We Endorse Carmen Dell'Orefice

We at the Casa du Borghese LOVE supermodel, and I mean that in every sense of the word, Carmen Dell’Orefice, who if you can believe it turned 80 this year. The style icon has been modelling ever since she got on the cover of Vogue in 1946 at 15 years old! Carmen is also known as the world's oldest working model, and she lost her fortune not once, but twice!!!!!! And gained it back. In the 1980s and 1990s, Carmen lost most of her money in the stock market. She was forced to auction off her famous modeling photographs from the 1940s-1980s through Sotheby’s. In 1994, with what little money she had left, and with money from boyfriend Norman Levy, she invested with Bernard Madoff. Levy died in 2005, at age 93, and Madoff was the executor of his will, which had $244 million in assets, according to Carmen. Madoff further used this money to lure in about 13,500 individuals and charities. She continued to regularly have dinner with the Madoffs after Levy’s death. In December 2008, a 68-year-old friend who invested her life savings with Madoff, telephoned Carmen to inform her that she too, had been swindled. Carmen said, “For the second time in my life, I’ve lost all of my life savings.” Well, she gained it back again and through all this, still kept classy and stunning as ever. Dames like this are a rare commodity. I endorse her for all her fabulousness! She seriously takes this queen's breath away.