[3] She was photographed by Cecil Beaton, Slim Aarons, Alejo Vidal-Quadras;[4] designed for by Cristóbal Balenciaga, Elsa Schiaparelli, Hubert de Givenchy, Yves Saint-Laurent; and was also a close friend and inspiration to Truman Capote.

She was the daughter of José Rafael Rubio y Torres (1880, Michoacán, México – 1916, San Antonio, Texas),[7] a liberal journalist who supported Francisco I. Madero for which he died in exile, in the United States, and his wife, Maria Luisa Alatorre y Diaz-Ocampo (1882–1961, Zapotlán el Grande, Jalisco)[8][7][9] who belonged to a Spanish colonial landowning family from Jalisco, who made their fortune in sugar (descendants of conquistador Don Diego de Ochoa-Garibay),[10] partly described by their relative, Alfonso Reyes Ochoa, in his book Parentalia.

She and her siblings spent most of their childhood with her mother's relatives, members of Mexican elite, such as the Ochoa-Garibay, Villaseñor-Jasso and Sánchez de Aldana families, with whom the Rubios lived for periods of time.

Without any known explanation, Guinness frequently downplayed or directly lied about her origins, often saying she was from Veracruz, that her father was a revolutionary soldier killed in action, and that her mother was either a laundry maid or a seamstress.

[14] Her mysterious true origins were the cause of numerous rumors and speculation, many intended to diminish her social position,[15] but eventually did little to destroy her reputation as "the most elegant woman in the World,” in the words of Eleanor Lambert, founder of the Met Gala, New York Fashion Week and the International Best Dressed List.

[26] Guinness was dressed by various top-couture designers like Cristóbal Balenciaga, Elsa Schiaparelli, Marc Bohan at Christian Dior, Chanel, Hubert de Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino Garavani, Halston and shoes by Roger Vivier.

[33][34][35] The Florida property, which is divided by U.S. Highway A1A, faces the lake, on one side, and the ocean, on the other; the two halves of the building, which was designed in the 1940s by architect Marion Syms Wyeth for Gerald Lambert, were ingeniously connected by a sound-proofed living room that was set beneath the bisecting road.

[36] They also kept three aircraft: an Avro Commander[clarification needed], for short trips around Europe, a small jet, and a helicopter for Loel Guinness's hops between the Manalapan house and the Palm Beach golf course.