“This is the best thing to wear
for the day. You understand. Because I don't like women in skirts, and
the best thing is to wear pantyhose or some pants… under a short skirt, I
think. Then you have the pants under the skirt, and then you can pull the
stockings up over the pants, underneath the skirt. And you can always take off the
skirt and use it as a cape. So I think this is the best costume for the day.” (Grey Gardens, "Grey Gardens Transcript"). I
watched captivated as Drew Barrymore spun in a circle reciting the famous lines
of Edith Bouvier Beale. She was dressed in a turtle neck with a dark scarfed
carefully wrapped around her head and pinned in place with a large broach. Her
costume was completed with a pair of dark panty hose and a stretch of cloth
pinned together as a skirt. The outfit was odd, but somehow I felt connected to
the woman who in desperation came up with it. Immediately I fell in love with
the heart wrenching story of Edith Bouvier Bealse—Little Edie—and began to
learn more of her story. Edie’s story is captivatingly tragic, and as I have
learned of her she has become an inspiration to me in writing, fashion, and bravery.
My first introduction to Edie was
through Drew Barrymore’s portrayal of her in the 2009 movie Grey Gardens. The
movie was a depiction of Edith Bouvier Beale’s life, and her relationship with
her mother. It showed her and her mother who shared the same name causing them
to be referred to as Little Edie and Big Edie. The movie enthralled me. Perhaps I saw it like
Little Edie when she stated “[Grey Gardens] is oozing with romance, ghosts, and
other things” ("Fascinating Facts & Quotable Quotes"). I was
captured in the fashion, charisma, and story of Little Edie and her life at
Grey Gardens, and the more I have learned about Edith the more I have wanted to
share her story.
Edith Bouvier Beale was born on November 7, 1917 in Manhattan, New York to the elite
socialite couple Phelan Beale and Edith Bouvier ("About
Little Edie"). She lived a life of luxury – the type of lifestyle only the
elite could afford. As a young child Edith was doted on by her mother, and they
developed a close relationship that would stand the tests and trials of time.
Little Edie attended Spence School—a private school for the wealthy in New York
("About Little Edie") —but was pulled out of school for two years when
she was eleven by her Mother for a mysterious respiratory
illness (Sheehy). While little Edie was supposedly too ill to go to
school she spent her days with her mother visiting plays and “talkie” movies
nearly every day (Sheehy). As Edith grows older it is clear to see that these
films played a large role in who she hoped to become and her bold personality.
Perhaps the best way to understand Little Edie is through her
own words. In 1929 Edith began recording her thoughts and feelings in a personal
journal (Counter). Here she recounts her day to day life and her feelings about
herself. In a self-description Little Edie wrote "I can’t really tell you
if I am pretty or what kind of girl I am but … I have long hair, blonde,
getting darker, deep blue eyes, a pug nose and a rather decided mouth. I am by
no means fat, but I have a good body and big feet.”(Sheehy). Although Little
Edie’s physical description of herself enables us to recreate a picture of her
in our minds perhaps the most defining characteristic of Edith was her
personality. Of this she wrote "I only mark the hours that shine" (Counter).
As Little Edie grows older and her tragic story begins, it becomes evident that
Edie truly does mark only the hours that shine. Her positive personality and
bravery enabled her to get through her bleak future at Grey Gardens.
Little Edie’s diary is also essential in giving us the first
glimpse into Little Edie and Big Edie’s relationship, and Little Edie’s
aspirations. When writing of her love for her mother Little Edie journaled- "I
have two great loves in my life. First, I love my mother, which will always go
on, never be forgotten or forsaken. Most children think that mother love is a
thing taken for granted, isn’t it?”(Sheehy). She continues, emphasizing how her
love for her mother supersedes all other loves she will ever have even her
second ‘great love’ for a boy. Edie also records in her diary her hopes and
dreams of becoming an author, dancer, and costume designer. In a moment of
eleven year old wisdom uncommon in her time Edie wrote, “Have I really got
brains enough to get away from marriage and children?” (Counter). Edie’s
sentiments here are surprising for her time. Edie saw a future for herself
outside of what many women of her time were able to see. In Rosemary Counter’s
review of Edie’s published journal she states “sadder than cruel irony is lost
potential” (Counter).This is perhaps another reason Little Edie caught my
attention so fully. She was so beautiful, talented, and charismatic, yet she
put aside her own future because of her love for her mother.
