I had planned something all together different to discuss this week... but with the world where it is and being confined to home I've taken a few trips down memory lane and in addition to that perusing some of my reference materials....
I'm going to be talking about costuming and costume design today... so if this is not really your cup of tea you might consider setting this one out... on the other hand maybe take a few minutes and you might learn something new and interesting.
When I was studying theatre in school we had to have a practical study application if we were in the performance program... so since fashion had always been important to me I thought that would be the easiest and most interesting routes to take... I could not have been more wrong about the easy but I learned a lot... and I mean a lot. Understanding fashion history is where it all starts as each period in history has distinct silhouettes, fabrics and colors And it continues with understanding that colors are the most powerful means available to a costume designer to covey a mood and character and culminates with design and construction and finally performance. I am not going to go into all the principles of design because otherwise we will be here... well for longer than you might want to commit to reading this. In short costuming for the stage and screen are two very different applications as is designing fashion for everyday street wear and living. In short I'll say the stage costume needs to be read in contrast and comparison to the set and scene much like in a film... but on a stage it will read differently depending on where you are sitting in the audience and will not be seen very close up so certain allowances and short cuts can sometimes be taken.
As I said in another segment if costumes require strenuous and active movement or are to be danced in; then special considerations need to be made in terms fabric and construction so buying ready- to -wear is not always the best option... but not always. Most costumes are made specifically for a production especially if it's a period piece as it's not easy to walk into most stores and buy what is necessary from another era... however in LA and NY it's possible to rent almost anything.
My education about costuming concentrated on stage and film and focused on the sometimes subtle differences... as a side note I was lucky enough to be at MGM when they were selling costumes, sets and props... I wish I had more money and vision at the time but alas... that's life. I have been awed and inspired since by Walter Plunkett's work on Gone With The Wind to James Acheson and Gary Jones for Spider-Man.
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| L to R Orry Kelly-Jean Louis-TravisBanton- Edith Head- Adrian- Irene |
I'm going to limit the discussion today to some of the people who did design for stage and film costume that I have great admiration for... If I discussed everyone I liked and admired we would be here forever... Let's just start with the simple fact that Erte designed some phenomenal costumes during the silent film era that inspired someone else to take some of those elements and concepts and play them forward.
Probably for most people interested in costuming Edith Head is the name that first springs to mind...She started at Paramount durning the heyday of the golden era of film making and went to Universal in 1967. During her tenure in Hollywood she worked at MGM, Warner Brothers, Columbia and Fox. She died in 1981. She worked in tandem with Hubert De Givenchy on the films Funny Face, Bonjour Tristesse, Breakfast At Tiffanys, The VIP's, Charade, Paris When It Sizzles, How To Steal A Million and Sabrina.
To work in costuming in film you have to be a member of The Costume Designers Guild (CDG) and in the days that couture designers were providing designs an/or inspiration it was not as easy as you might imagine to join.
To work in costuming in film you have to be a member of The Costume Designers Guild (CDG) and in the days that couture designers were providing designs an/or inspiration it was not as easy as you might imagine to join.
Probably one of the greatest showcases of her own work was in To Catch A Thief....
and the dress Grace Kelly wore in Rear Window is among my favorite in film and in real life...
Another collaboration was with Norman Norell for Natalie Wood in Sex And The Single Girl but it was not credited.
I have no explanation for all of this except in the early to mid 60's when everything was changing at the studios when the focus went from movies to television more costuming was purchased based on the stars whims and the designers choice to save time by cutting corners and buying designer attire and altering it.
Edith Head is considered Hollywood's most successful costume designers... she won eight academy awards for the thirty-five she was nominated for of the hundreds that she contributed to... but perhaps the two most iconic are the dress she made for Bette Davis in All About Eve...actually she only had to do the wardrobe for Miss Davis because the rest was done by Charles Le Marie. When Bette Davis was signed as a replacement she requested Edith Head to do her wardrobe... This dress that was brown silk trimmed in sable is probably one of the most discussed and admired dresses of that and this era...
When the day came to film the scene the dress did not fit properly and Bette Davis had the idea to wear it off the shoulder.
