A glimpse into the gilded world of Brooke Astor

Taking a spin on the dance floor at your 100th birthday — in custom Oscar de la Renta, no less — certainly seems to be the mark of a life fully lived. This was certainly the case with philanthropist and style icon Brooke Astor, whose personal collection of jewelry and decorative art, amassed on jaunts to points exotic around the world, goes up for auction September 24 and 25 at Sotheby’s New York. Standing amidst this incredibly well curated collection — taken from her Park Avenue duplex and country home in Westchester — you can almost imagine what it would be like to recline on a chintz couch, with a glass of wine in hand, at one of Astor’s elegant dinners, alongside the likes of Henry Kissinger, Bill Clinton and Barbara Walters.