Martha's Foray into Fame

PRELUDE TO A CAREER White

Long before Martha Stewart was, well, Martha, she was a sartorially savvy Barnard co-ed looking to impress the Columbia guys, the mogul told a crowd at the Four Seasons pool room Wednesday afternoon. The luncheon, hosted by Glamour editor Cindi Leive and publisher Bill Wackermann, marked the 50th anniversary of the magazine's annual "10 Top College Women" feature.

Martha made the cut in 1961, when the honor went to the top ten "best-dressed" college gals in the country—but just barely. "I was a runner up," said Stewart. "Barnard put me up for this. One of the top ten got pregnant or flunked out, so I got the call!" But Stewart gamely rose to the occasion, mounting a prop flagpole and posing in a vivid orange cape with the rest of the girls, telling the magazine, "I want a simple life: a house in the country."

After the jump, the full Martha shot and Cosmo queen Kate White's star cover turn as a Glamour alpha female.