Worst Dress List - Richard Blackwell Dies

Fashion Icon and “Worst Dress List” creator Richard Blackwell passed away from complications of an intestinal infection earlier today.Richard Blackwell passed away at age 86 , 4:15pm on Sunday, October 19, 2008 in Los Angeles.Richard Blackwell was born on August 29, 1922 in Brooklyn, New York. His real name was Richard Sylvan Seltzer. He was a fashion critic, TV personality, actor and former fashion designer. He appeared in movies with big stars like Rita Hayworth, Humphrey Bogart and Gene Kelly.

Richard Blackwell went to school with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. He is best known for his creation of the Celebrity “Worst Dress List” which was published annually. The list included the fashion felonies of famous celebrities, including Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Paula Abdul, Meryl Streep and many more.Celebrities say that you’ve to make it to Mr. Blackwell’s Worst Dress List, if you want to be somebody in Hollywood. The first “Ten Worst Dressed Women” list premiered in 1960. Here you can find the Worst Dress List 2007.

Here are some of his famous critic lines:

Madonna: “The Bare-Bottomed Bore of Babylon.”

Barbra Streisand: “She looks like a masculine Bride of Frankenstein.”

Christina Aguilera: “A dazzling singer who puts good taste through the wardrobe wringer.”

Meryl Streep: “She looks like a gypsy abandoned by a caravan.”

Sharon Stone: “An over-the-hill Cruella DeVille.”

Lindsay Lohan: “From adorable to deplorable.”

Patti Davis: “Packs all the glamour of an old, worn-out sneaker.”

Ann Margret: “A Hells Angel escapee who invaded the Ziegfeld Follies on a rainy night.”

Camilla Parker-Bowles: “The Duchess of Dowdy.”

Bjork: “She dances in the dark - and dresses there, too.”

Spears: “Her bra-topped collection of Madonna rejects are pure fashion overkill.”

In August, 2008 it Blackwell became seriously ill. According to the Associated Press, his longtime partner Robert Spencer announced during a telephone call that Blackwell was hospitalized and unconscious.