Elizabeth Taylor: Style Icon
Cartier: The Exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (until 22 July 2018). One of the sections is devoted to Cartier’s most famous celebrity clients, including Elizabeth Taylor. Elizabeth Taylor is considered the last classic Hollywood icon. A true icon of style!
You can emulate Elizabeth Taylor’s style with our Style Icon Accommodation Package, which is based on Elizabeth herself. With accommodation at the Avenue Hotel Canberra, an Elizabeth Arden 'White Diamonds' gift pack, tickets to Cartier: The Exhibition, and more, you too, can live like a celebrity for a night (or two!). More information is below.
Here are 10 things you may not know about Elizabeth Taylor.
1. She has owned some of the biggest bling to date: the 33-carat “Krupp Diamond”, the Duchess of Windsor diamond brooch, the Grand Duchess of Russia emeralds, the “LaPeregina Pearl”, and the famous pear-shaped 69-carat “Burton-Cartier Diamond”.
A headlining piece of Cartier: The Exhibition, is Elizabeth Taylor's diamond and ruby necklace, which doubles as a tiara, gifted to her by her third husband Mike Todd, in 1957.
Her collection of 1,778 pieces of jewellery were sold for more than $150 million at Christie’s Auction after her death.
‘I’ve never thought of my jewellery as trophies. I’m here to take care of it and to love it, for we are only temporary custodians of beauty.’
2. While most people hope to find that one perfect love, Elizabeth Taylor found it 8 times, with 7 different husbands!
When asked why she married so often, she replied:
"I was taught by my parents that if you fall in love, if you want to have a love affair, you get married. I guess I'm very old-fashioned."
3. According to Michael Jackson, it was Taylor who bestowed him with the moniker "King of Pop." The music icon often counted on Taylor for support and even named her godparent of his son Prince Michael and daughter Paris.
4. She was born with purple irises and a double set of eyelashes caused by a genetic mutation known as Distichia.
5. Of all the films under her belt, of which there are more than 50, she was most proud of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? While the film, Cleopatra cost $62 million, making it the most expensive film made up to that point, and her the most paid actress with a final fee of $1 million. It was also where she met Richard Burton and began her extra-marital affair.
6. She never faced the day without perfume and was the first celebrity to launch a fragrance brand. Her perfume, White Diamonds by Elizabeth Arden was Inspired by two of her great passions – the lush beauty of her gardens and the brilliance and glamour of the diamonds she loved - Elizabeth Taylor was moved to create a sensual, floral fragrance that imbued its wearer with the glamour and sparkle of her world-famous diamond jewellery collection.
“A girl can always have more diamonds.”
7. At the age of 74, whilst confined to a wheelchair, Elizabeth fulfilled her lifelong wish to swim with sharks. While vacationing in Hawaii, she was lifted from her wheelchair and dropped into a shark cage that was then lowered into the Pacific Ocean. And in true Taylor fashion, her wrists were covered in beautiful, sparkly bracelets the entire time.
8. She gave a voice to one of the most popular silent stars of all time: Maggie Simpson.
9. She was a once-a-week regular at a West Hollywood bar called The Abbey, where she indulged in watermelon martinis - available exclusively at Marble & Grain for the duration of the exhibition.
10. She was known to be at least ten minutes late for everything. So at her request, her funeral began 15 minutes after it was scheduled to begin.
'You can’t cry on a diamond’s shoulder, and diamonds wont keep you warm at night, but they’re sure fun when the sun shines’
Header image:
Image: Cartier Paris Necklace (detail) 1951, altered 1953, platinum, gold, diamonds, Burmese rubies, 37.5 cm (length), Photo: Vincent Wulveryck, Cartier Collection, © Cartier. Provenance: Elizabeth Taylor
Trio of images:
http://elizabethtaylor.com/gallery/
