After the Queen and wonder horse Frankel, one name is synonymous with Royal Ascot — Audrey Hepburn. Though her association with the Berkshire track is entirely filmic, her appearance there as reformed flower girl Eliza Doolittle has never been surpassed and every woman dressing for Ladies’ Day hopes to capture something of the My Fair Lady “Hep factor” in their choice of headwear.
For her pass muster test in polite society, Eliza stepped out with Professor Henry Higgins in a hat designed by Sir Cecil Beaton which instantly made her the favourite as very few milliners have won multiple Academy Awards for costume design and even fewer females can carry off such a bountiful biretta. That magnificent bonnet for Eliza’s debut at the “smashing, positively dashing, Ascot opening day”, has an entire section dedicated to it in a new gorgeously glossy book, Hepburn in Hats, by June Marsh which is published in perfect time for the Great British Season on June 30.
Whether peering provocatively from beneath the wide saucer brim of her black chapeau du matin as Holly Golightly or radiating beauty in the Charade movie pillbox that started a craze, the images of the late Ms Hepburn in her signature accessory remind us of her deserved status as a global style icon. Creating a hat for Hepburn was to stake one’s claim in fashion history and with her as a muse, Hubert Givenchy set trends and cemented his reputation.
