May, 29th, 2012

Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco

Princess Grace was true to the classic style by using beautiful fabrics, and tried to keep things simple. That was her natural inclination. She didn’t lead fashion, she followed it.

Princess Kelly was nevertheless committed to her fashion beliefs. Working with the actress in the 1950s, Alfred Hitchcock — who had notoriously rigid ideas of how he wanted his actors to appear on-screen — was persuaded to accommodate Kelly’s sensibility, collaborating with the star and with famed designed Edith Head to create costumes for his “Dial M For Murder” and “Rear Window”.

As Princess Grace, Kelly achieved a more formal, European sensibility, favoring French couturiers like Balenciaga and Chanel. A famous image of her with kindred sartorial spirit Jackie Kennedy suggests that as Americans were becoming more relaxed with their fashion, Kelly was going in the opposite direction. In the photo, the actress wears a narrow green suit — a nod to 1960s styles — and a hat, a demure accessory that the First Lady skipped. As a princess, Kelly also took an interest in fine jewelry and ornate tiaras.

When it came to her extensive wardrobe, Kelly was known to re-wear ensembles for public occasions. She cared for them very carefully, talked about how she treated them as old friends and was almost sentimental about them. She wore the same dress to the premiere of Rear Window as she did to the Oscars. She didn’t mind too much as she wanted to get good value out of things. Fortunately for us, Kelly’s clothes were preserved long after in her death in 1982, when she lost control of her automobile and crashed. Her daughter, Princess Stéphanie, was in the car with her, and survived the accident.

Charlotte Marie Pomeline Casiraghi, fourth in line to the throne of Monaco is the deign icon-à-la-mode héritière of her grand late grandmother the late Princess Grace of Monaco. La nouvelle égérie de Gucci was named after her paternal great-grandmother, Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois.

The Grimaldi have been for seven centuries fashion able. The story will continue.

Gracefully.

L’Éditor.

http://www.visitmonaco.com