Southern Belle Style Icons No. 1: Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara in 'Gone With the Wind'

"It will come to you, this love of the land. There's no gettin' away from it if you're Irish."-Gerald O'Hara

"Fiddle-dee-dee! War, war, war; this war talk's spoiling all the fun at every party this spring. I get so bored I could scream...If either of you boys says "war" just once again, I'll go in the house and slam the door. " -Scarlett

"He looks as if... as if he knows what I look like without my shimmy." -Scarlett

"You'd rather live with that silly little fool who can't open her mouth except to say "yes" or "no" and raise a passel of mealy-mouthed brats just like her." -Scarlett O'Hara

"No, I don't think I will kiss you, although you need kissing, badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how." -Rhett Butler

"One hundred and fifty dollars. In gold" -Rhett Butler

"For what Lady Sir?" -Dr. Meade

"For Mrs. Charles Hamilton." -Rhett Butler

"Mrs. Hamilton is in mourning, Captain Butler, but I'm sure any of our Atlanta belles would be proud to..." -Dr. Meade

"Dr. Meade, I said Mrs. Charles Hamilton." -Rhett Butler

"She will not consider it, Sir." -Dr. Meade

"Oh yes I will!" -Scarlet O'Hara

"Great balls of fire. Don't bother me anymore. And don't call me sugar." -Scarlett

"Ooh, if I just wasn't a lady, WHAT wouldn't I tell that varmint."-Scarlett

"Good heavens, woman! This is a war, not a garden party!" -Dr. Meade

"I can't think about that right now. If I do I'll go crazy. I'll think about it tomorrow." -Scarlett

"As God is my witness, as God is my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again." -Scarlett

 " I can shoot straight, if I don't have to shoot too far." -Scarlett O'Hara

"Well I must admit I might not be alive now, only for you. And when I think of myself with everything I could possibly hope for, and not a care in the world... And you here in this horrid jail... and not even a human jail, Rhett, a horse jail!" -Scarlett

"You can come to my hanging and I'll remember you in my will." -Rhett Butler

"The only thing I'm afraid of is they won't hang you in time to pay the taxes on Tara!" -Scarlett

"Tell me, Scarlett, do you never shrink from marrying men you don't love?" -Rhett Butler

"How did you ever get out of jail? Why didn't they hang you?" -Scarlett O'Hara

"I can't go all my life waiting to catch you between husbands." -Rhett Butler

"With enough courage, you can do without a reputation." -Rhett Butler

"It ain't fittin'... it ain't fittin'. It jes' ain't fittin'... It ain't fittin'. " -Mammy

"How fickle is woman." -Rhett Butler

"A cat's a better mother than you." -Rhett Butler

"You go into the arena alone. The lions are hungry for you." -Rhett Butler

"My darling, you're such a child. You think that by saying, "I'm sorry," all the past can be corrected. Here, take my handkerchief. Never, at any crisis of your life, have I known you to have a handkerchief." -Rhett Butler 

 For obvious reasons Scarlett O'Hara ranks number one on the silver screen and in our imaginations as the Southern Belle's number one contender for supreme style icon. Of course, it can be argued that the character of Melanie Wilkes-Hamilton more resembles our ideals but Scarlett's will to survive and do so beautifully dressed even if it took cutting up her mother's curtains is what we keep coming back for. And I am happy to say that Vivien Leigh's eyebrows are key to pulling off the hoop-skirts, pin curls, lace, marabou and frou-frou. Initially the casting directors had looked for an actual Southern Belle to play the role but finding none suiting, it was remarked upon by all so remarkably concerned by whom was to represent Margaret Mitchell's heroine that is was "better an English girl, than a yankee."

Southern Belles love Lilly Pulitzer

Southern women tend to wear alot of Lilly. Lilly Pulitzer, school-mate of Jacqueline Kennedy, and Palm Beach orange-stand grand-stander. Maybe that is because a good number of Belles also join sororities and graduate to junior league and the country club? Be that as it may, Lilly's bright florals are a Southern trademark for any SEC football match or barbecue. We don't do the little black dress unless someone died. I recommend pairing one a-line Lilly sundress with a strand of pearls and Tory Burch sandals in case you are new to wearing Lilly. A gross-grain ribbon bow in the hair wouldn't hurt one too much either I figure.

 If you can't afford Lilly?: Find something just as bright and cheery. Florals in neon bright shades always charm a Southerner. Once you learn to work the brights and prints, only then may you entertain the thought of touching a parasol.