But this summer, visiting women of style shouldn’t limit themselves to the high-end department stores that usually occupy their daily routines.
Instead, London offers a better alternative — something more glamorous than an Elie Saab evening gown and more exclusive than a Hermes crocodile Birkin.
Until Sept. 26, the Victoria & Albert Museum, only a two minute walk from Harrods, is showing one its most popular exhibitions: Grace Kelly: Style Icon.
Sponsored by the High Jewelry House of Van Cleef & Arpels, the exhibition is a fashionsta’s interactive guide on how to dress in elegance and classic style.
Ladies can now admire, while also secretly envying, the Princess of Monaco’s numerous Christian Dior suits and Yves Saint Laurent gowns.
As one of the most photographed women of the 20th century, the exhibition traces Grace Kelly’s life in front of the camera and dissects it into three segments: The Actress, The Bride and The Princess.
Kelly (1929-82) had the fairytale life young girls only dream of. You know the one. Average girl and aspiring actress from Philadelphia moves to New York to become an Oscar-winning Hollywood actress, only to later marry a prince to become the Princess of Monaco.
Grace Kelly stole the imagination of ladies from both sides of the Atlantic and as a result, she became an enduring icon. Yet it was her elegant and accessible style that made her a style icon.
The exhibition follows the evolution of her style as she went from American actress to European royalty.
Her years as a model gave her the instincts to make the most of her film costumes and self-awareness on how she looked to others. She also possessed a practical approach to beauty and readily admitted to doing her own hair and nails off screen, according to the exhibition.
From 1951 to 1956, she made 11 films, from High Noon with Gary Cooper to High Society.
Many of the wardrobes from her films are on display, making the exhibition not only a fashion lover’s heaven, but a film buff’s too. Grace formed everlasting relationships with her directors and especially costume designers.
She even had Helen Rose, chief costume designer for MGM Studios, design her wedding dresses when she married Prince Rainer III of Monaco.
Her relationship with Paramount chief designer Edith Head was also very close. Head created the famous ensembles seen in Hitchcock classics.
Yet unlike her character in Rear Window, to which co-star John Stewart remarks, “You never wear the same dress twice,” Kelly did.
In fact, the famous Edith Head icy blue-green ensemble she wore to the 1955 Academy Awards (where which she won the Best Actress award for her role in The Country Girl) was also previously worn for the film’s premiere and later, on the cover of LIFE magazine.
This type of economical dressing is unheard of these days, but Kelly’s love of her favorites is what makes the exhibition possible.
“I just buy clothes when they take my eye, and I wear them for years,” said Kelly in an interview in 1956.
Kelly’s American shirtwaist dresses and casual shirt and trouser ensembles became known as the “Grace Kelly Look,” by retailers and was emulated by women all over. This understated, simple chic, off-screen look was juxtaposed to her wardrobe as a future princess bride.
Kelly’s influence on the fashion scene only intensified. Unmatched coverage of the actress amplified her impact through the numerous black and white and colored published photos.
For her trousseau, Kelly chose garments from 40 of America’s top designers and ordered from boutiques in Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia. This helped boost American fashion in Europe and many European designers even began to adopt more simplified and casual looks on the Riviera.
Kelly often sported the Hermès haut à courroies handbag that would later become known as the “Kelly” bag. She was often photographed holding one at the Cannes Film Festival, her engagement announcement in Philadelphia, on her departure from New York, during her pre-wedding festivities in Monaco and on her honeymoon.
By 1960 she was a status symbol and due to the publicity the price and length of the waiting list to snatch one of these coveted bags increased with the years. As a princess, she donned lavish gowns by a young Cristóbal Balenciaga, Marc Bohan for Christian Dior and Lanvin that still retained her minimal aesthetic she had so widely popularized in the past decade.
As she got older, her taste only became more refined and glamorous. On display is Yves Saint Laurent’s revolutionary shift dress from his autumn/winter 1965 ‘Mondrian’ collection, which the princess wore as host for the annual Christmas party for children at the Princely Palace of Monaco.
As the V&A explains, this exhibition examines Kelly’s enduring appeal as a style icon — a title that is unjustly given to soccer wives and reality stars.
Instead, she receives this well-deserved title though the inclusion of surviving pieces, such as her film costumes, the much-publicized dresses made for her trousseau and wedding, and the French haute couture — a different kind of costume — that she required for her subsequent role as Princess of Monaco.
It should be noted that due to the popularity of the exhibition, the congestion of visitors makes it rather hard to see the fine detailing of her Helen Rose gowns, and difficult to enjoy the film footage projected on the walls. It is highly recommended that tickets be booked in advanced and during off-peak times.
Grace Kelly: Style Icon, at the V&A Museum to Sept 26, admission £6 (£4 concession). Book your tickets at
