

since 1970. Her mother was the Mexican-born socialite Gloria Guinness.

Early life

Born Dolores Maria Agatha Wilhelmine Luise, Freiin von Fürstenberg-Herdringen on 31 July 1936 in

Berlin-Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

. She is the second daughter of ''Franz-Egon'' Maria Meinhard Engelbert Pius Aloysius Kaspar Ferdinand Dietrich, 3rd

Graf (feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "earl" (whose female version is "coun ...

von Fürstenberg-Herdringen (1896–1975) and his second wife, Gloria Guinness (née Rubio y Alatorre) (1912–1980). She also has a younger brother, Franz-Egon (born 1939), and a half-sister,

Betsy von Furstenberg Countess Elizabeth Caroline Maria Agatha Felicitas Therese von Fürstenberg-Herdringen (August 16, 1931 – April 21, 2015), known as Betsy von Furstenberg, was a German-born American actress who starred in several Broadway plays, films and tele ...

, from her father's previous marriage. Though some published sources have described Dolores von Fürstenberg as a countess and a princess, she is, in fact, a

Freiin (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...

(baroness) by birth, according to the last published issue of the

Almanach de Gotha The ''Almanach de Gotha'' (german: Gothaischer Hofkalender) is a directory of Europe's royalty and higher nobility, also including the major governmental, military and diplomatic corps, as well as statistical data by country. First publish ...

. Children of the counts von Fürstenberg-Herdringen are known as

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...

(baron) or Freiin (baroness), and the sons move up in rank to ''Graf'' (count) only if they inherit the primary title.

Later life

At age 19, she married her stepbrother Patrick Benjamin Guinness (1931–1965), son of Loel Guinness and

Joan Yarde-Buller {{Infobox noble, type , name = Joan Yarde-Buller , title = Viscountess CamrosePrincess Tajuddawlah Aga Khan The Hon. Mrs. Guinness , image = Joan Yarde-Buller.jpg , caption = , alt ...

, on 22 October 1955 in Paris. Patrick was killed in a car accident in Turtig near

Raron Raron (french: Rarogne) is a municipality in the district of Raron in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History Raron is first mentioned around 1101–1200 as ''Rarogni''. In 1146 it was mentioned as ''Rarun''. A settlement on the Heidnisch ...

, Switzerland 1965. Have issue: #Maria ''Alexandra'' Guinness Cook (born 1956) married Foulques, Count de Quatrebarbes (born 1948) in 1979. Now divorced. Have issue. #Loel ''Patrick'' Guinness (born 1957); # ''Victoria'' Christina Niarchos (born 1960) married

Philip Niarchos Philip Niarchos (alternately: Philippos or Philippe; el, Φίλιππος Νιάρχος) (born 1954) is a Greek billionaire, the eldest son of the Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos and Eugenia Livanos, herself the elder ...

in 1984, son of late Greek billionaire

Stavros Niarchos Stavros Spyrou Niarchos ( el, Σταύρος Σπύρου Νιάρχος, ; 3 July 1909 – 15 April 1996) was a Greek billionaire shipping tycoon. Starting in 1952, he had the world's biggest supertankers built for his fleet. Propelled by both ...

. Have issue. After Patrick's death, Dolores fell madly in love with the Aga Khan, the son of Joan Barbara Yarde-Buller (1908–1997) by her marriage to

Aly Khan Prince Ali Salman Aga Khan (13 June 1911 – 12 May 1960), known as Aly Khan, was a Pakistani diplomat of Iranian and Italian descent. He was the son of the Aga Khan III, and the father of Aga Khan IV. A socialite, racehorse owner and jockey, ...

(1911–1960), and so her late husband's half-brother, and wanted to marry him, but nothing came of that eventually.

Fashion icon

Dolores was often seen in ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'', ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

'', '' Town and Country'' and ''Life'' magazine dressed in designer clothes from

Givenchy Givenchy (, ) is a French luxury fashion and perfume house. It hosts the brand of haute couture and ready-to-wear clothing, accessories, perfumes and cosmetics of Parfums Givenchy. The house of Givenchy was founded in 1952 by designer Hubert de ...

Christian Dior Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE, which is now owned by parent company LVMH. His fashion houses a ...

, Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga during the 1950s and 1960s, photographed by

Cecil Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as an Oscar–winning stage and costume designer for films and the theat ...

Bert Stern Bertram Stern (October 3, 1929 – June 26, 2013) was an American commercial photographer. Biography Stern was the son of Jewish immigrants and grew up in Brooklyn. His father worked as a children's portrait photographer. After dropping out of ...

, Henry Clarke,

Mark Shaw (photographer) Mark Shaw (June 25, 1921 – January 26, 1969) was an American fashion and celebrity photographer in the 1950s and 1960s. He worked for ''Life'' magazine from 1952 to 1968, during which time 27 issues of ''Life'' carried cover photos by Shaw. Sha ...

Richard Avedon Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He worked for ''Harper's Bazaar'', ''Vogue'' and ''Elle'' specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater and danc ...

and William Klein. She often appeared on the

during these years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guinness, Dolores 1936 births 2012 deaths People from Charlottenburg German baronesses

Dolores Dolores, Spanish for "pain; grief", most commonly refers to: * Our Lady of Sorrows or La Virgen María de los Dolores * Dolores (given name) Dolores may also refer to: Film * ''Dolores'' (2017 film), an American documentary by Peter Bratt * ' ...

German socialites British socialites French socialites German people of Mexican descent