Karl Lagerfeld once said that he measured distances in New York by how far they were from the legendary Hotel Pierre (now 'The Pierre, a Taj Hotel'). For 95 years, that ballroom therein has been the epicenter of glamorous New York life. It was a haven first to New York blue-bloods, then old Hollywood celebrities and then the fashionable jet set. Under its chandeliers, everyone from Audrey Hepburn to Valentino danced the night away, or, at least, stood in the corner drinking martinis. As the New York Times once joked, “The ambiance might at first be intimidating to one who is not the King of Sweden or the Shah of Iran or a princess or Arab sheik or a lumber baron or a cosmetics heiress or Madonna or Joanne Carson, the divorced wife of Johnny Carson, or the Reagans, all of whom have or do occasionally stay here or live here.” 

The greatest part of the allure, however, has always been that any guest, or indeed, any New Yorker who might have wandered through the hotel’s doors, could find themselves partying among them.   

1930: Helen Hazard and Margaret Goddard, two of the wealthiest women in New York, gathered outside The Pierre shortly after it opened. 

1931: Coco Chanel perched at the Pierre on her first visit to New York in 1931. Decades later, the first Chanel Fashion show in America would be hosted at the hotel. 

1949: Eleanor Roosevelt was presented with the first American Award in Human Relations by the Bureau of Intellectual Education. It honored "her outstanding contribution to the cause of harmony among all men.”

1965: The leggy actress Ginger Rogers, so often paired with Fred Astaire, was the winner of the door prize at the 'Prestige Awards from France.’

1968: Dionne Warwick, dolled up for a party thrown for her by Scepter Records, celebrating her three gold albums, Here Where There is Love, Dionne Warwick’s Golden Hits and Valley of the Dolls.

1968: The winds of change swirl through the hallowed halls of The Pierre as President-elect Richard Nixon, flanked by a trio of foreign policy heavyweights, charts a new course for America.

1970: The Pierre's grand ballroom is transformed into a dazzling showcase of style as the crème de la crème of New York society gathers for the Valentino Fashion Party.

1970:  Barbra Streisand, resplendent in a lavish fur coat and her signature bouffant hairdo, is the picture of '70s glamour the night she accepts Cue Magazine's coveted ‘Entertainer of the Year’ award.

1971: British fashion sensation Twiggy, the face that launched a thousand pixie cuts, gives a twirl in her Pierre suite as she debuts the enchanting hooded velvet cloak she'll wear to the American premiere of her new film, The Boy Friend.

1972: First Lady Pat Nixon had designers bring their couture to her suite at The Pierre for her to try........

© Observer