Elegant style icon wardrobe essentials: Audrey Hepburn in cardigan sweaters

Among all wardrobe essentials, a cardigan sweater seems the least essential and the least exciting. It could easily be substituted by a soft jacket. A turtleneck sweater doesn't need one to look complete. And if it is not of the right texture or fit, or worn carelessly, a cardigan sweater can look dull, plain, or even shabby.

But on Audrey Hepburn's body, a cardigan sweater looks soft, subtle, at times poetic. And she can tell a story with it.

In the film Love in the Afternoon (1957), she wore a red cardigan, with only the top button fastened, expressing the shyness and innocence of Ariane, the music student she portrayed.

Then in the film The Children's Hour (1961), the simple cardigan sweater thrown around Audrey Hepburn's shoulders carried so much emotion in a delicate situation.