Audrey Hepburn Auction

In case you hadn't heard, the Audrey Hepburn auction will take place on December 8th in London. Right now 360 pieces of clothing, accessories, momentos, sketch and photos are on display in Paris.

Somehow this Dutch-British yet Belgian born ('American') actress epidomizes every fantasy we have about Paris. Granted she made quite a few films set in Paris, so with good reason:

Granted she became the canvas for Parisien designer, Givenchy to paint many of his finest creations on. They were both mad for each other. 

Audrey in Paris Letter.
She was his muse. He was her best friend and co-creator of her inimitable style.

The collection of pieces on sale are cast-offs given by Hepburn to a long-time teen-age friend of many years, Tanja Star-Busmann. They met in London when Tanja was 15 years old and Hepburn 20 – just before her career took off.
"I was perhaps her first unofficial fan – writing letters to her from boarding school and receiving replies," Star-Busmann, who is now in her 70s, wrote in the auction catalog. In addition to letters – some of which are to be sold – Hepburn also regularly gave her young confidant her hand-me-downs, which became increasingly fabulous as her star rose".

"Over the years, a cavalcade of boxes filled to the brim ... arrived at my door," wrote Star-Busmann. "Unpacking them was always like Xmas all over."

I read somewhere that Hepburn's clothes closets were practically the size of football fields.

“Some people dream of owning a swimming pool. I dream of bigger closets.”

And every single piece of clothing was color-coded and meticulously, even maniacally organized. Was Audrey a bit OCD?

Sigh...my own closet is everyone's nightmare. Can’t find a thing bc it’s mostly lying on the floor.

Well it's perfectly understandable that Audrey would have to make room for new additions is it not?

I simply do not know the right people.

Everyone knows Audrey was a huge fan of French designers YSL, Givenchy, Madame Gres bien sur.

But she experimented plenty with newer more avant garde designers too: Alaia, Bill Gibbs, Jean-Paul Gautier, Comme des Garcons, John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood.

Audrey was the queen of the little black dress (LBD) - the simple Givenchy creation she donned for her date with Humphrey Bogart in Sabrina - to die for forever!

I promise you, you'll have a ball looking at the lots in the auction.

There's always a dog in the story. "Mr.Famous", Audrey's Yorkie turns up in many of fashion shots in the auction.  I was lucky to see Audrey Hepburn win the Society of Lincoln Center award at a gala tribute in 1991. She was every bit as gracious and lovely as you can imagine.

Holly-Go-Lightly Paris letter.
I’m Carol Gillott, an artist living in Paris. Every month I send out beautifully illustrated letters that capture the true Parisian experience. 

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Thanks for reading PB ❤️

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Bonjour Audrey, we will always love you