Babs Simpson

Babs Simpson (born Beatrice Crosby de Menocal; (1913-04-09)April 9, 1913 – (2019-01-07)January 7, 2019) was an American magazine editor. She is best known for her 25-year tenure at Vogue as a fashion editor.

Babs Simpson
Born	Beatrice Crosby de Mendocal (1913-04-09)April 9, 1913 Beijing, China
Died	January 7, 2019(2019-01-07) (aged 105) Rye, New York
Occupation	Magazine editor
Employer(s)	Harper's Bazaar Vogue House & Garden

Biography

The oldest of four children, Simpson was born in 1913 in Beijing (then called Peking), China, to Daniel Ammen de Menocal, a banker from an aristocratic Cuban family, and Beatrice (Crosby) de Menocal, a New York City socialite.^[1][2] The family lived in South America before settling in Boston, Massachusetts.^[1][2]

Simpson married William Simpson in 1935 and moved to Locust Valley, New York;^[3][4] they divorced seven years later.^[1] In 1944, two years after moving to Manhattan, Simpson obtained (through a friend) a position at Harper's Bazaar, working in a photographer's studio.^[1][2] She was then hired to work for the magazine itself, under editor Carmel Snow.^[1]

In 1947, she left Harper's Bazaar to work at Vogue, where she would remain until 1972.^[1] As a fashion editor, Simpson covered fashion shows and produced photo shoots.^[2] She collaborated with the photographer Irving Penn on many of his iconic images.^[4] She styled what would become Marilyn Monroe's final photo shoot, photographed by Bert Stern a month before her death.^[4][5]

After leaving Vogue, Simpson worked at House & Garden magazine from 1972 until it was shuttered in 1993.^[1]

In 2006, at the age of 93, Simpson became the oldest person to be featured in Vogue, when she appeared in its annual Age Issue.^[6][2] In 2012, at age 99, she was featured in In Vogue: The Editor's Eye, an HBO documentary about the fashion editors at Vogue.^[5][6][7]

Simpson was in a 35-year relationship with art dealer Paul Magriel; they lived in separate apartments in the same Manhattan apartment building throughout their relationship and did not marry.^[2][4] Simpson owned a Paul Lester Weiner-designed modernist home in Amagansett, New York, built for her in 1963.^[4][8] She spent her later years in a retirement community in Rye, New York.^[1][2] She died on January 7, 2019, at the age of 105, in Rye.^[1]