The dress Grace Kelly wore in the film 'High Society' on display, one of
a number of dresses from Princess Grace’s wardrobe on exhibition at
London’s Victoria & Albert Museum. (AP Photo/Joel Ryan)
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Grace Kelly: Style Icon, an exhibit featuring dresses worn by Grace Kelly in Hollywood films, during her courtship with Prince Rainier of Monaco and later at official Royal engagements as Princess Grace, opened today at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
The exhibit is divided into three sections – The Actress, The Bride and The Princess – and it showcases over 50 outfits, including dresses she wore in High Society and Rear Window, as well as the green silk draped dress she wore to accept the Best Actress Academy Award for Country Girl in 1955. Interestingly, that was neither the first time Kelly had worn the dress (the first was to the premiere of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window in 1954) nor was it the last (she donned it again for a subsequent Life magazine cover photo shoot).
The show also includes a pink lace and silk taffeta dress that was designed by Oleg Cassini and which she first wore to the 1954 Cannes Film Festival. The dress, one of her favorites, was put into service and photographed on many occasions, including one 1956 photo taken as she and Prince Rainier played a game of charades aboard the SS Constitution en route from New York to Monaco shortly before their marriage.
Various Chanel suits and 35 haute couture gowns from designers Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, Givenchy and Balenciaga are also on display, as is jewelry and other accessories. including the original Hermès “Kelly Bag.”
The infamous purse was so-named after a photograph of Princess Grace using it to cover what is now referred to as “a baby bump” became a celebrity sensation in 1956. The Kelly Bag is now a movie star of sorts in its own right, having been featured in Sex and the City and Le Divorce.
To add context to the items, on loan from Monaco’s Palais Princier, footage of Kelly's film performances, various movie posters and magazines from the period are also included in the exhibition. Jenny Lister, a curator of fashion and textiles at the V&A, offered, “Grace Kelly epitomized the ladylike glamour and sophistication of the 1950s. She epitomized ‘style’ as opposed to ‘fashion’, and her appeal has remained timeless, with women today still emulating her understated chic.”
It is fitting that this date was chosen for the exhibit’s opening, as it was almost exactly 54 years ago that Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier (civilly on April 18, 1956 and religiously on April 19, 1956). Immediately following the marriage, Prince Rainier banned the showing in Monaco of any films in which Kelly was cast, and it is still against the law in Monaco to show her films. Princess Grace died in 1982 from injuries sustained in a car crash that occurred following a stroke.
The couple’s son, Prince Albert II of Monaco, honored his mother at a private premiere of the exhibit on Thurday, noting, "Throughout her life she exuded effortless elegance, whether she was appearing at the most spectacular public occasion or a simple family gathering.”
The V&A exhibition continues through September 26, 2010.
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Comments
What a fun exhibit. I'm sure Grace Kelly's clothes are beautiful- and expensive!
The dress in the picture is so elegantly beautiful - a reflection, I'm sure, of the woman who wore it.
What a wonderful tribute to this classic beauty. I would love to see this exhibit. Wish I could fly off to London! We watched "Rear Window" not too long ago and she was captivating to watch.
She is really my favorite of all...she was so eleagent and beautiful...
Those are clothes I'd love to see - and excerpts of her films too? A real treat.
Rear Window is one of the best movies of all time.
Classy wardrobe coverage of a classy lady..good job.
Cheers..
Interesting article. What a class act.
Awesome exhibit.
She was so elegant.
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