CECIL BEATON, CIRCA 1963

Name: MY FAIR LADY, 1964; AN EDWARDIAN STYLE HIGH NECKED BLOUSE
Brand: CECIL BEATON, CIRCA 1963
Price: 5000.00 GBP
Availability: SoldOut

Price Realised GBP 6,250

Estimate

GBP 8,000 - GBP 12,000

Closed: 9 May 2018

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MY FAIR LADY, 1964; AN EDWARDIAN STYLE HIGH NECKED BLOUSE

CECIL BEATON, CIRCA 1963

Price Realised GBP 6,250

Closed: 9 May 2018

Price Realised GBP 6,250

Closed: 9 May 2018

Details Lot Essay Related Articles More from

Of ivory chiffon woven with a silk stripe, the long cuffs and high neck trimmed with a ruffle; with deep chiffon hem to tuck into the waistline. Please note, the black skirt illustrated is not included in this lot.

Audrey Hepburn: Una Donna, Lo Stile, Florence, Museo Salvatore Ferragamo; Tokyo, Nihombashi-Mitsukoshi Museum and elsewhere 1999 – 2001, no. 10.

Please note this lot is the property of a consumer. See H1 of the Conditions of Sale.

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Lot Essay

This blouse was almost certainly designed by Cecil Beaton as a prototype or early model of the blouse worn by Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle during the and numbers in the 1964 Warner Bros. production .

The sewing is of couture standard, with the chiffon having a rolled hem and the seams being hand finished. The cotton facing to the inside of the high neck and cuffs would not be found on couture clothes, where silk would be more appropriate. The cotton is a technical solution to support a high neck without the need for wiring, which you would find in historical Edwardian garments.

Almost identical to the final film-worn design, which remains in the Warner Bros. archive, the cuffs on the blouse in this lot are trimmed with a ruffle, whereas the cuffs on the film-worn blouse are untrimmed. It was not unusual for various versions of a costume to be sketched or trialled before refining the final design. When this design was rejected in favour of an unfussier cut, Audrey likely requested to keep the blouse as a souvenir of her time as Eliza.
Post Lot Text
This lot has been imported from outside the EU for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the VAT at 20% will be added to the but will not be shown separately.
Please see Conditions of Sale for further information.