I was watching Hitchcock's "Rear Window" last night, and was drooling over the clothes Grace Kelly wore, even the Mark Cross overnite case. I'm sure that many women would wear those clothes today. When she wore that light green suite, she had on a pair of delicious black pumps that you just don't see made anymore. Someone should make a pair of black pumps like that, I would buy several pair, they're a classic. I did a search and couldn't find out who the designers were of those breathtaking clothes. I have been interested in vintage clothing lately, I seem to be stuck in the 50's.
>I was watching Hitchcock's "Rear Window" last night, and was drooling over >the >clothes Grace Kelly wore, > When she wore that light green >suite, she had on a pair of delicious >black pumps
Along with those black pumps she was also wearing a white wrap-around shirt that ties off at the waist and leaves the back bare. When she had the jacket on it looks like a regular white shirt, then she takes off the jacket..... the Edith Head fashion sense is seen!
A couple of months ago there was a thread about shirts similar to this being available at the Limited etc this summer. Someone made the comment that it's a trend and you probably wouldnt wear them next summer. I had to chuckle to myself when I read it...those shirts are **totally** classics thanks to Edith Head and Grace Kelly.
I recently saw a special on AMC about Hitchcock and fashion, and they naturally spent a good deal of time on Rear Window (one of my all time favorite movies). Apparently Hitchcock worked VERY closely with his costume designers, and even submitted sketches of may of Grace Kelly's outfits. While I've always admired Hitchcock, I didn't realize he was a fashion maven!
userb3
On 18 Aug 2000 13:50:55 GMT, Beth wrote:
>I was watching Hitchcock's "Rear Window" last night, and was drooling over the >clothes Grace Kelly wore, even the Mark Cross overnite case. I'm sure that >many women would wear those clothes today. When she wore that light green >suite, she had on a pair of delicious black pumps that you just don't see made >anymore. Someone should make a pair of black pumps like that, I would buy >several pair, they're a classic. I did a search and couldn't find out who the >designers were of those breathtaking clothes. I have been interested in >vintage clothing lately, I seem to be stuck in the 50's.
>A couple of months ago there was a thread about shirts similar to this being >available at the Limited etc this summer. Someone made the comment that it's >a > trend and you probably wouldnt wear them next summer. >I had to chuckle to myself when I read it...those shirts are **totally** >classics thanks to Edith Head and Grace Kelly.
Oh my ... I was also lusting for that top -- too bad I missed The Limited's knockoff. My favorite outfit is the black dress. The skirt is thinly-pleated chiffon over a slip. That too, has made a revival this fall. Two similar skirts (though in white) by Chanel and Jil Sander, are in the recent Vogue and Elle. I got a BCBG knockoff at TJ Maxx three years back (for $8 to boot) and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it
What is interesting is how Kelly's dresses were often accessorized with belts, and this made all the difference. Chloe Sevigney belted her Oscar gown this year, in an especially Edith Head-influenced move
Joanne. "...all the men wore eyeliner and I thought they looked interesting, but they weren't ... Anybody that looked interesting but who actually bored the pants off you, should be prosecuted under the 'Trade Descriptions Act'" - Jarvis Cocker
>I was watching Hitchcock's "Rear Window" last night, and was drooling over >the >clothes Grace Kelly wore, even the Mark Cross overnite case. I'm sure that >many women would wear those clothes today. When she wore that light green >suite, she had on a pair of delicious black pumps that you just don't see >made >anymore. Someone should make a pair of black pumps like that, I would buy >several pair, they're a classic. I did a search and couldn't find out who >the >designers were of those breathtaking clothes. I have been interested in >vintage clothing lately, I seem to be stuck in the 50's.
it's the edith head talent! hitchcock actually consulted on costuming for his film, and the styles are just amazing. i'd take the white coat from 'vertigo' anytime! 'edith head gives good fashion'.
It's actually quite nice to see people paying attention to '50s fashion. Like virtually every era it has its own special beauty and charm.
But folks, let's not go overboard about Edith Head. She was extremely talented and exceptionally good at what she did. That was design costumes and clothing for the movies. It requires a special talent and there are a lot of considerations. There's the scene, the background, the actress's body (what do we need to hide), the overall feel of the film and the story. It's a lot more complicated than it might appear on the surface.
As a clothing designer I don't believe Edith Head is considered terribly important outside of Hollywood. Virtually everything she did was derivative, and simply reflective of what other designers had done (or were doing) and the fashion of the time. And you couldn't buy her clothes.
The movies have a huge impact on what people wear, or want to wear. Clueless & Pretty woman are two recent examples of films that had a huge impact on fashion. American Gigolo put Armani on the map. The halter dress that Marilyn Monroe wore standing on that grate in the Seven Year Itch is the best selling single style of dress in history. Bloomingdale's brings it back in some form or other about every two years and it always sells out.
