Audrey's Dress

I read today that a black Givenchy dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in the movie “Breakfast at Tiffany's” has sold for £467,200 at a London auction. That’s over $900,000 US for one petite size dress. To top it off, this dress is used and over 40 years old.

The BBC News article goes on to say that “the dress was one of three made for Hepburn for one of her best-known roles, as eccentric Manhattan socialite Holly Golightly in the 1961 film adaptation of Truman Capote's novel”.

These Brits just can not get it right. First of all, Breakfast at Tiffanys was a short story written by Capote, not a novel. I read it when was I was stationed in Africa. Secondly, “eccentric socialite” must be the new British phrase for a Call Girl. By the way, Holly was neither an eccentric socialite nor a call girl in Capote’s original story. If anything, Holly was a Lesbian.

I remember falling in love with Audrey Hepburn after seeing that movie. It was my second crush on a movie actress. My first crush was on Marilyn Monroe, after seeing her in “Some Like It Hot”. I also had a teenage crush on one of my high school teachers at the same time as my crush on Audrey; at least I got to see Helen, my teacher, in person, for 5 days a week.

Back to the dress and the $900,000 that was paid for it at the auction.

I can recall getting very angry at my then live-in girlfriend, who was aspiring to be a runway model at the time, for buying a $900 Givenchy dress in 1984. She told me that it was a real bargain at that price. I guess so, if they are now going for a thousand times more than what they had originally had sold for. I just hope that she kept the dress and didn’t give it to Good Will because she could no longer squeeze into it.

The Beach Bum