Amazing Grace

 Very rarely does an icon come under all three categories, but with Grace Kelly, an exception was made.

The epitome of beauty, elegance and sophistication came in the form of Grace Patricia Kelly. Born on 12^th November 1929, she grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with rich and successful father, Jack, a Pennsylvanian business man, and her disciplinarian mother Margaret, a driven and down to earth woman who raised Grace to remain modest and unpretentious, regardless of their wealth. From a young age, Grace aspired to become an actress, later attending a drama academy in New York.

Her career was launched as a stage actress, where she would act in productions on Broadway, predominantly playing smaller, supporting roles. However, her effortless beauty and involuntary sex appeal caught the eye of many a Hollywood director and she was soon approached to work on the big screen. Her debut film ‘14 hours’ saw her play another minor role, however her part in her following film, ‘High Noon’, firmly began to pave the way for her success. She was fast becoming the talking point of the film industry, catching the eye of the renowned director, Alfred Hitchcock. He, like most Hollywood directors at the time, were attracted to and intrigued by her natural elegance and subtle sex appeal, and he soon had pruned her into a beautiful, blonde, sophisticated film star.

Winning a Golden Globe award for ‘Best Supporting Actress’ for her role in the film ‘Mogambo’, Grace was, from then on, no stranger to the public eye. She attended the event in a pale-blue gown designed by costume designer, Edith Head, accessorising it with rosebuds placed in her hair.  Following this, she appeared in 12 films in the space of 5 years, playing roles which were sensuous, emulating both sophistication and sexiness. She turned heads with the outfits that she wore both on-screen and off, and fans attempted to copy her immaculate grooming and sense of style. Working closely with Edith Head through many of her films, Grace knew how to wear her clothes correctly, suiting the characters she played and pulling off ultimate glamour. Head once stated, ‘I have never worked with anyone who had a more intelligent grasp of what we were doing’. Cinema-goers would watch her in roles such as in ‘Rear Window’, where she played a fashion model, wearing a pale green suit, an unfitted jacket with a white halter-neck blouse underneath, a belt, a veiled hat and gloves – she was the definition of chic. ‘The thing that made her stand out is what we call ‘style’’, wrote McCall’s Magazine in 1955.

When it was announced worldwide that Grace Kelly was to marry the Prince of Monaco, her face appeared everywhere, increasing the world’s awareness of her. Her wedding dress was designed by Helen Rose, and was the most expensive dress she had ever created. Much like Prince William and Katherine’s wedding earlier this year, the event was highly publicised and the dress was a mammoth talking point; it featured a rounded collar, a full skirt of ivory ‘peau de soie’, a 3ft train and a fitted bodice made from Brussels lace, embroidered with seed pearls. The lace was rumoured to be over 100 years old, and displayed intricate floral patterns over it. The wedding was given coverage across the world and Grace Kelly was standing out as one of the world’s most favourite style icons.

Considering her circumstances, Grace lived as normal a family life as possible. Happily married to Prince Rainier, she was now known as ‘Her Serene Highness, Princess Grace of Monaco’, and she raised 3 children: Caroline, Albert and Stephanie. Although keeping her private life very secret from the media, Grace was watched intently by the paparazzi. Her ‘riviera’ style, shown in photos from her many vacations, still influence holiday-goers to this day. Everyday clothes which she adorned were admired and emulated by her fans – she was photographed on her honeymoon with a giant tote handbag, resulting in thousands of copies of that very same bag being made just days later. In the year following, Grace fell pregnant and by trying to cover her ‘baby-bump’ with a Hermés saddlebag, she had created a commodity in the fashion world, which from then on named this saddlebag as ‘The Kelly Bag’. To this day the bag is rumoured to have one of the world’s longest waiting lists to purchase, the cheapest bag selling for at least £5000.

Regardless of her immense fame and fortune, Grace was always sentimental about her clothes; she was known to rarely throw out old garments, associating them with her fondest of memories. Whilst she grew older, Grace remained faithful to a classic, streamlined style, never wearing controversial, expressive or overly artistic clothes. She adapted her style to the changing shape of the 60s and 70s, projecting to the public a forever suave look with fine jewellery and elaborate hair, continuing throughout her life to look intelligent and classy.

Similar to former icons of the past, Grace tragically died of a stroke after a car crash in Monaco in 1982, at just 52 years old. Her death was hugely mourned across the world, particularly in the fashion and film industries; the world had lost one its most-loved style icons.

Nevertheless, the world has not forgotten her. In 2007, Saks Fifth Av. dedicated a month-long tribute to Grace herself, honing in designers such as Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera, Ralph Lauren, Zac Posen, Ralph Rucci and Vera Wang, who all recreated her most iconic looks for the display. ‘Grace Kelly had an undeniable influence on fashion and she arguably continues to be an important fashion icon of our time’, says the Fashion Director of Saks, Michael Fink. In addition to this, in the summer of this year, the campaign for Dior’s ‘J’adore’ fragrance featured a short film with the leading lady Charlize Theron, as well as stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich and Grace Kelly herself.

Almost 30 years after her death, Grace Kelly has remained as influential as she ever was. She brought a fresh type of natural glamour to the industry, never stooping to the sleaze or sex appeal that many women of her era would turn to. She would wear skirts below the knee with nipped-in waists and covered-up, broad shoulders, as opposed to the very sexual attire of Marilyn Monroe. She was a starlet of the Golden Era and one of the most photographed women of the 20^th century, never failing throughout her life to entice the media and the public with her beauty, elegance and modest demeanour.

She showed the world that women could look intelligent, as well as classy and beautiful, wearing clothes which express character and ooze sophistication. Forever demure, yet majestic, Grace Kelly will remain one of the world’s most beautiful, most elegant and most influential style icons ever to grace the fashion industry.

Written by Heather Barras