HE CHRISTENED Camilla Parker Bowles the Duchess of Dowdy, said Sharon Stone looked like an “over-the-hill Cruella de Vil” and once described Mariah Carey as “shrink-wrapped cheesecake”.

So A-listers the world over may be breathing a little easier as they scan the rails of their walk-in wardrobes because fashion’s most cutting critic, the notorious Mr Blackwell, headed off to the great red carpet in the sky on Sunday, aged 86.

For those unfamiliar with this mysterious sounding man, Mr Blackwell, as he was succinctly known, struck fear into the hearts of stars and stylists for almost 50 years with his annual worst-dressed lists.

And no wonder.

He said of Bjork “she dances in the dark – and dresses there, too”, while Cameron Diaz was accused of “looking like she was dressed by a colourblind circus clown.”

Born Richard Sylvan Seltzer in Brooklyn, in younger years Richard had dreams of making it as a film star and moved to Hollywood where he adopted the name Richard Blackwell – although, for his lists, he would only ever be referred to as Mr Blackwell.

When Hollywood didn’t work out, he opened a dress store with his lifetime partner Robert Spencer. In 1960, a writer asked Richard for his best and worst- dressed celebrities that year. Overnight, Mr Blackwell was born.

In the early days, so popular were Mr Blackwell’s annual lists that the fashion pack would flock to his LA mansion to hear the names read out in person.

Mr Blackwell was afraid of no-one. He even had the nerve to lambast the woman who would go on to become our Queen of Hearts, saying of the newly-married Princess Diana (who topped his 1982 list), that she had gone from a “very young, independent, fresh look” to a “tacky, dowdy” style. Although she would later secure a place on his other annual list, that of “Fabulous Fashion Independents”.

Despite his biting commentary, Mr Blackwell always resisted claims of meanness, saying he admired the talent of the women he criticised, but declaring that there was no excuse for some of their crimes against fashion.

In his last list, printed at the start of this year, he let Britney Spears off the fashion hook, saying he felt it inappropriate “to make a comment when her personal life is in such upheaval”.

Comedian Joan Rivers, herself now renowned for putting celebrity wardrobes through the wringer, told a New York paper this week: “How sad that he died because Bjork and Jennifer Lopez will no longer know which of their gowns they should donate to Goodwill.

“It also goes without saying, that he will be the best-dressed body of the season.”