"SHE'S living in a walk up somewhere on the westside, so no thank you." And if so, with a throwaway remark, one smart New Yorker's chances of being considered among the world's fashion elite were destroyed - at least for the next 12 months. Along with a great many others, this unfortunate woman's name had come up for (very brief) consideration a fortnight ago in the Manhattan apartment of Eleanor Lambert. Many were scrutinised, few were chosen for the 1995/1996 International Best Dressed Poll.
If anyone deserves the title of doyenne it's Eleanor Lambert herself. Now aged 93, she started her annual list in 1940 "as at patriotic gesture . . . to generate interest in home grown fashions". While the American element remains strong, the list is by no means an exclusively transatlantic affair.
From this country, for example, Miranda Iveagh was one of 1978's best dressed women while the President, Mrs Robinson, was considered worthy of inclusion three years ago. Sybil Connolly (an old friend of Eleanor Lambert) is on the list's Hall of Fame, together with Hilary Weston. Despite any intermittent idiosyncracies, it would be wrong to imagine that the poll is it put together in an erratic manner - after all, Miss Lambert continues to run a highly successful and competitive public relations business in New York. The starting point is a request to more than 1000 fashion designers, journalists and well informed sources worldwide for their recommendations. These names are collated and then redistributed to the same circle for further consideration as everyone is asked to pick a maximum of 12 men and the same number of women who merit the title Best Dressed.
Finally, the year's committee assemble in Eleanor Lambert's apartment overlooking Central Park to make the final selection. For the latest list, almost 50 women and more than 40 men had received over five votes each, making them clear frontrunners. However, that is no guarantee of eventual inclusion because the committee can (and does) propose its own names. This year's Judges included a number of previous nominees, some of whom had since joined the Hall of Fame; these included editor of French Vogue Joan Juliet Buck, jeweller Kenneth Jay Land and socialites Anne Slater and Lynn Wyatt (Texan mother of the Duchess of York's former admirer stove Wyatt) Then there was Reinaldo Herrera, husband of designer Carolina Herrera and father of Carolina Jr who made it onto this year's list. The non American committee members were Suzy Monkish fashion critic of the International Herald Tribune; Jane Procter, editor of Tatler; and this writer. It was agreed that there should be no more than 15 men and women on each of their respective lists and that, as the press release summarised, those picked "most notably reflected the return of traditional standards of elegance in dress".
Conclusions were reached over three hours with a break for lunch and while some proposed names were eliminated with almost embarrassing rapidity (who could ever have considered Hugh Grant worthy of inclusion?) others were deemed to merit a little more time and attention. There's no point in pretending that the famous don't have a far better chance of heading this poll than unknown folk, no matter how well dressed the latter. You may be the most stylish person in your town, but if no one outside its boundaries is aware of this then getting onto an international list may be a little tricky. And it's important that when the poll is published each year, any names included will have the widest possible currency. Additional advantages include extreme wealth (well it does help to pay for all those clothes) and, if European, an aristocratic title. The importance of fame in reaching decisions has led to some rather imaginative choices in the past. Imagine Margaret Thatcher being repeatedly suggested as a fashion icon during the 1980s alongside Ronald Reagan, before both of them were eventually elevated to the Hall of Fame. Last year, somehow Brad Pitt was nominated as one of the world's best dressed men while Joan Rivers was considered to have made the grade 12 months earlier A list of this kind reflects the era in which It is compiled as much as any concern with fashion. That's why members of the British royal family keep putting in an appearance with even perennially navyblazered Prince Edward being thought one of the world's best dressed men back in 1987 while his mother who surely considers the fripperies of fashion beneath her attention is yet another member of the Hall of Fame.
Let's just say, therefore, that questions of style aren't always uppermost when final decisions are being made. The three wellmarried Miller sisters - daughters of duty free magnate Robert Miller - were summarily set aside even though they had been included previously. "We want no interior decorators this year," was one telling utterance at the recent committee meeting. Similarly, the comment, "No, she's out selling advertising," led to one potential name being rejected while another was exhorted with the remark "He dresses divinely - and he's got a great dog."
For all that, the eventual list ought not to cause any committee member - mending this one - to blush when it comes up for inspection at some future date Not all those who were reckoned worthy of inclusion will necessarily be known in Europe, but that's inevitably going to be the case Among those who will be familiar are cricketer Imran Khan and his wife, the former Jemima Goldsmith, Serena, Viscountess Linley muse to designer John Galliano Amanda Harlech, John F Kennedy Jr; actors Denzel Washington and Steve Martin; and film diva Sharon Stone. The last of these caused the committee considerable anxiety because of her recent appearance at the Academy Awards in Hollywood Ms Stony has become known of late for looking soignee in the clothes of Italian designer Valentino but for the Oscars she chose a black T shirt from the Gap chainstore (which recorded huge sales for the item the following day) Given that the actress quite clearly decided not even to wear a bra with this everyday garment, did she merit inclusion on the list?
Little else in the day caused quite such as heated a debate as Sharon Stone's way with a T shirt but in the end she made it, unlike another possible contender, Uma Thurman, who despite looking stylish in a Prada dress at 1995's Oscars was deemed not to be consistently well dressed if she feels the need, Ms Thurman can take comfort in the company she is keeping Others deemed to fall short of the committee's exacting standards included billionaire wife Clarissa Bronfman, English Vogue's Anna Handy, designer Anouska Hempel, novelist Martin Amis, actor Johnny Depp and even our own President, Mrs Robinson. Are they disconsolate? Will they be plunged into a despair from which nothing not even a wardrobe of this season's Guedi clothes, can rescue them? Take heart, also rans and remember; there will always be next year's committee and another chance to make it onto the International Best Dressed List.