Before Sex and the City, there was Helen Gurley Brown and her bestseller Sex and the Single Girl. In 1962, the book caused a nationwide sensation and empowered women to think beyond the traditional confines of “first comes marriage….”

And that was just the beginning. The ever-feisty Helen went on to transform Cosmopolitan magazine and ignite a sexual freedom — her cover lines alone are the stuff of legend. Helen’s mantra: love, sex and money — women can have it all, and should.

We’ll leave the last words to this cultural icon. As Helen said in her biography (and also had embroidered on a pillow), “Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go everywhere.”