Is there anything people do not know about Sophia Loren? A diva to the bone, both for her biography, which resembles the plot of one of the films she starred in, and for her brilliant film career full of recognitions, up to her private life as the wife of producer Carlo Ponti, mother of the orchestra director Carlo Ponti Jr and the director Edoardo, as well as the object of desire of colleagues and generations of fans.

After living a childhood of poverty and hardship, at the age of 15 Sophia was on the Miss Italy catwalk; it took her ten years to become the queen of the international red carpets without ever giving up her own style and leaving her mark, not only on the world of Cinema (winning an Oscar for her part in “La Ciociara” and receiving the special honorary Oscar for her extraordinary career and a nomination for her role in “Una Domenica Particolare” (A Special Sunday), plus many other prizes), but also on the worlds of style, fashion and gossip.

We can therefore speak of an icon of style, and certainly she is a Curvy icon. One meter and sixty-four centimeters tall, she has always towered above her colleagues Gina Lollobrigida, Elizabeth Taylor and Claudia Cardinale, and she has worn her generous breasts and generous hips with pride and class, building her own personal signature of fashion around her body with the help of some famous names in fashion design.

The décolleté has always been Sophia’s strong point, but also her skilful use of colours is extraordinary: her favourite colour has always been red and here, we can see two examples of a variation after many years, keeping up with fashion but always with very clear ideas of her own. In the outfit on the left, the straps that end with two bows play down the theatrical effect of the intense red velvet, combined with the fur stole and the diamond necklace: it is 1957, the year of Sophia’s marriage to Carlo Ponti in Mexico, since he had not yet managed to get an annulment of his first marriage because in Italy there was no law allowing divorce. In the photo on the right, the red is a coral-red, the round neckline and the tight armhole with the brooch are, however, a way of focusing on the low neckline, but taking advantage of the long neck to cover it completely, and making a perfect flare fall from the waist. It was 1962, Sophia was in her sumptuous villa of Marino, and it was the year of Ponti’s divorce from his ex-wife; Sophia and Carlo were to get married in Italy in 1966.

Lace, velvets, ruffles and necklines would always be part of Sophia’s outfits, along with the ever-present valuable eye-catching jewels: Legend has it that she would wear nothing but real ones, even on the set. Magnificent sets of pearls, semi-precious stones and diamonds, chokers, oversized earrings.However, let’s get to the present day because, not even on one single day for 70 years has Sophia given up having her say in terms of style: both on and off the set