In 1935
when Little Edie was 17 years old she graduated from Spence- a private school
for the wealthy- in New York. After her graduation
Edie was introduced to society. Edie was commonly known as the “It” girl with
her blond hair and tall beautiful figure; her beauty earned her the name of “Body
Beautiful Beale” from her many suitors. In her youth Edith was even considered
more beautiful than her cousin, the future Jaqueline Kennedy. ("About
Little Edie").
As I look at
photographs of Little Edie I am enthralled. Her personality seems to shine
through her modeling and I imagine who the girl in the photograph was. As Edie’s
story continued I learned that she was at one point a model for Macy’s, until
her father demanded she stop (Sheehy). Edith, however, had big dreams. She planned to audition for
Max Gordon, a famous Broadway producer, and become a star (Sheehy). Unfortunately Edith never had the opportunity to
audition. When asked why she was unable to audition years later she detailed “Mother
got the cats. That’s when she brought me down from New York to take care of
them." (Sheehy). Little Edie’s love for her mother changed her life, and
ultimately forced her to abandon her dreams.
In Edie’s
diary she recorded “It’s awfully funny the way things change. Life wouldn’t be
life without change” (Counter), words ominously profound for an eleven year old
girl. Little Edie’s life drastically changed in the following years. Phelan
Beale divorced Big Edie through telegram, leaving her with little hope and even
less money (Sheehy). All Big Edie had was her daughter, whom she desperately
clung to, and her estate.
In the
following years Little Edie and her mother, unable to maintain the Grey Gardens,
fell into a state of squalor. The Beale women lived in a state of poverty and
filth. Their house was overrun with raccoons and cats and was covered in a
layer of animal feces and garbage. (Grey
Gardens). It was only after Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis intervened with a $25,000
check for a cleanup that the Beale women’s conditions began to improve
(Sheehy). Jackie Kennedy also assisted her aunt and cousin with maintaining the
property, gas and water bills, and a small sum for food ("Fascinating
Facts & Quotable Quotes").
I cannot describe the emotions that streamed through me as I watched
Little Edie in the documentary Grey
Gardens. Although she seemed to be leaving in the most horrific
circumstances she sang, danced, and took care of her mother. Gail Sheehy, a
neighbor to Grey Gardens, provided a vivid description of the first moment he
saw Edit: “A middle-aged woman was coming through the catalpa trees, dressed
for church but most oddly: a sweater wrapped around her head and her skirt on
upside down. Her face was oddly young, as if suspended in time, faintly
freckled and innocent, but painted with thick dark lipstick and heavy eyeliner”
(Sheehy). Perhaps Edie can be best
described through the words of her dedicated fans. She was “faded but still
beautiful, defeated yet invincible” (Broverman).
To this
day Little Edie’s legacy endures in the form of documentary, film, play,
photographs, and even a fashion line inspired by the Beale women (Laden). Edith
has changed my view of fashion and clothing. She has taught me that what
matters is not what others think of you—but of what you think of yourself.
Edith has shown me to make do with what I have, and that if you are beautiful
inside it will be reflected no matter what you are wearing. Her beautiful
legacy of selflessness, bravery, and ever enduring love inspires me. Little
Edie truly is a legacy.
Works Cited
Broverman, Neal. "Tending Grey Gardens." Advocate 978 (2007):
66. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4
Mar. 2016.
Counter, Rosemary. "I Only Mark The Hours That Shine, Little Edie's
Diary 1929." Maclean's 123.33/34 (2010): 87-88. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 4 Mar. 2016.
Grey Gardens. Maysles, David, Albert Maysles, Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer, Susan
Froemke, Edith B. Beale, and Edie Beale. Portrait Films, 1975. Documentary.
