Ask anyone to name Geri Halliwell’s most famous outfit and there will be no doubt which one instantly comes to mind.
Her iconic Union Jack micro-mini dress, which she wore at The Brits 27 years ago, is the one most associated with the former Ginger Spice. Sewn from a flagged tea towel and struggling to contain her voluptuous curves, the dress the 25-year-old singer wore while performing with the Spice Girls epitomized an era of Girl Power and Cool Britannia as she belted out a medley of her hits. Wannabe and Who Do You Think You Are?
Fast forward to today and the answer to the question of who Geri Horner, 51, thinks she is, appears to be… Grace Kelly.
The loud, brash upstart from Watford, who once pinched King Charles’ (then Prince of Wales) bottom, has reinvented herself as a genteel and refined lady of the manor. Gone are the flashy and revealing clothes.
In its place is a wardrobe of understated pieces in white (and very occasionally pastel tones). Simple, elegant and flattering, many closely resemble the styles once worn by the late Princess Grace of Monaco.
American actress Grace Kelly in the blue silk dress she wore to the 1955 Academy Awards
Geri Halliwell channels the Hollywood icon in a similar long dress
On Wednesday, in her first solo appearance since her husband Christian Horner’s sexting scandal, Geri made sure to look stylish and unflappable.
She was dressed in a soft, feminine two-piece from Australian brand Zimmermann to promote her new children’s book, Rosie Frost and the Falcon Queen.
The £695 blouse was buttoned up to the neck while the £925 skirt fell to her ankles. Without an inch of flesh visible on her, she was a far cry from the saucy styles that made her famous. Her Hay Festival outfit looked remarkably similar to the Helen Rose silk organza dress worn by Grace Kelly in the 1956 hit film High Society.
Grace’s iconic High Society wedding dress was made of silk organza
Mrs. Halliwell is wearing a Zimmermann two-piece suit that looks very similar.
Grace wears a white veiled headdress.
Halliwell combines Grace’s headdress with one from Jane Taylor London
Grace wears a bright pink scarf on her head in the 50s
High Society actress’s scarf finds new life in Halliwell’s race car
That Geri’s skirt and blouse even had a pop of color was something of a revelation, since she’s practically worn exclusively white for the past five years.
Whether walking the red carpet or playing house in one of the two rural houses she shares with her husband of nine years and their two children (Bluebell, 18, the result of her relationship with screenwriter Sacha Gervasi, and Monty, seven years old, her son with Horner), Geri wears white.
While things have gotten a little murky for Red Bull boss Horner lately after he was accused of sending inappropriate text messages to a female employee (an accusation he denies), Geri’s wardrobe has remained pure and healthy.
The little pop star says she sticks with white and pale colors because they go with everything and take away the headache when choosing what to wear. As for looking warm and modest, as she recently revealed, it’s because she has come to appreciate the concept of less is more.
Looking angelic in a strapless white dress with draped detail
Ginger Spice copies the model in a £7,000 Halfpenny dress
Grace in a boat-neck lace dress
Halliwell pays tribute to star in £805 Paco Rabanne dress
Grace wears this beautiful number in 1956 in an exhibit that traces her life from growing up in Philadelphia to starring in movies and marrying Prince Rainier III.
Resplendent in Rebecca Vallance, Halliwell imitates Grace’s 1956 dress
Grace Kelly looks elegant in a bow-neck blouse
The singer wears a dignified blouse with a bow collar on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon
“There is power in covering up,” he told The Times. ‘I did not noticed it. I don’t need to share too much.’
It all fits perfectly with Geri’s lifestyle transformation, which began when she married Horner in 2015. Geri’s 1.4 million Instagram followers see her idyllic Cotswolds life filled with cakes, horse riding, gardening and sewing. When it comes to using Grace Kelly as a muse, it seems that her close friend, the late George Michael, was the man who planted the seed.
“He started taking me shopping and tried to turn me into Grace Kelly,” she said in 2019. “He would take me to Armani and show me black polo-neck sweaters.” She was always trying to refine me.
He also revealed that Wham! The star gave her a Princess Grace-inspired watch when she left the Spice Girls. “He bought me this beautiful watch and it’s very elegant,” she said. “It’s like a Grace Kelly watch, and he was almost helping me evolve from one stage of my life to the next. And that watch means everything: support, kindness, which I really appreciate.”
Thanks to the advantage George gave her, along with her go-to stylist Martha Ward, Geri now has that understated refinement down to a tee. The belted Alexander McQueen dress she wore to the Royal Box at Wimbledon in 2019 resembled the fitted dress Grace wore in the 1955 Hitchcock film To Catch a Thief, by costume designer Edith Head.
And what about the cream silk Halfpenny dress Geri wore to the 2023 BAFTAs? Doesn’t it look strikingly similar to one Grace wore in a modeling shoot?
It’s not just when she’s dressed to the nines, either. When she was behind the wheel of a sports car, Geri would wrap her hair in a scarf, just as Grace did when she sat next to her co-star Frank Sinatra in High Society.
At a recent book signing, Geri sported a chunky knit sweater, as her idol did on a boat trip to Monaco after her marriage to Prince Rainer III.
From chic bow blouses to polo collars and pillbox hats, it looks like Geri’s stylish transformation is truly complete.
