Indie Idols: Grey Gardens
Little Edie and Big Edie at Grey Gardens. Photo: Getty Images
In this series, we’d like to give you a little primer on those icons – musicians, artists, girls-about-town, that are often cited by fashion designers, and editors, as inspiration behind collections, and editorials.
Who: Grey Gardens
What: A 1975 documentary by Albert and David Maysles about a pair of reclusive socialites and Grey Gardens, the run-down mansion they live in.
Fans: Marc Jacobs, John Galliano, Chloe. Pretty much every magazine ever has shot an editorial inspired by the movie, including American Vogue and Italian Vogue.
Big Edie holding a portrait of herself when she was younger. Photo: Getty Images
Tell Me More: Big Edie and Little Edie are a mother-daughter duo, cousins of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who were once socialites, and now live in a sprawling – and decaying mansion – in posh East Hampton, New York. The sisters caught the attention of the media in the early 1970’s, when the Suffolk County Health Department threatened to evict them on account of numerous health violations. Grey Gardens was completely run down, had no running water, and had an infestation of fleas, raccoons and cats. It was then that Jackie Kennedy and her sister Lee Radziwill stepped in, and provided the funds to get the house back into a more livable state.
Little Edie wearing her signature head scarf. Photo: Everett Collection
The news caught the attention of Albert and David Maysles, who started to film a documentary about them.
The film centers on the complicated relationship between Big Edie (the mom) and Little Edie (the daughter), who have been living like recluses for over 20 years. It’s Little Edie (she’s 50 in the film) who is the undisputed star of this film. With all the coquettishness of a young girl, she is absolutely captivating on screen. Little Edie flirts with David throughout the film, and you can’t help but be charmed by pretty much everything she does; from her dance moves, to her distinctive East Coast debutante accent. Throughout the film we see the Edies sing, dance, feed their cats, sun themselves, and bicker the way only mothers and daughters who love each other can.
Big Edie and Little Edie tanning on their porch. Photo: Getty Images
And yes, despite the cheerful disposition, there are some melancholic undertones. Little Edie has spent most of her life taking care of her mother in the mansion so she has not lived her own life. Throughout the film we learn about past lovers, marriage proposals, and trips that all never quite worked out. But we also get the impression that Little Edie did not necessarily want to give up herself to a husband the way many women did in the fifties. They are staunch women – S-T-A-U-N-C-H – and won’t let anyone forget it. Their living conditions may be appalling, but their zest for life, even within those circumstances, is infectious.
A restored version of the film hit theaters just last week, oddly coinciding with the death of Albert Maysles on March 5 – his brother David died in 1987. Before his death, Albert had just finished a documentary on another one-of-a-kind woman, Iris Apfel. The appropriately named Iris, hits theaters next month.
Little Edie opens the door with her signature attitude. Photo: Everett Collection
Signature Style: Little Edie’s incredible sense of style is what has made this movie a cult favorite among fashion-lovers everywhere. Her signature head-wraps, which she fashions out of towels and shirts, and decorates with a big bejeweled broche, are a way to hide her alopecia, which caused her to lose all her hair. Still, they are fabulous. This same DIY-ish spirit also dictates the rest of her wardrobe. She’s often seen in retro-styled swimsuits, turtlenecks, and skirts fashioned out of pieces of fabric, or other dresses tied together to form new silhouettes. She also has very distinct hosiery, from polka dots to sheer blue, which she prefer to wear at all times. And she loves a skirt because one can always “take off the skirt and wear is a cape,” she explains. Now that’s what we call smart style.
The Mayles and the Beales. Photo: Everett Collection
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