i am sassa

I have a secret. I’ve never seen Breakfast at Tiffany’s. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen any film Audrey Hepburn was in.

I have a HUGE list of names that I’ve been adding to since the beginning of this project, and I love the fact that I usually don’t know who I’ll paint until the day I paint them. I like the element of surprise, and it’s important to me to stay genuinely inspired every day. I don’t remember who recommended Audrey Hepburn, but I’ve overlooked her name a few times. I think I was maybe dismissing her as an icon only, famous for being all perfect and fashionable and whatever. Today, I felt like challenging that assumption and I couldn’t be more surprised.

Audrey Hepburn was a fashion icon, and everyone did praise her for being perfectly “graceful” and “poised”, but she was also a certified badass (Side note: I don’t like graceful and poised as compliments. Every time I heard them used in interviews today, I felt like I was hearing someone describe Virginia Woolf’s Angel in the House). When Audrey became famous, she was something of an outlier compared to the traditionally blonder, curvier actresses at the time. People liked to use the word gamine to describe her, which makes me want to throw up some. Her thin frame, however, was not some super trendy “it-girl” choice; it was due to the malnutrition she suffered as a child during the Dutch famine of WWII. She nearly starved to death at eleven years old, sometimes eating plants to survive, and suffered from anemia for the rest of her life.

As far as the fashion goes, it seems that Audrey suffered from a bit of imposter syndrome, and tried to make up for what she felt she lacked with beautiful clothing. She did not think she was as perfect as everyone else did, and later attributed this lack of self-esteem to the fact that her father abandoned her family when she was six years old. She may have also felt as if she had to make up for the fact that she never had any training as an actor. Audrey was a dancer, and only let go of her dream of dancing professionally when she was told she had become too tall and was too weak to ever be a prima ballerina. She did have experience in badassery, though. During the war, Audrey danced in underground shows to raise money for the Dutch resistance, and snuck messages and food to those who were in hiding.

Despite her lack of experience, Audrey was immediately beloved onscreen. The honors she received throughout her career included Emmy, Grammy, Tony, and Academy awards. It’s my opinion that the most badass recognition Audrey received, however, had nothing to do with her acting. In 1992, Audrey was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work as Goodwill Ambassador on the behalf of children through UNICEF . UN photographer John Isaac said of his travels with her, "Often the kids would have flies all over them, but she would just go hug them. I had never seen that. Other people had a certain amount of hesitation, but she would just grab them. Children would just come up to hold her hand, touch her – she was like the Pied Piper”. Audrey was so involved in UNICEF that a seven foot tall bronze sculpture titled “Spirit of Audrey” stands in front of their Manhattan headquarters.

Thank you, Audrey Hepburn