At first, Barbara Guggenheim wasn’t going to make a fuss about her wedding: Guggenheim, 77, married her now husband Alan Patricof, 89, in an intimate ceremony at her Park Avenue apartment in Manhattan in December of 2023. But she agreed to a New York Times feature on the union—and looking back, she’s now glad she did.
“I got a call from a gallerist who said, ‘My mother, who is a widow at 70, read the article and then started online dating,’” Guggenheim tells Vogue. “If it’s just one person I inspired, it’s worth it.”
Following another, larger wedding celebration in late January, Guggenheim is now happy to talk at length about her look—a custom suit from the label Attersee, founded by her niece Isabel Wilkinson Schor—in the hope of inspiring other brides. “It’s a good look for older people, but it’s just a plain old good look for any age!” Guggenheim notes.
As Guggenheim wore a Dior suit she plucked from her own closet to the civil wedding, she knew she wanted something new for this party. And as a devoted client of Attersee (when asked about her favorite pieces: “Gosh, how much time do you have?”), there was no one but Wilkinson Schor for the job.
As for non-negotiables on the design front? It turns out there were barely any. “I was sensitive to the fact that I’m of a certain age, and it’s a second marriage, so I didn’t want white white. I wanted it off-white. And only certain parts of the body could be on show. Who knew the shoulders were the last to go?”
The event, not a sit-down dinner but a 300-plus person cocktail party, took place in January at Midtown institution The Grill. The restaurant has a reputation for being the locale of many a martini-fueled power lunch (a perfect choice for this power couple—she’s a renowned art advisor, and he’s an influential venture capitalist), so a pantsuit felt just right.
At first, Guggenheim thought she would wear an Attersee ankle-length tunic in duchess satin in an icy bone hue. All she needed to complete the look was a pair of high-waisted cigarette pants in the same lustrous fabric, which had to be custom-made, as it’s not yet part of the Attersee linesheet.
At a fitting for the outfit she originally had in mind, Guggenheim was struck by the jacket Wilkinson Schor had worn that afternoon. “She put on the whole look, and then she turned to me, and she said, ‘That jacket is so good, can I try that on after?’” Wilkinson Schor recalls. Taking the jacket off her back, the designer gave it to Guggenheim to try, and it was decided. With extra fabric she’d used for the satin pants, Wilkinson Schor crafted a matching version of her label’s much-loved Cecily jacket—an off-the-shoulder blazer with covered buttons and a silhouette that plays out in a gentle A-line.
The final look was slick but soft, tailored but delicate, and timeless but fresh. “I don’t think I’ve ever got so many compliments!” says Guggenheim. For her accessories, she borrowed an ear cuff from Wilkinson Schor’s friend, the jeweler Ana Khouri, and wore her own antique diamond tennis bracelets with a pair of satin slides she found in the same hue by Toteme. “In my 20s and 30s, people had shoes died to match the dress—I went online and typed in ‘off-white slides’ and found them—it’s amazing,” she adds.
As for her hair and makeup, Guggenheim admits she got a day-of bob she hadn’t planned for—she had, in fact, requested an updo—after falling asleep in the salon chair. “I almost had a cardiac arrest, but it actually made my neck look longer!” In hindsight, Guggenheim can confirm it was a perfect match for the suit’s off-the-shoulder cut.
At the event itself, which lured plenty of local friends but also a contingent from the West Coast, where Guggenheim spends most of her time, Wilkinson Schor received many compliments for her aunt’s look—and some new orders. “I have to tell you,” said Guggenheim, “At the event, people really liked it so much that she had three orders by Monday.” (One guest even ordered it in two colors as a mother-of-the-bride look for her daughter’s upcoming nuptials.)
For Wilkinson Schor, it’s confirmation of all she set out to do with her line. “It was such a dream—it sounds like such a cliché to say, but I’ve been so inspired by my mom, her sister, and Barbara for so many years,” she says. “And in many ways, I feel I’m always designing for them in some capacity.”
While “cool girl brand” is a term often used to describe Attersee, it clearly falls short. Women of all ages are not only wearing the brand, but turning heads in it. (Attersee’s post of Guggenheim in her bridal look was one of the most engaged Instagram posts on the account in about two years, she mentions.) As for Guggenheim, she’s happy to inspire women of all ages to feel excited about being a bride. “That’s the new center of the population,” she adds. “Older brides? There’s definitely going to be more and more of them.”