Brigitte Bardot: The Iconic Style That Revolutionized Fashion
Free from rigid aesthetic conventions and more distant than ever from the slicked-back divas of the 1950s and 1960s, Brigitte Bardot undoubtedly changed the style rules of an era: her way of dressing and her daily wardrobe contributed to creating a new feminine imagination, imbued with freedom and sensuality. To BB, who passed away on 28 December 2025 at the age of 91 in her villa on the hills between Cannes and Saint Tropez, we owe the creation of a wardrobe that was as essential as it was iconic, quick, bold and sensual. Garments and accessories that distanced themselves from the important creations of the Parisian haute couture ateliers of the time, and that the actress, born in Paris in 1934, loved to wear off the set, in everyday life.
We are talking about pieces that have become iconic not only of the Bardot style, but of the taste for chic French dressing: sailor striped t-shirts, calf-length Capri trousers, full skirts and sundresses with little flowers, in lace or light linen. And how can we not mention the shirts with the Bardot neckline, i.e. with bare shoulders. A model so iconic, loved and worn both yesterday and today, that it has earned its name. Among BB’s most loved pieces, the bikini deserves a place of honor, which will turn 80 in 2026. It was she who, in the 1950s, contributed to the boom of the two-piece swimsuit, having herself photographed on the beaches of the French Riviera shortly after the release of her first successful film ‘And God Created Woman’ (1956), directed by her husband Roger Vadim, who had married at just eighteen.
Breaking Fashion Rules and Creating a New Style
We also owe her the pleasure and taste of playing with accessories in fashion. Like the idea of going out into the streets with a band on your head to hold your hair, using a straw bag to go to the beach (and not to the market to do the shopping as was done in the 1950s) or walking through the city streets with ballet flats on your feet. It was BB himself who asked the historic Parisian footwear company Repetto to transform a model of very light dance footwear, created for French dancers, into walking shoes. Despite this, among his favorite habits was walking barefoot through the streets of Saint Tropez. And it is precisely this lifestyle that has contributed to transforming that small fishing village in the south of France into the chic holiday destination we all know.
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Brigitte Bardot has died, farewell to the icon of French cinema – News – Ansa.it
After two short hospitalizations. When fake news spread about her death, the actress broke her silence: “I’m fine, I don’t know who the imbecile was who launched this fake news.” His profile on the French franc coins. Macron: “He embodied a life of freedom, we mourn the legend of the century” (ANSA)
A Lasting Legacy in Fashion and Beauty
Finally, even today, her make-up, with strong black eye make-up, and her haircut, worn very blonde and with ‘curtain’ bangs (much in demand in beauty salons and fashion photo shoots), are still widely copied. His style was loved precisely because it was used in everyday life, outside of the big screen. Although she herself said that she also wore her real clothes on the set of some of the over 50 films in which she starred, directed by directors such as Louis Malle and Jean-Luc Godard. By 1974 she had retired from the public eye and moved to her villa in the south of France, but she knew she was a revolutionary in fashion. She told her style secrets herself in the pages of the book ”I, Brigitte Bardot”, edited by Henry-Jean Servat, released in 2016 for Mondadori. “I was myself, that’s all. – she wrote – Me, authentic, in my own way!”.
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