Grace Kelly and Edith Head

Yesterday, I finally made it to the "Grace Kelly: Style Icon" exhibition at the Victoria and Albert museum in London. I've been wanting to see this since the beginning of this year, when I read about it in a magazine.
It was a stunning dispaly of the late Princess Grace of Monaco's clothing, spanning her career as an actress and her life as a princess. I think the one dissapointment, certainly one that my mum mentioned to me, was the absence of Kelly's gorgeous taffeta and lace wedding dress (shown below) from her marriage to Prince Rainier in 1956.

Despite this, I think the museum did a commendable job in collecting together such an array of garments. Alongside the clothes themselves, which were in brilliant condition, a selection of Kelly's hats (including the famous 'turban' hats) bags and accessories were also on display.

One of my favourite outfits was the honeymoon ensemble. It was comparatively simple to some of her richer, more colourful pieces, but I felt that this simplicity completely epitomised Kelly. The ensemble consisted of a skirt and fitted jacket in a soft biscuit-coloured wool, with buttons down the front of the jacket and a simple collar. I think I was especially drawn to the elegance of this outfit-the way it emphasised Kelly's tiny waist, and didn't distract from her face or,more importantly, the occasion itself.

Photography was forbidden, much to my annoyance, so for the moment I am making do with the very few images provided in the exhibition programme. I have every intention of buying the book created from the exhibition, but until then, I'm writing from memory!

I have something that, as an aspiring costume designer, is rather embarrasing to admit. Until recently, when I read "Costume Design 101" (for more information, see my previous post), I had never heard of Edith Head, a huge Hollywood costume designer of the early to middle 20th century. Had it not been for La Motte frequently mentioning her in his book, I would have had no idea who she was when I read her name again and again at the Kelly exhibition. But now I'm in the know, thankfully!

 Head designed costumes for Kelly's characters in  Rear Window (1954) and To Catch a Thief (1955), as well as her mint green 'Academy Award' gown in 1954.

The Academy Awards Dress, designed by Edith Head

Image courtesy of minxeveningwear.co.uk

Edith Head and some of her costume sketches.

Image courtesy of hitchcockwiki.com

Kelly and Head clearly had a strong professional relationship. Head was quoted as saying " I have never worked with anybody who had a more intelligent grasp of what we were doing."

One of Head's costumes for Kelly in Rear Window

Head's design for Kelly in To Catch a Thief

Image courtesy of lentecreativo.webs

I would definitely like to research more about Head's career, especially since she worked with one of history's greatest style icons.