An Homage To New York Socialite Anne Slater

“A woman needs four animals in her life: a mink in the closet, a Jaguar in the garage, a tiger in bed and an ass to pay for it all.” – Anne Slater

Dazzling New York socialite Anne Slater has passed away peacefully in her sleep last Christmas Eve, and the world is in mourning.

Known for her signature chic cobalt blue cat-eye glasses, the socialite slash philanthropist slash Vanity Fair’s International Best Dressed List Hall of Famer has been an icon in New York’s social sphere for decades. Her charm and wit has touched multiple lives, including the likes of Gloria Vanderbilt, Grace Kelly, and design editor of New York magazine Wendy Goodman—one out of the many people who shared their condolences on Instagram.

So sad to report that Anne Slater has passed away. She left very peacefully in her sleep Christmas Eve, and led a fantastic life filled with great friends, great parties and seeing the world through her blue glasses in ways that most of us could never dream of. @nymag we covered Anne’s amazing 14-room apartment at 998 Fifth Avenue when she put it on the market in 2006, after living there since 1953. Anne’s apt in a 1910 Stanford White -designed building included a gallery and an enfilade of public rooms to rival any mansion. Anne and her companion of fifty years, John Cahill, never had a dull moment, and Anne had a full life of adventure and fun. Anne was a lady in the truest sense of the word. @thecut @nymag #anneslater #stanfordwhite #greatinteriors thank you for the photographs @markheithoff

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Just heard from @dhwendygoodman that the beloved social figure Anne Slater died peacefully in her sleep on Christmas Eve. Survived by John Cahill her beloved John. Oh the chic and lightness of being #anneslater known formally in more formal times as Mrs. Denniston Slater. She was my best reader, understood my scribbling better than anyone. And she was kind and sympathetic and always up for a lark. For instance, in 2001 I was producing a photo shoot @nytimes on the glories of blue and white–blue and white everything from clothing to linen to wallpaper to porcelain of course. Styled by the great Barbara Turk, the shoot also included a blue and white meal, all blue and white food prepared by super-chef Hank Thomashevski, for Mrs. Slater, because of her always blue eyeglasses you see, and the cast of the #bluemangroup on a set swimming in Harry Hinson blue and white spatter wallpaper. About those blue eyeglasses, here is the story Anne told me for The Times about why and how she always only wore…blue-tinted eyeglasses: “Anne Slater, the New York social figure, was very clear from an early age that the heavenly colors blue and white would suit her all her days. She bought her first pair of blue prescription glasses at Lugene’s in Philadelphia when she was just a young college student with serious platinum blond hair. And then, one fine day at the late, lamented Colony restaurant in New York, her future husband, Denny Slater, and the maître d’, Sirio Maccione, came bearing a frothy, specially concocted drink the color of her glasses. Her nickname being Mouse, they called it a Blue Mouse and insisted that she drink to the bottom. There she found her marquise-cut engagement diamond from Harry Winston, ”10 carats bigger than my fingernails.” She recalls that she wore them very long back then. Anne Slater returned to Lugene’s and bought 35 more pairs of the spectacles that cast such an intoxicating spell. The splurge was absolutely necessary. The lenses are made of cobalt, and the saturated blue frames are made of Lucite, which is flammable, and her eyeglasses would soon be banned. Luckily, her prescription hasn’t changed. ”It wouldn’t dare, darling,” she said.

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To celebrate the life she has filled with so much joy, kindness, and a refined taste for all things nice, here is a look at some of Anne’s best photographed moments.

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Photo: Courtesy of Anne Slater/New York Magazine

Rest in peace, Anne. 

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