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Iconic look: Brigitte Bardot's wedding dress by Madame Ogive, 1952
At 18, Brigitte Bardot designed her own wedding dress, and it looked back to 1900.
21 December 1952. Paris.
Brigitte Bardot, just 18, married Roger Vadim in a long white dress she had designed herself, with a high collar, long sleeves and a short train, a veil of embroidered tulle and a white muff in her hands.
The wedding
On 2 May 1949, at 14, Brigitte Bardot appeared on the cover of Elle for the first time. Her second cover, on 8 March 1950, brought her an audition with the French director Marc Allégret.
She did not get the role. But at the audition, she met the young Roger Vadim, who later brought her the news. They fell in love.
Her parents fiercely opposed the romance. In the end, her father agreed on one condition: she could marry Roger Vadim only when she turned 18.
Brigitte Bardot turned 18 on 28 September 1952. That year, she also made her first film, Crazy for Love (French: Le Trou normand, film, 1952), with the French actor Bourvil.
Less than three months after her birthday, the couple married. The civil ceremony took place on 20 December, at the town hall of the 16th arrondissement. The next day, 21 December, they were married in the church of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce de Passy.
The dress
According to Roger Vadim, the bride designed the dress herself and chose the material. It was white and sewn by hand by Madame Ogive, a dressmaker on the rue de Passy.
The dress looked back to the fashions of around 1900. It had an Edwardian style high collar close to the neck, long fitted sleeves and a fitted bodice, with a long row of small buttons down the front.
Below the waist, the fabric was gathered and draped over the hips, like a small bustle. Then the skirt fell straight to the floor and ended in a short train.
The accessories
A long tulle veil, scattered with small embroidered flowers, fell from a little cap at the back of her head.
A brooch sat at the center of the high collar.
In her hands, she held a white muff. Perhaps it was a practical touch for a wedding in December.
The finishing touches
The bride was still a brunette. Her dark hair was swept up under the veil.
Brigitte Bardot became a blonde only in 1956, for the Italian film Nero's Weekend (Italian: Mio figlio Nerone, film, 1956). The director asked her to appear as a blonde. She dyed her hair instead of wearing a wig, and she liked it so much that she kept the color.
The story
Roger Vadim directed his wife in his first feature film, And God Created Woman (French: Et Dieu... créa la femme, film, 1956). It made them both famous around the world.
By then, the couple had separated. They divorced in 1957.
On 18 June 1959, in Louveciennes, near Paris, Brigitte Bardot married the French actor Jacques Charrier. This time, she wore a dress of pink and white gingham, made for her by the French couturier Jacques Esterel.
"I designed a dress that reminded me of the little shepherdesses of the 18th century," Jacques Esterel said. Until then, checked cotton was for kitchen towels. After that wedding, women everywhere wanted to wear it.
In 1952, the young bride had looked back to 1900 for her first wedding. Seven years later, in pink gingham, she set the fashion for the years to come.