Please understand I don't want diminish Ms Head's talent. But there were other costume designers who came out of Hollywood and had a far greater impact on fashion.
Here are a few that come to mind.
Irene worked in the '50s and was a fabulous designer. You could buy her clothes. Gilbert Adrian did all those fabulous costumes for the great MGM musicals. He ranks among the best in history -- right up there with Charles James & Claire McCardell in terms of important American designers. We can't leave Bonnie Cashin off the list. She did the costuming for the first King & I and dressed Jean Tierney in Laura (what a killer film that is). Bonnie is still influencing fashion today. Among other things she did the original Coach bag everyone loves and still buys. Oleg Cassini got his start in Hollywood and later became know as Jackie's designer of choice.
Interestingly, as far back as I can remember, (and that's pretty far most days) you'd almost get the feeling Edith Head was the only costume designer in Hollywood. Maybe it's because she was the only name everybody new.
Michele317 wrote: > >I was watching Hitchcock's "Rear Window" last night, and was drooling over > >the > >clothes Grace Kelly wore, even the Mark Cross overnite case. I'm sure that > >many women would wear those clothes today. When she wore that light green > >suite, she had on a pair of delicious black pumps that you just don't see > >made > >anymore. Someone should make a pair of black pumps like that, I would buy > >several pair, they're a classic. I did a search and couldn't find out who > >the > >designers were of those breathtaking clothes. I have been interested in > >vintage clothing lately, I seem to be stuck in the 50's.
> it's the edith head talent! hitchcock actually consulted on costuming for his > film, and the styles are just amazing. i'd take the white coat from 'vertigo' > anytime! 'edith head gives good fashion'.
>From: retro re...@optonline.net >The movies have a huge impact on what people wear, or want to wear. Clueless >& >Pretty woman are two recent examples of films that had a huge impact on >fashion.
========== Perhaps is presumptuous of me to drop into a thread having read only Joel's post, and nothing more of alt fashion for over a year...but....nobody ever said I wasn't presumptuous.
Joel, how could you not recall your favorite former tie peddler's influence on fashion, via "Annie Hall"? (no need to answer that....I know how forgettable you think he is...!)
Another costume designer whose influence filtered from screen to street was Theodora Van Runkle, particularly for "Bonnie and Clyde"....berets, maxi skirts, menswear for women.
Please excuse my thread intrusion if I've missed the point of the discussion :)
Joel Edith Head was the one who got all of the publicity for her designs and probably for the majority of the movie viewers was in fact the only one most of us knew. audrey rob.w...@worldnet.att.net
PFashion1...please do enter into these discussions at any time. They are far more relevant to the newsgroup than the namecalling going on in other threads.
Notice I said "recent" examples. By that I was referring to the "talkies" love.
Actually Bonnie & Clyde was huge. And yes indeed our old friend Ralph Lipshitz really did have most of the women in America looking like shitz for a couple of years after Annie Hall. It was kind of cute for the first 15 minutes. Depressingly, Diane Keaten still dresses like that or at least she did a few years back when I met her.
P Fashion1 wrote: > >From: retro re...@optonline.net
> >The movies have a huge impact on what people wear, or want to wear. Clueless > >& > >Pretty woman are two recent examples of films that had a huge impact on > >fashion. > ========== > Perhaps is presumptuous of me to drop into a thread having read only Joel's > post, and nothing more of alt fashion for over a year...but....nobody ever said > I wasn't presumptuous.
> Joel, how could you not recall your favorite former tie peddler's influence on > fashion, via "Annie Hall"? (no need to answer that....I know how forgettable > you think he is...!)
> Another costume designer whose influence filtered from screen to street was > Theodora Van Runkle, particularly for "Bonnie and Clyde"....berets, maxi > skirts, menswear for women.
> Please excuse my thread intrusion if I've missed the point of the discussion :)
There's kind of an amazing story that goes along with that. I don't know if it's true. But the "Ascot" dress (Audrey comes down a staircase in it as I recall) was allegedly purchased at a London vintage shop just before the scene was to be shot. They brought it back. Audrey put it on and it was a perfect fit. No alterations needed.
Givenchy did Audrey's clothes in virtually all of her films after Roman Holiday except Two For the Road where she wore garments from a broad array of important designers. There's even a throw away line in the movie. Albert Finney says: "It's time we give monsieur Givenchy a break."
The beatnik scene in Funny Face is a really good example of how the eye adjusts. (What's to come isn't criticism by the way. It's sort of a rhetorical observation -- something to think about).
To the modern woman audrey's black turtleneck and Capris look incredibly chic. That's because you're seeing clothes that aren't much different on the street and in the local mall. The eye has adjusted and the look is accepted. While I see it as pretty timeless -- I'm not sure everyone would agree.
