Judith Baragwanath

"[2] Baragwanath was born in Birmingham, Alabama, US to a New Zealand nurse, Vivienne née Grace, and an American GI, Samuel Cleveland Seay.

[1] In 1966 Baragwanath was discovered by Auckland fashion photographer Desmond Williams and began working as a model while still at Diocesan School for Girls.

[3] Baragwanath established herself among Auckland's creative community, and her friends included painters Pat Hanly, Bill Hammond, and Gavin Chilcott,[7] musicians Graham Brazier and Dave McArtney, writer Hamish Keith[1][3] In the 1970s she worked as fashion editor for the newspaper the Sunday News[1][3][6] and in the 1980s was fashion editor for The Sun.

He also wanted her to contribute to an anonymous gossip column called “Felicity Ferret.” This was intended to be both witty and scathing to a degree new to New Zealand readers.

As well as being a well-connected model and socialite, Baragwanath worked as a waitress and maître d' for a series of Auckland restaurants from the 1970s.

I had a black eye and was taken home (by my waitress friend) to my horrified mother and grandmother.” [1] Baragwanath wasn’t Reid’s only victim that evening.

[1] Baragwanath has worked as a columnist for the Sunday Star Times, the New Zealand Listener, and Cuisine magazine.

[4] In 2010, New Zealand fashion designer Kate Sylvester paid homage to the “notorious socialite”[2] with a winter collection called "Diamond Dogs", the nickname given to Baragwanath's social set.

[1][3] Sylvester's models were sent down the runway in gym slips, jodhpur-cut trousers, military jackets, fur coats and black lipstick; the look Baragwanath had popularised.