'Bobby from Boston' Dies at 66

Boston, MA - Robert C. Garnett III was more commonly called Bobby Garnett, widely known as "Bobby from Boston" and, to others, simply "Bert."

He was the man behind long-running South End Vintage Shop Bobby from Boston, which outfitted stars in period films from "Walk the Line" to "The Aviator."

Garnett died Thursday at age 66 of end stage renal disease, The Boston Globe reports.

In a Facebook tribute, New York fashion designer Ellen Christine, of Ellen Christine Couture, recalled her mentor and friend.

"Bobby had the eye," she wrote Monday. "He was one of the main influencers in my design career, and he was the main reason I'm a milliner. Because of Bert, I took apart 350 vintage hats he had bought in a gargantuan estate, and put them all back together. They were such sad little things all squashed and dusty, I just had to. Bobby inculcated bright young minds and out-of-the-box fashion folk. His influence on the world of this industry we all know is something remarkable. Most of the main designers today, not just in America, came to his warehouses for inspiration and samples. He provided fixtures, furnishings and ideas for all and sundry.

"Although his physical presence has been removed, his spirit and his jocular, energetic self will live on in all of our hearts and minds forever."

His eye for fashion is remembered in many posts to his memorial page and in the many remembrances scattered across social media -- but mentioned just as often is Garnett's smile, his "crazy laugh" and his charm.

A memorial celebration is planned in July, according to Garnett's memorial page from Roxbury's Davis Funeral Home. A family visitation will be held Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Davis Funeral Home, 89 Walnut Ave.

>> Photo via Davis Funeral Home