The Untold Truth Of Brigitte Bardot

Brigitte Bardot was born to wealthy and conservative parents on September 28, 1934. Her father, Louis, was "an industrialist" and poet, while her mother Anne-Marie, lived a high-society life, taking an interest in "fashion and ballet" (via France Today). Living in an apartment in Paris' swanky 16th arrondissement, the family was far from poor, with Brigitte's parents emphasizing manners and education for both herself and her younger sister, Marie-Jeanne.

According to Biography, as a teenager, the future star was a ballerina, studying at the National Superior Conservatory of Paris for Music and Dance — which no doubt helped Brigitte achieve her now-iconic elegant and straight posture, per France Today. From there, Anne-Marie got her daughter into modeling, and by the time Brigitte was 15 in 1949, she graced the cover of Elle magazine, in turn, making history. "Women of my generation all remember her first cover," recalled fashion historian Nicole Parrot to The Guardian. "She represented something that had never had its place before in society or in fashion: that of the jeune fille."

The "jeune fille," according to France Today, was a fresh look; the clothes represented a "prim and proper teenage girl" — much unlike Christian Dior's "New Look," which was formal and structured, and that didn't do much to represent France's young girls of the time.