Old Hollywood glamor is back in style. Perhaps it has something to do with Joan Collins’s recent comments that harken back to the glamor days of Grace Kelly and Bridget Bardot.
The former Dynasty star sat down with Hello magazine in October to lament the lack of ‘gorgeous people’ in Hollywood, claiming that when she was at the height of her career, women made more of an effort to appear glamorous and stylish than the stars we have seen in recent years.
Or perhaps the recent change of tides just has more to do with the adage that everything old is new again, but whatever the cause, it seems that there are some celebrities putting in the effort.
Although according to Collins, Angelina Jolie is the only glamorous star left in Tinsel Town, Salma Hayek has always managed to appear effortlessly beautiful. The actress first became popular in 1995 and has since stared in a range of projects, including Frida, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award.
In 2009, Hayek married her longtime boyfriend, French business man Francois Henri Pinault, on Valentine’s Day, who presented her with a three stone engagement ring the year before. The five carat oval cut diamond is flanked with two smaller side diamonds and set in platinum, and the close clustered design is simple and decadent at the same time. The diamond ring is perfectly suited for a woman who appears at once sultry and classy at the same time, a woman like Hayek.
The Classico 0265 from Verragio is another three stone engagement ring that has the ability to be both simple and intricate at the same time, featuring two smaller Round cut diamonds, used to enhance the larger Round cut diamond center, placed using the exclusive Lumino setting. And because all of Verragio’s rings are made to order, Oval’s can be sent into many of the rings for those who like the look of the more oblong cut diamonds.
Portia de Rossi has apparently had her fair share of issues behind the scene, which comes as a revelation due to the fact that she has always appeared glamorous and classic in her beauty. The television star recently married comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, whom she has been with since 2004. Degeneres presented the blonde bombshell with a four carat Marquis cut diamond engagement ring when the two decided to get married. However, to ensure that the ring adequately complimented de Rossi’s glamorous demeanor, Degeneres worked with the designer herself to create the design. The outcome was a Marquis set sideways onto an intricately braided shank adorned with pave’ set pink diamonds that screams old Hollywood in its glamor days.
The engagement ring that de Rossi currently wears is reminiscent of Verragio’s Venetian 5013P, which features a Princess cut diamond, flanked by two smaller diamonds and set onto a twisted shank complete with pave’ set diamonds. Actually the entire Venetian collection was inspired by the decadent and delicate designs of old world Italy and is the perfect type of style to encapsulate the word ‘glamour.’
And Love her or hate her, Katherine Heigl’s fresh face and blonde curls brings to mind the image of movie stars of the past, and her ability to shine on the red carpet with nary a fashion misstep makes her prime to take the mantel of Hollywood beauty. During her rise to fame on the show Grey’s Anatomy, Heigl met Country singer, Josh Kelley, who proposed in 2006 with a 4 carat Pear shaped diamond engagement ring. Kelley also worked with the designer to ensure that the ring was perfect for Heigl, and the aura of effortless-ness with which she carries herself. Pear cut diamonds were also a favorite of Elizabeth Taylor, the absolute epitome of beauty, grace and glamour.
So like all matters concerning fashion, glamor and beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and while Angelina Jolie may be the only one who caught Collins’s eye, let’s not count out the women who, 50 years from now, may have created the new standard of glamour.