• Fashion
Jul 14, 2012 4:20 PM EDT
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Bastille-Day Babes! 8 French Style Icons

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Cleo-de-Merode_Cigarette-card

Cleo de Merode, 1875-1966

Nicknamed “the beauty of the belle epoque,” Cleo was a famed ballet dancer, but it was her tiny waist and fashionable hairstyle — seen on postcards and playing cards — that made Cleo the envy and emulation of Parisian women. Her dramatic presence also mesmerized countless artists (Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec painted her; Alexandre Falguiere sculpted “The Dancer” after her physique), and both King Léopold II and Gustav Klimt were struck with cupid’s arrow.

Photo: Via TopInAmbours

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