pictures of the Fernanda Gattinoni exhibit

The recent exhibit on Italian designer Fernanda Gattinoni had its last day in Paris yesterday, but if you couldn't make the exhibit, no worries. Lovely reader Castor was kind enough to visit and take loads of pictures, which she said I could share with all of you. She was also kind enough to translate the text pertaining to Audrey, which I will copy and paste for you. So, without further ado, Castor's pictures for everyone to enjoy:

silk gauze dress trimmed with embroidery and small pink and blue appliqué horses

silk gauze dress in ivory trimmed with silver embroidery and small blue velvet appliqué horses

an autographed publicity still for Fernanda, signed Audrey Ferrer

ivory satin organza dress dotted with tiny rhinestones

In 1955, Maria De Matteis, the costume maker from King Vidor’s War & Peace (1956) asked Fernanda Gattinoni to make Audrey Hepburn’s costumes.

Fernanda Gattinoni liked so much the costumes with a fluid and vertical form she made for the movie that at practically the same time, she was inspired by the protagonist of War & Peace to dedicate the collection Natascia to the empire style.

Audrey Hepburn was the first customer of the collection and ordered no less than five dresses and one coat. From that time, she became one of the most assiduous customers of the house. Nevertheless, even if a trusting relationship existed between the two women, they never really became friends.

“She was too perfect and I don’t like perfect people” claimed Fernanda Gattinoni later. Despite this, the great designer always recognized the incomparable elegancy of the actress: “She had an exceptional physique. Tall and thin, all the dresses she wore became essentials and luminous like a jewel.”

Again, a huge thank you to Castor for sharing all these wonderful pictures with us. If you like what you've seen, please leave a comment with your thanks!

Fernanda Gattinoni exhibit

Yet another costume exhibit! This one is set in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, next to the Eiffel Tower but distinctly Italian in feel. It's a showcase of Italian designer Fernanda Gattinoni's designs from the 1950s and 60s, and while it mainly focuses on her evening gowns for Italian starlets worn at film premieres and other galas, there is a separate section dedicated just to her designs for War and Peace, which Audrey Hepburn wore. While the film may be more than a big long, I do love watching it just to see how stunning Audrey looks, especially in that airy white ballgown with the Empire waist (left).

If you're interested and are in or around Paris, better move fast, because the exhibit only lasts until July 30th. Admission is free, nicely enough, and is open Monday through Friday from 10-1, then reopens for the hours of 3-6. For more information and photos of the exhibit (including the picture I've used), go to Focus On Style's blog here.

Thanks to Kendal for the link.

Be a part of Audrey

This time, my friends, there's good reason for my not updating regularly. I've been sitting on this as long as I can, but now I must share: I will be in Berlin for the Timeless Audrey exhibit on May 4, Audrey's birthday! I haven't found any details yet but I know that something special is happening on what would have been our fair lady's 80th birthday, so you shall know shortly after I do. :) I will, of course, be taking loads of pictures where I can (there's no photos allowed in the exhibit, but I'll see what I can do in the name of journalistic integrity) and bringing back as much information as possible for everyone that can't just jump out to Germany at the drop of a hat. (There's also rumors that the exhibit may be coming back to the US for a mini-tour, but nothing is confirmed.)

While perusing the exhibit's site, I found a link to some cool little thing that I swear wasn't there before. You can now submit a picture of yourself to be featured in a photo collage of Audrey for the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund! The catch is that it's about €10 to submit a picture of yourself -- or pay for a friend to upload their own picture -- but nearly all the proceeds go directly to the Children's Fund and their All Children In School program. You can find more information here, though be warned that it's entirely in German. I can give you translations if you want, or you can run it through Babelfish or some other online translator.

Lastly, the gallery exhibit/book signing event in L.A. is tonight and I will be there. Pictures are definitely allowed, so if you're in the neighborhood and can drop by, do so! There's supposed to be previously unseen pictures of Audrey up, plus, there's a picture book to thumb through. Who doesn't love Audrey themed picture books? :)

Svenska Mõbler
154 N. La Brea Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
map
6-8 pm

And Saturday morning I will be flying out to Paris and from there to Berlin. I'll be back in Paris for two weeks and will try to hit every Audrey landmark in the city that I can to share with all of you, but I'm also there on "business" (researching a screenplay) and modeling, so I may be a bit loopy from jetlag and not sleeping. We'll see how it goes . . .

Audrey Hepurn en français

A new video clip on You Tube has an interview of Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer arriving in France (possibly at Orly?) and having a short interview with a woman. It's a bit noisy and distracting in here right now so I can't concentrate with my limited French, but I did hear that they flew in from Amsterdam, that Audrey had a new contract with Paramount studios, and that the interviewer comments on Mr. Famous's hair, since Mel was playing with it throughout. If anyone has better French (and a quieter domain) than me, please feel free to post a better translation in the comments section!



Oh, and your speakers aren't broken. The sound only comes in at the beginning of the interview, after the fellow with the Hasselblad camera snaps a picture, and the sound is very soft.

Edit: The user who originally posted this video has had their account suspended, so I am now hosting the video myself.

how Cameron Crowe fell in love with Audrey Hepburn

On iFilm there's an interview with director Cameron Crowe about Elizabethtown, and he's asked about his obsession with Audrey Hepburn. If you're not familiar with his films, in Vanilla Sky there is a Sabrina reference, in Jerry Maguire there's the line "That's more than a dress; that's an Audrey Hepburn movie," and in Elizabethtown there's footage of Roman Holiday (besides "Moon River" playing throughout the film and the obvious Kirsten Dunst as a modern Holly Golightly bit throughout as well). I won't ruin it for you, so just click the link above to go to the video. It's short at just under 3 minutes, so the interviewer doesn't have a chance to get too annoying. :)

As a special bonus, here is an animation of cute little Parisian kitties prancing about to the tune of the instrumental "Bonjour Paris" from the Funny Face soundtrack. Such a great little song! Thank you to the shy one who sent this video in.