From Country Girl to Princess Grace

Click the image and jump to another reviewOn Sunday I travelled with some friends to Bendigo to see the Grace Kelly: Style Icon exhibition at the Bendigo Art Gallery. It’s been many years since I visited Bendigo last, and I was charmed by the many old buildings – it is such a quaint, though small, country city.

I enjoyed the exhibition very much, although the experience was somewhat marred by my very sore toes. I had elected to wear a new pair of berry red suede 40s style heels in honour of Grace – a big mistake! Preoccupied with this agony, I did not take any notes, so am left only with impressions. It is a shame then that photography was forbidden, even without a flash, and the catalogue was sold out. (The latter didn’t surprise me – it was the same thing when I visited the Valentino exhibition in Brisbane a couple of summers ago.)

One of the exhibition roomsGrace Kelly in High Society, wearing that goddess gown over her bathing suitThe 1950s gowns were absolutely divine, especially the costumes by Helen Rose (who also created two of Grace’s wedding ensembles) for High Society – the goddess gown Grace wore by the pool over her bathing suit in that film was incredibly elegant (right). It was most impressive too, to see how tiny her waist was! (Although if the sartorial education regarding feminine underpinnings many of us have received watching Mad Men is anything to go by, perhaps she was architecturally reinforced underneath?) I only wished the yellow and white floral gown she wore in Rear Window had been part of the exhibition – it’s one of my favourite movie costumes. Though I liked her 60s and 70s gowns less, many of them were flowing couture gowns and still wonderful to see. In the main, she favoured demure, high-necked gowns, and simple, streamlined garments that did not overwhelm her figure. She wanted to be noticed for herself, not her clothes.

Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra dance drunkenly in High SocietyI was really looking forward to the last room, in which many of her accessories were displayed, so I was a bit disappointed to see the kind of hats she favoured: 50s style turbans – not at all the kind of hat that inspires envy in me (I prefer 20s–40s). However, she had a fantastic collection of sunglasses – about 85, if I recall correctly, although they weren’t all on display. I didn’t know that she was shortsighted, and she was not at all precious of her image and shy of wearing glasses, as other actresses were. She thought it preferable to squinting.

Click image and jump to a review from the Toronto leg of the exhibition’s itineraryThere were also many archival photographs and video footage, including some of her own family home movies – which provided insight into her life, and who she was when she was not acting. I managed to sit on a floor cushion to watch these (and rest my pinched feet, thank goodness!). The general consensus of the women around me was that Grace did look genuinely happy about her engagement to Prince Rainier. It was lovely to see how natural and unaffected she was, however, considering her status.

Yes, Grace Kelly was lucky, beautiful and privileged – but how much more elegantly did she live up to her name than many of today’s spoiled society princesses?

~

Since I was unable to photograph the exhibition or purchase a catalogue, I’ve picked out a few photographs of her I think are particularly lovely. Click the images for links and more stories on her.

The exhibition runs until 17 June, but most weekend sessions are sold out. Be quick!

Grace au naturelClick for a link to more archival imagesOne of my favourites: Grace in Jamaica, 1955; ph Howell Connant. Click for a link to more archival images of Grace relaxing on the beach.Grace in Jamaica, 1955; ph Howell Connant.

A Fair Lady

Well, since I was talking about that legendary dress yesterday, here is the one and only Audrey Hepburn, all dressed up for Royal Ascot. She’s in costume for My Fair Lady. The dress I saw in Grandma Take A Trip was white with black polka-dots, and rather shorter, but it possessed something of the lively spirit of this lace gown. (Though I can’t help but shudder at how dirty the hems of ladies’ dresses must have got once upon a time!)

What spectacular costumes Cecil Beaton did create indeed. No wonder in 1964 he won Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.

The First Vamp (in Hollywood, not Transylvania)

Theda Bara dripping with pearlsTheda Bara (1885–1955), an American silent film actress who never made a talkie, was one of cinema’s earliest sex symbols. Her exotic origin as the Egyptian-born daughter of a French actress and an Italian sculptor was entirely fabricated, an aura of mystery and an exotic background being at the time a popular method of promotion.

