Grey Gardens returns with a Hollywood remake

Jackie Onassis was related to them, Rufus Wainwright dedicated a song to them, and now Drew Barrymore stars as them. Gay icons, fashion muses and now Hollywood stars - who are The Beale sisters?

Set for release in April 2009 in the US - Grey Gardens is being brought back to society by Hollywood stars Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange.

Based on the life stories of an eccentric aunt and first cousin of Jackie Kennedy (both named Edith Bouvier Beale aka "Big and Little Edie") - the two sisters were raised as Park Avenue débutantes but later withdrew from New York society.

Away from Manhattan, they took shelter at their Long Island summer home, "Grey Gardens", but as their wealth and contact with the outside world dwindled, so did their grasp on reality. They were only reintroduced to the world when international tabloids learned of a health department raid on their home, and Jackie swooped in to save her relatives.

Their life story was eventually turned into a cult documentary (and fashion moodboard ever since) by the Maysles' brothers in 1975.

More recently the story hit broadway in a musical version that went onto win three Tony awards and now it's back again courtesy of HBO. From the images we've seen so far, the fashion angle is most definitely still there.

Jessica Lange is featured below from the forthcoming Grey Gardens film version.