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Growing up on the other side of the country, I didn’t know much about Gloria Vanderbilt. I only knew that my mom—and my grandma—liked her jeans. They were special. Fancy. “Chic.” I didn’t know what chic meant until I moved to New York and realized who the woman was behind that signature swan logo—and discovered this fixture of Manhattan royalty practically invented the term.

“Renaissance woman” has been such a cliche to describe Vanderbilt that Life...

Continue Reading Gloria Vanderbilt, Heiress, Fashion Icon, Mom to Anderson Cooper, Dies at 95