Grace Kelly: Style Icon Exhibition!
Sorry for the dodgy photos of the costumes. Photos weren’t allowed but I just needed some photos. I took them subtly…….. So I didn’t know where I was aiming because I wasn’t able to look at the screen LOL.
It was a one and a half hour drive from Melbourne to Bendigo. We left at 10am, but went to the asian stores to buy some snacks and we just pigged out on them in on the way there. We got there at around 12, and had (out of all things) McDonalds for lunch LOL. My sister let my niece play on the McDonalds playground for a bit, but it was already 12:30 when we left maccas. Immy didn’t want to leave LOL. She’s lucky it’s her 2nd birthday today!!!
We found the gallery at around 1:00, when that was out timed appointment. But it doesn’t really matter what time you turn up, as long as you paid. We asked the information desk where it was, and they pointed in the direction. I also grabbed the two pamplets above (the big one is destroyed because I let my niece hold it). When we found the exhibition, it was packed and dark. The light was down low to preserve the costumes, because light and heat will disintegrate the costumes. It was full of middle-aged and elderly people, but that’s not surprising. But there were a few kids there, but what would they know about Grace Kelly - they were probably forced by their mums LOL.
ANYWAYS! I WAS FULL ON :D!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The first sight I saw was the blue High Society dress, with two other High Society costumes (the pool robe and the dress at the party at night) in their glass cabinets. I was so amazed at how tiny Grace Kelly’s waist was……….. But then the full skirts did help! There was also the costume from The Swan to go with Helen Rose’s designs from ‘High Society’. But in the next display were designs from Edith Head! It included the navy/black dress from ‘Rear Window’, as well as the teal dress she wore when she received her Oscar (the one in the postcard above). THAT DRESS IS SO BEAUTIFULLY FITTED. But I was disappointed because those were the only designs by Edith Head. I would have really loved to see the blue dress and the white dress from ‘To Catch A Thief’.
I think the next room were many costumes she wore out in public up until she met Prince Ranier III. SO BEAUTIFUL. They were mostly her coats and vests, decorated in lace. It was quite simple, yet classy. It also included a replica of the dress she first met her husband in. And at the end of that, was the replica of her wedding dress. It was obviously not as detailed, but it was good enough. Her real one I think is sitting in the Philidelphia museum, and it probably dying in there. Come on, the lace used for that wedding dress is around 200 years old now!
There were slide shows and clips playing on screen next to the wedding dress and everyone was crowded around it. I would occasionally hear my niece yelling “CEECEE WHERE ARE YOU?!?” and when she saw me, she would say “I FOUND YOU CEECEE” LOLOLOL.
The next few rooms were outfits from when she was a princess. There was only one cabinet of jewelry, and one display of her hats, bags and gloves. But PLENTY of her outfits. There were a couple of outfits from Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and some other one starting with B…. But there was pretty much a room dedicated to her clothes from Christian Dior. I never noticed that Grace was such a Dior fan. There was also one of her ‘Kelly’ bags from Hermes. As she aged (and as I got closer to the end), the outfits became more elaborate and dramatic. There were lots of dresses from the balls and parties she held attended as a princess. The last two photos are some examples.
Then I realised I reached the end. I lost my sister so I stepped out to find her, but couldn’t find her so I ran back into the exhibition. I DIDN’T WANT TO LEAVE!!!!!!!! So I snapped those three photos HAHAHA.
After a total of one hour spent inside the exhibition, I called my sister and went to the gift shop. I spent a while in the tiny gift shop, because I was deciding what to buy. There were NO posters. I was pretty damn upset. In fact, there weren’t many Grace Kelly merchandises. There were only postcards, a diary/journal with Grace at the front (but there were Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor ones as well) and Rear Window Barbies. I didn’t know the price of the Barbies, so I didn’t buy one… Plus, it’s a collectible - you do nothing with collectibles but store them. My mum would think I’m retarded HAHA. But I ended up buying three postcards: one of her and Alfred Hitchcock, one of her at her wedding and one of her in her Oscar dress.
I think this exhibition was amazing. Even though it was only her clothes (PLUS PHOTOS AS WELL, BUT WHAT ELSE CAN YOU POSSIBLY DISPLAY???), it still showed us what Grace Kelly was: a style icon. The exhibition shows the transformation of an American movie queen into a European princess.
I rate it a 9/10 (not a 10 because there were no ‘To Catch a Thief’ dresses and that thoroughly upset me LOL)
