a New York girl turned Italian countess who helped shape postwar high fashion by modeling

Consuelo Crespi, a New York girl turned Italian countess who helped shape postwar high fashion by modeling, editing Italian Vogue magazine and, perhaps most importantly, wearing the chic new thing to exactly the right places, died last Monday in Manhattan.

Her death came a half-century after she appeared in Life as one of the “High-Born Beauties of Europe as Elegant Sweater Girls,’’ and almost that long since she was a guest at Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball in 1966.

“The last of the parties where people weren’t ashamed to be glamorous,’’ she said of the legendary party at The Plaza Hotel.

Mrs. Crespi moved effortlessly between the artistically effervescent scene in post-fascist Italy and a New York where fascinated newspapers covered her walks with her dogs, Fu Manchu and Snoopy. A friend of stars such as Audrey Hepburn, she was regarded as a social arbiter in both nations at a time when high society had a definite meaning.

The countess’s editing, public relations work, and sartorial example helped launch the careers of designers such as Valentino, Missoni, and Fendi. Valentino once said that her wearing of his creations was his big break. A regular on best-dressed lists, the countess was inducted into the Fashion Hall of Fame for “faultless taste in dress without ostentation or extravagance.’’

Italy in the 1970s presented Mrs. Crespi with its highest civilian award, for her role in helping the country become a fashion powerhouse.