Column: Grace Kelly-inspired film to feature her signature style

Flip a coin between Hollywood starlet and French princess, and either way you have Grace Kelly. She’s the epitome of what every young lady aspires to be as a child and she did it all with grace.

She’s still who I aspire to be as a woman, not only for her poise and personality, but her timeless style. Costume designer Claire Chanat, a fashion icon, will recreate the lustrous wardrobe of the princess for director Olivier Dahan’s “Grace of Monaco.”

The film casts Nicole Kidman as the late Grace Kelly. It’s a story that sounds like it should start with “once upon a time” and end with “happily ever after.”

Born in Philadelphia in 1929, the young Kelly was an aspiring actress who started her career in New York and eventually moved to Hollywood to star in motion
pictures.

She appeared in her first film at the age of 22, and by age 25 she received an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Georgie Elgin in “The Country Girl.” She accepted the award in an ice-green dress with long silk gloves.

However, later that year, she would elect to leave the red carpet for a royal one, wearing a wedding gown by Helen Rose to marry Prince Rainier III of Monaco.

Though both dresses are almost as remembered as her, Kelly’s wardrobe was also marked by luxuriously elegant attire but and by simple picks that are now considered
classics.

Reemerging trends like oversized coats, boyfriend sweaters, collared patterned blouses and the short sleeve shift dress for spring were all her originals. She also was famous for skirts that gave the illusion of a tinier waist that we have revolutionized lately into something we call the skater skirt.

Kelly was dichotomous with the soft elegance of a French princess and the Hollywood pop of bright lipstick. In “Grace of Monaco,” Chanat and assistant Fabienne Josserand will recreate their rendition of this beautifully historic mix.

The film will release in May in France for the Cannes Film Festival. Though the U.S. date has yet to be announced, this film will be one I’ll be following all the way to Oscar season.

Meanwhile, though you might not be in Monaco this break, enjoy embracing the Grace Kelly elegance that comes with the sunshine.
Happy spring.