Audrey Hepburn: Style & Seductive Sophistication
Audrey Hepburn: Even without being an expert on classic films or Hollywood’s Golden Era, nearly everyone has heard her name and seen her iconic persona from Breakfast At Tiffany’s—the smirking, tiara-clad Holly Golightly holding her long cigarette in black opera gloves is an image that evokes the same feelings as the film’s rainy kisses, street cat, and acoustic echoes of “Moon River”. The feeling is that of longing, reverence, nostalgia, and solemnity. Nobody could embody the heart and sophistication of Holly Golightly or Eliza Doolittle quite like Audrey Hepburn – because she was heart and sophistication.
Why do we remember Audrey? Was it her iconic roles in various award-winning pictures, or was it just something about her? How has Audrey’s image stood the test of time and why does her legacy survive the changing of our popular media, culture, and societal interests? What is so timeless about someone like Audrey Hepburn, and how can the rest of us emulate her enduring qualities? Audrey’s seductive prowess comes across the screen in endearing humor, subtlety, and charm. In short, Audrey Hepburn embodied seductive sophistication.
Elegance is the only beauty that never fades.
Audrey Hepburn (1929 – 1993)
To really understand and unpack Audrey’s allure is to do more than merely “steal her style”, because emulating her seductive sophistication will require an understanding of her effortless presentation in its entirety. (Nevertheless, you may still find inspiration in her style and success in modernizing her 1960s animal prints, veiled hats, coats, and silk pajamas.)
How Audrey dressed was how Audrey behaved – i.e., she showed playful elegance and endearing humor in her animal prints, conveyed subtlety and mystery in her veils, and hinted at a balance between grace and sensuality in her silks.
Seductive sophistication is the fusion of these qualities – playfulness, elegance, charm, mystery, and sensuality – embodied through grace, confidence, subtlety, and refinement. Seductive sophistication goes beyond one’s aesthetic appeal as it relies on the nuances of one’s personality in addition to the interjection of this seduction into one’s style.
Learn how to embody your own seductive sophistication à la Audrey Hepburn…
1. Endearing Humor & Playful Elegance – Bold Prints
Audrey Hepburn’s wardrobe, like her personality, was a mixture of playful elegance and endearing humor. While appearing confident, demure, and composed are landmarks of one’s seductive sophistication, Audrey also found a way to interject lightheartedness into her overall image both with prints and with glimpses of her carefree human nature. To emulate this, make sure you incorporate your sense of humor into your interactions (as appropriate) to present yourself as a more balanced and dynamic person. Whether inflecting your voice with extra eagerness while discussing your interests and passions or adding whimsy to your wardrobe, allowing glints of playfulness to pepper your self-presentation will keep people keen to learn what more is lying behind your generally composed and calm demeanor. (As for fashion, sometimes you might need to embrace more vibrancy in your patterns, prints, and color palettes like Audrey did so often with her colorful 1960s clothing items and her fun accessories.)
2. Subtlety & Mystery – Veiling Seductive Prowess
Audrey Hepburn knew very well that leaving something(s) to the imagination will increase one’s intrigue to others. Veils, both literal and metaphorical, are integral to creating a presence of seductive sophistication. The strategic process of veiling and unveiling your seductive prowess involves balancing your elusiveness with your eccentricity to create an air of mystery that isn’t antisocial or off-putting. Modest clothing and modest behavior are often accused of being “boring”, but Audrey’s ability to appear enigmatic and mysterious with subtle body posture, language, and clothing made her more interesting and offers a masterclass for modern women (and men) looking to elevate themselves. Whether wearing a literal veil, or a pair of bulky sunglasses with a long skirt or jacket, subtle concealments of one’s body and behavior offer the opportunity to create mystery and rewrite assumptions.
3. Gracefulness & Sensuality – Silky Refinements
Overt sensuality can certainly be seductive, but usually too obvious. Layering social gracefulness (i.e., refined communication, self-control, self-discipline, patience, and restraint) over sensuality is a powerful tool of seductive sophistication. Audrey Hepburn’s affinity for silks was more than a fashion choice. Silky fabrics denote a certain level of sensuality without requiring one to show much skin. When styled correctly, silks can make one’s sensual nature appear graceful and mature. Styling your clothing and your behavior with gracefulness looks a lot like practicing patience, demonstrating self-control and organization, and speaking with caution and thoughtfulness and even sensuality can be styled this way to soften its impact and soothe its targets. Layering with structured silk fabrics, accessorizing over ordinary outfits with silks, and wearing silk undergarments and loungewear/sleepwear are all ways to interject subtle sensuality into its refinement and grace. Like Audrey, women often accessorize with silk scarves or silk loungewear and sleepwear, but layering with silk camisoles can have the same impact and even more discretely. Men can also wear silks for the same purpose using silk shirts underneath blazers, silk ties with plain suits, or silk pocket squares to communicate sensuality and a desire for softness and luxury without compromising masculinity.
Conclusion
Remember, seductive sophistication is playfulness, elegance, charm, mystery, and sensuality communicated through one’s grace, confidence, subtlety, and refinement. Audrey Hepburn emulated this throughout much of her career, but anyone can do this and can start at any time.