Business Finance Media Technology Policy Wealth Insights Interviews

Art Art Fairs Art Market Art Reviews Auctions Galleries Museums Interviews

Lifestyle Nightlife & Dining Style Travel Interviews

Power Index Nightlife & Dining Art A.I. PR

About About Observer Advertise With Us Reprints

The Most Outrageous Woman Who Ever Spent a Fortune

Marchesa Luisa Casati bankrupted herself on gold-painted servants, diamond-leashed cheetahs and electric dresses—and influenced every major fashion designer of the 20th century.

Spending money well is its own kind of skill. It requires a certain amount of creativity, and daring, and aesthetic appreciation. It is an ability that is almost as valuable as earning money. You might not recognize that talent now, for the internet is peppered with men—mostly men—declaring that no matter how much money you earn, you should spend none of it. Because, you see, that way you will have more money. And then you will die with lots of money. How dull. 

Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter

Thank you for signing up!

By clicking submit, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime.

No one ever surpassed the Marchesa Luisa Casati Stampa when it came to creativity in spending. Although you might not have expected this from her.

The woman later known as “the divine Marquise”, Luisa Adele Rosa Maria Amman was born on January 23, 1881, into a family of immensely wealthy Milanese textile merchants. If Luisa was known for anything in her childhood, it was her almost pathological shyness. She spent most of the time painting alongside her sister, playing dress-up and listening to fairy tales from her adored mother. Luisa would later recall some of her happiest childhood memories as being those of her mother tucking her into bed before heading out to galas, when “her laces, jewels, and pearls brushed my face, mingling with the scent of her perfume.”

As often seems to be the case when you encounter a historical figure, her mother died when she was thirteen. Her father followed two years after, leaving Luisa and her sister, two of the wealthiest heiresses in the country, in the care of their aunt and uncle. 

By that time, Luisa was six feet tall. She was also skeletally thin in an age when beauty was defined by a curvaceous figure. And she still didn’t really want to talk to anyone. She proceeded to chop off her hair into a bob. This was in 1898—far before the 1920s, when the style would become a fashionable trend. It’s possible she did this specifically to deter suitors. It looked incredible on her.........

© Observer