Elizabeth Taylor’s Life In Dresses (And Diamonds)
Elizabeth Taylor remains one of Hollywood’s most enduring style icons. While her acting skills earned her some of the industry’s greatest honours, her penchant for piles of diamonds and diaphanous gowns are just as much a part of her legacy.
Born in London to American parents in 1932, Taylor became a child of the Hollywood studio system that defined the mid-century, and made her screen debut aged 10. As an adult, her personal life became as much a source of fascination as her film roles – she married eight times in total.
As her career progressed, Taylor’s fashion moved with the times: the ’50s New Look silhouette was eventually replaced by a perma-tan and natty shift dresses in the ’60s, and later bold-shouldered taffeta gowns in the ’80s. That said, Taylor was never preoccupied by the opinions of fashion commentators, and revelled in her own “more is more” take on how a true Hollywood star should dress.
When she finally swapped acting for philanthropy, and even as she struggled with illness in her latter years, the star’s commitment to glamour never wavered. Plunging necklines and sweeping gowns were replaced with embellished tailoring and sparkling kaftans, but the suites of jewellery and dramatic make-up remained.
Almost a decade after her death in 2011 and in what would have been her 90th year, the memory of Elizabeth Taylor’s outré approach to life and style lives on. Here, British Vogue revisits some of her most memorable style moments.