This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Grace Kelly

Today I am grateful for Grace Kelly.  Does anyone one person fit their name better than Grace Kelly?  She was not only beautiful, but had something so lacking in some of today’s celebrities. . .class.  Her name suited her.

 

On a semi-spontaneous moment I called a friend to go to the Grace Kelly Exhibit at the James Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, PA.  It’s been there for over three months and I’ve been “meaning” to go.  It closes today so time was running out as fast as the gas in a snow plow, so it was now or never.

Find out what's happening in Montgomeryville-Lansdalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 

What a fabulous example of clothing that was not made, but designed to exactly meet the personality of the person wearing them.  The folds and pleats and attention to detail are impossible to describe.  It doesn’t hurt that she had the perfect figure, with a 21 inch waist.  21.  Are you kidding me?  My wrist isn’t that tiny!  My hat size is bigger.  Even the dresses that were from her later years, in the horrible floral patterns of the 60’s & 70’s, where she was “larger” were still tiny.  Pregnant her waist was smaller than mine.

Find out what's happening in Montgomeryville-Lansdalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 

I don’t think I’ve ever seen clothes made by the great designers like Dior, Givenchy, or Edith Head, up close before.  The teeny-tiny stitching of the seamstresses made each garment lay perfectly.  Art students should go to this exhibit if it comes to their area, just to study the structure of line and design.  They are fabric sculptures. 

 

Each dress had custom shoes to go with.  Even her feet were tiny. The name of the designer was imprinted in one shoe and her name was in the other.  The only time my name was in my shoes was when I went to Girl Scout Camp. 

 

The costumes she wore for various balls were extravagant and ornate, but the others were of classic, simple elegance.  For me, one simple dress stood out.  It was a basic black velvet with a modest, off the shoulder boat neckline, slightly lower in the back than in the front.  It had three quarter length, fitted sleeves, with a form fitted bodice that splayed out to an A-line at the floor.  On the top, front of the gown, at the collarbone, where straps would start if there were any, were two black velvet, hand sculpted flowers.  Simple.  Stunning!  I don’t remember who designed it, but it was perfect.

 

It’s the style dress I will wear when I get my Academy Award and it will look good even forty sizes larger!  It’s wonderful when all elements combine and clothing becomes who it’s designed for.  That’s Grace. . .Kelly.

 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?