The iconic black cocktail dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in the film Breakfast At Tiffany's is to be auctioned for charity. Designed by Hubert de Givenchy, it is expected to fetch up to £70,000 when it goes under the hammer at Christie's on Dec 5. Hepburn wore the dress for her role as Holly Golightly in the 1961 film. In the opening sequence of the movie she emerged from a cab on to New York's Fifth Avenue wearing the elegant black dress, peered wistfully into the window of Tiffany's and ate her breakfast from a brown paper bag.
The famous photograph accompanying the film showed Hepburn wearing the dress with black gloves and pearls. The dress is being auctioned by the current owners to raise money for their charity, City of Joy Aid, which raises money for India's poor. Bidders could include Victoria Beckham and Coleen McLoughlin, who both cite Hepburn as their heroine. A "beauty room" in the mansion Miss McLoughlin shares with fiance Wayne Rooney is decorated in homage to the Hollywood star, while Mrs Beckham is said to own one of the actress's diamond chokers. Hepburn died in 1993, aged 63. Earlier this year the actress was voted the most beautiful woman of all time. She won an Oscar for Roman Holiday in 1953 and went on to star in Funny Face, The Nun's Story and My Fair Lady. In her later life she became known for her humanitarian work, becoming a goodwill ambassador for Unicef in 1988.
