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Iconic look: Grace Kelly's ice-blue Oscar gown by Edith Head, 1955
"The thrill of this moment keeps me from saying what I really feel." — Grace Kelly, accepting her Oscar, 30 March 1955
30 March 1955. Hollywood.
Grace Kelly accepted her Oscar for Best Actress in a long gown of ice-blue French silk satin by Edith Head, with thin double straps, a draped skirt and a train, long white gloves and pearl-drop earrings.
The film
In The Country Girl (film, 1954), directed by George Seaton for Paramount, Grace Kelly played Georgie Elgin. She was the tired, loyal wife of Frank Elgin, a fading actor who drinks, played by Bing Crosby.
The director Bernie Dodd, played by William Holden, wants to give Frank one last chance on Broadway. At first, he blames Georgie for her husband's troubles. Slowly, he learns the truth.
The film was based on the play The Country Girl (play, 1950) by the American playwright Clifford Odets. Edith Head designed the costumes.
Grace Kelly on the set of The Country Girl (film, 1954)
The premiere
The gown was first seen on 15 December 1954, at the world premiere of The Country Girl, at the Criterion Theatre in New York. Grace Kelly wore it with its matching coat.
The Oscar night
On 30 March 1955, at the 27th Academy Awards, Grace Kelly was nominated for Best Actress. So were Dorothy Dandridge, Judy Garland, Audrey Hepburn and Jane Wyman.
Judy Garland was the favorite, for A Star Is Born (film, 1954). She had just given birth to her third child, and cameramen were waiting with her, ready to film her speech.
But the winner was Grace Kelly. Her co-star William Holden handed her the Oscar, at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood.
Grace Kelly and William Holden at the 27th Academy Awards, 1955
Judy Garland never won a competitive Oscar. The comedian Groucho Marx sent her a telegram, calling her loss "the biggest robbery since Brink's."
“The thrill of this moment keeps me from saying what I really feel,” Grace Kelly said in her acceptance speech. “I can only say thank you with all my heart to all who made this possible for me.”
That night, she wore the gown alone, without the coat. Best Actor went to Marlon Brando, for On the Waterfront (film, 1954), and the two winners posed together for the photographers.
Edith Head won an Oscar that night too, for the costumes of Sabrina (film, 1954).
The gown
The gown was made of French silk satin. The silk alone cost $4,000. At the time, it was said to be the most expensive Oscar gown ever made.
It was a long column, close to the body. Two thin straps sat on each shoulder. Below the waist, the satin was gathered and draped over the hips, and it ended in a train at the back, with a bow.
The coat was made of the same satin, with a wide shawl collar.
The accessories
She wore long white gloves above the elbow, and pearl-drop earrings. In her gloved hand, she held a small evening bag.
The story
Blue or green?
In many color photos, the gown looks green, like seafoam or mint. But it was a pale blue. Edith Head called the color "blue champagne."
The 43 million Americans who watched the ceremony on television saw it only in black and white.
A cover of Life
Grace Kelly liked the gown so much that she wore it again. The photographer Philippe Halsman photographed her in it for Life. The portrait appeared on the cover of 11 April 1955, and on the cover of Paris Match on 14 May 1955.
The gown today
After Grace Kelly's death in 1982, her wardrobe was kept by the Princely family of Monaco. In 2013, the gown was shown in the exhibition From Philadelphia to Monaco: Grace Kelly Beyond the Icon, at the James A. Michener Art Museum, in Pennsylvania. Beside it stood her Oscar.
One year after her Oscar night in blue champagne, Grace Kelly left Hollywood to marry Prince Rainier III of Monaco. By then, she had already finished filming her last two films, The Swan (film, 1956) and High Society (film, 1956).
She never made another film.