Romy Schneider, A Lady of Class & Style

Romy Schneider is one of my all time favorite style icons. I believe she is one of the most beautiful women in French Cinema. Her style in Les Choses de la Vie was effortlessly chic, she added a flirty element to a very sad movie. She was born in Austria in 1938, to actor parents. she got her big break as Empress Elisabeth of Austria in 1955's Sissi, which shot her to fame and sparked two sequels, both of which went to Cannes.

In 1959, She and Alain Delon were the 'it' couple, especially after they announced their engagement. They remained together for five years, though sadly they never married.

In 1963, Delon ended their relationship horrifically by leaving Romy a note that read, "Gone to Mexico with Nathalie." Schneider responded by slashing her wrists! Yet somehow, the two ultimately resumed a close friendship, and six years later, they starred together in Jacques Deray's La Piscine, a tense story of jealousy and infidelity that also featured the fabulous Jane Birkin. 

Romy Schneider had a way with clothes. She was a favorite of Coco Chanel herself, and one of very few clients that Chanel would see personally!

By the seventies, Romy reigned as one of French cinema's biggest stars, a two-time César Award-winning actress who worked with big names, such as Claude Sautet, Claude Chabrol, and Costa-Gavras and an activist who used fame to speak out on issues including women's rights. But tragedy cast a dark shadow over her life; her first husband committed suicide, and their son David died in an accident in 1981. Understandably, she never recovered from that loss.