It’s all but impossible to go too far in fashion these days. Post Lady Gaga’s meat dress, we’ve seen celebrities on red carpets dressed as chandeliers, cradling replicas of their own heads, and bearing locks of their hair as avant-garde minaudières—and that’s only at the Met Gala!
Yet, Ivanka Trump managed recently to do something truly egregious, stepping out for her father’s Liberty Ball in a Givenchy design first seen on Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina.
Let me explain.
More than just a fashion icon, Audrey Hepburn was elegance personified. This started early: It’s been reported that as a teenager, she danced in secret to raise money for the Dutch resistance. Later, at the height of her fame, she shirked the Hollywood spotlight to raise her sons in Europe, then spent her final years gardening near Lake Geneva and championing UNICEF’s efforts to aid children facing war and famine. Her lasting legacy is one of style, yes, but also substance—something that demands thoughtful, measured tribute, not mimicry.
When discussing Hepburn’s history as an arbiter of taste, pop culturists often cite another Givenchy look: the black satin column she wears in the opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961). But the Sabrina dress marked an important turning point. After Hepburn’s breakout role in Roman Holiday (1953), costume designer Edith Head sent her to Paris to source some dresses for her next film, Sabrina. In so doing, Hepburn met Hubert de Givenchy, who would go on to dress her in eight different films. (He also designed the wedding dress she wore to marry her second husband, Andrea Dotti.)
The original Sabrina gown has two parts: a strapless organza and taffeta dress with incredible boning and an overskirt finished with a pleated black dust ruffle at the hem. (Both are adorned with a motif of peacock feathers and flower clusters, embroidered in black-and-white thread.) In the film, the dress represents Hepburn’s character’s transformation from an…
