catching up

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? I apologize again and again, it's all my fault and my lack of a good regular Internet connection. Did everyone have a fun Halloween? Did you flood the streets with Holly Golightlys? :) It seems the costume guide from last year held up pretty well, and while I didn't receive any complaints, can you think of any way to expand or improve it? I'd love to eventually do a costume guide for a number of Audrey costumes, but since Holly Golightly is the most easily recognizable and easiest to shop for, I figured that was the safest bet.

Speaking of being easy to recognize in costume, I found myself without a costume the morning of Halloween, due to a fabric malfunction the night before. On short notice I ran out and got a black turtleneck and borrowed some loafers, and hit Hollywood as Jo Stockton (Funny Face). There were loads of people there, but through the whole night I only heard 10 people (not counting my two companions) realize it was an Audrey costume! I guess I should have tried that outfit the year that Gap commercial came out. Anyway, at a party later on in the night Holly Golightly, Eliza Doolittle and Jo met up:


It sounds like the setup to a joke, but no punchline comes to mind. (By the way, Eliza is played by Kendal, well known on our forums as well as the audrey1 forums.) Anyway, did anyone else dress up as Audrey and meet a twin?

Moving on, I've got some odds and ends to share. First, I've been slowly catching up with the site's email, and had a request that's really stumped me. Hopefully, someone out there can help! Tracey wrote in after seeing a gorgeous poster in a Flor catalogue, and the customer service people had no idea as to where it came from. I've never seen it before, but would sure like a copy! Here's the picture:


You can click on the picture for the full-sized version. Unfortunately, the chandelier obscures all the text, but I'm fairly sure that's French. Does anyone have any ideas as to where this came from? It may be a reprint of a vintage poster, though one I've never seen before. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated!

Next up, this year is the 50th anniversary of Breakfast at Tiffany's. The book, that is. The movie's birthday won't come up for another three years. The book is due to be released soon, with the vague publication date of November 2008, though I can't seem to find it on Amazon yet. Since B@T is short, a novella really, it's matched up with three other short stories under this stylish cover:


And lastly, speaking of reissues, curse Paramount Studios! Just as I'm starting to catch up on my Audrey DVDs, they have to go and re-release nearly all their Audrey films. *sigh* The worst part is that you know I'll buy them all. You probably will, too! Well, if you're trying to save on space and don't see the point of owning multiple versions of one film, you can always go the Audrey route and donate or give away your older versions. I like senior centers, myself, since they're always in need of entertainment and would definitely appreciate some Audrey Hepburn in their lives. Coming November 11th, just in time for the holidays, is Roman Holiday and Sabrina. Marketed under the Centennial Collection, both films feature all of the extras from previous DVD releases, plus some new featurettes and goodies that will hopefully make it worth your while. Just after the holidays, due out January 13th, comes Funny Face
and Breakfast At Tiffany's -- yes, again. Both just celebrated anniversaries and had special editions come out, but now it comes in more dramatic packaging, also under the Centennial Collection. There's no additional information on these, so I don't know if there's anything new, but there'd darn well better be. People are starting to think I'm crazy, with three copies of every movie on my shelves!

Target loves Audrey!

Living in Southern California (again) means having to drive, lots of freeways, and access to Target stores again. I've been going a lot lately -- hey, I need things and they have them -- and I always see at least one Audrey portrait hanging in the art section. Today I went to a different Target, because variety is the spice of life, and found this cute tote!

And here's a close-up:

Of course, I bought it. :) It's pretty affordable at $12.99 and has a smaller pocket on the inside, making it handy when you need a beach bag or market bag that will still hold your wallet and keys and other loose ends. If you can't get down to a store in your area or just prefer shopping online, the bag is available online here. They also have loads of Audrey tees I haven't seen or shared with you yet, along with some different wall art. You can see all "Audrey" search results here. Not on the website? This art, also found today:

Old Hollywood is still alive in Tokyo, thanks to one man

I first heard about Noburo Kubo a few weeks ago, when I came across a picture of his fantastic train station painting of Audrey Hepburn for Breakfast at Tiffany's (left). I couldn't find a lot about him at the time, so I just saved the picture with his name as the title and moved along. Thankfully, Japan Today has an article about this curious artist, so we can all learn more about him.

It turns out that Kubo is possibly the last person left in Japan that still paints old-fashioned movie posters onto billboards, an art that used to be par for the course in the days before Photoshopped montages passing as posters were quickly pasted up on the side of a freeway. It's a really fascinating read and Kubo does such beautiful work, it's a shame that more of his work isn't feature in the article. And if anyone in Japan ever sees his work, especially anything that features Audrey, take plenty of pictures!

