Carrie Donovan, 73; Fashion Journalist Did Ads for Old Navy

Carrie Donovan, the flamboyant fashion editor who embarked on a second career as a high-profile spokeswoman for Old Navy late in life, died Monday. She was 73.

Donovan died at New York Weill Cornell Medical Center. She had been ailing for several months, said George O’Brien, a friend.

Donovan’s eye for trends and her outgoing personality brought her success as a fashion journalist, first as a reporter for the New York Times and then as an editor for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and New York Times Magazine.

With her trademark pearls and oversized black-rimmed glasses, Donovan was a one-of-a-kind fashionista. Her home on New York City’s Upper East Side had red walls, red furnishings and leopard carpeting, and she sprinkled her speech with French phrases.

Although she worked as a journalist for more than 30 years, well into the computer age, she wrote all her copy by hand--having never mastered the typewriter.

In 1997, Donovan began working for Old Navy, taping a series of television ads that showcased her quirky image and fashion credibility.

She appeared in 42 spots, including one that featured her piloting an airplane with a dog named Magic.

Donovan, born in Lake Placid, N.Y., in 1928, became enamored with the fashion world at a young age. At 10, she sent actress Jane Wyman sketches for a wardrobe and received a handwritten reply. She graduated from the Parsons School of Design in 1950.

She is survived by her sister, Joan Donovan of Cambridge, Mass.