** An awesome explanation on the fragrance worn by Holly Golightly as explained by RitaMae:
It's a case of movie vs. original novel. 4711 is Golightly's fragrance in the book. In the movie, however, Audrey Hepburn totes around a bottle of "Le De Givenchy," since she was obviously loyal to Givenchy at the time, and, he created "L'Interdit" for her exclusively. The year Capote wrote the book (post-war 40's) was the year of the debutante, the year that Balenciaga's 'Le Dix' was launched. Gloria Vanderbilt also wore 4711, and Capote & Vanderbilt ran around New York together in the latter part of the 40's & early 50's. Many think Holly was patterned after Gloria, and others say it was after the late Babe Paley. But Capote has said Holly was modeled
after Marilyn Monroe. It has been pointed out to me that Capote meant the fragrance to be "Le Dix" at the time, but when the book was finally published,
it was changed to 4711 Cologne to reflect the trend of the day. In the 50's,4711 was very popular with young women, particularly in Europe. It was worn more
in Paris & in Germany than Chanel No. 5 or Dior.
It's a case of movie vs. original novel. 4711 is Golightly's fragrance in the book. In the movie, however, Audrey Hepburn totes around a bottle of "Le De Givenchy," since she was obviously loyal to Givenchy at the time, and, he created "L'Interdit" for her exclusively. The year Capote wrote the book (post-war 40's) was the year of the debutante, the year that Balenciaga's 'Le Dix' was launched. Gloria Vanderbilt also wore 4711, and Capote & Vanderbilt ran around New York together in the latter part of the 40's & early 50's. Many think Holly was patterned after Gloria, and others say it was after the late Babe Paley. But Capote has said Holly was modeled
after Marilyn Monroe. It has been pointed out to me that Capote meant the fragrance to be "Le Dix" at the time, but when the book was finally published,
it was changed to 4711 Cologne to reflect the trend of the day. In the 50's,4711 was very popular with young women, particularly in Europe. It was worn more
in Paris & in Germany than Chanel No. 5 or Dior.