This was published 7 years ago
PS: Maggie Tabberer celebrates her 80th birthday - for four months
By Andrew Hornery
After four months of celebrating, Maggie Tabberer admits she finally feels like she has marked her 80th birthday.
"Darling I'm probably a little bit daffy but I certainly feel pretty wonderful ... some mornings I do wake up and everything from my toenails to the last remaining hair follicles on my head are aching ... but you know what, I just get up and get on with it and thank god that I still can," the supremely chic doyenne of Australian fashion, who started the celebrations last October when The Australian Women's Weekly put her on the cover to mark the milestone three months before her actual birthday, told PS.
Maggie Tabberer at her 80th birthday lunch. Credit: @brookietab on Instagram
Last weekend, Tabberer was joined in the Southern Highlands by about 50 close friends and family for what was the final celebration to mark her 80th birthday, with daughters Brooke and Amanda and grandson Marco showering the family matriarch in kisses and affection, while the likes of fashion designer-turned-architect Stuart Membrey, Foxtel boss Brian Walsh and a smattering of social pages royalty joined in the fun.
"It was the most marvellous day. Everything, from the location, to the decor, to the food, the wine ... absolutely everything was perfect," she enthused to PS, admitting she had not taken off the strand of lustrous pearls she had been given from Walsh.
Maggie photographed in 1966 by fashion photographer Henry Talbot.Credit: Henry Talbot Fashion Photography Archive
"I mean if you get a gift like that, what else are you supposed to do but wear the bloody things! They are divine."
Born Margaret May Trigar on December 11, 1936 in Adelaide, Tabberer has left an indelible mark on the Australian social, fashion and media landscapes.
Her first modelling job was a one-off assignment at the age of 14, after a photographer spotted her at her sister's wedding. She attended a modelling school in her early 20s, and at the age of 23 was discovered by photographer Helmut Newton, who mentored her and launched a highly successful modelling career.
She won Model of the Year in 1960 and moved to the bright lights of Sydney. A true pioneer of her time and gender, she chose to end her modelling career at the age of 25 only to launch her own public relations company, Maggie Tabberer & Associates, which took on many fashion-related clients and assignments. Throughout the '70s, '80s and '90s she became a household name thanks to her work on the Weekly and television appearances on shows such as Beauty and the Beast. In 1981, she launched her plus-size clothing label Maggie T.
Maggie Tabberer in a Shannon Originals beach coat in Vogue.Credit: Vogue Australia
In the 1998 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed as a member of the Order of Australia, but if ever there were a true modern-day Aussie Dame, it would have to be Maggie.