The Essentials With Cornelia Guest: Positano, Society Style and Hostess Gifts

As the daughter of New York society It girl C.Z. Guest and Winston Frederick Churchill Guest (a polo player and Phipps steel heir), Cornelia Guest had an unconventional childhood. “My mother was not strict, but she was a big person for discipline, so I was up at the barn every morning at 5:30 a.m., taking care of my dogs, taking care of my horses, mucking out stalls,” Guest recalls of growing up on Long Island. Of course, the family’s estate also famously hosted notable figures that ranged from the Duke and Duchess of Windsor (Guest’s godparents) to author Truman Capote (the recent subject of the FX series, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, which featured Chloë Sevigny portraying Guest’s mother). “Not everyone had Andy Warhol, and Truman, and Mick Jagger, and all of these people over for dinner, but I was very lucky that my mother exposed me to that,” Guest tells Observer. “It never mattered who anyone was; she always had a lot of interesting people around, and I think I got that from her.” 

Those famous friends not only inspired Guest, but they also looked after her during her teenage years partying at New York City’s most glamorous nightclub, Studio 54. “I was so lucky to have them in my life because I was so well protected when I started spending more time in New York. It was so much fun, and the freedom and the creativity that everybody had was amazing; there were no cellphones, and Studio 54 didn’t allow all of the paparazzi in,” she explains. “Everybody was dancing, and people always dressed to the nines to go there.”

That exposure to creativity mixed with the discipline instilled in her by her mother undoubtedly helped to shape Guest, who decided to forgo the traditional path of marriage following her debut at the Waldorf Astoria in 1982. Instead, Guest pursued a career as an actress and an animal rights activist. “Fighting for animals is one of my passions when I’m not working on a film or TV show,” says Guest, who headed to the 2024 Cannes Film Festival to support her latest role in Oh, Canada. “One of my big things now is the American wild horses and how the Bureau of Land Management does these horrible, horrible helicopter roundups,” Guest, who has been rescuing animals since childhood, shares. “The American Wild Horse Conservation does a lot to protect these horses, and then I work a lot with All Seated in a Barn and Oscar’s Place Adoption Center & Sanctuary, where they go to these auctions and rescue horses and donkeys.” Guest, who has helped to rescue and re-home hundreds of miniature horses and donkeys, also cares for her ever-growing family of animals at her home in Dallas, Texas, including a Great Dane rescue named Wolf, who excitedly barks during our recent call.

Guest has also been keeping busy with her just-launched capsule collection with Adrienne Landau. The pair of polished pieces (wide-leg trousers and a double-breasted blazer) is perhaps a nod to her mother, whose understated fashion choices earned her a regular spot on the International Best-Dressed List throughout the 1950s. “The glamour was unbelievable,” Guest says of her early memories of her mother and fellow “swans” like Babe Paley, Slim Keith and Lee Radziwill. “My mother and those women were really CEOs in their own right; running these houses, and their husbands, and those big parties at the time in New York, which raised a tremendous amount of money for charities. And they put it all together themselves,” she adds. “Yes, they had their designers like Mainbocher, Chanel or Bill Blass, but they owned their own clothes and they put their looks together—they didn’t have stylists pulling clothes.” In celebration of the collection, Guest shared her current essentials with Observer, from her longtime favorite restaurants in New York City to her new go-to spots in Dallas. 

Morning beauty routine:

Cayli Cavaco at Knockout Beauty has been a godsend to me because I used to literally wash my face in the morning and just slap on some cream. Now, I start with an MBR cleanser, Royal Fern Toner and Roscuba’s Perfect B3 Spray that I use as a toner. I also use an MBR face cream, an Environ peptide serum and Dr. Devgan lash serum, and it’s easy and quick for me. For my hair, I alternate the Iles shampoo and conditioner and Finishing Serum with these products that [hairstylist] Garren started called R+Co Bleu. I love the Essential Shampoo and conditioner from that line, and they have a serum, too, that makes your hair look unbelievable. Oh, and I live for castor oil on my cuticles because I never wear gardening gloves, and my fingers get such a mess.

Her wellness routine:

I’m always moving, and I do the best I can with eating clean. Every morning, I am up and doing Pilates with Michael Podwal, who I’ve been working with for 20 or 25 years now. We do an hour of Reformer work or mat work, and then I take my dogs for a walk.

What she’s binge-watching:

I’m currently watching The Veil. It’s on Hulu, and it stars Elisabeth Moss, who is just so good.

What she’s reading:

Kevin Kwan is my favorite author, and I just read his new book, Lies and Weddings, which is fantastic.

 Favorite vacation spot:

I love Hotel Il San Pietro in Positano to just relax and go in the water there. And New York City is my home away from home. I love to go to Cipriani when I’m there, or to the little Sant Ambroeus kiosks to get an iced tea.

What she’s traveling with:

I’m not a light traveler; I can’t live out of a little bag for two weeks. If possible, I bring my dog Pearl, and I have a picture of my little dog Olive who passed away a couple of months ago that I travel with. And I love to write things down, so I always have my calendar and a book where I make lists. To me, checking off stuff from a list is the best thing in the world. 

Dallas favorites: 

I love a restaurant called Mister Charles, and LDU is a good place for coffee. A friend of mine has a wonderful store called Madison, and one called Off the Floor. She has everything at every price point: candles, plates, napkins. You can always find the perfect hostess present there.

The one thing in her wardrobe she refuses to part with:

I have some really, really old cardigan sweaters that I’m constantly sewing. They have suede patches on the elbows that are literally falling apart, but I love them.