Audrey Hepburn
True myths bear powerful emblems: Paris and its Eiffel Tower, Audrey Hepburn and one black evening dress. Floor length, worn with ropes of fat pearls, a tiara and long black gloves, it's the outfit in which she appears in the opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany's, a recurring reference for the highest style both in the fashion world and among the public at large ever since the movie was released almost fifty years ago.
Yet it's only a token of the myriad of memorable looks that turned Hepburn into one of the most dashing movie stars ever. Her intense fifteen years of Hollywood preeminence, from early Fifties to late Sixties, coincided and entwined with a significant moment in fashion, as the lofty codes of the haute couture had to yield to a new, refreshing, youth-driven wave of change. Besides the suitable age, Hepburn had the exact right mix of attributes required then and there: she appeared both dainty and dandy, relaxed and sophisticated. There was not - and there isn't yet - any other star, or fashion icon for that matter, gifted with an equal seemingly effortless elegance while capable at the same time of such a wide, genuine smile as hers.
For her second Hollywood movie, Sabrina, she had chosen to be dressed by Hubert de Givenchy. From then on, this quintessential French gentleman was to be her couturier, onscreen and off - a perfect match, as time (and that black dress) confirmed. Half British, half Dutch, Audrey embodied the chic of Paris, not only in movies like Funny Face and Charade, but also in the pages of Vogue, in still-quoted previews of the Givenchy collections or in sassy roundups of French ready-to-wear.
Why, after all she had been discovered in Montecarlo by none other than Colette. Sitting in her wheelchair, the grand femme de lettres knew that the pretty nineteen years old walking through the lobby of the Hôtel de Paris would be "a very good Gigi". As chance would have it, the girl - admired for her "French chic, buoyancy and spirit" - was a budding English-speaking actress while the Broadway production of Gigi was lacking only its protagonist. It was a most promising start.
But of course fabulous women like Audrey Hepburn don't happen by chance. Disciplined and refined, she possessed most of all a beautiful soul and a tender heart. In her final years, as a devoted ambassador for Unicef, she traveled to the poorest countries to effectively help children in desperate need. Her last screen role had been that of an angel.
Published 05/31/2010
Yet it's only a token of the myriad of memorable looks that turned Hepburn into one of the most dashing movie stars ever. Her intense fifteen years of Hollywood preeminence, from early Fifties to late Sixties, coincided and entwined with a significant moment in fashion, as the lofty codes of the haute couture had to yield to a new, refreshing, youth-driven wave of change. Besides the suitable age, Hepburn had the exact right mix of attributes required then and there: she appeared both dainty and dandy, relaxed and sophisticated. There was not - and there isn't yet - any other star, or fashion icon for that matter, gifted with an equal seemingly effortless elegance while capable at the same time of such a wide, genuine smile as hers.
For her second Hollywood movie, Sabrina, she had chosen to be dressed by Hubert de Givenchy. From then on, this quintessential French gentleman was to be her couturier, onscreen and off - a perfect match, as time (and that black dress) confirmed. Half British, half Dutch, Audrey embodied the chic of Paris, not only in movies like Funny Face and Charade, but also in the pages of Vogue, in still-quoted previews of the Givenchy collections or in sassy roundups of French ready-to-wear.
Why, after all she had been discovered in Montecarlo by none other than Colette. Sitting in her wheelchair, the grand femme de lettres knew that the pretty nineteen years old walking through the lobby of the Hôtel de Paris would be "a very good Gigi". As chance would have it, the girl - admired for her "French chic, buoyancy and spirit" - was a budding English-speaking actress while the Broadway production of Gigi was lacking only its protagonist. It was a most promising start.
But of course fabulous women like Audrey Hepburn don't happen by chance. Disciplined and refined, she possessed most of all a beautiful soul and a tender heart. In her final years, as a devoted ambassador for Unicef, she traveled to the poorest countries to effectively help children in desperate need. Her last screen role had been that of an angel.
Published 05/31/2010
posted by Unknown | 8:16 PM
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