Her proclivity for wearing very revealing costumes in her films (jewelled pasties were a favourite accessory), eventually – and unsurprisingly – lead her to becoming typecast as the femme fatale. Early on, she had earned herself the nickname of ‘The Vamp’: short for vampire, and slang for a sexually predatory woman. She was even celebrated in songs of the era. Despite the fact that she took her craft seriously, Bara had played too many exotic roles as the vamp that no amount of wholesome heroines and tragic Juliets could eradicate. 

Bara as Cleopatra – only costume stills of this film survive todayAt the height of her fame, Bara was earning $4000 per week – a huge amount of money for the time (and still not bad for now!), and made more than 40 films between 1914 and 1926. Owing to a fire in 1937 at Fox Studios, when most of the studio’s nitrate films of the silent era were destroyed, only six complete prints survive today.

You have to admit though, that those early days of Hollywood in the 20s did produce some pretty fabulous costumes. One can’t blame her for being tempted – or tempting.

Note: thanks to Hannah K at Stuff Nobody Cares About for bringing The Vamp to my attention.

Bara as CleopatraBara as CleopatraBara as Salomé

Theda Bara dressed, as herself, 1916. Image from icollector.com.

What Lies Beneath

This last week I finally got round to watching season four of Mad Men. There were the usual shenanigans to gasp over and gorgeous vintage fashion to make me drool.

In one of the episodes Peggy strips off, and I was amused by her hefty underwear: there was absolutely nothing pretty, dainty or sexy about her brassiere! It was there to lift and separate, and it did the job admirably. In another scene as she sat down on Don’s office couch, one could see the froth of her crinoline peeping out from the hem of her skirt – a sweeter effect.

Peggy, defiant in her underwearPeggy keeps herself nice with a crinoline

…there was absolutely nothing pretty, dainty or sexy about her brassiere!

That’s what this vintage 50s dress of mine needs to make the pleated skirt bell out. I was first attracted to it by its colour – my favourite shade of robin’s egg blue, with a geometric print. I pounced on it in a Sacred Heart Mission op shop last summer; it’s rare to find a dress from this era that is in almost perfect condition in a Melbourne charity shop. I dressed it up with pretty patent heels that have a little bow on the back of the heel; bright red lipstick (‘Raven Red’ by Revlon); and a French roll (I can do them again now my hair’s shorter).

A man at work glimpsed me loitering by the laser printer, and exclaimed, “You look just like you stepped off the set of Mad Men!” I smiled at the intended compliment, but it’s never my aim to look like I’m wearing a costume. However, a nipped in waist and full skirt will always recall Dior’s New Look, and even more so these days with the popularity of the said TV show.

Of course, I could accessorise the dress differently to negate this effect (being careful not to look like an ‘80s does 50s’ rendition), but these proportions do look right just as they are. 

Image note: the yellow kitchen belongs to the hostel Barcelona Rooms, where I stayed in Barcelona in early June.

Grace in a Golden Dress

Ceil Chapman dress from Etsy store BabesinVintageland One of my long-time favourite Hitchcock movies is Rear Window. I have always found it so fascinating, watching with James Stewart the minutiae of all his neighbour’s lives, and the fact that all the action takes place in Stewart’s apartment. Of course Grace Kelly is also mesmerising.

Out of all her costumes in the film, I particularly love the golden yellow flower print dress. It reminds me of the golden wattle blossom, Australia’s official national floral emblem, and of glorious spring and summer days when the trees blooms.

Grace Kelly’s costumes were designed by the wonderfully talented Edith Head. Last year some of the original sketches, including one of this very dress, were sold at auction at Christie’s. The sketch (right) shows her carrying a straw sunhat, although it is not seen in the film. The expected price was £5,000–£7,000!

I often search on Etsy for vintage dresses like it, and was thrilled one day to actually find one. But my hopes were dashed when I saw that the dress was much tinier than I am (sans squishifying elastic girdles!). Someone else has since purchased this gorgeous 1950s Ceil Chapman dress. As for me, I must dream of finding another bigger one.