Tuesday, March 31, 2015

I'll Have What She's Wearing: Audrey

Philippe Halsman, 1955

Why did it take so long? For years and years I've loved these images of Audrey Hepburn by Philippe Halsman. Such a simple idea— a skinny black top and a full, longish skirt. I've tried it many times, but none of my black tops were ever skinny enough or stayed in place long enough.

I won't call it a lightbulb moment— more a "duh" moment. I finally realized ex-dancer Audrey must be wearing a dancer's leotard as her black top. Turns out such leotards still exist, available to all, even those whose turn-out may be less than balletic. I found these two by Avery Dance Apparel on the internet. Both zip up the back and are in a Lycra-Spandex blend (no doubt a stretchy improvement over Audrey's original) and retail for less than $20 each.

Crew neck 
Modified crew neck

Midi-length skirts are fashionable again as well. I love the long-skirt-long-sleeved-black-top idea with sandals for summer, but I'd better hurry. Things get hothothot here pretty fast.

 Michael Kors taking
a cooler approach

Way before Van Halen, Philippe Halsman loved to tell his celebrity subjects, "Jump" and got memorable shots from some unlikely jumpers (i.e. Salvador Dali and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor). These pix of Audrey are classic Philippe and classic Audrey:

Philippe Halsman, 1955

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