All 5 Iconic Audrey Hepburn Wedding Dress Styles – from Her Personal Life and Movies
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Iconic vintage Audrey Hepburn wedding dress outfits, including the Audrey Hepburn Wedding Dress Funny Face, Audrey Hepburn wedding dress style, Sabrina Audrey Hepburn wedding dress, the Audrey Hepburn wedding dress Mel Ferrer, and the Audrey Hepburn wedding dress pink.
This post is all about Audrey Hepburn wedding dress
In the romantic journey from Miss to Mrs, it’s important to “Live, laugh, and say yes to the dress!”
Looking for vintage wedding dress inspiration so you are ready to rock down the aisle?
Because if you’re getting married, you’ll need something just perfect, and if you’re not, what better fashion is the stuff of fairytales?
Today we are ready to lift the veil and join Audrey Hepburn in her journey to find true love and the perfect vintage wedding dress.
Audrey Hepburn was one of the our most beloved Old Hollywood glamour stars and an iconic fashion legend whose feminine and classic style continues to enchant and inspire today, just as it did decades ago.
Who better to look to for vintage wedding dress inspiration?
We’ve rounded up five of Audrey Hepburn’s most iconic wedding dresses, including both her real life weddings, as well as her most legendary on screen romances and ensembles.
What wedding dress styles did Audrey Hepburn wear?
The fashion icon Audrey Hepburn wore a variety of vintage wedding dresses, both in her real life and in movies, from floor length ballgown styles, to retro tea-length styles, to edgy 1960s mini-skirt wedding dress styles in pale pink.
She typically chose a fitted bodice and dramatic full skirts or a fit and flare style.
Her wedding dress accessories included classic pearls and gloves, and her headpieces ranged from various retro veil and hat styles to romantic flower wreaths.
Audrey Hepburn Wedding Dress #1: Retro Runaway Bride
The wedding dress details
Audrey Hepburn’s wedding dress was a vintage fit and flare style with a boatneck and long sleeves.
It is exquisitely fit in the bodice with a buttoned back, and its voluptuous full skirts flaring into a full ballgown style.
Also, notice her matching elbow length gloves and classic jewelry, which consists of a single strand of romantic pearls, and simple pearl drop earrings.
Her 1950s satin crescent hat and veil add the final polishing look to his romantic wedding dress outfit.
The Story Behind the Wedding Dress:
Long ago and far away, Audrey Hepburn fell for the tall, handsome and extremely wealthy British businessman, James Hanson, who she had met during her early days in London.
The 1950s Playboy Businessman was often pictured in the tabloids, escorting different rising starlets (like Joan Collins and Jean Simmons) to glamorous events.
Audrey Hepburn eagerly gushed that it was “love at first sight”, and said yes, when he popped the question. In her excitement, she found the perfect wedding dress and set a date.
However, storm clouds were brewing for the romance.
One year into the engagement, Audrey Hepburn officially called off the wedding, saying their demanding careers would require them to be separate most of the time.
This was the point when Audrey Hepburn’s Hollywood career was just budding, as she was filming Roman Holiday in Italy with Gregory Peck. When the movie released in 1953 it was launched her into international stardom.
It was while at her wedding dress fitting that it dawned on her that with her busy acting schedule and him running his family’s business empire, she would rarely see her dearly beloved.
Audrey Hepburn said, “When I get married, I want to be really married”. As sad as we are that we never got to see her walk down the aisle in her one of a kind retro wedding dresses, we kind of get the point.
Who designed Audrey Hepburn’s first wedding dress in 1952 (Wedding dress No 1)?
Audrey Hepburn’s first stunning wedding dress 1952 was designed by Fontana Sisters of the Italian fashion house Sorelle Fontana.
(In the 1950s, this fashion house was basking in the fame of designing the vintage wedding dress for the 1949 “wedding of the century” between the handsome Old Hollywood star Tyrone Power and his Bride Linda Christian.)
