Years active: 1964-present.
Known for: Director of NYC Department of Planning, daughter of Babe Paley.
Net worth: $200 million.
The It Girl is passed down from mother to daughter here, as Amanda Burden is the daughter of Babe Paley and Stanley Grafton Mortimer Jr. However, Burden has said that she and her mom had very little in the way of a relationship.
Amanda studied urban planning at Columbia, and while she rose to a prominent New York City council spot, she was also featured on plenty of best-dressed lists during her day, along with big names like Jackie Kennedy, proving to millions of young girls that success and beauty can go hand in hand.
Diane von Furstenberg
Years active: 1970-present.
Known for: Fashion designer, marrying into German royalty.
Net worth: $1.2 billion.
Diane had it made: she married her college sweetheart Prince Egon von Furstenberg and became part of the German royal family (such as it is), but before long she realized she wanted a career of her own and jumped into the fashion world only a year after getting married.
Thanks to her newfound wealth and a pretty good amount of talent, von Furstenberg is now one of the most famous in the world, and its high-profile devotees include Victoria Beckham and Michelle Williams.
Jane Birkin
Years active: 1966-present.
Known for: Partnership with Serge Gainsbourg, the namesake of the Birkin bag.
Net worth: $20 million.
Arguably one of the most iconic It Girls to have ever lived, Jane was the inspiration behind the famous Hermes Birkin bag. While trying to make her way as an actress, Jane met famous musician and artist Serge Gainsbourg, and the two formed an artistic partnership, creating music and movies.
In their romantic life, they attracted plenty of media attention, including being the inspiration for the song “Je t'aime.” Birkin is still part of the art community and lives in Paris.
Doris Duke
Years active: 1930-1993.
Known for: Tobacco heiress, charity worker.
Net worth: $1.2 billion.
As one of the richest women in the world, Doris Duke was well aware of how lucrative the tobacco industry was – she was the daughter of tobacco tycoon James Buchanan Duke. However, Doris used her high profile and wealth to help others. She even spent time working in an Egyptian canteen during World War II, which paid her one dollar a year.
She was a big adventurer, a horticulturist, a pianist, and an art collector. She was tireless in her campaign for various charity causes, and when she died in 1993 most of her immense fortune went to charity.
Evelyn Nesbit
Years active: 1910-1967.
Known for: model, wife of Harry Kendall Thaw.
Net worth: $500,000.
Long before the years of Giselle Bündchen, Kate Moss, or even Twiggy, there was Evelyn Nesbit. She became the poster girl – quite literally – of the early twentieth century, and in her late teens was posing for artists such as James Carroll Beckwith.
She was a model, an actress, and a chorus girl, and all of it combined to make her a star, but a scandal wasn't far behind. In 1906, her husband, Harry Kendall Thaw, killed socialite Stanford White in Madison Square Garden, which became the “Trial of the Century.” Thaw's anger was due to White's former romance with Nesbit...who had to testify at the trial.