A Dress From Katharine Hepburn's Wedding to Ludlow Ogden Smith, December 12, 1928

Label reading: Babani 98 E* Haussmann Paris, cream colored velvet with intricate gold embroidery at the v-neck, both front and back, with a diamond pattern at the chest that continues onto the shoulders and cuffs, gold embroidered thread ties at the cuffs revealing a white silk underlay with pleats.

Katharine Hepburn met Ludlow Ogden Smith in 1927 during her senior year at Bryn Mawr. She found him to be kind, generous and intellectual. They were married in her parents' living room in Hartford, CT with only family members present. She describes the dress she wore in her autobiography Me: "...I had a pretty dress - a Babani. It was crushed white velvet with antiqued gold embroidery sort of around the neck and a bit down the front and on the sleeves" (p.102). Six years after their marriage, Miss Hepburn sought a Mexican divorce, although the two remained close friends. She reflects on Smith in Me: "He was really close to me. He was like Mother and Dad. He was there. He was like breathing. My friend. I could ask him anything. He would do anything. You just don't find people like that in life. Unconditional love" (p.154).