What happened to Audrey Hepburn’s wedding dress after she called off the wedding?
Audrey Hepburn, known for her kindness and generosity, and who dedicated the later years of her life to philanthropy, asked that the Fontana sisters give her dress to a girl in need, saying, “I want my dress to be worn by another girl for her wedding, perhaps someone who couldn’t ever afford a dress like mine—the most beautiful, poor Italian girl you can find.”
A young Italian girl, Amiable Altobella, wore this gorgeous vintage wedding dress to her farm wedding.
She said years later when the famous wedding dress was sold at an auction in London, “I have had a happy marriage, so the dress brought me luck.”
For this lovely farm girl, the old saying rang true, “Once in awhile, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale.”
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Audrey Hepburn Wedding Dress #2: Tea-Length Vintage Boho Princess
The Story Behind the Wedding Dress:
Two years later, Audrey Hepburn attended a fashionable cocktail party hosted by her friend and fellow co-star, Gregory Peck, who had played her love interest in Roman Holiday.
And at the party, she met and fell for screenwriter, director, producer, Mel Ferrer.
A whirlwind romance ensued, and the besotted Mel Ferrer pulled strings so that Audrey Hepburn landed the role as his co-star in the upcoming Broadway play, Ondine.
In the play Mel Ferrer is the errant knight who, during a mission, meets and falls in love with the seductive water nymph (Audrey Hepburn) in the forest, who, in turn, is fascinated by the world of “mortal man.”
Only a short eight months after meeting, the besotted coupled tied the knot in a beautiful ceremony in Burgenstock, Switzerland.
The Wedding Dress Details:
Audrey Hepburn’s wedding dress was tea-length in length with a fitted bodice and full billowing skirts.
The charming retro details of this iconic dress included dramatic ballgown puff sleeves and a statement satin sash.
We also love the vintage flare of the high collar and bodice buttons.
Her wedding dress accessories included elbow length opera gloves and a rose hair garland.
Audrey Hepburn’s wedding dress brilliantly blends classic vintage stylistic elements (such as the puff sleeves and full circle skirt) with feminine Victorian style elements (such as the dramatic satin sash and high collar), as well as modern day boho style elements (rose head wreath).
The result? An idyllic and fairy-tale wedding dress outfit.
Who designed Audrey Hepburn’s wedding dress that she wore in 1954 (wedding dress No 2)? (Hint: Audrey Hepburn Wedding Dress Balmain)
The French couturier, Pierre Balmain, designed Audrey Hepburn’s wedding dress that she wore in 1954 to her first wedding, to marry Mel Ferrer.
Fun Fact!
Pierre Balmain went on to establish a now a famous couture brand. Just Google the brand name and Kim Kardashian’s bachelorette outfit if curious.
The Story After the Wedding Dress:
Although the wedding was absolutely magical, the days that followed weren’t quite so.
It was kind of like the doomed love story, from the play, Odine, they starred in…. so many years ago… when he was a knight and she was the fair water nymph, where the “marriage of people from different worlds is, of course, folly.”
One big strain on their marriage was the many miscarriages that Audrey Hepburn and her husband suffered through. However, finally Audrey Hepburn was able to give birth to a beautiful baby boy, Sean Ferrer, in July 1960.
Except for that bright light, Audrey Hepburn’s marriage continued to suffer from infidelity rumors and a fight for the spotlight.
The couple finally called it quits and ended their marriage after 14 years in 1968.
Audrey Hepburn Wedding Dress Pink #3: Tea-Length Vintage Boho Princess
The Audrey Hepburn wedding dress pink details
Audrey Hepburn’s third wedding dress was incredibly unique and delightfully captures the essence of 1960s style.
Audrey Hepburn’s wedding dress was a pale pink minidress, with long sleeves, and a dramatic funnel-neck.
She paired this with a matching headscarf (yes Audrey Hepburn is famous for her love of headscarves!).
Her simple wedding dress accessories included translucent white leggings, white ballet flats, and white gloves.
