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Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon Wikipedia

This article is about the early 20th century fashion designer, Lady Lucy Duff-Gordon. You may be looking for the mid-19th century author, Lady Lucie Duff-Gordon.

Lady Lucy Duff-Gordon (1863-1935) was a famous fashion designer in the early 20th century, and a survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic|RMS Titanic in 1912. Today, she may be best known as the losing party (law)|party in the contract law case (law)|case of Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, Court citation|222 N.Y. 88, 118 N.E. 214 (1917), in which Judge Benjamin Cardozo made new law when he held her to a contract assigning Wood the sole right to market her fashions.

She was married to Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon in 1900. The two of them, along with her secretary, were aboard the Titanic, and were three of the twelve occupants in a lifeboat made for forty. She reportedly remarked to her secretary after the ship sank, "There is your beautiful nightdress gone?" A crewman annoyed with Lady Lucy Duff-Gordon mentioned that the Duff-Gordons could replace their lost belongings, while he and the other crew members in the boat lost everything.

Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon offered each of the crew members ??5 - purportedly to help them get back on track after they were rescued. Afterwards, rumors that the Duff Gordon's had bribed the crew not to rescue people in water damaged their reputation, even though a British Inquiry into the disaster cleared them of any wrongdoing.
Shunned in some places and unable to have children, Lucy and Cosmo drifted apart. Lucy Duff-Gordon's business continued to thrive before going bankrupt shortly before her death.

She was briefly portrayed as a character in James Cameron's film Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic, by Rosalind Ayres. She was also the sister of author Elinor Glyn.

Last Modified:   2005-12-15