Strength and style - The Austrian/American

Lifted from The Selvedge Yard Ricky Lauren, Austrian-born and the quintessential living image of American east coast aristocracy in the Ralph Lauren brand. Always smiling. Always the stylish woman beside the man. She has neither sought nor shunned the limelight; raised three functioning kids; seen her husband through a brain tumour; good economies and bad; and god knows what else (can you imagine the young women who might have set their caps for him?). There's tremendous strength in being a mother and she conveys every ounce of it. Nowadays, it's not enough to be a mother and for most it's not even an option, but Ricky could dabble in something (as many a famous consort has done ... Mrs. Trump) and has placed a firm hand in the 'no' position. When the two speak of parenting it is with the gravitas that responsibility warrants. As Jackie O so famously said, "If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do matters very much." (Read more from Jackie here)And the many photos of the family together and living independently productive lives attests to some grounding in reality and good behaviour. And then there's the style. Consistently RL yet making it her own. Feminine when need be

masculine when fun - sharing the same sense of sartorial adventure as the famously stylish...

Her hair is totally her and has worked as time has passed. I think Ricky could easily go full-on grey and still look fabulous.

She wears jeans with casual grace and

even if they're torn

she still bears the striking stature of the family matriarch.

And that's strength and style.