Victoria Newman takes dress-up to a whole new level as she channels four spirited, take-no-prisoners women who continue to set the contemporary standard for Style.

Concept and Pictures by Elizabeth Stewart
Styling by George Kotsiopoulos
Makeup by Kathy Jeung
Hair by Jamal Hamadi

LOUISE BROOKS

Crack open "Pandora's Box" and inside you'll find film actress Louise Brooks. A native of Cherryvale, Kansas, Brooks' shimmering beauty, keen intellect and iconic Dutchboy bob planted her firmly in the vortex that was the Flapper Era. From 1925 to 1938 she appeared in 24 films and was one of the few actors of the era to make a successful transition from Silents to sound. She was the first person in London to dance the Charleston, and appeared on countless magazine covers, postcards and posters but there was more to Brooks' style than a love for flapper dresses, tutus, sailor shorts and fingerless gloves - she was a pioneer to her very core. Her journey to stardom, which began at age 15 with a stint as a Denishawn dancer, then a Ziegfeld girl, then a film star epitomized the 20th Century woman's first steps toward autonomy and inspired a comic strip and a stage play. Her most important role wasn't in Hollywood, though, it was in Berlin, where she made "Pandora's Box" and "Diary of a Lost Girl" with German film giant G.W. Pabst. In those two films, both released in 1929, Brooks pioneered a new, naturalist acting style, which is still the standard for film today. Who better epitomizes the restless icon?

JOAN CRAWFORD

F. Scott Fitzgerald once referred to her as the epitome of the 1920s, but it wasn't until years later that Lucille LeSueur of San Antonio, Texas hit her stride as a movie star known for her powerful portrayals of strong, flawed, deeply human women in such films as Rain, The Women, Mildred Pierce, The Damned Don't Cry, and Johnny Guitar. The American Film Institute dubbed her the Tenth Greatest Female Star of All Time. Yet all Oscar-winning Joan Crawford wanted to do was dance, and she broke into the movies as a dancer. Here, we take a look at her at the height of her powers; flawlessly coifed, groomed and dressed, her hair carefully pinned, this Crawford already understands the power of persona as well as meticulous attention to detail; she has become more than an actress, she is a star and the first star to understand that she is also a product. Her understanding of the power of branding, and her meticulousness would come back to haunt her later, but it's important to understand just how hard Crawford worked to free herself from the poverty of her youth and how terrified she was of returning to it. As filmmaker Peter Fitzgerald's Crawford documentary "The Ultimate Movie Star" explains, that's why she left nothing to chance.

GLORIA SWANSON

Elegant. Stunning. Stylish. With designer friends like Elsa Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel, dressing to the nines was a relatively simple task for Gloria Swanson off-screen. Onscreen, her silent-movie era costumes were almost insane studies in luxury. Silks, satins and brocades combined with ermine, beading and ostrich and peacock feathers to create what was then a surreal vision of glamour - exactly the kind of fantasy movie audiences loved - which laid the visual groundwork for what we now think of when we think of "Hollywood Glamour." Not only a fashion pioneer, Swanson was also one of the very first public figures to extol the virtues of a healthy diet and she remained an outspoken advocate - and compelling advertisement for - a macrobiotic diet washed down with lots of water until her death. Thirty-six years after her first film, Swanson scored another triumph in 1950 in Billy Wilder's noir classic Sunset Boulevard, where she played an aging silent movie star trying to come to terms with her obscurity. And while some critics feel she was mirroring her own life, Swanson was anything but obscure, as she continued acting, appearing on talk shows and promoting healthy eating habits up to her death in 1983.

ELIZABETH TAYLOR

No question; Elizabeth Taylor is one of the greatest Hollywood style icons ever, consistently thrilling her fans both on and off screen. Born in London to American parents, Taylor owes her career partly to WW2 as her family returned home to the States to avoid the coming war. They settled in Los Angeles, where the stunning child with the violet eyes, pale skin and jet-black hair was discovered by Hollywood. She became a superstar with the 1950 release of Butterfield 8, in which she lent new life to the satin slip. Here, we see her as she begins her ascent from actress to screen diva. Butterfield 8 not only won her her first Best Actress Oscar and cemented her reputation as a skilled actress as well as a great beauty, it also marked her metamorphosis from ingenue to Brunette Bombshell. Her eyes, hair, figure and innate understanding of her physical appeal precluded turning back. Liz would go on to become the first actress to earn $1 million for her role in Cleopatra, become famous for serial marriages at a time when such a thing was truly scandalous, and to cultivate a legendary love for jewelry. She still owns a 50-carat pearl formerly owned by Mary I of England, and has a 70-carat, pear-shaped diamond given to her by Richard Burton named aptly enough, The Taylor-Burton Diamond. But what sets this icon apart more than her enormous jewels is her sense of humor and her enormous heart. Despite numerous health issues, Taylor continues to work tirelessly for a variety of charitable causes and turned in a hilarious performance as Fred Flintstone's mother-in-law in the live-action Flintstones movie.