Posing in fox fur and white gloves, decked out in ostrich hat and broad smile in her salon, Gloria G. Giddens was a picture of refinement.

A stylish, social figure who owned two beauty salons in the Hill District, Ms. Giddens was one of the first black women to graduate from a previously all-white finishing and modeling school.

She died of cancer at UPMC South Side on Friday. She was 81.

"It's no telling how far she could have gone as a model if she lived in a different time," said her niece, Marsha Lambria of Stanton Heights, who grew up trying on her aunt's shoes and furs.

"When she entered a room, she took it. You could not help but turn and look at her."

For more than a decade, Ms. Giddens was photographed by Charles "Teenie" Harris, the Pittsburgh Courier photographer whose work chronicled the often hidden social life of Pittsburgh blacks.

Whether photographed at Green Links Golf Club, where she was a member, or posing at the Beauty Shop Owners Association annual fashion show, she was one of Mr. Harris' most glamorous figures.

She regularly graced the newspaper's society pages.

Ms. Lambria said her aunt sponsored charm schools for black girls at the Hill District YMCA and served as an exemplary role model and mentor to countless young people. She taught young girls the foundation of etiquette.

She advised and helped develop a proposal to put cosmetology into the Pittsburgh Public Schools.

On Centre Avenue, one of Ms. Giddens' shops was next door to Mr. Harris' photo studio. As she blossomed as a model, he grew as a photographer. Their careers intertwined and they became good friends.

She was recognized as one of the premier black fashion models in the city and often was featured in the Courier as one of the city's best-dressed women.

Ms. Giddens was born in the Hill District to the former Eula P. Shaw and Jessie W. Golden.

The oldest of five children, she attended Watt Street Elementary School and Herron Hill Junior High. By the time she graduated from Schenley High School in 1944, she had already begun pursuing her lifelong career in the beauty and cosmetics industry.

In her final semester at Schenley, she was also enrolled in Ella-Rene Beauty School, where, in August 1944, she was licensed by the state as a cosmetologist. In 1951, she graduated from the Earl Wheeler Finishing and Modeling School, helping to "open the door" for other black women and girls.

In 1965, she earned a certificate after completing a two-year business course at Duquesne University.

As a girl and young woman, Ms. Giddens loved going to Wesley Center African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church on Centre Avenue.

She enjoyed horseback riding, golf and other sporting activities, and it was during her school years and later that she became a skilled softball player, on a team that competed around the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.

Ms. Giddens was ambitious. Jazz men Walt Harper and Stanley Turrentine were among her friends. She hobnobbed with the owners of the Crawford Grill and the Hurricane Club.

In 1955, she opened the first and only wig salon for blacks in the Hill District. It was her second shop on Centre Avenue. She expanded both stores to include a clothing boutique and a line of beauty and cosmetic products she developed.

In her salons, employees wore crisp white uniforms and had pressed hair. Regardless of their social standing, everybody was treated with respect in "Goldie's" shops, said her only surviving sibling, Lovelle Golden of Fort Washington, Md. Sixteen years his sister's junior, he mopped floors in her shops to earn money for college.

She also is survived by a special friend and companion, Andrew Laurie of Pittsburgh.

Visitation is today from 6 to 8 p.m. at White Memorial Chapel, 7204 Thomas Blvd., Point Breeze, with the funeral tomorrow at 11 a.m. at Wesley Center A.M.E. Zion Church, 2701 Centre Ave., Hill District. Interment follows at Allegheny Cemetery.