I’ve talked abundantly about how my love for style came from watching the icons of the silver screen such as Audrey Hepburn. Today, on what would have been Grace Kelly’s 90th birthday, I’m paying homage to her as another style icon from Hollywood’s golden era who has had major influence on my love for 1950s style. Due to Grace Kelly’s elegant style, her talent, her charm and well, her ‘gracefulness’ amongst other things, history might forever continue to regard her as an inimitable, mythical creature.
Grace Kelly’s iconic outfit in the 1954 classic film, Rear Window was designed by Edith Head.
In case you don’t know about this legend, Grace Kelly was born on November 12th, 1929 in Philadelphia, USA. She had a short-lived, yet powerful Hollywood career that earned her A-list status in the 1950s with a legacy that loomed larger than life. Grace played her first major role as a supporting character in the 1952 classic film, High Noon with Gary Cooper. With several roles in Hitchcock films and alongside other silver screen greats like and James Stewart, Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra in films like Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954), To Catch a Thief (1955) and High Society (1956), it was her performance in The Country Girl (1954) that won her an Oscar in 1955 for Best Actress. Grace Kelly soon went from Hollywood Princess to becoming the Princess of Monaco as she traded film scripts for tiaras when she married Monaco’s Crown Prince Rainier in 1956. She passed away in 1982.
Grace Kelly during her 1955 Academy Award win for Best Actress.
Even though style is very important to me, I’ve always believed that grace is really what makes the person. As we strive to perfect our outward, physical appearance, I believe it's our responsibility to work on ourselves internally, in order to evolve to the best version of ourselves. When I think of the word grace, I think of qualities like courteousness, integrity, goodwill and dignity. From my experience, the hallmark for eliciting positive outcomes in most circumstances comes from having grace. In her life, Grace Kelly appears to have lived up to her name by exuding much grace (and style) in nearly everything she did. And she did it splendidly with grace. And most things she did, she did them gracefully. It appears that grace made that woman.
Grace Kelly’s glamorous, classic style consisted of many ball gowns and formal pieces. So, I decided to pay tribute using a 1950s pink vintage chiffon ball gown I found in a vintage store, four years ago. Grace Kelly was the first thing that came to mind when I spotted this dress. It reminded me of her blue chiffon dress in the film To Catch a Thief.
Grace Kelly’s blue ball gown in To Catch a Thief (1955).
STYLING
In staying true to Grace Kelly style, I simply wore the dress with pearls but ommitted the white gloves.
The Restyle
As a sustainable stylist, I needed to find an alternative way to wear this dress for a different, more casual occasion. This is crucial to reducing textile waste to landfill, as it lets you re-use a garment that might otherwise rarely or never get used again. There are several things I could have done with it but I went the simple route of wearing a denim jacket over a ball gown. The juxtaposition of something so casual as denim with such a formal piece is a marriage that actually worked in this instance.
Styling tip
Try this basic technique of wearing something casual like denim over one of your more formal or dressy pieces to make it casual. You can also try wearing a t-shirt over it or a sleeved, button-down shirt, tied at the front. The intention is to help you get more use out of your clothes so that you look stylish and love your clothes longer. It’s a phenomenal way to make your wardrobe sustainable.
Outfit sourced from:
Pink Vintage Ball Gown: April’s Caravan Vintage Boutique
Denim Jacket: Salvos Stores Op Shop
Nina Gbor’s photography by Brunela Fenalte.