So, I ask this rhetorical question: "Let's assume it's not Audrey Hepburn in that outfit. Let's also assume it's 10 years ago or 10 years from now. Would it still look chic? Would you wear it?"
My instincts tell me the answer is no. I had black capris in the shop 10 years ago -- couldn't give 'em away. People thought they were a costume.
An interesting sidelight to that scene is that it's the white socks that make the dance sequence really work. Audrey did not want to wear those white socks and argued against wearing them. Fortunately for the film she lost that argument.
> Adrian was amazing. There was a recent article about him in Vanity Fair.
> also lets not forget Givency and Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face - didn't > edith head try to take credit for designing all those amazing clothes? > In addition to the gowns, I find the capri pants, turtleneck, and loafer > ensemble audrey's character wore in her "beat" phase incredibly chic.
> Great movie for fashion, by the way. Also The Women, which has this crazy > color fashion show in the middle of a black and white movie. Were the > frames hand-tinted, or was it an early color-film process experiment?
> > Please understand I don't want diminish Ms Head's talent. But there were other > > costume designers who came out of Hollywood and had a far greater impact on > > fashion.
> > Here are a few that come to mind.
> > Irene worked in the '50s and was a fabulous designer. You could buy her > clothes. > > Gilbert Adrian did all those fabulous costumes for the great MGM musicals. He > > ranks among the best in history -- right up there with Charles James & Claire > > McCardell in terms of important American designers. We can't leave > Bonnie Cashin > > off the list. She did the costuming for the first King & I and dressed Jean > > Tierney in Laura (what a killer film that is). Bonnie is still influencing > > fashion today. Among other things she did the original Coach bag > everyone loves > > and still buys. Oleg Cassini got his start in Hollywood and later became > know as > > Jackie's designer of choice.
> > Interestingly, as far back as I can remember, (and that's pretty far > most days) > > you'd almost get the feeling Edith Head was the only costume designer in > > Hollywood. Maybe it's because she was the only name everybody new.
Mary & I had this same conversation last night and said essentially the same thing. To the average movie go'er in the '50s & '60s, there was nobody else. If there was, we sure never heard of them. But then again costume credits are buried and you have to be quick to read them. And yes, isn't it nice to see Patsy's sig line.
ahmward wrote: > Joel > Edith Head was the one who got all of the publicity for her designs > and probably for the majority of the movie viewers was in fact the > only one most of us knew. > audrey > rob.w...@worldnet.att.net
> PFashion1...please do enter into these discussions at any time. They > are far more relevant to the newsgroup than the namecalling going on > in other threads.
> An interesting sidelight to that scene is that it's the white socks that make the > dance sequence really work. Audrey did not want to wear those white socks and > argued against wearing them. Fortunately for the film she lost that
argument.
Evidently white socks or a bit of white at the foor always makes dancers look better. Or so I've read. Astaire often did and Michael Jackson picked it up from him (if you all remember he wore silver sparkly socks doing the "Billie Jean" era--and say what you will about him as a person, he was an incredible dancer!).
I have been reading this thread with both interest and enjoyment. So far, I've read 11 posts. Are there more? (I need to keep checking deja.com, I guess.)
I think discussions of film fashion over the years are fun. I read the biographical article about Adrian in Vanity Fair, and it was fascinating. Sounded like a very classy man.
There are so many films which come to mind in which I think the costumes are great. Anything Audrey Hepburn was in, of course -- which has already been discussed here. To go back a bit farther, I love the way Walter Plunkett dressed everyone -- in "Gone With the Wind." That red dress Scarlett wears to Ashley's birthday party after she has been caught alone with him. Stunning. I only wish Vivien Leigh wore it for a longer scene -- you barely get time to see it. And of course, her famous green velvet "drapery dress" that Carol Burnett satirized so hilariously on her old television show. :-)
Speaking of Vivien Leigh, I have a question for the film fashion afficionados out there. Are you familiar with her film "Waterloo Bridge?" I have always found her costumes for this film to be confusing. Isn't that film supposed to be set during World War I? (At first, I thought it was WW II, because her clothes are not at all WW I era. But then, the film begins with a flashback, and I think Robert Taylor's "present time" is the WW II era. And then he thinks back to WW I, when he met Vivien Leigh.)
Anyway. Every time I see this film, I actually find the costumes distracting because I can't "place" them in an appropriate period. Not a big deal, I know. :-) But still. Why wouldn't the designer have made more of an effort to actually costume her so that the time frame of the film would be more obvious?
