And Bardot … became a blonde: hair, stardom and modernity in post-war France. Issue 1 (2nd January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Vincendeau, Ginette
• Is Part Of: Celebrity studies. Volume 7:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 98
• Page End: 112
• Publication Date: 2016-01-02
• Subjects: Bardot -- blonde -- hairstyle -- Monroe -- modernity -- post-war France; Fame -- Periodicals; Celebrities -- Periodicals; 306.405
• DOI: 10.1080/19392397.2016.1104898
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1939-2397

Abstract

Abstract : A pretty brown-haired starlet from 1952 to 1956, Brigitte Bardot emerged as a global star and sex symbol with hair newly bleached in Roger Vadim's Et Dieu … créa la femme / And God Created Woman (1956). This article focuses on the importance of blondness to Bardot's stardom in post-war France, and how its modernity affected her cultural standing and national identity as well as the aesthetics of her films. After a close look at the significance of Bardot's hair in Et Dieu … créa la femme, the article examines the wider context of post-war France in terms of changes in both hair fashions and stardom. It then moves on to explore the implications of her striking, voluminous hairstyles, and how these functioned as a 'signature' both in and out of her films. The article argues that Bardot's blond hair was the emblem of both her modernity and her successful amalgamation of 'Franco-American stardom'.