{{Short description|American socialite (1930–2005)}} {{Infobox person | name = Nan Kempner | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | other_names = | birth_name = Nan Field Schlesinger | birth_date = July 24, 1930 | birth_place = San Francisco, California, U.S. | death_date = July 3, 2005 (age 74) | death_place = New York City, U.S. | education = Connecticut College (BA) | spouse = Thomas Lenox Kempner | children = 3, including Thomas L. Kempner Jr. | relatives = Carl M. Loeb (grandfather-in-law)<br>Alan H. Kempner (father-in-law) }}
'''Nan Kempner''' (July 24, 1930 – July 3, 2005) was a New York City socialite, known for her fashion sense, her philanthropy, and as "The Queen of Everything".
==Biography== Born '''Nan Field Schlesinger''' in San Francisco, Kempner was the only child of Albert "Speed" Schlesinger, who owned S&C Auto, the largest car dealership in California, and the socialite Irma Schlesinger. Albert reportedly told his daughter, "You'll never make it on your face, so you'd better be interesting."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/stellamagazine/3357955/New-York-doll.html |title=New York doll - Telegraph |access-date=April 18, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090608235909/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/stellamagazine/3357955/New-York-doll.html |archive-date=June 8, 2009 }}</ref> Kempner attended the Hamlin School and started collecting couture clothing as a teen-ager. Following her mother's example, she started smoking at age 14 and, at her mother's urging, developed methods of staying slim, including making sandwiches using thick slices of lettuce, rather than slices of bread.<ref name="The San Francisco Chronicle">{{cite web |last1=Zinko |first1=Carolyne |title=A day in the life of ... Nan Kempner |url=https://www.sfgate.com/living/article/A-day-in-the-life-of-Nan-Kempner-She-ll-2742549.php |website=sfgate.com |publisher=The San Francisco Chronicle |access-date=23 January 2026}}</ref>
Kempner attended Connecticut College for Women and spent her junior year abroad studying at The Sorbonne, where she also took art lessons from Fernand Léger.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nan Kempner, 74; N.Y. Socialite Was Unapologetic Clotheshorse |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-jul-07-me-kempner7-story.html |website=latimes.com |publisher=Los Angeles Times |access-date=23 January 2026}}</ref> Upon her return to New York, she met Thomas Lenox Kempner, the son of publisher Alan H. Kempner and grandson of the businessman Carl M. Loeb.<ref name=Horse>{{Cite news|first= |last= |authorlink= |title= A clothes horse with a long heritage to uphold |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date= July 16, 2005|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/a-clothes-horse-with-a-long-heritage-to-uphold-20050716-gdlp1g.html |via=|archive-url=| archive-date=}}</ref> They married in 1952<ref name=Horse/> and had three children. After living in London for a short time, the Kempners settled in New York. Thomas founded the investment company Loeb Partners, while Nan became a leader in high society.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2005-07-11|title='Bye, Nan Kempner: Grand Socialite Loved City Game|url=https://observer.com/2005/07/bye-nan-kempner-grand-socialite-loved-city-game/|access-date=2020-06-25|website=Observer|language=en-US}}</ref> She was known for being the "social X-ray," a term coined by Tom Wolfe in his novel ''The Bonfire of the Vanities'', and for her friendships with members of the American power elite, particularly Nancy Reagan.<ref name="The San Francisco Chronicle"/>
Kempner, who missed only one runway season in 55 years, was widely considered among the most highly informed authorities in fashion.<ref>{{Citation |title=Defining Decades of Fashion: Nan Kempner | date=23 October 2013 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LlPkvuWaz8 |language=en |access-date=2022-09-08}}</ref> Over the course of her life, she owned one of the largest private couture collections in the country, a collection which preserved some of the most important pieces of mid-20th century couture.<ref name="famsf1">{{cite web|url=http://www.famsf.org/press-room/nan-kempner-american-chic |title=Nan Kempner: American Chic |publisher=FAMSF |access-date=2016-04-02}}</ref> She worked, variously, as a contributing editor for French ''Vogue'',<ref>{{Cite news|title=Katheryn Clews Patterson Wed To Thomas Lenox Kempner Jr. |newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 27, 1979 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/27/archives/katheryn-clews-patterson-wed-to-thomas-lenox-kempner-jr.html |quote=Katheryn Clews Patterson, an associate with the New York law firm of Coudert Brothers, was married yesterday in Southampton, L.I., to Thomas Lenox Kempner Jr., a trader in the government‐bond department of Goldman Sachs & Company. The Rev. Malcolm L. Foster performed the ceremony at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in the Dunes}}</ref> as a fashion editor for ''Harper's Bazaar'', as a design consultant for Tiffany & Co., and as an international representative of the auction house Christie's.