The other was the ruched and boned ivory tulle over yellow taffeta and embellished with velvet flowers worn by Elizabeth Taylor in A Place In The Sun... at the time it became the most copied dress for the fashion market and became the template for 50's prom dresses.
Helen Rose studied in Chicago and when she moved to Los Angeles here first job was designing for the "Ice Follies" She had a contract with MGM and worked almost exclusively for them until her retirement. She died in 1985. She worked best in my opinion in collaboration with Walter Plunkett the costumes for The Harvey Girls and High Society showcase the range of her talent...
Irene Lentz-Gibbons known as Irene who had a more simple and elegant approach. She had her own salon at Bullock's Wilshire in the 30's and 40's the only other salon was Chanel.
She was the executive designer at MGM from 1942 until 1949 and subsequently opened her own business as a wholesale designer and was financed by 25 department stores throughout the United States that gave them exclusive rights to Irene's designs in their respective cities. She returned to film to do the elaborate wardrobe for Doris Day in Midnight Lace and she played herself in the movie The Great Morgan. She died in 1962.
Orry-Kelly was from Australia and came to the United States to pursue a career as an actor that was unsuccessful and was introduced to the head of wardrobe at Warner Brothers by his old friend Carey Grant from their New York days and worked there for the next 11 years and left in 1943 only returning to work on Bette Davis pictures... he subsequently worked at Fox, Universal, RKO and MGM.
He is probably best remembered by audiences for creating the costuming for An American In Paris, Les Girls,Some Like It Hot, Gypsy and for Rosalind Russell's elaborate costumes in the movie version of Auntie Mame. He died in 1964 while working on the film Kiss Me Stupid.
Gilbert Adrian know simply as Adrian worked for MGM from 1928 until 1942 he was one of the designers who could create period costuming and elegant film attire for the contract stars such as Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer. The ready-to-wear business was always inspired by Adrian's designs with the full co-operation of the studios publicity department who would copy the clothing quickly enough to get it into the shops for the release of a film opening; Macy's claimed to have sold over 500,000 copies of a dress worn by Joan Crawford in the movie Letty Lynton. Adrian left MGM and opened his own shop in Beverly Hills catering to an elite Hollywood clientele and socialites such as Millicent Rogers. Adrian returned to film in 1952 to design the costumes for the leading players and the fashion show segment for Lovely To Look At. He died in 1959.
The design work of Adrian might have had the longest arm in inspiring other costuming for films including Lucille Ball in Mame and Barbra Streisand in On A Clear Day You Can See Forever.
I mean no disrespect but the inspiration from the silent era to the studio system opened the door for many ideas and designs from the 60's to the present... I would be remiss if I did not include...
Travis Banton during his years under contract at Paramount designed for some of the most beautiful and glamorous stars in the world.
Jean Louis was born in Paris and became a sketch artist for the couture house of Drecol and then went to work for Hattie Carnegie in New York and became head designer for Columbia Pictures from 1944 until 1958 when he went to Universal. He eventually ran his own couture business and although not under contract to a studio continued to supply clothing for films.
Walter Plunkett started his career as an actor but changed to costume design when he was asked to design for dancer Ruth St. Dennis. In 1926 he was became head of the FBO studio which became RKO... he began to freelance for different studios into the 30's. In 1938 he worked for producer David Selznick on Gone With The Wind... this was Walter Plunkett's most famous film...Plunkett was put under contract with MGM where he worked until he retired in 1965. In 1976 he recreated one of the dresses worn by Vivian Lee in Gone With The Wind for a permanent exhibition at the Los Angeles Museum of Art. My personal favorites of his work was Seven Brides For Seven Brothers.
For Gone With The Wind Walter Plunkett created more than 5000 articles of clothing for the more than fifty major characters.... He was nominated for an Academy Award ten times and finally won for An American In Paris in 1951 and shared the award with co-designers Orry-Kelly and Irene Scharaff. Of everyone I've discussed I feel he was the greatest fashion historian of the era. He died in 1982
The person in my opinion that bridged the Golden Era of Hollywood and the studio system to the new era is William Travilla he was under contract to Warner Brothers from 1946 -1949 and contracted to Fox from 1949 until 1956 and continued to freelance for Fox into the sixties. He also serviced a private clientele. He died in 1990...
