Book Review: The Audrey Trilogy

Mireille Guiliano once wrote on her Web site — when listing her favorite/recommended books — that she only recently found out that Audrey Hepburn wasn’t French. She learned the truth — that Hepburn was actually Dutch-Anglo-Irish — upon reading Donald Spoto’s biography, Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn.

It’s understandable that Mme. Guiliano would assume that the gracious and classic Hepburn was French. For many Francophiles, Audrey Hepburn represents the epitome of old world European glamour, sophistication, grace, and style. Her unique sartorial choices still wield considerable influence in the world of fashion — Isaac Mizrahi, Jeffrey Banks, Valentino, you name it, all consider her as their muse, her wardrobe (both off- and onscreen) their inspiration.

Three books published over the last decade explore Hepburn’s style legacy in particular, rather than her film work: How to Be Lovely: The Audrey Hepburn Way of Life, by Melissa Hellstern; What Would Audrey Do?: Timeless Lessons for Living with Grace and Style and Audrey Style, both by Pamela Clarke Keogh.

Of all three books, regrettably, Ms. Hellstern is definitely the weakest. How to Be Lovely (2004) consists primarily of random quotes attributed to Hepburn on subjects such as Health (“How to be beautiful”) to Fulfillment (“How to make the most of it”) to Fame (“How to handle celebrity). A few photographs dot the book, but for the most part it’s a rather fluffy and poorly written book that does little justice to the impact that Hepburn had on American pop culture and fashion. I admire the author’s intention, but the amateurish execution — it reminds me of a teenager’s scrapbook — leaves much to be desired.

If you’re seeking to plumb the truths of Hepburn’s inimitable style, you’d be better off with Ms. Keogh’s books, particularly What Would Audrey Do (2008)? She writes adoringly of Hepburn (sometimes too much so), her formidable work ethic, innate fashion sense, physical grace, spiritual equilibrium, and fierce intelligence. According to Ms. Keogh, Hepburn was no shrinking violet. She was indeed a lovely vision on the screen and a warm and thoughtful person in real life, but she also possessed a steely determination and boundless ambition. She would not have survived the Nazi years, years of rigorous ballet training, overnight worldwide fame as a young adult, stalking paparazzi, two publicly humiliating divorces, and several miscarriages if she did not have a will of iron. It’s a side of Hepburn few people outside of her inner circle would know, but one that all Hepburn fans should definitely remember.

What Would Audrey Do? provides the reader with more than just a cursory examination of her life history and fashion sense. Ms. Keogh examines how Hepburn organized her home life, from her obsession with the color white when it came to interior design to her nutrition and eating habits to her approach to love and all its — ahem — challenges. She meticulously lists things, activities and places that Hepburn considered her favorites: clothes from Givenchy and Ralph Lauren, shoes by Salvatore Ferragamo, dark chocolate, homemade preserves, ironing, pasta. She also generously dispenses plenty of advice on how to live an Audrey-inspired life, from shopping at Williams-Sonoma (which reportedly Hepburn did in her later years) to wearing minimal makeup in everyday life (although the tip about separating one’s eyelashes with a safety pin still makes me shudder, even if it is responsible for creating those legendary eyes) to donating to worthy causes such as the United Nations (for whom Hepburn tirelessly worked as a goodwill ambassador until her death) and to behaving professionally at all times (something many, many contemporary actors and actresses would do well to emulate. I’m just sayin’).

Ms. Keogh does have an annoying habit of referring to herself as “we,” as in, “We used to date a guy who, no kidding, flew his own jet.” I’m not really sure what the purpose is for this literary “voice;” perhaps she wanted to add an extra layer of formality? After all, we are talking about the great Audrey Hepburn here. Still, it’s a distracting and — dare I say it? — pretentious practice. In addition, some of the recommendations do stretch things a bit. If Audrey Hepburn actually didn’t do X, can anyone really assume that she would have done it had she had the opportunity? For example, one of the things that Ms. Keogh recommends one do (if one had the chance) is to join the Council on Foreign Relations, which Hepburn never did. The author supposes that, hey, since Angelina Jolie did it, and since it’s to do with world affairs — something in which Hepburn had a keen interest, particularly after she began working with the UN — the actress would definitely have jumped at the chance to join such an august group of influential folks. True? False? Who knows?

All in all, though, I would highly, highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Audrey legend and who wants to learn more about how to live a beautiful, meaningful life. Ms. Keogh’s recommendations may not always be spot-on, but for the most part the book offers a very useful and inspiring look at how one can live graciously and stylishly, just like Audrey Hepburn.

Her coffee table book, Audrey Style (1999), repeats much of the same information (indeed, I would guess that 80% of the text in this book is repeated word-for-word in What Would Audrey Do?), although it focuses a little bit more on Hepburn’s fashion and beauty style. Unlike her second book, which is free of photographs but does have numerous whimsical drawings by artist Monika Roe, Audrey Style offers little in the way of self-help advice and is more of a straightforward, abbreviated biography of the actress and her legacy in the worlds of American fashion and film. Both would be excellent additions to any Audrey Hepburn library, especially if you, too, want to live an Audrey-inspired life.

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