Hollywood star, royal bride, beloved princess – Grace Kelly (1929-1982) embodied all three titles with a style all her own. Renowned for her cool beauty and faultless taste, the young actress stood apart from the other film sirens of the 1950s, with thousands of women, both in the US and Europe, emulating her classic yet accessible style. Her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956 catapulted Grace to further fame and cemented her influence on the world of fashion. From the Parisian catwalks to the pages of Vogue, the “Grace Kelly Look” became the look of the moment.
This book, the first to look exclusively at Grace Kelly’s unique style, accompanies an enchanting exhibition opening at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, in April 2010. Sumptuously illustrated, the book introduces Grace’s glamorous wardrobe - dress by dress, couturier by couturier, among them Chanel, Madame Grès, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, and Balenciaga - as she transformed herself from actress to bride to princess.

Kristina Haugland is Associate Curator of Costume and Textiles at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and author of Grace Kelly: Icon of Style to Royal Bride. She lives in Philadelphia. Jenny Lister is Curator of Nineteenth-Century Textiles and Fashion at the V&A. Samantha Erin Safer received her masters from the Royal College of Art and was formerly Assistant Curator of the Fashion and Textile Museum, London.