Grace Kelly and her magic wardrobe
Subdued sex-siren Grace Kelly always had an eye for the camera, as film clips show. Check her out, holding a white-gloved regal wave for photographers before even setting sail for Monaco. Kelly already had the posture of a princess, which her clothes enhanced.
The dresses tell her story, from a McCall’s homemade blobby number with facile darting (which, nevertheless, captivated Prince Rainier in May 1955) to well, dodgy Marc Bolans from the Seventies in which she still managed to look chic. Note two disappointing absences: the opulent hooped gold ballgown from To Catch a Thief; and her actual wedding dress, stuck in a museum in Philadelphia.
But there are buckets of allure left. Kelly was dressed by two great film designers: Edith Head and Helen Rose. Rose designed her wedding dress and civil-wedding suit. The suit, of nacre lace, mounted on dusty-rose silk, shows the shape Kelly made her own: a bodice fitted to her long, 21-inch waist, and feminine hips. An Edith Head navy chiffon dress stands out: demure but incredibly sexy with its translucent bolero bodice and fine-pleated skirt. This was the type of tailored dress that Kelly set on fire. The coat in which she disembarked in Monaco displays the same aching restraint.
The magic did not always work. One of the world’s greatest designers, Cristóbal Balenciaga, has three pieces. All off-key, they culminate in a baggy suit that would make a bus conductor hurl herself off the platform. Balenciaga retired shortly afterwards. But a pink Maggie Rouff ballgown of stardust and spangles? Weep with desire.
Until September 26. Information: 0844 209 1770 or www.vam.ac.uk
Grace Kelly: Style Icon
V&A
SW7
