LOS ANGELES: Richard Blackwell whose annual “Ten Worst Dressed Women List” has cemented his title as Hollywood’s fashion police, has died at age 86.

Blackwell had been in failing health since early August, when he collapsed at home and was taken to hospital in a coma.

He died on Sunday at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, of complications arising from an intestinal infection.

For 47 years, Blackwell savaged celebrities for their fashion sense in his annual list. Those who have made the unfortunate list include Britney Spears, Marilyn Monroe, and even Queen Elizabeth, who was accompanied with the comment “From Her Majesty to her travesty”.

The famous list sometimes include men, notably Howard Stern, Dennis Rodman and Marilyn Manson, who was described as looking “like Alice Cooper doing Rosemary's Baby”.

The list is covered by global news outlets, and Blackwell often spends a week after the release of the annual list doing interviews.

Born Richard Sylvan Selzer, Blackwell had a short-lived career as an actor and a Hollywood agent. He found his niche in fashion designing, and eventually became a fashion journalist well-known for his sarcastic barbs and quips.

- CNA/sl