Grace Kelly with her Academy Award for Country Girl (March 30 1955). © Everett Collection/Rex features. Courtesy Victoria and Albert Museum
Exhibition: Grace Kelly: Style Icon, Fashion, Room 40, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, until September 26 2010
"It’s wonderful that this exhibition has come to the home of fashion," says curator Jenny Lister. Thanks to the fact that Grace Kelly looked after her clothes like old friends, the museum is able to showcase a fabulous array of pieces she wore as an actress, bride to Prince Rainier and later as Princess Grace of Monaco.
Kelly's undisputed title as style icon is fully reaffirmed through the collection of stunning yet simple outfits she wore, alongside archive footage showing the media frenzy surrounding her time as an actress and marriage into the Monegasque royal family.
She claimed she had to choose "simple clothes" because "when I wear anything dramatic I seem to get lost," and the outfits Kelly chose showcased her beauty perfectly, creating a look thousands of women around the world yearned to emulate.
Highlights from dresses worn during her acting career include the number she picked when she won the best actress Oscar for the Country Girl. Lister's favourite is a dress from High Society that she wore to dance with Frank Sinatra.
Kelly's ability to look regal in the simplest of outfits is epitomised by a dress she wore in her early courtship of Prince Rainier. The paper pattern dress she had modelled for a McCall's Pattern Book could have been knocked up by anyone with the ability to sew, but looks considerably more exclusive on Kelly.
Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco (1956). © Snap/Rex features. Courtesy Victoria and Albert Museum
As Kelly prepared for her marriage to Prince Rainier and subsequent move to Monaco, she began the grand task of assembling the wardrobe she would take with her.
She more than fulfilled this task, arriving with more than 60 pieces of luggage, but was criticised when she gingerly stepped off the boat in Monaco, Prince in one hand and poodle in the other, for wearing a wide brimmed hat which obscured her face. Taking this on board, later appearances featured considerably smaller millinery and higher heels, giving the crowds what they wanted.
Lister has accessorised the dress displays with some carefully chosen accessories such as the eponymous Kelly bag, named in honour of the Princess by French fashion house Hermes, and a dazzling display of elegant jewellery supplied by Van Cleef and Arpels.
She made no secret of the fact that she wore glasses, and some from her collection include a spectacularly large pair of Christian Dior tortoiseshell sunglasses that would have made Jackie O green with envy.
Kelly's enduring sense of style put her at the top of her game throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, when she was still featuring as a Vogue cover girl. One of the later pieces in the collection, a simple flowing column in jersey by Madame Grés, complimented her height and classical beauty perfectly, echoing a Goddess-style white gown she wore in High Society.
"My mother treasured her clothes and would have been delighted to have them exhibited at the V and A," says Prince Albert, Kelly's son. "Throughout her life she exuded effortless elegance, whether she was appearing at the most spectacular public occasion or a simple family gathering."
Kelly's modern day fairytale was cut short when her car plunged off a mountain road in September 1982, but she leaves behind a timeless image of beauty and a lesson in simple yet elegant style.
Programme of events accompanies show, view full listings online for details.
Open 10am-5.30pm (9.30pm Friday). Tickets £4-£7.40 (family ticket £10-£18.70). Call 0844 209 1770 or book online.
