Audrey Hepburn in the Opening Shot of Breakfast at Tiffany’s in LBD Made by Edith Head
In lurching through the world of fashion one is visited with the vague fatigue of brand hysteria, and to be mildly distrustful of it.
In the August 5 edition of the New York Times, the paper’s rapporteur of style and fashion Suzy Menkes detailed the “Little Black Dress” (LBD) exhibition at the Mona Bismarck American Center in Paris, writing in the second graph these winsomely innocent words:
“…..the dress did make it to America, perhaps most notably as Audrey Hepburn’s costume in the 1961 movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” But that dress was, of course, made by the Paris couturier Hubert de Givenchy.”
Of course not, Suzy; it’s a brittle illusion that Hubert de Givenchy made the dress pictured above. In research for our July 1 post on the exhibit, PVB dug up le petit récit of the black dress worn by Audrey Hepburn.
In fact, Hubert de Givenchy did design a LBD for the opening shot, but the dress was deemed too risqué – it showed too much leg. The dress was used neither in the film nor as a model for the celebrated film poster.
Fact: The LBD worn by Audrey Hepburn was created and made by Edith Head. Grand merci Edith.
Note: The “Little Black Dress exhibition is organized by the Savannah College of Art & Design Museum of Art, and curated by Vogue Contributing Editor and Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) Trustee André Leon Talley. Its runs until Sept 22.