Audrey Hepburn's gowns hit auction block

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If you're in London on December 8, you might want to stop by Sotheby's auction house. The famous auctioneers premiered a collection yesterday of gowns owned by legendary Audrey Hepburn, including the wedding dress she never wore, in Paris yesterday. The dresses are being exhibited at La Galleria in London from December 6-8 and the auction is only to be attended by those who have purchased an auction catalogue. Bidding information can be found here.

Items auctioned include a Yves Saint Laurent empire waisted gown that she wore to her son Luca's 1970 christening, estimated at 1,500-2,500 pounds ($2,485-$4,141), and aValentino Haute Couture dress in ivory silk and lace that's identical to the one worn by Jacqueline Kennedy at her 1968 wedding to Aristotle Onassis. The wedding gown which Hepburn never wore, an ivory wedding gown, made for Hepburn by the Rome-based Fontana sisters, is expected to fetch 8,000-12,000 pounds.

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There will also be ton of one-of-a-kind Givenchy items, made especially for Hepburn. One such Givenchy item is the cocktail dress and jacket she wore in the film How to Steal a Million, costarring Peter O'Toole. This is expected to earn the most at the auction, between 15,000-20,000 pounds. A green hat designed by Givency and worn by Hepburn in a 1964 Vogue shoot is estimated to bring in 800-1,200 pounds. Another piece is the a white point d'esprit bustier dress Hepburn wore in the 1956 movie Love in the Afternoon.Givency items range from fantastic hats to cocktail dresses to couture tops and sweeping gowns.

The majority of the gowns come from lifelong Hepburn friend, Tanja Star-Busmann. The two met in London just before Hepburn went to Hollywood."I was perhaps her first unofficial fan — writing letters to her from boarding school and receiving replies," Star-Busmann writes in the auction cataloge. She was given many of these items from Hepburn, hand-me-downs as Hepburn cleaned out her closet. The money is not to Star-Busmann's benefit, though. The proceeds from the auction are going to benefit UNICEF and the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund, which Hepburn established and worked tirelessly on during her lifetime, just in time for Christmas.

For a great slideshow of the lots: Check out this sideshow from the BBC News.