Audrey Hepburn’s "My Fair Lady" Blouse To Be Auctioned

The prototype for the Edwardian-style chiffon blouse worn by Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady will be auctioned on June 28 by Nate D Sanders Auctions in Los Angeles. The blouse is from Hepburn’s personal collection, and is thought to have been adapted for the screen by Cecil Beaton, who designed more than 1,000 garments for the 1964 film adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion.

The ivory silk stripe blouse with high ruffled neck, back buttons and cinched sleeves was created for Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons so that she may pass as a lady, to wear during the "Rain in Spain" and "I Could Have Danced All Night" scenes.

The blouse, which measures 13 inches across its shoulder seams and is indicative of Hepburn’s diminutive figure, was owned by a private collector, a Nate D Sanders Auctions spokesman told.

Beaton won the Oscar for Best Costume Design in 1964, one of eight the George Cukor-directed film took home at the 1965 Academy Awards. Prior to bringing Edwardian London to life in the silver screen version of My Fair Lady, he was enlisted by lyricist and librettist team Lerner and Loewe to create the stage attire for the musical. His skill as a photographer lent itself to the promotional portraits, sketches and production design for both the screen and stage romance.