Travilla as he was credited in his work paved the way for designers like Norman Norell... Bob Mackie... and countless others like Nolan Miller.
and the dress Grace Kelly wore in Rear Window is among my favorite in film and in real life...
Another collaboration was with Norman Norell for Natalie Wood in Sex And The Single Girl but it was not credited.
Edith Head is considered Hollywood's most successful costume designers... she won eight academy awards for the thirty-five she was nominated for of the hundreds that she contributed to... but perhaps the two most iconic are the dress she made for Bette Davis in All About Eve...actually she only had to do the wardrobe for Miss Davis because the rest was done by Charles Le Marie. When Bette Davis was signed as a replacement she requested Edith Head to do her wardrobe... This dress that was brown silk trimmed in sable is probably one of the most discussed and admired dresses of that and this era...
When the day came to film the scene the dress did not fit properly and Bette Davis had the idea to wear it off the shoulder.
The other was the ruched and boned ivory tulle over yellow taffeta and embellished with velvet flowers worn by Elizabeth Taylor in A Place In The Sun... at the time it became the most copied dress for the fashion market and became the template for 50's prom dresses.
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| Angela Lansbury The Harvey Girls |
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| Elizabeth Taylor Cat On A Hot Tin Roof |
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| Greer Garson |
Helen Rose stayed with MGM until the late 50's when studios were streamlining their costs and not contracting talent and opened her own ready-to-wear label selling to Bonwit-Teller, Marshall Field's and Joseph Magnin and offering custom designs catering to a private affluent clientele... she is perhaps best remembered for designing Grace Kelly's wedding dress as a gift from MGM.
Irene Lentz-Gibbons known as Irene who had a more simple and elegant approach. She had her own salon at Bullock's Wilshire in the 30's and 40's the only other salon was Chanel.
She was the executive designer at MGM from 1942 until 1949 and subsequently opened her own business as a wholesale designer and was financed by 25 department stores throughout the United States that gave them exclusive rights to Irene's designs in their respective cities. She returned to film to do the elaborate wardrobe for Doris Day in Midnight Lace and she played herself in the movie The Great Morgan. She died in 1962.
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| Doris Day Midnight Lace |
Orry-Kelly was from Australia and came to the United States to pursue a career as an actor that was unsuccessful and was introduced to the head of wardrobe at Warner Brothers by his old friend Carey Grant from their New York days and worked there for the next 11 years and left in 1943 only returning to work on Bette Davis pictures... he subsequently worked at Fox, Universal, RKO and MGM.
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| Kay Francis |
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| Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis |
He is probably best remembered by audiences for creating the costuming for An American In Paris, Les Girls,Some Like It Hot, Gypsy and for Rosalind Russell's elaborate costumes in the movie version of Auntie Mame. He died in 1964 while working on the film Kiss Me Stupid.
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| Peggy Cass and Rosalind Russell |
Gilbert Adrian know simply as Adrian worked for MGM from 1928 until 1942 he was one of the designers who could create period costuming and elegant film attire for the contract stars such as Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer. The ready-to-wear business was always inspired by Adrian's designs with the full co-operation of the studios publicity department who would copy the clothing quickly enough to get it into the shops for the release of a film opening; Macy's claimed to have sold over 500,000 copies of a dress worn by Joan Crawford in the movie Letty Lynton. Adrian left MGM and opened his own shop in Beverly Hills catering to an elite Hollywood clientele and socialites such as Millicent Rogers. Adrian returned to film in 1952 to design the costumes for the leading players and the fashion show segment for Lovely To Look At. He died in 1959.
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| Janet Gaynor and Adrian |
The design work of Adrian might have had the longest arm in inspiring other costuming for films including Lucille Ball in Mame and Barbra Streisand in On A Clear Day You Can See Forever.
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| Theadora Van Runkle designs for Lucille Ball in Mame |
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| Cecil Beaton for Barbra Streisand in On A Clear Day You Can See Forever |
I mean no disrespect but the inspiration from the silent era to the studio system opened the door for many ideas and designs from the 60's to the present... I would be remiss if I did not include...
Travis Banton during his years under contract at Paramount designed for some of the most beautiful and glamorous stars in the world.
