Audrey Hepburn, a Fashion Icon?

If you ask a young girl (especially a girly one) who her top style icon is, chances are she will say Audrey Hepburn, especially in her most iconic role in Breakfast At Tiffany's. Audrey Hepburn is considered a huge fashion icon, famous for her Givenchy gowns and generally fancy stuff.... but my question, which may shock you, is why?
Why is she famous for her expensive designer clothes? Why is she considered an icon for wearing them? Contrary to very popular opinion, Audrey did NOT normally wear those things. We imagine her always in a little black dress or Givenchy outfits, when in reality she prefered casual, sometimes plain clothing, because it was more comfortable. Unlike most "style icons", she put comfort over trends, designs, and whatever will capture the public's attention the most. There are even several pictures of her in more casual clothing. Why do we consider her a fasion icon just for wearing what she was paid to wear in movies (such as the very famous LBD in Breakfast, the sparkly princess gown in Roman Holiday, her stunning white and black Ginvenchy dress or even the simpler white turban and hoop earrings in Sabrina) or for magazine shoots or at events? She obviously liked the clothes or she got to wear, but she was supposed to dress like that.
Audrey Hepburn did not normally dress like the things she was asked to wear:

The War and Peace dress, which pretty much defines how girly and regal she was.

The look for How to Steal A Million

The Princess Anne gown in Roman Holiday

The Givenchy ballgown her Cinderella character wore in Sabrina

The tailored jacket, white turban, and silver hoop earrings that showed how sophisticated the poor but lovestruck Sabrina Fairchild wore.

The iconic Little Black Dress, the one everyone copies when they try to emulate Audrey's look from this (overrated, IMO) movie. Did you know she could barely even walk in it, it was so formfitting? Doesn't sound comfortable to me- and comfort was Audrey's favorite style took.

No, no.... this is what she liked to wear when she could:

She LOVED capris!

I would've loved to see her in that baseball cap!

OK, she DID have to wear this for a movie... but you can't deny it screams casual but very cute. I LOVE this outfit and wish I could pull it off as well myself (but long skirts like this aren't flattering with my defined waist)

And honestly, if you tried dressing so casually in front of today's trend-obsessed "fashionistas" and "style gurus", you know they would totally laugh in your face. Why? Not only was she, like so many people in the working world today (busy mothers, unmaterialistic people, hard-working athletes, or people who just don't care to dress in anything but jeans, sneakers, and a tee shirt, which is great) into comfort over show, they are not actually style geniuses; they are trend sheep.

I am not into a lot of very casual clothes. I like understated things, like a lot of Grace Kelly's 50's dresses and casual outfits, but not plain long sleeves and capris with almost no accessories. Just not my thing. However, if it is yours, I applaud you! My grandma is a busy person, even in retirement. She gardens, swims, runs errands for us all, shops, does yoga (Pilates are better, by the way... not so Buddhist) works outside a lot, mostly. So this is pretty much her style, and she also likes the Jackie O. sporty style (that's another post I'll have to do later- Jackie was a sport, not a true Chanel box-jacketeer) and I admire her for it. She mostly wears capris, straight jeans, brown sandals, sports sandals or Nike sneakers, t-shirts often in bright shades of green great for moving around in, yoga clothes, and sometimes a gold chain necklace. Simple and all about comfort, exactly what Audrey was into.

Yeah, this is from another movie- whatever! It's still very Hepburn, no?

Are we too obsessed with fashion and "style icons"?

Yes, fashion can be fun and celebrities' style cam be equally fun to admire, but do you think we maybe take it all too seriously? We have whole magazines, books, websites, and TV shows dedicated to talking mindlessly about what celebrities are wearing, what designers and making, and "trends" we ought to be wearing (no matter that a good portion of us couldn't afford a fraction of the stuff, and most of us wouldn't even want to!), etc. I mean, it's only clothes, for goodness' sake, isn't it?
Yes, it is, which is why we shouldn't fixate on it so much. Think about it: how do you think it makes you look when you constantly think about what you, celebrities, your friends, and people you don't even know off the street are wearing? Would you like to be judged solely on something as shallow as the clothes you have on, whether they're in style, expensive, or fancy or not? A lot of people I love aren't especially stylish. Should I criticize them harshly for it? No, I would feel like a scumbag for insulting them just for what they feel like wearing or can get on their budgets. That's so mean and classless, really. So I'm trying not to do it too much to stars either (but honestly, if a star is dressing like a hussy, I will probably call her a hussy, because that is how she's implying she wants to be seen as, by dressing that way).

Jennifer Garner- as probably the only Hollywood actress who makes a halfway decent parent- or dare I say, a good one?- because she's always seen playing, spending time with, and caring for her 2 young daughters instead of clubbing, wearing disgustingly pricey gowns at every event for publicity, and selling her kids out to the 'razzi *coughbrangelina*, is often criticized for dressing "frumpy". WHO CARES? she's a working mom, not an attention-seeker who prefers making money, attention, and looking gkamorous like Angie Jo' to bringing up healthy, happy kids who don't have to have a camera shoved in their face during every outing their parents force them to go to. And honestly, she's not even that terrible-dressed, and is still gorgeous in anything.

PLEASE don't be those girls- or worse, women- who HAVE to be what they perceive as "perfect" all the time. It's not admirable, modest, ladylike, or a bit wise. You won't die if you think about the world instead of Marc Jacobs, shoes, what's "sexy", what your favorite celeb is wearing, what to wear on the street that will garner the most attention, or if round-toed heels are still in or not. Instead, have a real hobby. Write a blog about a current issue. Donate some clothing to charity. Exercise (I guarantee that will feel better than any $400 pair of stilettoes). Go outside for a week without a bit of makeup on. Live!

And speaking of that... while obsessing over fashion and trends is shallow, materialistic, and just plain makes you like unintelligent and vapid, it IS important to be honest about who you are by how you dress. Don't want to be seen as an unrespectable hussy? Don't dress like one. Don't want to trick people into thinking you're a hobo? Don't dress like one. Don't want to get called gothic? Don't wear all black 24/7, studs, 4 pounds of silver jewelry, a mask of white powder and black makeup on every feature, with a scowl permanently pressed onto your face. What I'm getting at is, dress to show who you are- a classy lady that walks with her shoulders back, her head tall, but not at all in a vain, look-at-me way you see far too many stars on the red carpet (or queen bees at high school and sorority girls on the street) doing. Modesty and confidence = class, and class is always in style.

Style: Vivien Leigh

I love that there's so many pictures of her with a kitty- usually this little Siamese one.

Besides being easily one of the most gorgeous classic Hollywood stars (or any Hollywood stars, really), Gone With the Wind megastar Vivien Leigh had great style too.

Terrible color on her, but still.

Elizabeth, Marilyn, Jane, take note: no cleavage, short skirts or form-fitting bodices are necessary for beauty, style, or sexiness. Modest is now and always will be hottest.

Her romantic, (usually) modest, and slightly gypsy-esque style and  goes very well with her faraway, highly expressive and slightly sad green-blue eyes (which I always thought, along with the rest of her , made Liz Taylor, God bless her, the poor man's Vivien Leigh), making her look exactly as if she'd stepped out of a fairy tale or an oil painting. Her exotic beauty and passionate looks only enhanced this. When she gave someone a cold stare, it was like being caught in a silent blizzard. When she smiled, though, everything had a glow. Either way, her marvelous expressions and stunning beauty on top of her glamorous outfits always made you feel something.

I totally did not ever notice she had dark hair on her arms too! I always did a little bit (although it's lighter now) and always annoyed me, but this is nice to have some weird physical trait in common with such a person as her. :-)