Fashionista ‘Suicide Diary’ Barred Five ‘Frenemies’ From Funeral

The “fashionista suicide” yesterday on the George Washington Bridge, during which 22-year-old Ashley Riggitano took her own life, has prompted review of the extensive writings the young fashion maven left behind ahead of her death.

Riggitano’s “fashionista suicide” has caused a stir due to the legacy of insults and arguing left in her wake visible via places like Facebook. The New Jersey native left behind a suicide “diary” in “girlish cursive,” blaming five other women for driving her to the decision to commit suicide.

The “fashionista suicide” has rocked the social web, and the New York Post published some alleged exchanges with a few of the women named by Riggitano in her writings. In one, a former friend and business associate appears to urge Ashley to harm herself, detailing alleged mental health issues and goading her to end her life.

Identifying the women as Alison Tinari, Teresa Castaldo, Beth Bassil, Victoria Van Thunen, and Samantha Horneff, the Post quotes Tinari:

“Go try to kill yourself on Xanax again, you unstable loser. Go f*** yourself and never speak to me again.”

The paper goes on to explain:

“Van Thunen was Riggitano’s business partner at Missfits, a jewelry-design business. Castaldo and Bassil were classmates at Midtown’s Laboratory Institute of Merchandising, and Horneff was a friend from New Jersey.”

In her note before the fashionista’s suicide, Riggitano wrote that “to any funeral, these people should not be allowed based upon words and actions.” Prior to the incident, Van Thunen is said to have Facebooked:

“Those who incessantly blame others as the cause of their issues should perhaps take a step back and re-evaluate these situations … The common thread may be that ‘they’ aren’t the problem, but rather that YOU are.”

However, Tinari denies even knowing Riggitano before the fashionista’s suicide and explains:

“She harassed me on Facebook. I’m not her friend. She private- messaged me. She sent me messages on January 8 and 9, and I said some things. I told her she needs to leave me alone … The only thing I’m ashamed of is what I said about her overdosing on Xanax. I shouldn’t have said that.”

In postings, Riggitano references the suicide death of Tyler Clementi back in 2010 after he leapt from the same bridge.

As police piece together the fashionista’s suicide, her associates and former friends describe Riggitano as talented but erratic and occasionally not stable.