Jean Louis was born in Paris and became a sketch artist for the couture house of Drecol and then went to work for Hattie Carnegie in New York and became head designer for Columbia Pictures from 1944 until 1958 when he went to Universal. He eventually ran his own couture business and although not under contract to a studio continued to supply clothing for films.
 |
| Walter Plunkett for Lupe Valez |
Walter Plunkett started his career as an actor but changed to costume design when he was asked to design for dancer Ruth St. Dennis. In 1926 he was became head of the FBO studio which became RKO... he began to freelance for different studios into the 30's. In 1938 he worked for producer David Selznick on Gone With The Wind... this was Walter Plunkett's most famous film...Plunkett was put under contract with MGM where he worked until he retired in 1965. In 1976 he recreated one of the dresses worn by Vivian Lee in Gone With The Wind for a permanent exhibition at the Los Angeles Museum of Art. My personal favorites of his work was Seven Brides For Seven Brothers.
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| Walter Plunkett and Vivian Leigh |
For Gone With The Wind Walter Plunkett created more than 5000 articles of clothing for the more than fifty major characters.... He was nominated for an Academy Award ten times and finally won for An American In Paris in 1951 and shared the award with co-designers Orry-Kelly and Irene Scharaff. Of everyone I've discussed I feel he was the greatest fashion historian of the era. He died in 1982
The person in my opinion that bridged the Golden Era of Hollywood and the studio system to the new era is William Travilla he was under contract to Warner Brothers from 1946 -1949 and contracted to Fox from 1949 until 1956 and continued to freelance for Fox into the sixties. He also serviced a private clientele. He died in 1990...
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| Jayne Russell The Revolt Of Mamie Stover |
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| Monroe & Russell Gentlemen Prefer Blondes |
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| Lana Turner |
Travilla as he was credited in his work paved the way for designers like Norman Norell... Bob Mackie... and countless others like Nolan Miller.
Lauren Bacall wearing Norman Norell in Applause
Doris Day wearing Norman Norell in That Touch Of Mink
Judy Garland wearing Bob Mackie
Cher in Bob Mackie
Nolan Miller sketch for Ann Margret for The Two Mrs Grenvilles
I don't feel I can mention Bob Mackie without including his talented late partner Ray Aghayan who did brilliant designs for films and television including Lady Sings The Blues, Funny Lady and one of my personal favorites because the designs were so... whimsical... The Glass Bottom Boat
For me considering the elements of costuming it was the first time I reacted to items that included a mermaid costume... and elaborate fantasy items in addition to the necessary inventory of standard clothing.
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| Wardrobe Archive Still |
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| Mata Hari ensemble Glass Bottom Boat |
Every costume item needs to be fit and color tested and archived for reference for the wardrobe supervisors, directors and producers and maybe most importantly the script supervisor.
Whether for television, film or the stage every production has a budget for every aspect from pre-production of designing the costumes, buying the materials and making the garments and paying the people who do the fitting, dressing and transport... to filming and post production details usually involving publicity... Whenever I see something on the stage or on film or television I pay attention to see if it looks like a talented collaboration or if it was thrown together on the fly... that in my opinion is the difference between brilliant costuming and simply putting clothes on characters.
I wanted to save something a little more personal for the last...
I said in a previous segment I don't think that there is anyone that understood costuming the modern stage and screen as well as Theoni Aldredge... She won an Academy Award for her work on The Great Gatsby
And you may know that she did the costumes for A Chorus Line on broadway and of everyone I've mentioned today I knew her best when she was alive I worked with her on three different projects and it was during my fitting for the "Milkshake" costume for Can't Stop The Music...
that she asked me a favor in helping with a fitting for the Chorus Line mens finale costume as I was almost exactly the same size as the actor it was being sewn for... anyway I was thrilled to have it on and move in it and do a high kick...
I think about her often since her death in 2011 and I remember her telling me she knew the finale should sparkle like a Champagne celebration... I'll never forget her or the style and professionalism she brought to her work and her life.
As for me... my favorite thing to wear is a tuxedo because it's so festive... or nothing because it can lead to almost anything...
See you next time... stay home and stay safe!
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