None other than Givenchy himself! You'll forgive me for jumping straight into things, but I never was good at holding in good news. Anyway, it's been revealed today that the winning bidder on Audrey's little black dress from Breakfast at Tiffany's was none other than its creator (and model's best friend) Hubert de Givenchy. He had originally donated it to Dominique Lapierre, the founder of City of Joy, a charity helping impoverished children in India, and now he has bought it back again, putting himself out £450,000 along the way. Personally, I'm shocked but extremely happy. We don't have to worry about some tartlet parading about in the dress on her way to a nightclub, or some other horrible fate. It actually brought a tear or two to my eye when I found this out, since it was so touching that Givenchy would go through all of this to help a friend. No wonder Audrey loved him so.
The next article is also about the dress, this time from a woman who made sure to see the dress in person at Christie's shortly before it was sold. It's a very good article about the thrill of seeing this piece of history in person, and she also gives a good history of the Little Black Dress, along with quotes from modern designers who help women decide on what makes a good LBD. You can read the whole article here.The last article is yet another piece on Audrey's lasting power (along with a mini biography), but what made it stand out to me is the fact that it claims that Paramount is coming out with a new Audrey boxed set just in time for the holidays. This one is supposed to be a 5-disc DVD set called The Elegance Collection, yet I can't seem to find any information on it. It's possible the author was confused and was thinking about The Audrey Hepburn Collection, but that's a 3-disc set. Either way, the article provides a quick rundown on all of the new Audrey merchandise to come out lately, so if you weren't sure what to get the Audrey fan in your life, that might be worth looking into.
Since it's that time of year (and since this is the only news coming in), here's two little shopping tips.Are you planning on getting anyone Audrey Style this year, or even maybe buying it for yourself? It may cost a little more than Amazon's markdowns, but you can actually buy the book from UNICEF! It's in the For Adults section, or you can just go straight here. You can even throw in Sean's An Elegant Spirit, which is also available through the charity. If you're going to be buying some Audrey gifts anyway, it might as well help out someone in need and brighten two lives at once. :) Found through this article.
Next up, for those of you in the UK doing some shopping, HMV has drastically reduced prices on boxed set DVDs, including the price on The Audrey Hepburn Collection. Originally £49.99, it's now down to a remarkable £14.99! You can read more about it and other good deals here.
Some random updates today:- a guide on buying a winter coat that will last (for the ladies), in the desperate attempt to buy something that really will be timeless and classic and last more than one season. Of course it mentions Audrey.- a nice interview with Sir Roger Moore, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and recipient of the first ever Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award (2004). Close to the bottom (the last 3 paragraphs, in fact), Roger talks about his humanitarian work and how Audrey roped him into UNICEF -- very lovingly, of course. :)
And for those of you who haven't read or at least flipped through Donald Spoto's biography Enchantment yet, here's an excerpt from the book. I actually think I might have posted this a while ago, but I'm too lazy to comb back through my archives.Lastly, Marni Nixon is making the rounds to promote herself and her book. I wasn't going to say anything about it, but I found it hilarious that Time Magazine once called her "the ghostest with the mostest" and her book was ghostwritten. Hah! Sorry. I just don't think it's right to complain all your life about doing other people's work when you have someone else write your autobiography.And if you're interested, there's a silly impersonation of Audrey by British impressionist Ronni Ancona at about the 7 minute mark in this video:
