FASHION Audrey Hepburn s Funny Face Whether or not you re an Audrey Hepburn fan, subconsciously you can picture her infamous black skinny pants by simply closing your eyes. You might have seen the 2006 Gap commercial, staring Audrey dancing around a creme background, photoshopped from her original Funny Face scene, or you may have seen Kim Kardashian s recent photoshoot, where she dressed as the star. Whatever the case, the skinny black pant has becoming an iconic piece of our fashion history. The black skinny pants originates from the film Funny Face, directed by Stanley Donen, staring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire which was released in 1957. The first version of Funny Face first opened on Broadway in New York just before Thanksgiving in Danielle Houck 1
1927. After one season in New York, Funny Face continued in London for multiple seasons, with ongoing productions lasting up until 1981. There was a lot going on in the 1920 s concerning the idea of gender roles in America. In 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment was passed, guaranteeing American women to vote, however, even though it was official legal to vote as a woman, a lot of woman still chose not to. Based off the idea of strict gender roles and how men and woman s roles in society did not overlap. The idea of different world made women feel that they should only be worried about things including keeping a clean home, raising good children, and studying religion. While men should take care of the business side of things, including politics. It was believed by most, that by allowing women to vote you "I have no illusions about my looks. I think my face is funny." -AUDREY HEPBURN were allowing them to give an opinion on something they know nothing about nor understand, therefore it was more beneficial for them to leave the political decision making up to the men. Fashion in the 1920 s however was completely different. In the 1920 s silk and rayon were all the rage, while cotton slowly lost it s popularity. Dresses were lighter, due to synthetic fabrics as well as dramatically shortened, with a new availability of colors. Pant suits became increasingly popular, which gave woman a trending sleek look, Danielle Houck 2
along with short flapper dresses with loose silhouettes. Hair styles were also much shorter, with boyish fashions and flattened figures taking over. During the 1920 s it also became more acceptable for a woman to smoke and drink in public, along with physical contact while dancing with male dance partner. Overall the 1920 s woman, was thought of as the New Woman society was somewhat accepting women as independent beings, allowing them to make choices for themselves in education, along with martial status and careers, with hopes of continued contribution to the workforce. Flash forward to 1957, when Funny Face film version was released. During the 1950 s men were coming back from the war and taking back the jobs women had taken over while they were away at war. Advertising focused on clearly defining what the role Danielle Houck 3
of motherhood was with illustrations of women cooking and cleaning while looking happy. Woman were still getting payed a lot less than men. Women were still seen as submissive, and incapable of much. Most girls were raised with very little expectations with families encouraging them to get married, have a home, start a family. Long term goals for women were still marriage rather than careers. In the 1950 s 1.2 percent of woman went to Universities. People felt that if a woman succeeded career wise, then there would be no one to watch over their children, and the children would suffer. Some woman overlooked what society was asking from them and continued on the road for success, rising above society s standards outstepping the role of the 1950 s housewife. Fashion in the 1950 s was heavily influenced by the 1920 s. Christian Dior was also a huge influence on the 1950 s. There was two types of dress styles, the sack dress which meant an oversized fit that hug far from the body, and then there was a body con type of style, which fitted the body I was taught that I ought not expose my inner senses... -AUDREY HEPBURN extremely tight showing off the figure. Fur trimmings, along with oversized coats made out of Danielle Houck 4
shaggy material, and wide brimmed hats were also increasingly popular, along with bathing caps and large hoop earrings. Audrey Hepburn was born in 1929. For her time, she was one of the biggest style icons as well as one of the most successful actresses for her time. In her later years, she broke away from acting due to her children. This is interesting for me to read because I think that it shows that gender roles during her time up until she died in 1993 were still very much a thing. In her film Funny Face, Audrey Hepburn plays a bookstore employee, who captures the attention of a fashion photographer played by Fred Astaire. Audrey s character is very much non-conformist in the beginning of the film. Wearing dark colors in her intro scene, clothes fitting towards the body, you can tell right off the bat that she s a confident woman who is strictly business, her makeup is minimal if at all, and her hair is tied back away from her face. Audrey Hepburn s clothing in Danielle Houck 5
the movie are very conservative, and almost have a boyish vibe to them. Her attitude is very interesting because for most of the movie you have Audrey fighting the typical gender norms, in her everyday language. But, when looking at the big picture, she moved across the world to follow a cute photographer so there s a little bit of an interesting story line that goes on.when she meets Fred Astaire s character he intrigues her, and eventually ask her to come to Paris with him, in which she accepts. While in Paris she begins to become his model, in which Fred Astaire finds Audrey to be his muse. The film shines a light on the idea of gender roles, both physically and mentally. Within the first ten minutes of the film you have Audrey Hepburn s character being picked apart by Fashion working woman, for every detail of her physical appearance, from hair to eyebrows. Audrey Hepburn s character obviously fighting back her critiques, having confident in herself. Danielle Houck 6
Throughout the movie, Audrey s character s style changes as she becomes fashion s new face, Fred Astaire s character turns her into a model photographing her for high fashion editorials. French Designer, Hubert de Givenchy, who was born in 1927 in Beauvais France, and had established The House of Givenchy in 1952 designing elegant haute couture designs, he was known for his feminine designs, and is most known for his work with Audrey Hepburn. He was the cocreator of the sack dress teaming up with Cristóbal Balenciaga, creating new trends that were never seen in the 1950 s. He designed garments for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Hubert de Givenchy final collection was released in 1995. He is still alive today, and now lives in an estate located on the French Countryside. He designed all Audrey Hepburn s costumes for Funny Face, after the well successful wardrobe for Sabrina became a hit in 1954, Funny Face was really Hubert de Givenchy s time to show because of the fact that Sabrina s wardrobe credit went to Edith Head. Sabrina later went on to win an Academy Award for costume design, in which Edith Head received all the credit whereas Givenchy received nothing. Therefore, Funny Face became a big deal Danielle Houck 7
because of the fact that this was going to be Hubert de Givenchy introducing moment. He later went on to design her costumes for Breakfast at Tiffany s and he eventually he famously won on Oscar for designing Audrey s wardrobe over time and went on to become extremely successful in the fashion industry today. One scene from Funny Face that stood out to me, is the scene of Audrey Hepburn drinking and dancing in an underground club, wearing a pair of slim fit black pants. She goes on to sing about the ideas that she can wear what she wants, and acts how she wants. I believe this was a big deal during this time because of the actual times going on in society. Looking back at what was talked about previously in this paper, I believe that having a strong woman, in slacks, dancing around on screen talking about being independent, probably gave a lot of women hope about the future. I think that even through all the garments that Audrey Hepburn wore, I think what stands out the most about the movie is the club scene and those pants, especially the way they clung to her body and gave her some type of confidence along with self worth. As if Audrey was more than just a Funny Face, because she was a woman. A strong, powerful woman at that. I believe that the success of the slim Danielle Houck 8
black pant, not only came from the way the pants fit Audrey, but I think who the pants allowed Audrey to become. I think what can be said about Funny Face is the role gender has in fashion. I think that when woman ditch the dresses, and wear more unisex type garments, I believe that it intimidates the man. What Audrey Hepburn s character represents is a combination of beauty and brains, and I think that her character continually fights the idea of falling into societies trap to basically just fall in line with what society wants from a woman. The idea of ditching the gowns for the pants and jumpsuits and pursuing the original Philosophy profession towards the end of the movie shows Audrey s true passion. It s also interesting throughout the movie that as things go sour with Fred Astaire s character, Audrey wardrobe changes from elegant dresses that are full of color and life, back to black, simple, and conservative. All in all, I think that Audrey Hepburn and Givenchy s relationship with clothing, really changed the way we think of iconic fashion today. Her confidence in Funny Face, as well as off Funny Face, really changed the game for woman because it allowed women in society to have a role model, as well as fashion inspiration. If Hubert de Givenchy had never made Audrey Hepburn s all black costume with the iconic black pants, would the idea of all black Danielle Houck 9
still be a classic look? Probably not. The fact that Givenchy designed Audrey Hepburn s clothes on and off set shows that they truly had a great relationship, friendship, and passion to make a brand since that s really what celebrities are, a brand to make a statement, and send a message to society. Therefore, allowing Givenchy to create these statement pieces that have become so iconic throughout the generations, shows that they were really onto something great. I think that this was probably the first time in show business that a woman was able to pull off sexy as well as a boyish look. I think it would be interesting to see what it would be like if Audrey Hepburn was still alive and making movies with Hubert de Givenchy making her garments today. Would they be creating iconic garments for the next generations? I guess we ll never know. GAP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_k-gxek3k0 Danielle Houck 10
Bibliography "Audrey Hepburn Biography." The Biography.com Website. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 25 May 2016. "Fashion in the 1950s." RetroWaste. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2016. "Test Pattern: Hepburn Falls into The Gap." TODAY.com. N.p., 04 Oct. 2006. Web. 25 May 2016. "Women in the 1920s in North Carolina." Women in the 1920s. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2016. "1920s Womens Fashions." 1920's Womens Fashions. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2016. "1950's." - Women's Roles. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2016. "Hubert De Givenchy." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 25 May 2016. Danielle Houck 11