Film & Costume

Roman Holiday: Exploring the Fashion of a Princess Gone Rogue

          The popular film Roman Holiday, starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, has long been considered a classic in the world of film and cinematography. The story of Princess Ann—young, wild, and full of dreams—takes the viewer on a journey of self-discovery, rebellion, and the experimentation of new things. Though the plot is clearly explained through dialogue and action, the costuming of the movie is often under appreciated; Miss Hepburn’s wardrobe itself tells the story of her character’s development as the princess’s clothing and style gradually change and develop over time.

          The first seven and a half minutes of the film show a young girl full of sophistication and class. Ann is calmly waving to throngs of people, she is visiting with fellow royals, she is dedicating buildings, christening ocean liners, and negotiating trade relations; Princess Ann graciously receives diplomats, nobility, papal officials, and ambassadors at a formal ball in her honor. She smiles gently, and knows exactly what to say and when to say it. Her clothing—businesslike, and reminiscent of women’s suits with button-up fronts and lapels—reflects her cool and regal manner, and her hair is always pulled up and tightly pinned in elaborate hairstyles. Ann wears gloves, a symbol of her restrained and proper behavior and the royal sphere as a whole, and expensive jewelry. Hepburn’s costumes ooze dignity and poise.

          However, as Ann begins to realize her desires to be normal and have normal experiences, she begins to figuratively and literally let her hair down. As she begins to seek out freedom and embrace the idea of being her own person, Ann’s outfits become more and more casual. When she sneaks from the embassy in the middle of the night, her hair is almost completely loose, with only a few pins keeping it out of her face, and she’s quit her usual designer-type dresses in favor of a simple blouse and skirt—though the outfit is still paired with gloves. The blouse still reminds the viewer of her stuffy upbringing, however, as it is buttoned up to Ann’s throat, and the long sleeves are fastened tightly at her wrists. The next morning, Ann leaves Mr. Bradley’s house with her gloves in hand; she does not wear them, and yet she is reluctant to cast them off completely. Following what her family and minders would certainly deem a scandalous adventure—running away and staying the night in a strange man’s home—Ann feels a new confidence and rebelliousness. She is beginning to let go of propriety and restraint, though not yet completely.

          As Princess Ann’s day of freedom begins, she first walks through an outdoor market. She exchanges her old shoes, the shoes from her royal past, for a pair of lace-up sandals, a breathable choice of footwear which allows for easy movement and freedom in her feet— a direct analogy to her situation as she casts off her old life for a day of choice and liberty. Her next stylistic change is the famous haircut: Ann is walking past a barbershop when she sees drawings of the stylish bob hairstyle in the window, and she spontaneously stops in and has her hair—her long, traditional, conformist hair—all cut off so that she, too, can appear modern and exciting. This is the most thinly veiled instance of metaphorical fashion in the film—the iconic haircut is an obvious symbol of her decision to change herself and her life, to free herself of the pressure of being a princess, and her desire to be less held back by tradition. With her new, short hairstyle, Ann is grownup, capable of making her own decisions, and mature. She is no longer the same girl who has been ordered about by schedules, and the drastic change in her appearance makes that fact clear to the audience. She emerges from the barbershop with her cuffs unbuttoned and folded above her wrists, and the audience never sees those gloves again.

          By the time she reaches the Spanish Steps, the long sleeves of Hepburn’s costume have converted to short sleeves by having them rolled almost to her shoulder, creating a relaxed, carefree image. Ann purchases gelato on her own from a street vendor and, parallel to her growing confidence as an individual, a minute later has removed her proper, schoolgirlish tie and unbuttoned several of her shirt buttons, allowing for an open-collar look which is much more casual than her previous noose of decorum. As Mr. Bradley gives her a tour of the sites in Rome, Ann takes a striped scarf and ties it around her neck, creating a teenage-like style all her own. A moment later, she zooms off on a stolen Vespa scooter, driving badly, destroying property, and getting arrested by the police—acting more like a rebellious teen than the princess from the first seven and a half minutes of the film. It is during this part of the movie that Ann begins to relax in her manners, speech, and body language, just as she relaxes in dress. Princess Ann is becoming Anya—her own person.

          When Ann dresses to return to the embassy and her old, boring life, she realizes that it is time to put back on the stiff formality of royalty. Her collar remains unbuttoned, but gone is that rebellious streak of a neck scarf, and her sleeves are unrolled and buttoned again at the wrists. She has remembered her duty as a princess and, though she is reluctant, and possibly unable, to completely change back, she keeps only her open collar as a reminder of what it felt like to be so free. With the collar, she retains her new confidence in herself and her ability to take charge as she speaks decisively to the Countess and her other guardians at the embassy. When Ann returns to the scene at her press conference the next day, she is back in her suit-like dresses, her expensive jewelry, and fancy hats. She’s wearing high-heeled shoes and an air of serious sophistication. However, Princess Ann does not wear her gloves, but elects to hold them in her left hand. Even when shaking hands with the members of the press, she wears only one glove, choosing to touch bare skin with the public. She will never be the same Ann as before, and she will never return completely to that same restrained and proper world. It is just as the princess says: “I will cherish my visit here in memory as long as I live” (Wyler, 1953).

          Edith Head created a masterpiece of metaphors when she designed the wardrobe of Princess Ann and outfitted Miss Hepburn for the film Roman Holiday. A story on its own, Ann’s fashion and its differences from frame to frame, be they subtle or the opposite, say much more about the development of the movie character than even the film's dialogue ever could. This is a testament to the impact of clothing and style on society and its individual members; as a public and a worldwide body, the citizens of this modern day should pay closer attention to the nuances of fashion and the meanings which accompany them, for clothes, like actions, often speak louder than words.

Works Cited

Roman Holiday. Dir. William Wyler. Perf. Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. Paramount, 1953. DVD.