Acorns...Brown Leaves...All Autumn...

all in the shop...

vintage Brown leather skirt...

New jewelry in thatyountvillegirl shop....

Audrey Hepburn...Sabrina...Cream & Black

oh why do we love her so? What is it about the gracile Audrey that has girls and guys alike... swooning?

Audrey was born in 1929 to a wealthy family and she lived a fairy tale life until the Nazi regime interrupted her life of European luxury and private schools. Her name was Audrey Kathleen Ruston, but her father changed their last name to Hepburn, an old family name, just after the war's end.



Once the war was over, her life began anew with a ballet scholarship to a London school.
She then began a modeling career with her graceful presence and seemed quite happy.
Discovered by a producer, she was signed to a small acting part in a European film in 1948. Then in 1951, she landed a speaking role in another film and soon left for America to seek her destiny.

Her first American role in Roman Holiday was in 1953 and she won an Oscar for Best Actress. She was a different kind of star....glamourous, but not a sexpot like Marilyn Monroe. Finally, in 1954 she played an ingenue in Sabrina and received another Academy nomination.

When Audrey played Holly Golightly in 1961's, Breakfast At Tiffany's, she was the world's darling. Her career endured for decades and she never lost her popularity with the world's adoring fans.

Along the way, Audrey was dressed for her film roles by the most wonderful couturiers of the times...from the 50s thru the 60s and again, finally, in 1987, the fashion designer she is most associated with is Hubert de Givenchy.
He dressed her in Sabrina, Funny Face, Love in the Afternoon, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Paris-When It Sizzles, How to Steal a Million, Charade, and Love Among Thieves.

It was Givenchy who designed "the little black dress" in Breakfast at Tiffany's and in 2006 the dress she wore in that movie was sold at a Christie's auction for approximately $1.2 million dollars!



I love all her films but I especially love Sabrina, and not just because it was filmed in 1954! I love the twirling of Paris into the story and I especially love the dress she wore on the tennis court during a party, long before she figures out who she really loves.
So you can imagine my delight when I found this Jessica McClintock 80s dress that is very reminiscent of the Givenchy Sabrina dress, shown at the top.

This Jessica McClintock dress, she of Gunne Sax fame, would be a lovely find even without the idea of Audrey Hepburn floating in my head. That it has an Audrey aura, makes it just that more special.



Listed at etsy, it has black velvet flocking on the cream satin skirt in a detailed baroque design, and a rich black velvet bodice. The neckline is not a simple to-do...it is swurvy and curvy and the back dress (bows!) has a small peek-a-boo cut out!

This is not a dress for the faint of Heart...one must be prepared to command attention...and to stand tall and gracious....and think of Audrey and love in the air!

From Italy to your summer wardrobe...

If you land at the Naples airport, you can get to the isle of Capri.......the fabled tiny island off the coast of Italy, situated westerly from just about where a buckle would be on the boot of Italy. The deliciously beautiful Grotta Azzurra...the Blue Grotto mesmerizes with the unreal beauty of light upon water. Capri's natural charms have inspired much wonderous art and useful things including fashions that have been created to celebrate the bright and cheery colors of the island's features, and to relive and inspire the feelings of comfort, beauty and fun!


Emilio Pucci has said he was inspired to create his iconic designs and the mind-blowing colors because of the beauty of Capri. We can forgive him then, perhaps, for being so Italian that he was a fan of Mussolini! Pucci was from a rich Italian family, an athlete, and also a fine skier with Olympian talent. On that strength he won a scholarship to Portland's Reed College where he designed his first small collection ....the college's ski team uniforms in the mid-30s.



Pucci set up his first haute couture house at the jet set resort of Canzone del Mare on the Isle of Capri after WWII. His skiwear was discovered by a Harper's Bazaar editor, and Mr. Marcus of Nieman Marcus encouraged him to design other garments, and Pucci responded with the early designs in the stunning color combos we swoon over.

The isle of Capri figures prominently in another design we are are so familiar with......the capri pants....those cute little 50s calf length pants that have resurged back into the fashion world. German designer, Sonja de Lennart, produced a collection just after WWII calling it the Capri Collection because of her family's love of the island.


Full skirts with wide belts were one of the first of Sonja's designs that became popular. But it was her 1948 design, the tight Capri pants, such a change from the Katherine Hepburn-style wide slacks, that took the world by storm. Designer Edith Head dressed Audrey Hepburn in capri pants, the skirt, the high-necked blouse and the wide belt....all designs by de Lennart, worn in Roman Holiday. Givenchy, a year later, dressed Audrey in de Lennart's capris in Sabrina.

From high fashion to everyday wear, movie stars and housewives, even the iconic Beatnik look of black turtleneck, capri pants, wide belt and flat shoes, can thank Sonja de Lennart.



I have these right now on etsy....in the shorter length we called knee-knockers...





fyi... a little list of Pants lengths.....all fabulous!

Bermuda shorts, and clam diggers or walking shorts, are from thigh length to just below the knee, while traditional capri pants are generally calf to ankle length and are form-fitting, perhaps with a small v at the hem. Pants that are cropped and wide are called capri's, flood pants, or pedal pushers. And then of course, there are Man-pris!!