Audrey Hepburn Fashion Tips

Dress Like the Breakfast at Tiffany's Actress and Style Icon

Sep 11, 2008

Audrey's example forever changed the fashion world and our perception of female beauty. She was one of a kind. Just like you.

Graceful, confident, cheery, intelligent, beautiful, kind – these are all words that are often used to describe Audrey Hepburn. No wonder decades of women have been inspired by her unique character. Who doesn’t want to look like Audrey?

The Audrey Collection

Certain styles will inspire the comment, “That’s so Audrey!” and types of clothing and shoe designs are often named after her. Hepburn’s fashion choices were groundbreaking in her day, but became such an influence that variations on her style are common nowadays.

The Audrey Attitude

Audrey Hepburn’s style is about more than the wardrobe. Hepburn herself would never have recommended that women blindly follow her clothing choices; the important thing is to adopt the right attitude towards your body and life. Here are the basics:

Know your Body

Hepburn didn’t just chose her clothes because they were innovative. she was an expert at picking out clothing that suited her body type.

You might be thinking, “Oh, but my shape is nothing like Audrey Hepburn’s!” Well, her thin, almost boyish figure was far from the curvy, blonde “bombshell” standards of feminine beauty of her time. She didn’t mind that Marilyn Monroe’s outfits didn’t fit her; she simply created her own look.

Hepburn first tried Givenchy’s clothes for her starring role in Sabrina, knowing that his designs were made for her body. She and Hubert de Givenchy became good friends, and Audrey frequently wore his designs for the rest of her life.

You may not have the Audrey body type or be friends with a famous clothing designer, but you can still do what Audrey did: understand what cuts look good on you and create a wardrobe built on those basics.

Dress for Comfort

You will never look glamorous while those 6-inch stiletto heels make you grimace with every step. Audrey’s ballet flats were as practical as they were sophisticated, made for long days of working on her feet. People who believe that “pain is beauty” do not belong in the Audrey camp.

Live Healthy

Audrey ate full meals and used common sense to maintain a balanced diet (although a little doctor’s advice never hurts, either). However, she rarely went back for seconds and rarely snacked. She also didn’t deny herself the occasional piece of chocolate.

She believed that exercise should be enjoyable and practical. Long walks and biking were her favorites.

Audrey was a ballet dancer before she was an actress, and it was evident in her perfect posture.

For Hepburn, this often meant creating a low-maintnance look with natural lipstick and blush tones and a focus on the eyes. Take a page from her book; decide what your strongest facial feature is and emphasize it, keeping the rest as simple as possible. Your makeup should go with any outfit, your makeup bag should be no larger than a small ziplock bag, and application shouldn’t take any longer than ten minutes.

A genuine smile can make a good outfit look great. Audrey Hepburn had a natural equilibrium, a confident and happy attitude towards life and a generosity towards those around her. She knew that, no matter what clothes one had in the closet, beauty starts from within.

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The copyright of the article Audrey Hepburn Fashion Tips in Women’s Fashion is owned by Elizabeth Nelson. Permission to republish Audrey Hepburn Fashion Tips in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.