=== Charity Work === Over 30 years, she helped raise more than $75,000,000 for the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Solomont |first1=Elizabeth |date=June 12, 2007 |title=From Met to Thrift Shop Sale: Nan Kempner's Haute Couture |url=https://www.nysun.com/new-york/from-met-to-thrift-shop-sale-nan-kempners-haute/56336/ |access-date=2020-06-25 |website=The New York Sun}}</ref> The proceeds for her 2000 book, ''R.S.V.P.: Menus for Entertaining from People Who Really Know How'', were donated to Memorial Sloan-Kettering.
==Death and legacy== Kempner died on July 3, 2005, aged 74, of emphysema.<ref name=Zinko>{{Cite news|first=Carolyne |last=Zinko |title=Society's hostess extraordinaire dies at 74 / S.F., N.Y. style maven on everyone's A-list |newspaper=SFGate|date=July 6, 2005 |url= https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Society-s-hostess-extraordinaire-dies-at-74-2624126.php }}</ref> She was survived by her husband and three children: Lina Kempner, Thomas Kempner Jr., and James Kempner.<ref name=Zinko/> Two months after her death, her family held a memorial service at Christie's; 500 guests attended.
In December 2006, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibited ''Nan Kempner: American Chic'', selections from Kempner's couture collection.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nan Kempner |url=https://localhost:5000/exhibitions/listings/2006/nan-kempner |access-date=2025-08-24 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art}}</ref> In 2007, the exhibition was displayed at San Francisco's De Young Museum.<ref name="famsf1"/> Much of the collection went to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
== In popular culture == * In 1973, Kempner was painted by Andy Warhol.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nan Kempner by Andy Warhol|url=http://www.artnet.com/artists/andy-warhol/nan-kempner-a-7lC5Oka7q1zoLZTmW--Q6A2|access-date=2020-06-25|website=www.artnet.com}}</ref> * In Armistead Maupin's ''Tales of the City'', two society matrons discuss the creation of a society wax museum, concerned that future generations might not otherwise know what Nan Kempner looked like.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nan Kempner Obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/jul/26/guardianobituaries.usa |website=theguardian.com |publisher=The Guardian |access-date=23 January 2026}}</ref> * Diana Vreeland, former editor of ''Vogue'': "There are no chic women in America. The one exception is Nan Kempner."<ref>{{Cite web|last=English|first=Micaela|date=2014-10-08|title=13 Style Lessons We Learned From Nan Kempner|url=https://www.townandcountrymag.com/style/fashion-trends/nan-kempner-style|access-date=2020-06-25|website=Town & Country|language=en-US}}</ref> * Valentino said, "Nan always looks so wonderful in my clothes, because she had a body like a hanger."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nan Kempner: American Chic|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2006/nan-kempner|access-date=June 25, 2020|website=The Met}}</ref> * Kempner famously defied the dress code at La Côte Basque, which declined to seat women wearing pants, by removing her trousers and covering herself with napkins.<ref name="The San Francisco Chronicle"/>
==Sources== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20050517080206/http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/shopping/fashion/fall04/9647/ How to Be a Park Avenue Princess]
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kempner, Nan}} Category:1930 births Category:2005 deaths Category:American magazine editors Category:American women magazine editors Category:American socialites Category:Connecticut College alumni Category:Deaths from emphysema Category:Writers from San Francisco Category:20th-century American philanthropists Category:Family of Carl M. Loeb Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers Category:20th-century American Jews Category:21st-century American Jews