Bardot

Brigitte (1934). French film star, but more sex symbol than actress, universally known as B.B., a major figure in the cultural mythology of the 1950s and ’60s. She had a look that was both naïve and provocative, made up of several different elements but without specific reference to any particular garment or accessory. It could include long blond hair that fell to the shoulders, or else a long ponytail, plus make-up in different shades of pink, black ballet flats, Capri pants, a tight belt around the waist, a strapless bra in a checked Vichy pattern, and boat-neck blouses. It was, in fact, a total look, one which has influenced generations of women. Often imitated was the lace-trimmed pink wedding dress with a low, round neckline that the actress wore on the day of her second wedding, in 1959. The myth of B.B., which began with her study of dance at a very young age, and continued soon after with her career as a model, posing for magazines such as Elle and Jardin des modes, exploded with her back-lit appearance behind a sheet in Et Dieu… Créa la femme (1956), a rather modest film directed by her first husband, Roger Vadim, but one which established Brigitte as someone to be followed and imitated. The most powerful moments of this myth are not connected primarily with the release of other successful films, but mostly with the more titillating moments of her complicated love life. In the collective memory of the culture, Brigitte is also the star who made the cotton bikini into a great success, with that very light cotton also used for aprons and men’s shirts celebrated even by Paolo Conte. Among her films are La verité, Le mépris, En cas de malheur, Le repos du guerrier.