Richard Blackwell | 1922-2008

Mr. Blackwell at opening night, Sept. 7, 2005, of a revival of “Dead End” at the Ahmanson Theatre in downtown L.A. As a boy, he appeared in the show in New York.  (Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times)

Mr. Blackwell announces his annual “worst-dressed” list in 1996. It was led by cross-dressing basketball bad boy Dennis Rodman. Sarah, Duchess of York, was No. 6.  (Nick Ut / Associated Press)

Cher tops the list in 2000. No. 3 was a certain British monarch. “I’ve seen a lot of queens, but Queen Elizabeth is the worst!” Blackwell said.  (Reed Saxon / Associated Press)

Lindsay Lohan arrives at a New York gala in May. Mr. Blackwell earlier called the starlet “over-hyped and underdressed.”  (Stuart Ramson / Associated Press)

Paris Hilton had made Mr. Blackwell’s list. He called her and Britney Spears the “Screamgirls” and termed them “two peas in an overexposed pod.”  (Ann Johansson / Associated Press)

Britney Spears performs at the MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York in 2000. She topped Mr. Blackwell’s list issued early in 2001. He called her two-piece outfits “Madonna rejects.”  (Suzanne Plunkett / Associated Press)

Christina Aguilera performs in 2007. Earlier, Mr. Blackwell said of the singer: “Her barely there bimbo bombs wouldn’t cover a gnat. Let’s call her the worst undressed and leave it at that.” He also had called her “a flash-fried Venus stuck in a Miami strip mall.”  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham topped Mr. Blackwell’s list, his 48th annual, this year. “Forget the fashion spice, wearing a skirt would suffice! In one skinny-mini monstrosity after another, pouty posh can really wreck ‘em,” he said.  (Peter Kramer / Associated Press)

Amy Winehouse was in the top 10 on this year’s list.  (Anthony Devlin / Associated Press)

Mary-Kate Olsen joined Winehouse in this year’s top 10 worst-dressed.  (Stephen Lovekin / Getty Images)

Radio host Howard Stern shows off his painted toenails to David Letterman in 1995. Stern, whose book “Miss America” was a best seller, topped Mr. Blackwell’s list of worst-dressed women for that year. “Howard’s ‘Miss America’ drag looks like Godzilla impersonating Gypsy Rose Lee,” Blackwell said.  (Alan Singer / Associated Press)

Elizabeth Taylor appears at “The Concert,” Elton John’s annual AIDS benefit, at Universal Ampitheatre in 2001. Mr. Blackwell said in 1963 that her “plump” figure and revealing clothes reminded him of “the rebirth of the zeppelin.”  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Anne Robinson, host of the quiz show “Weakest Link,” topped the 42nd annual worst-dressed list. Blackwell described her as “fashion’s weakest link. Looks like Harry Potter in drag, a Hogwarts horror.”  (Dave Bjerke / NBC via Associated Press)

“The boring bag lady of Buckingham Palace” is how Princess Anne, left, shown with her niece Princess Beatrice, is described in “Mr. Blackwell’s Worst: 30 Years of Fashion Fiascos.”  (Julian Herbert / Getty Images)

Mr. Blackwell gets a kiss from what he declared the best-dressed dog in October 2006 during an event promoting “Dine with your Dog Day” at the Century Plaza hotel in Century City.  (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)