Stanley Donen’s Two for the Road (1967) follows the roller coaster marriage of Joanna (Audrey Hepburn) and Mark Wallace (Albert Finney) as it unfolds through a series of cross-Euro road trips via flashback/fast-forward. The couple meets and fights, and then fall into bed, and fall in love, and then fight, are unfaithful, and fight some more, and fall back in love. It’s definitely ahead of its time in regards to the non-linear story-telling and jump cut editing, but it is often a little too twisted for its own good; trying to follow along can be arduous. Sometimes, the only way to figure out where we are in the couple’s twelve-year relationship is by the cut of Joanna’s hair and the state of her wardrobe.
When the pair first meet, her suitcase is packed with a few simple necessities: crewneck sweater, pair blue jeans and striped t-shirt. As her husband’s architectural career takes off, so does Joanna’s style, which gradually evolves, becoming more vibrant and modern. Eventually, we see that her stack of Louis Vuitton luggage is filled with some of the most desirable labels of the day, Mary Quant, Foale & Tuffin, and Paco Rabanne.
It has been suggested that the 37-year-old Hepburn’s youthful wardrobe purposely steered away from the confections created for her by longtime friend and collaborator, Hubert de Givenchy. Designed to make her more relatable to the younger generation of women, her Two for the Road togs were rumored to have been bought off-the-rack. So it is interesting that her most notable looks in Two For echo her costumes from the previous year’s How to Steal a Million where she wore Givenchy.
From a contemporary stand-point, though, it’s Joanna’s earlier pared-down basics that remain timeless and wearable today without a single alteration needed. The mariner stripes, white jeans, nautical color palette attain that effortless chic that so many modern women aspire to.
Sunning on the pebbles of the French Riviera, sporting stripes and a Barbie-style red maillot.
The evolution begins as Joanna wears chic white jeans and a navy pullover.
Petal-covered swim cap!
This pink empire waist dress would not have been totally out of place at
My Fair Lady‘s Embassy Ball.
In the midst of infidelity, back to basics.
In a fit white suit with her LV handbag, Joanna tries to work some magic.
Head-to-toe PVC is not exactly the most comfortable suit for long car trips, no?
This red and yellow striped rugby dress has got Tommy Hilfiger’s number on it (or is it the other way around?).
An obvious Pucci-influenced print.
Plastic fantastic in yellow and white swim cover-up.
The famous Paco Rabanne metal disc dress.
A unidentified green colorblock racing jacket, perhaps Courrèges or Cardin.