That’s So Audrey

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Inge is senior editor and a regular contributor at YLF.

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That’s So Audrey

— by Inge

on June 22, 2012

The attractive coffee table book Audrey 100, by Ellen Fontana, features one hundred full page photos of unforgettable movie star and style icon extraordinaire Audrey Hepburn. All pictures were carefully selected by her partner and two sons to convey Audrey’s personal story and the qualities she stood for throughout her life and career. We follow the well-known actress, humanitarian and mother over a time span of forty years, and through these “100 emotions, 100 feelings, 100 little pieces of time, slowly a new image begins to emerge: a work of art dedicated to her life, her joys, her sorrows, her mischievousness, her laughter”.

For as long as I can remember I’ve been a huge fan of Audrey, the style icon and actress (and Angie is too — her Pinterest board is a real treat). There is just no one like her. She is simple elegance personified. Her natural grace, gamine style, pixie cut, black cigarette pants, flat footwear and high necklines are all iconic, “so Audrey”, as we often exclaim. But it wasn’t until 1989, when Miss Hepburn appeared in the opening show for the first Flemish commercial television station, that I fell in love with Audrey, the person. She was there to talk about her work as a UNICEF International Goodwill Ambassador, and it immediately struck me how she radiated quiet determination and compassion. She devoted the last five years of her life to helping impoverished children in war and disease stricken countries, witnessed unspeakable suffering, yet remained optimistic and hopeful. For the life of me I can’t remember what she was wearing that night – I expect it was a stunning gown – but I’ll never forget the smile in her voice while talking about these children, or the kindness with which she treated everyone she met. Since then she’s become my example of inner beauty always shining through, regardless of outward appearances. And each time Angie mentions how a smile from the heart increases your style quotient, I go “That’s so Audrey!”.

Do you have a style icon that you admire for more than her or his fabulous fashion sense? And at the opposite end of the spectrum: do you think it’s possible to love someone’s style without liking the person behind the clothes?

Reminder: The Handmaid’s Tale for June 29

Friday 29 June is kick-off day for our next Book Club title. We’ll be chatting about Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale.

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14 comments · Add a comment

Laura65

Audrey Hepburn was such an admirable person, inside and out. I remember a quote from her as she aged about the lines around her eyes, and she said something to the effect that the lines showed she had squinted at the sun many times – meaning she had really lived life and had her day in the sun. Love that!

June 22, 2012 at 3:34 pm

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

You are so right, Inge! There is just no one like Audrey. Her sense of style has gone down in history, as has her work with UNICEF. A brilliant and compassionate lady.

I also loved how she loved her doggies – and they were Yorkshire terriers actually. No matter how decked out to the nines she was, Audrey always cuddled and snuggled up with her doggies. My Pinterest board is full of un-posed shots of Audrey with her precious doggies. This REALLY speaks to me. They sat on her lap and kissed her face no matter what. Polished, but not precious. My type of style

The book looks fabulous.

June 22, 2012 at 5:52 pm

Russian Chic

“Polished, but not precious”.It is so beautifully expressed. She is my #1 style icon. I admire her grace.

June 22, 2012 at 10:40 pm

Lynne

Veteran

You said it brilliantly, Angie….I put Princess Mary of Denmark on my list of icons of both style and who they are…..she always seems warm and happy as well as looking fantastic.

June 23, 2012 at 4:34 am

M-C

On the other hand, lifelong anorexia is not really to be envied.. really ghastly in old age!

June 23, 2012 at 5:15 am

Joy

Veteran

Some of us are just naturally very thin, especially at certain times of our lives..old and young. My healthest weight is considered too gaunt by most. Audrey became a style icon for me as a young woman because she gave me hope that a very slender, angular woman could be considered beautiul at a time when the busty hourglass was the ideal. Her inner beauty is something all shapes and sizes can aspire to have.

June 23, 2012 at 9:06 am

Russian Chic

Dear M-C,
Just because she was slender does not necessarily mean that she was an anorexic. Please lets do not make assumptions / judgments. She was a divine soul.

June 23, 2012 at 11:34 am

Vicki

(website)

Veteran

Not only do I love the idea of 100 Audrey moments, I also loved reading many of the wonderful personal observations and memories of her here. She seemed to convey both an elegant and approachable style in public, and she lived with such grace and showed genuine compassion. Thankfully, there’s a recorded history of this beautiful woman in film and print. I can’t wait to take a closer look at this book as I love looking at black and white photography, in particular. Audrey may have been a petite woman (naturally and genetically so), but she was powerful in her own way.

June 23, 2012 at 4:33 pm

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I can’t wait to see this book. Nodding along with Vicki – Audrey may have been petite but she had a big (and wise) soul. I love it when women who are renowned for their beauty do something meaningful with their lives – and she did.

June 24, 2012 at 6:23 am

M-C

Well, let’s see now, just a quick google..
http://www.elegantwoman.org/au.....rexia.html

No, I didn’t assume that because she was thin she was necessarily anorexic. I have a couple friends who have remained very thin their whole life, while eating a whole lot, even more than me :-), and I assure you that they don’t look one bit like poor Audrey did in old age.

Let me also gently point out that anorexia is an illness, not a vice or a crime, or shameful in any way. Being silent about it doesn’t help its sufferers.

June 24, 2012 at 11:57 am

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

M-C, I think your original comment is a little unfair. Nothing in Inge’s post, or the subsequent comments, implies that anorexia is “to be envied”. Here, we are celebrating the many positives of Audrey’s life.

I encourage people to take the discussion regarding thinness to another thread as it is off topic here.

June 24, 2012 at 5:06 pm

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Whatever her private health issues may have been, Audrey is a style icon in a league of her own. Every time a certain gamine look shows up she is referenced with admiration. Her humanitarian work makes her, and not just her style, a role model that has withstood the test of time. I do think learning about a person affects my judgment of their style. Style is, one way or the other, a reflection of the person’s choices along with everything else they do.

June 24, 2012 at 6:25 pm

Lisa

Veteran

I’m a fan of Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie. I like their timeless styles. They always look like “themselves” and not like they are “trying too hard” to embrace a trend. When I shop I try to keep in mind items that feel like “me” and not items that are “in.” I also like Marilyn Monroe. She wore bombshell clothes for events but in her down time she was just another gal who enjoyed reading and hanging out. When I heard her high end items were well worn, I thought this is the way I want to be too. True enough to myself to stick to the items that work because I am comfortable enough with myself not to always try to change myself. A lot of celebrities today switch styles really fast and come across as trying too hard and uncertain of themselves, at least to me. I think this is one reason why Audrey will always be popular, she had a tried and true style that really fit for her.

June 26, 2012 at 8:17 am

Mamavalveeta03

Veteran

I love another Hepburn’s style: Katherine the Great!!! Her attitude was feminist before it was even a word! (and yes, I know that she remained in a relationship with a married man….another thread, please!). Her style was always her own, a bit androgenous, but those cheekbones and red hair made her ALL woman! If I could only wear trousers so well.

June 26, 2012 at 9:52 pm

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Reminder: The Handmaid’s Tale for June 29

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