On the French style icon's birthday, L'OFFICIEL remembers her most scene-stealing fashion moments on and off the silver screen

At just the age of 22, model-turned-actress Brigitte Bardot reached international stardom&mdash;a legacy that would be immortalized even after her retirement from acting. In celebration of Bardot&rsquo;s 86th birthday today, L&#39;OFFICIEL looks at the top 10 moments that made the&nbsp;Parisian beaut&eacute;&nbsp;a French <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/the-coolest-french-creatives-to-follow-on-instagram">style</a> icon.

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Born in 1934, Bardot aspired to be a ballerina as a young girl and trained&nbsp;under Boris Knyazev at the Conservatoire de Paris. At just 15 years old, she was hired as a model and nabbed her first cover in 1950 as a natural brunette. Two years later, she would transition into <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/cannes-film-festival-best-red-carpet-fashion">acting</a> with her first role in Le Trou Normand&nbsp;(Crazy for Love).&nbsp;

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As Bardot gained more attention in French cinema, she began to be be&nbsp;casted&nbsp;for&nbsp;English-speaking roles. But as she made her way to Hollywood, Bardot never let go of her French style. In one of her more memorable&nbsp;looks (above),&nbsp;she donned a red suede coat, beige corduroy trousers, black ankle boots,&nbsp;and, of course, a <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/olivia-palermo-scarf-mask-style">silk scarves</a>.

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In her <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop%20culture/manolo-blahnik-favorite-classic-films">breakthrough</a> film, Et Dieu... Cr&eacute;a la Femme (And God Created Woman), Bardot wore a red body-conscious boatneck dress designed by French designer Pierre Balmain. Directed by her then-husband Roger Vadim, the starlet&#39;s role as the sultry beauty from St. Tropez made her an international star, and&nbsp;Bardot fully embraced the femme fatale persona.

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Here the young Parisian channeled Dorothy from the 1939 film&nbsp;The Wizard of Oz,&nbsp;wearing a blue ruffle-layered gingham dress styled with a pair of braided pigtails and satin bows to match.&nbsp;As an avid fan of the woven fabric, Bardot even wore a pink gingham wedding dress for her second marriage in 1959.

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Then a new mom,&nbsp;Bardot&nbsp;was famously photographed&nbsp;by Sam Levin in 1963 wearing&nbsp;a blue fur satin evening gown that she styled with a perfectly-imperfect choucroute&nbsp;bun. By then Bardot was already a full-fledged movie star and solidified her status as a sex symbol along with beloved American actress and bombshell beauty Marilyn Monroe.&nbsp;

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A winged cat liner and messy&nbsp;blowout was arguably Bardot&#39;s&nbsp;most notable look. Here, the actress&#39;s&nbsp;bouffant ponytail paired with a bright red velvet bow and matching striped top&mdash;Bardot didn&rsquo;t hide her love for patterned clothing throughout the years&mdash;followed in the actress&#39; signature effortless style.

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Bardot&rsquo;s film career was extensive. In 1961, she won a David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Actress for her main role in La V&eacute;rit&eacute;&nbsp; (The Truth)&nbsp;and was a nominee for the Bambi&nbsp;and BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress. Perhaps Bardot&rsquo;s most-famous dressed down&nbsp;look would be the black cardigan outfit she wore as&nbsp;the distressed wife Camille in Le M&eacute;pris (Contempt), but she proved that even a bandeau headband can be just as striking as a new hairdo.

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If being a global movie star wasn&rsquo;t enough, Bardot ventured into music in the &#39;60s with the alias, B.B.&nbsp;In her performance for her song &ldquo;Harley Davidson,&rdquo;&nbsp;Bardot epitomized the fearless biker chic style to&nbsp;the time.

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Dressed head-to-toe in baby pink, Bardot gave an unforgettable look in&nbsp;L&#39;Ours et la Poupee&nbsp;(The Bear and the Doll) in 1970. The return of the thigh-high boots with a baby pink raincoat and sun hat was addicting to watch.

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In 1973 Bardot retired from entertainment&nbsp;at the&nbsp;age of 39, trading stardom to become an animal rights activist, which she still continues to advocate for&nbsp;today.&nbsp;

The 10 Chicest Moments in Brigitte Bardot's Career

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