by GLENYS ROBERTS - An infant brother drowned in the family pool. A husband who ran off with a lesbian. A louche grandfather destroyed by scandal. Under those outrageous hats, fashion icon Isabella Blow hid many tragedies. But she saved the greatest till last ...
Passengers on the top deck of the bus had never seen anything like it. Isabella Blow, wearing a wildly louche, tall cocktail hat, full make-up including a gash of blood-red lipstick and five-inch designer heels, was going to work at nine o' clock in the morning by public transport, just like any other Londoner.
Trademark style: Isabella, her lipstick redder than red under a Philip Treacy creation
For international style guru Isabella, it was never too early in the morning to warrant wearing her full, gaudy, fashion regalia.
Today, the 48-year-old eccentric who enthralled fashionistas with her uncanny ability to spot a trend, discover supermodels and unearth new designers, is mourned the world over by an industry that has inexplicably lost a Muse with whom there was never a dull moment.