Grace Kelly was fashion thrifty

Grace Kelly was thrifty with her approach to her clothes - apparently. She's also a huge movie style icon of mine. I have written about her previously here and her modern influence here.

In a recent newspaper article, her wardrobe mistress from Monaco, Maryel Giraden speaks of her as beautiful and stylish but frugal with her fashion. She would often re-wear favourites, get them altered or get a Ms Giraden to whip up a Vogue pattern she fancied. On the day she tragically plunged off the cliff on the Cote D'Azur, she was taking clothes to be altered and reworked for the next season's wardrobe.

One piece of Kelly fashion history that has captured my imagination was the dress she wore to her first meeting with her future husband, the Prince. It was 1955, Kelly was in the middle of a hectic trip to the Cannes Film Festival and the hotel electricity had gone out. With no way to iron an outfit, she pulled out the least crushed dress, a long sleeved floral silk taffeta dress inspired by a "easy to sew" McCall pattern from a pattern book. The fabric featured splashes of pink, yellow and white flowers on a black background.

Excerpt from "Grace Kelly Style"

Her hair was pulled back (no blow dry possible) and finished with a  floral headpiece. The effect was stunning and and the rest (as they say) is history....

Do you have any style or fashion icons? What do you think of the dress?