Camilla Antoinette Clifford (29 June 1885 – 28 June 1971), known professionally as Camille Clifford, was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

-born stage actress and the most famous model for the "

Gibson Girl The Gibson Girl was the personification of the feminine ideal of physical attractiveness as portrayed by the pen-and-ink illustrations of artist Charles Dana Gibson during a 20-year period that spanned the late 19th and early 20th centuries in th ...

" illustrations. Her towering

coiffure A hairstyle, hairdo, haircut or coiffure refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human scalp. Sometimes, this could also mean an editing of facial or body hair. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal groomin ...

and

hourglass figure The hourglass figure is one of four traditional female body shapes described by the fashion industry. The other shapes are the rectangular, inverted triangle, and spoon/pear. The hourglass shape is defined by a woman's body measurements- the circum ...

defined the Gibson Girl style.

Early life

Clifford was born on 29 June 1885 in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, to Reynold Clifford and Matilda Ottersen. Camille was raised in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Career

In the early 1900s, she won $2,000 in a magazine contest sponsored by illustrator

Charles Dana Gibson Charles Dana Gibson (September 14, 1867 – December 23, 1944) was an American illustrator. He was best known for his creation of the Gibson Girl, an iconic representation of the beautiful and independent Euro-American woman at the turn of the ...

to find a living version of his

drawings: his ideal woman. Clifford became an actress, performing in the United States from 1902 and in England from 1904. She returned from London to Boston on 3 July 1906. While generally playing walk-on, non-speaking roles, Clifford became famous nonetheless: not for her talent, but for her

beauty Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes these objects pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, together with art and taste, is the main subject of aesthetics, o ...

, and in the musical show ''

The Catch of the Season ''The Catch of the Season'' is an Edwardian musical comedy by Seymour Hicks and Cosmo Hamilton, with music by Herbert Haines and Evelyn Baker and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor, based on the fairy tale Cinderella. A debutante is engaged to a young ...

'' which opened at London's

Vaudeville Theatre The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each ...

on 9 Sept 1904 she sang a song, "Sylvia, the Gibson Girl". Her trademark style was a long, elegant gown wrapped around her tightly

corset A corset is a support garment commonly worn to hold and train the torso into a desired shape, traditionally a smaller waist or larger bottom, for aesthetic or medical purposes (either for the duration of wearing it or with a more lasting effe ...

ed, eighteen-inch

wasp waist Wasp waist is a women's fashion silhouette, produced by a style of corset and girdle, that has experienced various periods of popularity in the 19th and 20th centuries. Its primary feature is the abrupt transition from a natural-width rib cag ...

. She retired from the stage upon her marriage in 1906. She made a brief return to the stage after the death of her first husband in 1914.

Personal life

In 1906, she was married to Captain the

Hon. ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific Style (ma ...

Henry Lyndhurst Bruce (1881–1914), the eldest son and heir apparent of

Henry Bruce, 2nd Baron Aberdare Henry Campbell Bruce, 2nd Baron Aberdare (19 June 1851 – 20 February 1929), styled The Honourable from 1873 to 1895, was a British soldier and peer. Background Bruce was the eldest son of Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare, who had served as Home ...

. They had one child, Margaret, but the child died five days after birth. Her first husband was killed during the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914 and his younger brother,

Clarence Clarence may refer to: Places Australia * Clarence County, New South Wales, a Cadastral division * Clarence, New South Wales, a place near Lithgow * Clarence River (New South Wales) * Clarence Strait (Northern Territory) * City of Clarence, a l ...

, succeeded to the barony upon their father's death. In 1917, she married Captain John Meredyth Jones Evans. After the war she left the stage for good and later owned a stable of successful racehorses. Together, they were the parents of:Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volumes.'' Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999. * Capt. Robert Victor John Evans, who married Hon. Cicilie Carol Paget (1928–2013), a daughter of

Almeric Paget, 1st Baron Queenborough Almeric Hugh Paget, 1st Baron Queenborough, GBE (14 March 1861 – 22 September 1949) was a British industrialist and Conservative Party politician. He was a founder of the Military Massage Service and the Cambridgeshire Battalion of The Suffo ...

and the former Edith Starr Miller, in 1926. Her second husband died in 1957. She died on 28 June 1971.

Legacy

Despite her reputation as "the quintessential

", she was by no means the only person to pose for the popular character. Also see Photographs of her taken by

Lizzie Caswall Smith Lizzie Caswall Smith (1870–1958) was an early 20th-century British photographer who specialised in society and celebrity studio portraits, often used for postcards. She was associated with the Women's Suffrage movement and photographed man ...

in 1905 often appear in historical fashion books and on websites to illustrate the Edwardian style.

References

External links