Again at the V&A, Grace Kelly Style Icon as the title suggests, traces her journey from actress, bride, princess to fully fledged icon by focusing on Kelly’s style with dresses, jewellery, hats and bags that made up her legendary look. Like Kelly herself, the exhibition is very well put together. There is some great film footage of scenes of her with Gary Cooper and Frank Sinatra, you can see more of her on Pathé of her early days as a model before her film career had really taken off.
The exhibition is very much about what she represented and her persona as opposed to just a series of garments. It makes you wonder about the meshing of her real personality with her starring roles and question which was more influential on how she dressed. Was Kelly’s style molded by Hitchcock and wardrobe designer Edith Head (after all, the studio even made Kelly’s wedding dress and honeymoon outfit), or was this Kelly’s natural look and they created the costumes and characters to match? Either way, the result was effortless and enduring – a style that was simple, understated and elegant, which she seemed to exude in her acting as well as her off-screen presence.
Very GK.
There are a few unexpected pieces to be seen. I loved the black floral dress (wearing pattern was untypical of Kelly) this is the dress she wore to the Cannes festival and on her meeting with Prince Rainer.
