Audrey Hepburn is often remembered for her beautiful clothes, both on and off-screen. When she was about to begin production on Sabrina, she visited fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy in the hopes of having him outfit her wardrobe for the production instead of the costume designer assigned to the film – Edith Head. Despite Givenchy’s contribution, Edith Head took credit for the costumes when Sabrina won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design and even denied that Givenchy was heavily involved, which you can read about here. 

When the time came for Audrey to star in the 1961 adaptation of Truman Capote’s book Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Givenchy was given credit for Audrey’s wardrobe, with Head being listed as the “costume supervisor.”

This pink dress, likely created by Givenchy for Audrey as Holly Golightly in 1961, was described by Christie’s as follows:

Knee-length sleeveless dress of hot pink silk, decorated all over with fan-shaped appliqués accented with small rhinestones [some rhinestones missing], with matching pink bow to the waist.

Hubert De Givenchy designed all the costumes for Audrey Hepburn for Breakfast At Tiffany’s, but this gown is not labeled and also appears to have been altered to fit Hepburn as well as being altered post-filming, perhaps suggesting that this was not one designed by Givenchy, but obtained last minute during filming. 

While it’s possible the gown is not by Givenchy, as Christie’s posted above, a gown of the same design (or perhaps the same exact gown on loan) was displayed at the To Audrey, With Love exhibition of Givenchy’s work at the Kunstmuseum Den Haag in 2016, which seems to at least authenticate his work on this dress.

The lack of a label and later alteration to the gown is almost certainly due to the fact that this costume went on to be reused in another production, the 1965 film Tickle Me, where it was worn by Jocelyn Lane as Pam Merritt. Tickle Me was produced by Allied Artists but was filmed at Paramount Studios – the same studio that had Breakfast at Tiffany’s, making it almost certain that this gown was pulled from the costume racks for reuse. 

Costumes worn by Audrey are rarely brought up for sale, so when Christie’s listed it in 2007 (with the fan-shaped appliqués heavily faded), it sold for $192,000 USD. 

Do you have a favorite Audrey Hepburn costume? Let us know!