Audrey in Diamonds

In what may be the most expensive piece of Audrey Hepburn fan art yet, artist David Smith has made a painting of Audrey as Holly Golightly using 11,000 hand-placed rhinestones. You can see the picture to the left, unfortunately that's the best I could find so far. But if you're in the Clydebank (West Dunbartonshire) area, or will be anytime in the next two weeks, then you may want to stop in the Gate Gallery, Drumchapel and see the piece for yourself. If you really like it, you can even bid on it through ArtRunner.com, but bidding starts at £380.00. If you'd like to find out more about the artist and his exhibit, you can go here.

local Audrey Hepburn artwork

I like to feature some handmade Audrey Hepburn artwork when I can, especially when it's made out of pure love for art -- and Audrey, of course. Yesterday I was out wandering the city when I came across a small chocolate shop called Chocolate Covered. I went in out of curiosity (and maybe the need for a good single origin chocolate bar) and stumbled across some great Audrey artwork! The owner of Chocolate Covered keeps his hands very full by not only running the shop, but by also making art tins. Half of the walls are covered with tins showcasing every major street in San Francisco, and the other half are tins with just about every celebrity you'd ever expect to find. The tins are covered with beautiful blue-tinted photographs and Japanese paper, and make for very mellow art. I found a few pictures of Audrey on the wall and left my contact information for the owner. He called back today and said that "by far, Audrey Hepburn is the bestseller" out of all his tins. I can see why! He also said that there are usually a lot more than what was up, but he's been running a little short on time lately and so his Audrey stock is depleted.








Aren't they lovely? And very reasonably priced, considering all of the handwork that goes into each tin. The prices vary from piece to piece, but the price range is from $15-25. These ship anywhere, as well, so if you're interested in any of these tins, please click the link above and call the number at the top of the page for more information (I don't like posting phone numbers here, even if they are business numbers).

An extra feature: the lady who was working at the shop that day also runs a dog rescue charity called Rocket Dog Rescue. I thought it would be nice to mention this because Audrey was a dog lover her whole life and I'm sure she would have approved of this organization and all the hard work they do to keep dogs from being unnecessarily euthanized, and to give every pet a good and loving home.

Ode to Audrey Hepburn

When I find it, I like to profile Audrey Hepburn fan artwork because it's nice to see people still so influenced by her and willing to make her a part of their art world. I also like to find the not so mainstream art, which means things you usually don't see mass produced and/or for sale everywhere. I came across a place called Etsy again (I say again because it's been sitting in my bookmarks forever, and I'd forgotten it was there), and on a whim did a search for Audrey's name. There was one artist's work which stood out to me, mainly this painting of Holly Golightly knitting from Breakfast at Tiffany's (left). It's a limited edition print in a run of 50 on canvas that you can have just on canvas, or stretched on a wooden frame, if you're more into 3-D wall hangings. I just really like the drawing style in general, so I wanted to share!

The artist, elloh, has another Audrey piece up on the website, this one called Ode to Audrey Hepburn (right). This one is a mixed media and is one-of-a-kind and much more handmade than the prints.

Note: I do not know this artist and this is definitely not my art, so please don't think I'm giving a friend free publicity. I just really like this!

And speaking of Holly Golightly knitting, I have a Stitch 'n B---h page-a-day calendar (name edited for those of you at work or under other filters), and this was last Thursday's page:


Pretty cool, huh? The quote isn't exactly correct, but it doesn't even really matter. I was just happy to have some Audrey and some knitting that day.

more art

Audrey Hepburn desktops, icons and art!

Some fantastic news for you! The Fabulous Audrey Hepburn now has exclusive, custom- made Audrey Hepburn pop art for your enjoyment. There are also user icons (for message boards and instant messenger programs) and desktops of the special art for you to use, as well. These pieces are not watermarked or in any way stamped with our name, logo, or web address, because I personally think it's a little tacky. But that doesn't mean you can turn around and claim it as your own! All I ask is that you give credit where it's due. If someone tells you they like the piece, just tell them where you got it from. That's all! If this works well, there will be a lot more art where that came from. To see all of the new art, go to the multimedia page. There are also instructions on how to change a picture to your desktop if you need them. Oh, and if you have any requests of pictures you'd like to see pop art-style, let us know!

In other news, if you're in upstate New York for Valentine's Day, you may want to consider catching a screening of Breakfast at Tiffany's. It's actually playing Saturday, Sunday and Monday as well, if you've already made plans for V-day. You can read more information here, and more about the organization and the other films they screen here.