Notice how the modest headscarf and ladylike gloves offset the short length of her wedding dress.
The overall result? A fresh and novel understated romantic wedding dress with a Boho vibe that is sooooo 1960s!
The Story Behind the Audrey Hepburn Wedding Dress Pink:
The year Audrey Hepburn split from Mel Ferrar, she took a Mediterranean cruise with friends to relax and rebuild her life, and who should she meet, but the fair haired Italian psychiatrist, Andrea Dotti.
Again Audrey Hepburn fell head over heels and a whirlwind romance ensued, and in less than a year she married her new love in a quaint town hall ceremony in Switzerland.
Who designed Audrey Hepburn’s wedding dress that she wore in 1969 (wedding dress 3)?
For this wedding dress, Audrey Hepburn enlisted the help of her close friend, the brilliant French designer, Hubert de Givenchy, to design her wedding dress.
Audrey Hepburn famously said of Givenchy, “His are the only clothes in which I am myself.”
He designed many of her outfits for her personal life, as well as some of her most iconic outfits for her films, such as her Little Black Dress worn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and her Parisian collection worn in Sabrina.
If you want to read more about Audrey Hepburn’s incredible wardrobe in these movies, you’ll love these posts:
The Story After the Audrey Hepburn Wedding Dress Pink:
One year following her wedding, Audrey Hepburn delightfully gave birth to her second son, Luca Dotti. (This joyful event occurred after suffering five miscarriages across both marriages).
Sadly there were rumors of infidelity and Audrey Hepburn split from her second husband after fourteen years.
At 49 Audrey Hepburn met and had instant chemistry with Robert Wolders, the Dutch actor. He later described feeling that they were “meant to be” very early in their courtship:
“After I’d met her, a mutual friend prompted me to ask her out for dinner, but she said she had a night shoot,” he explains. “I thought it was her gentle way of rejecting me.
The next day she invited me for a drink at the Pierre hotel, which turned into a three-hour talk. At one point she said, ‘Do you mind if I order some pasta?’
After many long phone conversations, we realized we were meant to be together.
She asked me if she could take time to prepare [her son] Luca and Andrea, her soon-to-be-ex-husband. When she saw him, Andrea came over and said, ‘You look very beautiful, you must be in love,’ and she said, ‘I am.'”
Audrey Hepburn was with Wolders from 1980 until her death in 1993.
Later in her life during an interview, Audrey Hepburn said felt like they were basically married, just not officially. She went on to say that her time with Wolders were the happiest years of her life; adding, “Took me long enough.”
#4: Audrey Hepburn Wedding Dress Funny Face – Tea-Length Princess Gown
The Story Behind the Audrey Hepburn Wedding Dress Funny Face:
There’s no way you can talk about Audrey Hepburn’s wedding dresses, without discussing the legendary one she wore in the 1957 romantic musical Funny Face.
Other posts you might like:
Audrey Hepburn Funny Face Dresses – Her Sensational 1960s Fashion
In the movie, the bookish and dowdy Jo Stockton (Audrey Hepburn) works at a bookstore.
Her life is turned upside down when a fashion magazine, Quality Magazine (which is the 1960’s imitation of Harper’s Bazaar), arrives unannounced at her bookstore and turns it into a photoshoot, against her fierce protests.
The fashion photographer Dick Avery (Fred Astaire) snaps pics of her and realizes she is the perfect model for the new face of the magazine!
However, Audrey Hepburn’s nerdy and practical character is only persuaded to model for the magazine since it means a free trip to Paris, where she can meet a renowned French philosophy professor.
Along the way, she discovers she that she loves fashion and falls for her fashion photographer.
To top off the incredible Parisian wardrobe she models, is the most perfect vintage wedding dress ever.
The Audrey Hepburn Wedding Dress Funny Face Details:
For the Funny Face Wedding Dress, Audrey Hepburn is wearing a sleeveless wedding dress has a fitted bodice with a boat neckline, and full circle skirt, with layers of glorious white petticoat that is tea-length.
