Brigitte Bardot: My Life in Fashion

Legendary actress Brigitte Bardot led fashion revolutions throughout her career; this retrospective includes BB’s comments on her iconic style in a rare, intimate interview. Brigitte Bardot is a style icon whose legacy has undeniably shaped the face of fashion as we know it. She was discovered by a magazine editor at only 14 years old, her career blossomed as the world emerged from the ashes of World War II. She found fame and admiration on the big screen in the 1950s and then became the fiery sex symbol of the groovy and liberated 1960s. Over the course of her career, all of the great French designers—including Christian Dior, Pierre Balmain, and Pierre Cardin —outfitted Bardot on- and offscreen. In photographs that capture her attending receptions by Queen Elizabeth II and Charles de Gaulle or on glamorous visits to the United States, in fashion shoots and on film sets, or relaxing on a grassy field, this volume illustrates all the key looks that BB wore and brought to the international spotlight as she invented and edited her own highly imitated style. In an extensive—and extremely rare—interview, accompanied by her personal comments on the photographs, Bardot explains the context of the often vanguard fashions she wore, making headlines wherever she went. Evoking French style and the glamour of St. Tropez, her legacy endures—from ballerina slippers with sweeping skirts to figure-hugging knitwear, gingham fabrics and gypsy dresses, kohl eyeliner and tousled hair.

About the Contributors

Henry-Jean Servat has written extensively about Brigitte Bardot for Paris Match and Vanity Fair. The only journalist to have sustained a close rapport with Bardot throughout her life, he has published several books on the famous actor-turned–animal rights activist.