There could be a television show based on the life of Nancy Goldman. Born in 1945 in the mill town of Mooresville, North Carolina, Goldman and her family moved to Minneapolis to follow her mother’s aspiration of becoming an x-ray technician. Described by Goldman as a “dynamite little lady,” her mother found the area boring and soon thereafter they set out for a more mesmerizing metropolis—Washington, D.C. Here Goldman immediately enrolled in modeling school. It didn't take a keen eye to witness her beauty, which glows both inside and out. Soon she won Miss Teen District of Columbia, and in 1965 she went on to earn the title of Miss District of Columbia. Her career was off to an enviable start.

She spontaneously dropped into the Woodward & Lothrop department store to see if they were looking for any models. To Nancy’s luck, she was fitted and sized immediately for her first fashion show. From there the coquettish starlet with white-blonde hair and smoldering blue eyes earned spots in everything from teen ads for the local papers to Seventeen Magazine. She joined the Models Guild, Inc. and began balancing her busy schedule of working with famous fashion designers Betsy Johnson and Emilio Pucci. Her work, and her marriage to a foreign film and art distributor, gave Goldman the opportunity to travel around the world to more than 20 countries.

Goldman and her husband eventually settled in North Myrtle Beach as year-round residents when she gave the life of modeling a backseat to her two children, whom she adores. Though it is easy to be impressed by her closet full of Yves Saint Laurent, Versace and Moschino clothes or her exquisite Manolo Blahnik shoe collection, it is her positive outlook on life and the opportunities she has been given that make her the kind of woman you just want to be around. In the meantime, you will find Goldman cruising in her hot pink golf cart, blasting Justin Bieber with her adopted dogs riding shotgun and thinking to herself, "I should have been an actress."

What fashion designer do you most covet?
Well, of course, Coco Chanel. She is the epitome of fashion, but currently the designs have become a little bizarre for my taste. So, Giorgio Armani is conservative and tailored beautifully. I like classic, clean cuts. Where am I going to wear a tweed Chanel suit around here anyway?

How do you stay illuminated in fashion?
Watching award shows and looking into my own archives. I have saved everything. The labels vary from Courrèges to Jean Paul Gaultier. It’s like a fashion museum. I love shoes and handbags the most, but you won't catch me in high heels today. Those days are gone.

What does style mean to you?
Style is personal and unique to the person. I know what I am going to look good in and so I wear it. It is very individual. Not trendy. I love black and wear it all the time—of course, with beautiful jewelry. No one has to guess who I am. They know it’s me—Nancy.

What is your most coveted fashion accessory?
The Bulgari necklace I am wearing now. I exercise in it, sleep in it and shower in it. It goes where I go and I love it very much. It has become a part of me.

Who is your favorite designer?
I had the great opportunity of working with Emilio Pucci and everything he did was so grand. I was able to stay at his chateau in Florence, Italy, and that was a scene you do not just forget.