Classic, chic, elegant. It’s pure 1960s glamour. Rich black crepe de chine to ankle and wrist, this evening gown is ingeniously constructed to gently caress each curve of a woman’s body, giving me the perfect silhouette. So I like to think. Above its sleek off-the-shoulder bodice, sheer silk rises to a sumptuous collar of marabou feathers encircling the neck. Another circlet of feathers floats at the base of each sleeve. Outrageously lavish and yet subtle. It would be a sin to add a single thing to adorn it. I just scoop up my hair and wear a pair of diamond stud earrings. Choose a simple black evening bag that will disappear against the fabric, stilettos with finely pointed toes, and my favourite oriental scent. It fits me like a glove-and so it should, since my own very special fairy godmother left it to me.

One of only two precious evening dresses my godmother Doris could afford during her college years, this drop-dead elegant 1930s gown shows her inimitable style. But its daring low back, all the rage at the time, upset Doris’s mother, Faith. She observed wryly: ‘Doris’s impression is that one tended to take off for the dance wearing the jacket and reassuring one’s parents about being well covered, and then take the jacket off as soon as you arrived so that you were viewed in all your glory.’

Attention must be paid,’ says Linda Loman in Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman. And that sentiment certainly applied to the owner of this 1950s lace cocktail dress for her electrifying performance as Linda in the 50th anniversary production of the play on Broadway in 1999. Elizabeth Franz garnered the best reviews of her career and picked up her first Tony Award. After years working in repertory theatres across the United States, playing roles in soap operas and small parts in film, she had finally arrived. Doris witnessed the award-winning performance and said Elizabeth was ‘magnificent’, as always. For her part, Elizabeth wryly observed that her drama teacher’s prediction all those years ago that her best work would come later in life had indeed come true. Best of all was the verdict from Arthur Miller, who declared hers the best interpretation of the part he had ever seen.

Doris might have been a Quaker, but there was no way she was going to let Quaker modesty about dress or anything else get in the way of her dream wedding dress. Rebellious as ever, she planned an extravagant gown made of fabric brought over specially from Holland for her big day in 1937. The final touch would be a spectacular eight-foot train but when the Quaker Elder heard of this he said enough is enough. Knowing Doris all too well though, he wisely came up with a compromise. He asked if Doris would consider meeting him halfway and cutting the extravagant train by half. Doris acquiesced, but of course made up for it in other ways. Needless to say, she was a beautiful bride.

In the summer of 1986, a wedding in Monaco led to one of the most unforgettable weeks of my life. As the bride was the daughter of Prince Rainier of Monaco’s right-hand man, it was to be no ordinary wedding. Joining a large group of the groom’s friends from New York, I was just thrilled to have the opportunity to see the glamorous backdrop for To Catch a Thief for myself, but the prospect of a week of fabulous parties there didn’t hurt either. For the pre-wedding cocktail party, I dressed as only a 24-year-old who felt she had the world at her feet would dare- in a tiny strapless white cocktail dress with stitched silk hot-pink polka dots and a flowing pink scarf. It certainly helped get me the right sort of attention because I met Prince Albert at the bar and we hit it off straight away. He offered to show me around Monte Carlo, and later made good on his promise with a spectacular tour around the Grand Corniche in his silver Porsche. That was just the opener for what would be a fairytale week. *FOR A SLIDESHOW OF FASHIONABLE BOOKS TO GIVE-AND TO GET CLICK HERE*