Mr. Blackwell, Author of Hollywood's Worst Dressed Dies at 86

Richard Blackwell (born Richard Sylvan Selzer) (August 29, 1922 - October 19, 2008) was a fashion critic, journalist, television and radio personality, artist, former child actor and former fashion designer, sometimes known just as Mr. Blackwell. He was the creator of the Ten Worst Dressed Women list, an annual awards presentation he unveiled in January of each year. He published the "Fabulous Fashion Independents" list and an annual Academy Awards fashion review, both of which receive somewhat less media attention. His longtime companion, former Beverly Hills hairdresser, Robert Spencer, managed him. He wrote two books, Mr. Blackwell: 30 Years of Fashion Fiascos[1] and an autobiography, From Rags to Bitches.[2]

_ Cameron Diaz: "Looks like she was dressed by a colorblind circus clown, and when it comes to fashion, it's chaos when Cameron's back in town."

_ Madonna: "From Ghetto Glam to Rhinestone Cowgirl to Mrs. Guy Ritchie. Any way you label it, she's still just kitschy, kitschy, kitschy."

_ Christina Aguilera: "Is she a boring and body-baring bungle — or just auditioning for 'Sheena, Queen of the Jungle?'"

_ Courtney Love: "When push comes to shove, no one's fashion is tackier and wackier than funky, punky Love!"

_ Mary Kate Olsen: "She resembles a tattered toothpick trapped in a hurricane."

_ The Dixie Chicks: "They look like a trio of truck-stop fashion tragedies trapped in a typhoon."

• 1. Anna Magnani ("The female counterpart of Emmett Kelly. One of the most distinguished actresses of our generation, who suggests Eleanora Duse playing in a Shakespearean tragedy wearing tramp clothes.")
• 2. Brigitte Bardot ("An unruly child who has acquired the bad habit of taking off her nightie before the bathroom door has been closed.")
• 3. Yvonne De Carlo ("A gypsy who stole a wine-red portiere from a window and draped it over her body in combination with a Kelly green couch cover.")
• 4. Lucille Ball ("One of our most gifted comediennes, she seems to bend over backwards to look ridiculous, and her greatest asset in this department in her clothes. Her preferences in fashion can best be described as a sense of turmoil, because nothing blends or complements.")
• 5. Anita Ekberg ("If a woman who wears a shoe two sizes too small is apt to suffer from bunions, I wonder what is the fate of one with a 39-inch bust who wears a size 16 dress? Miss Ekberg, in either street or formal wear, provokes the idea that she dresses with a shoehorn.")
• 6. Shelley Winters ("The only description for Miss Winters dressed for a party is a rag doll brought to the circus and covered with pink cotton candy.")
• 7. Carolyn Jones ("There is so little material between Miss Jones' bust line and the hem of her garment one wonders which will get where first.")
• 8. Kim Novak ("Lavender, like old lace, belongs in a bureau drawer, not on a torso with too great a frequency to offset it. She has adopted lavender as her trademark and is guilty of fabric redundancy.")
• 9. Anne Baxter ("She wears a sweater as if she were headed for the showers instead of the moonlight sail with a handsome escort. In formal attire her hair looks as if someone ran a brush through it and then said, 'Oh, the hell with it.'")

• 1. Victoria Beckham ("Forget the fashion spice - wearing a skirt would suffice! In one skinny-mini monstrosity after another, pouty posh can really wreck-em.")
• 2. Amy Winehouse ("Exploding beehives above…tacky polka-dots below…she's part 50's car-hop horror.")
• 3. Mary Kate Olsen ("YIKES! In layers of cut-rate kitsch, Mary Kate's look is hard to explain…she resembles a tattered toothpick-trapped in a hurricane!")
• 4. Fergie ("Another style-free “Fergie” in fashion's hall of shame? Yes, when it comes to couture chaos, guess it's all in a name!")
• 5. Kelly Clarkson ("Her heavenly voice soars above the rest…but those belly-baring bombs are hellish at best! She may be the queen of "Pro-Active” - but that wardrobe looks downright radioactive!")
• 6. Eva Green ("Stuck in neon nightmares not fit for the sane. Fashion this loud could give Bond a migraine! A profusion of confusion from toes to nose!")
• 7. Avril Lavigne ("Gothic make-up courtesy the mad spatula-Fashions provided by…The house of Dracula!")
• 8. Jessica Simpson ("Forget the Cowboys. In prom queen screams, can it get any worse? She's a global fashion curse!")
• 9. Lindsay Lohan ("Lindsay the fashion frenzy strikes again! Lohan takes fashion to a new low.")
• 10. Alison Arngrim ("Little Nellie of the prairie, looks like a 1940's fashion editor for the Farmers' Almanac.")

Blackwell added of perennial list-topper Britney Spears, "For those of you who were expecting to see Britney's name adorn the 2007 list, I felt that it was in appropriate [sic] at this time to make comment, when her personal life is in such upheaval. I hope 2008 is a better year for her."