The Mortimer family has branched out over the years—and as the website Park Avenue Peerage has wryly noted, “By marriage, and more marriage, and even more marriage, Tinsley is related to Babe Paley, the Vanderbilt Burdens, the Harrimans of New York, the Biddles of Philadelphia, the Pells of Louisiana, the Wilsons of North Carolina, the great Colonel Mucci, a naturalized French noblewoman and a Vermont-based Buddhist monk who takes a Bright Eyes approach to Dharma.”
In yet another echo of Rogers, Mortimer is a designer, as well: She’s created a line of handbags for a Japanese company, Samantha Thavasa by Tinsley Mortimer, and a line of dresses sold only in Japan (Riccimie by Tinsley Mortimer). She attends numerous charity and fashion events every year, and her picture appears regularly in publications or websites that follow the New York social whirl.
This feature was shot at the lovely Tuckahoe Plantation outside Richmond, where Tinsley says she played a lot as a kid. It’s a modern twist on the style of Millicent Rogers, who by all accounts successfully mixed personalized accents with her designer clothes. Think glamour, booming post-war America—and traditional beauty with a slight edge, to keep a good life interesting.
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ABOVE IMAGE: Oscar de la Renta beaded, tulle-skirted gown ($6,650) from Coplon’s, Richmond. John Hardy sterling silver Dot Nuansa large round drop earrings ($395); round sautoir necklace ($695) and round sautoir 36-inch necklace ($995); on right arm: large round cuff bracelet ($995) and oval ring ($495), and, on left arm, chain contour bracelet ($1495) and chain flat bracelet ($795), all from Schwarzschild Jewelers, Richmond. Also on right arm: Miriam Haskell crystal chunk bracelet with velvet ribbon snap clasp ($134) from Quirk Gallery, Richmond.
(Originally published in the August 2008 Issue)
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