Grace Kelly - Style Icon Exhibit

There are some people in the world who I find just so beautiful that I just can't help but stare (it's so rude and Asian!), amazed by their luck in the gene pool.  That is how I feel when I look at photos of a young Grace Kelly.  I just think she is simply stunning, stunning, stunning.  Some say she looks icy cool but I think she epitomises classical beauty.

I first saw pictures of Grace Kelly when I was aged 7.  Having exhausted my kiddie reading options, I started scouring Ma's Women's Weekly magazine.  (You see, my parents didn't really supervise my reading habits).  I had no idea who she was and to my 7 year old eyes, Grace was just a middle-aged lady with upswept hair standing in a royal palace somewhere in Europe.  However, she sure had presence in those photos and her image stuck in my head.  It was a few years later after watching a documentary about her death that I realised Princess Grace and Grace Kelly were one and the same.  (You see, my parents didn't really supervise my TV watching either).

When I saw posters on tube advertising the Grace Kelly: Style Icon exhibit at the V&A, I thought 'Yay! Pretty dresses!  I'm going to see that!'.  Admittedly, I've never seen any of her films but that shouldn't keep me apart from seeing pretty dresses.  After sleeping in to noon for the past few days, I managed to haul myself out of bed at the ungodly hour of 9am and arrive at the V&A at 10.30am.  I didn't bother pre-booking my ticket - I was just gonna fight the queue.  I figured I would need to get there early enough to avoid the flock of Ladies Who Lunch who like myself (for now), had the day to do whatever takes their fancy.  Being a Lady of Leisure in London sure is a tough life.

Seeing an exhibit alone has it perks.  The three ladies in front of me weren't allowed to enter for another hour due to crowd control, but me, all lonesome me was allowed in immediately because I would obviously take up less space.  Hehehehe..

Unfortunately, only one particular dress located at the entrance of exhibit was allowed to be photographed.  But even if I could take photos, they would probably turn out crap anyway.

The pink lace and silk taffeta dress which Grace Kelly wore a few times.  You can see her wearing it here.  It looks like a Prom Queen disaster but Grace manages to pull it off. 

The exhibit displays her dresses chronologically and the first thing I noticed is she had the TINIEST waist and was surprisingly a bit flat chested.  Not a criticism by any means, but in combination with her statuesque height, I guess clothes would look understated and elegant rather than flauntingly sexy.

Also for someone who could have bought an outfit for every occasion, she was known for wearing her favourite outfits repeatedly.  Well we could all relate to that, can't we?  Included in the display is also the famous Hermes Kelly bag.  It was a little worn as you'd expect and not very big but wow, I was looking at THE Kelly Bag!

As she got older, her minimalist style did not waver and while may not have been the trendsetter (avoiding the miniskirt rage), she kept to what worked for her and what she was comfortable.  The tell-tale signs of ageing were apparent in her facial features but it was all just 'graceful' ageing.  This is how all women should age and not down the plastic fantastic route.

For anyone interested in the Grace Kelly exhibit, tickets are £6 a pop and it runs until September.  For the accompanying book you can either buy it at the V&A or you be the thrift like Grace and get it cheaper on Amazon.  I might just get myself one.

As a side note, I wandered around other parts of the V&A and spotted the following:

A Juicy Couture velour tracksuit (wtf) and Princess Diana's Elvis dress.  Totally unexpected.