EDITOR'S LETTER: November 2014

Who was I for Halloween?

So, yesterday was Halloween, and the above outfit was what I wore as homage to a special someone who I have increasingly become infatuated with in the past year and a half. Who do you think that person is based on what I am wearing? I was thoroughly disappointed when everyone I asked kept giving me the same answer, Michael Jackson—which is the wrong answer. The person on my mind was the late Audrey Hepburn (In my fashion, she is the original reference for the white sock trend). My “costume” choice this year goes along with the notion of women-repelling as I mentioned in my last Editor’s Letter. I chose the look because 1) I still had to go to work and I hate looking too unprofessional at work (even on Halloween); 2) I ADORE Audrey Hepburn, what she accomplished in her life, and what she stood for as a person; and 3) because the look is so classic, androgynous, and attainable, (aside: in my fashion, the white socks actually add a mildly high fashion aspect considering the look is actually quite classic and now a day white socks with black pants is a no, so it caters to the rebel in myself, which is fun. I'm considering wearing white socks as my new statement now). As I went throughout the day, I was surprised to find how many people were unfamiliar with Audrey Hepburn. In my mind, I figured when I told someone I was Audrey Hepburn from the movie “Funny Face”, people would be delightfully reminded of this classic story of an unassuming book store clerk (Audrey Hepburn as Jo Stockton) being discovered by a photographer (Fred Astaire as Dick Avery) to work as a model, and they fall in love with each other in Paris. This quintessential fashion fairy tale is heavily referenced in the Fashion World, especially when it comes to spreads dealing with pink clothes, hence the widely used headline for those spreads being, “Think Pink!” So when I went to work advertising who my costume inspiration was and people would ask me, “Who is Audrey Hepburn?” I was floored!

“Audrey and I agreed she would wear black tight fitting pants, a black sweater and black shoes. I wanted her to wear white socks with it, and she was stunned. ‘Absolutely not!’ she said. ‘It will spoil the whole black silhouette and cut the line at my feet!’ I said, ‘If you don’t wear the white socks you will fade into the background…’ She burst into tears and ran into her dressing room. After a little while she regained her composure, put on the white socks, returned to the set and went ahead without a whimper…Later, when she saw the sequence, she sent me a note saying, ‘You were right about the socks. Love, Audrey.’”—Stanley Donen, Director of ‘Funny Face’

Dressing as Audrey Hepburn yesterday revealed to me that I have a little bit of enlightening to do on my part, and as one can imagine, Audrey Hepburn, will be my focus for this month as my new Style Maven. I just finished the book by Melissa Hellstern entitled “How to be Lovely: The Audrey Hepburn Way of Life”, and in my fashion, if one wants to understand how to be truly happy in life, one should study the life and values of Ms. Hepburn. In my 10 part series I will highlight the lessons learned by Audrey on all aspects of life from Success and Happiness, to Fame and Humanity, all through her own words. There is a reason why Ms. Hepburn is a style icon, and not just because she looked wonderful in a Givenchy dress. I think a lot of it had to do with the values she lived by, and what is so fascinating to me is that her personal values are so practical that to me from reading her quotes, one gets the feeling that if she can do it, I can do it too, especially when one takes into account the events of her life, and lack thereof a normal childhood growing up in Europe during WWII. Her values are actually classic prescriptions for how to deal with life, and her life is an example of what happens when you follow through. These classic prescriptions for life can be forgotten in our fast paced modern technological society. Hopefully as we study the words of the wise Ms. Hepburn, we will enhance our style and quality of life by taking some her advice. 

In regards to The Secrets of Stylists, Audrey Hepburn is certainly one to gain inspiration from as she was quintessentially one that all men wanted to be with, and concurrently women wanted to be. In my fashion, that type of appeal is one we all hope to achieve, but that comes from more than just looks. Assessing what are the qualities that made her so enigmatic, we can reflect on ourselves and see what happens when we apply her principals to our lives as to have the same effect on people as Audrey had. On top of that, I have been reviewing the Spring 2015 collections all month and I intend on presenting my runway report in the coming weeks. The way I intend to present my review should also help in regards to defining your own classic style, much like Audrey was able to do in her life.