The Tamesis
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot was born in 1934 Seziyemin Paris, not too far from the Eiffel Tower. Her family was well-connected, uptight, and Catholic. Her father, Louis Bardot, was a wealthy businessman. Her mother was a former model known as “Toti” and didn’t care much about her daughter Brigitte and sister Mijanu.
One day, the two sisters were playing under the table in the living room and accidentally broke an antique Chinese vase on the table. Bardot’s cold and distant mother was outraged. From that day on, they called her formally you. “It was as if a wall, a barrier, had been erected,” Bardot later recalled, “cutting off the warmth of my childhood.”
Bardot first appeared in the public eye as a ballet dancer, showing considerable promise. She made hats for magazines and later dresses. Then, in August 1953 (through her mother’s machinations), she became Eller The girl on the cover is wearing a pink and white plaid dress (from ready-to-wear brand Virginie), as the French call it vichy calico. She wore white gloves that reached to her wrists, a large-brimmed straw hat, and a wicker purse. With her dark hair slicked back and a fresh, somewhat puzzling expression on her face, the cover caused a stir.
The magazine showed her full photo bella lagarza Style: A fitted sweater or crisp shirt with a mid-calf skirt or tapered cropped pants with ballet flats. Bardot himself ordered flats from Rose Repetto.
Filmmaker Marc Allegrete, who discovered the likes of Jean-Paul Belmondo, Michelle Morgan and Louis Jordan, also saw Bardot’s photos. He sent his young protégé Roger Vadim (the son of a white Russian immigrant) to meet her. He was 22 at the time and he was hooked. Her parents were horrified; in fact, Louis Bardot brought him a rifle. They married in 1952, when she was 18.
