Pixie Skase, widow of controversial businessman Christopher Skase, has died in Melbourne

Tributes have flowed for the one-time queen of Australia’s social set who was married to controversial businessman Christopher Skase.

Pixie and Christopher Skase in 1988.

Pixie Skase, the widow of controversial businessman Christopher Skase, has died.

The one-time queen of Australia’s social set passed away in Melbourne on November 15, aged 83.

Pixie was one of Melbourne’s most glamorous socialites in the ‘80s, known for hosting extravagant parties, her love of large diamonds, her big blonde hair and equally high shoulder pads.

Christopher and Pixie Skase in Queensland in 1987.

Pixie Skase died on Friday.

Pixie’s daughter Amanda Larkins confirmed late Tuesday that her mother had died.

“Our beloved beautiful mother Pixie passed away peacefully on Friday afternoon, the 15th of November,” Larkins posted.

“We have had no words to express our loss, and still don’t. She was greatly loved and leaves a hole in our hearts. Rest in Peace Mum.”

Pixie Skase with her daughter Amanda in 2020.

Born Pixie Dixon in Melbourne in 1941, Skase changed her first name to Joanne in her mid-20s, according to her second husband George Frew in his book Someday I’ll Have Money, but was forever known as Pixie.

Pixie grew up in North Balwyn and was educated at Methodist Ladies College.

Her first husband was Albert Argenti, a restaurateur known for being Melbourne’s famous ‘singing waiter’ in the ‘50s and ‘60s, with whom she had three daughters, Amanda, Felicity and Kate.

She married George Frew, who founded the Commodore hotel chain, in 1970 and the couple had a daughter Alexandra.

Pixie Skase (middle) at the Melbourne Cup in 2016. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis

Pixie Skase with her friend John Graham.

They split in 1975 and she started dating journalist turned businessman Christopher Skase in 1976, who she reportedly met in a South Yarra art gallery.

They married in 1979.

Pixie and Christopher became one of Melbourne’s high flying society couples of the ‘80s as Christopher’s empire grew to include the Hardy Brothers jewellery company, the Mirage resorts in Queensland, Channel 7, the Brisbane Bears Football Club and a failed attempt to buy the MGM movie studio in America.

Then it all fell apart, and Pixie and her husband fled to the Spanish island of Majorca in the early ‘90s after the collapse of Christopher’s Qintex group.

Pixie Skase doing the ironing in her younger years. Picture: Instagram

Pixie Skase was known for her style and fashion sense. Picture: Instagram

He declared himself bankrupt, with personal debts of $170 million and corporate debts of $1.7 billion.

Christopher died in Majorca from stomach cancer in 2001.

Pixie returned to Melbourne permanently from Majorca, in early 2009 and settled into a quiet life away from the spotlight in Toorak surrounded by family.

The once society queen was rarely spotted at public engagements, although was warmly received when she attended the Flemington Birdcage on Melbourne Cup Day in 2016 with friends.

In October 2018 197 items from Pixie’s personal collection including jewellery, scarves, clothing, furniture, CDs, ashtrays, paintings and a Louis Vuitton briefcase with the initials CCS inlaid were sold by auction house Leonard Joel.