Audrey Hepburn’s two-tiered veil is pinned to her sculpted updo, with a feminine bow.
Her fashion accessories include white gloves, kitten pumps, and simple white pearl earrings.
Her delicate bouquet of white spring blossoms completes the ensemble of this iconic Audrey Hepburn wedding dress.
Who designed Audrey Hepburn’s wedding dress for Funny Face?
Hubert de Givenchy designed Audrey Hepburn’s wedding dress in Funny Face, as well as her entire wardrobe for this timeless classic.
We absolutely love this one of a kind beautiful and romantic vintage wedding dress.
#5: Audrey Hepburn Sabrina Wedding Dress – Dazzling Embroidered Givenchy Gown
The Story Behind the Audrey Hepburn Sabrina Wedding Dress:
There one other truly sensational “wedding dress” that absolutely must be discussed when drooling over the gorgeous Audrey Hepburn wedding dresses, and the funny thing is, that this isn’t really even a wedding dress, but would be so perfect for one that many people refer to it as a wedding dress.
Sabrina 1954 is a romantic and witty Cinderella story about a nieve chauffeur’s daughter (Audrey Hepburn), who travels to Paris as a simple schoolgirl and returns a sophisticated and elegant Parisienne.
If you would like a walk through of this lovely love story and even more lovely vintage outfit wardrobe, you’ll love our post:
Audrey Hepburn Sabrina Dress – Your guide to Insanely Chic Fashion
As long as she could remember, Sabrina (Audrey Hepburn), the chauffeur’s daughter, has been crazy about David Larrabee (William Holden), the handsome charming playboy son of the wealthy family who employs her father.
However, he is totally oblivious to her.
However, years later when Sabrina returns from Paris as a sophisticated beauty, suddenly he and his older brother both fall for her.
The Audrey Hepburn Sabrina Wedding Dress Details:
For the Sabrina Wedding Dress, Audrey Hepburn is wearing a sleevless white sleeveless organdy evening gown that is embellished with striking black floral embroidery.
The dress’s statement train (over-skirt) floats elegantly as she walks, showcasing her matching pencil skirt beneath.
To complete this vintage wedding dress outfit, Audrey Hepburn is wearing long white gloves, and simple jewelry. Her earrings are classy diamond flowers with pearl drops.
We absolutely love the romantic elements of this retro wedding dress — with the tiered skirts and dramatic black floral embroidery set against the beautiful white canvas of the gown.
Who designed Audrey Hepburn’s wedding dress for Sabrina?
Although both Edith Head and Hubert de Givenchy designed the wardrobe for Sabrina, yet it is Hubert De Givenchy who gets credit for designing the Audrey Hepburn Sabrina wedding dress.
Loving fashion, Audrey Hepburn insisted she help choose her outfits for the movie, even though she was an unknown Hollywood star at this time.
Around this time she discovered Hubert de Givenchy and asked him to design her wardrobe for Sabrina, but he was too busy with his collection. This was the first time they met in person and Givenchy vividly recalls it: She was “…a beautiful and very tiny, skinny person…” and told her, “It’s difficult, because it’s collection time, and I don’t think I have time to help you.’
Audrey Hepburn begged, so Givenchy referred her to racks of finished pieces from his previous collection. This iconic Audrey Hepburn Sabrina wedding dress is one of those gowns Audrey Hepburn chose from the racks, and, ultimately became one of the most legendary evening gowns ever designed.
This post was all about the iconic vintage Audrey Hepburn wedding dress outfits
Now that you’re an expert on Audrey Hepburn’s wedding dress outfits, which style is your favorite?
Do you prefer Audrey Hepburn’s tea length style wedding dresses or her mini dress style wedding dresses?
Also, what do you think about her wedding dress accessories, like her white gloves, flowers, and understated classic jewelry?
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Originally published Mar 28, 2023. Updated Sep 03, 2024