Joel, I think in the scene where Audrey Hepburn comes down the staircase is when she is wearing her gown for the Embassy Ball. But I haven't seen that film in a while. I think, though, that she is seen in the Ascot dress for the first time at Ascot. Whereas she is seen in the Embassy Ball gown first the first time at Higgins' house, at the top of the staircase. And to my (very untrained) eye, her Ascot costume is so stylized that it looks like something Cecil Beaton would have created, rather than "real" vintage. Might it have been her ballgown that was possibly the "real thing?"
> Joel, I think in the scene where Audrey Hepburn comes down the staircase > is when she is wearing her gown for the Embassy Ball. But I haven't > seen that film in a while. I think, though, that she is seen in the > Ascot dress for the first time at Ascot. Whereas she is seen in the > Embassy Ball gown first the first time at Higgins' house, at the top of > the staircase. And to my (very untrained) eye, her Ascot costume is so > stylized that it looks like something Cecil Beaton would have created, > rather than "real" vintage. Might it have been her ballgown that was > possibly the "real thing?"
> LW
I think you're correct. It has been awhile since I've seen the film too. It must have been the gown she wore for the Embassy Ball. The Ascot scene was so stylized that it would have required special costuming . Thanks for picking up on that. Now it time for me to: "MOVE MY BLOOMIN' ASS."
>Speaking of Vivien Leigh, I have a question for the film fashion >afficionados out there. Are you familiar with her film "Waterloo >Bridge?" I have always found her costumes for this film to be >confusing. Isn't that film supposed to be set during World War I? (At >first, I thought it was WW II, because her clothes are not at all WW I >era. But then, the film begins with a flashback, and I think Robert >Taylor's "present time" is the WW II era. And then he thinks back to WW >I, when he met Vivien Leigh.)
>Anyway. Every time I see this film, I actually find the costumes >distracting because I can't "place" them in an appropriate period. Not >a big deal, I know. :-) But still. Why wouldn't the designer have >made more of an effort to actually costume her so that the time frame of >the film would be more obvious
I haven't seen Waterloo Bridge for a long time, and the only thing that bothered me, as I recall, was Robert Taylor's lack of a English accent.
I have a problem, time-wise, with the movie The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. It starts in the early 1900s, and, near the end, looks 1930s, at the earliest. This is impossible, since the daughter is at the most, in her early 20s. Still, it Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison, and George Sanders are wonderful, and the seaside setting and music are gorgeous.
BTW, re Audrey Hepburn and Funny Face: I've read that she wanted to wear dark socks in the jazz dance number so she would have an unbroken line. The director insisted on the white socks, and she later admitted he was right.
Emily
"Do it big, do it right, and do it with style." --Fred Astaire
One movie I watch repeatedly.. that I enjoy the fashion as well, is Great Gatsby. Not sure who dressed Mia Farrow, but I love the dresses she wears, especially the one she wears to the big party with the headdress. I saw a layout in a magazine recently with similar flapper-type dresses. Wondering if the look is coming back.
I know Ralph Lauren did Redford's clothes, not sure about Farrow's. The thing that annoys me about that movie--well, actually one of the things--is that awful wig she wears!
Interesting trivia: the little child who plays Farrow's daughter is Patsy Kensit.
> One movie I watch repeatedly.. that I enjoy the fashion as well, is Great > Gatsby. Not sure who dressed Mia Farrow, but I love the dresses she wears, > especially the one she wears to the big party with the headdress. I saw a > layout in a magazine recently with similar flapper-type dresses. Wondering if > the look is coming back.
Interesting, the story always went that it was a vintage dress purchased from a London dealer. That diary entry would seem to indicate that they didn't actually use the real vintage dress -- but cannibalized and copied. Hmmm just can't trust those Hollywood PR guys.
> A quote from "Cecil Beaton's Fair Lady", a diary-type book he kept of his > experience on the film. taken without permission:
> "This afternoon Eliza's ball dress was pinned, in rough form, on a stand > for the first time...Agnes (Koschin)has the responsibility of creating > this gossamer shift. She started to cut the sequin, crystal, and chenille > embroidery from a genuine 1910 evening gown which will be an invaluable > guide for our embroideries."
> and:
> "Audrey appeared to be tested in her ballroom dress...The glistening ball > dress is like ice on trees in Switzerland."
> > Joel, I think in the scene where Audrey Hepburn comes down the staircase > > is when she is wearing her gown for the Embassy Ball. But I haven't > > seen that film in a while. I think, though, that she is seen in the > > Ascot dress for the first time at Ascot. Whereas she is seen in the > > Embassy Ball gown first the first time at Higgins' house, at the top of > > the staircase. And to my (very untrained) eye, her Ascot costume is so > > stylized that it looks like something Cecil Beaton would have created, > > rather than "real" vintage. Might it have been her ballgown that was > > possibly the "real thing?"
