Is That What You're Wearing?

Welcome back! Let's take a look at a few more costumes from the exhibit.



This dress is held by the Paramount Pictures Archives.
This is silk satin c.1936, designed for Irene Coleman. It is unknown which film this was designed for, and Coleman certainly was not a major star, but the thing I love so much about this dress is the fabulous condition it’s in. Usually, costumes contain a label somewhere inside that identifies the wearer, and I assume this is how the Archives knows it was for Coleman. This is one of the many garments I wish I’d been able to see from the back.


Jean Arthur wore this gown in the café scene in A Foreign Affair (1948).
I was delighted to see this gown is chocolate rather than black. It is rayon crepe, and the bust and halter straps are embellished with rhinestones of various shapes and sizes. The back is low cut with the rhinestones carrying around. It can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that only black is dressy, but this dress proves how wrong that notion can be. It seems natural that a Congresswoman from Iowa (Arthur’s character in the film) would wear a dress the color of rich farm soil, and this understated yet classy dress is the perfect contrast to Marlene Dietrich’s extravagant sequined costumes in the film.

Veronica Lake wore this dressing gown in a publicity photo, ca.1942.
The information plaque with this gown said that it was originally designed for Kay Linaker but went unused and was later repurposed for Lake and this photo shoot. (I wish it had told us which of Linaker’s films; Kitty Foyle (1940) perhaps?) Black wool felt fish were hand cut and appliqued to the off-white linen gown. I really love the length of the sleeves. Longer would have been too dressy and would have dragged down the look on Lake, and shorter would have been too playful and youthful, making the already diminutive Lake look even more childlike. This mid-bicep length is perfect, as the sleeve ends in line with the bust shaping pleats helping to create a broader upper body. This balances the full skirt which stands away from the wearer due to the characteristic body of linen.


This beaded blue dress was worn by Betty Hutton in The Perils of Pauline (1947). The film is a fictionalized account of the rise to stardom of actress Pearl White, star of the Pauline serials. Head referenced costumes that White had worn during her career.
Glass bugle beads fully cover the silk base of this dress making it sparkle relentlessly, but also making for a very heavy garment. Hutton wore this dress near the end of the film for a dance number which included some stunt work by a stunt performer. A dress covered with much lighter weight sequins was constructed for the stunt person. The handwork took many months for the beading experts to complete. I love that the beads around the center opening are laid on horizontally to add interest. They are even laid on to follow the curves of the garment at the hem and at the waist line. This attention to detail shows up well in the film, defining Hutton’s figure beautifully.

The beading on the back of the dress also helps to define the shape of the garment.
The beads are applied in an arch across the hips and bum of the peplum making the gathers there appear even more full, almost as if there is a bustle. Horizontal beads also edge the scallops along the deep-V back to accentuate that detail, and a row of beads is applied around the neck edge to give the dress a complete look. So much can be accomplished with tiny tubes of glass!


Anne Baxter wears this dress in Blaze of Noon (1947).
The pinafore-style dress is black wool over a red and black plaid cotton blouse. Though the photo sort of makes it look like flannel, it is not. (Also, please excuse the weirdness at the left cuff. There was a different plaid behind this one, and when I edited out the people the processor was a little confused.) The plaid is well engineered at the button front all the way across from sleeve to sleeve. I find it interesting then that the collar does not match. It is close, but the pattern does not meet with the front of the blouse. Another alternative would have been to simply center the collar on the pattern repeat. This would have put the same part of the plaid at the tip of each point, and that symmetry would have looked nice. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this blouse, I’m just surprised that it was constructed this way.

Overall, I am surprised at the costumes throughout this film. Though the story is of early air mail service in the 1920s, all the fashions in the film, from the hats on down, are firmly 1947. I suspect this design choice was made as the moviegoing public was only two years removed from WWII, and the decision was to make the film appear to move ahead rather than backward.
(Edith Head was godmother to Anne Baxter’s daughter, Melissa Galt. Galt called Head Aunt Edie.)


Agnes Moorehead wore this dress in Who’s Minding the Store? (1963)
This lovely fuschia paisley dress is silk chiffon. The skirt is left unfinished for a smooth resolve at the hem.

If you are thinking this dress looks a bit like the costumes Moorehead wore as Endora in Bewitched (1964-1972), you are on the right track. Edith Head designed Endora’s costumes the year after Who’s Minding the Store?

Moorehead looked fabulous in bold colors. Sadly, I was unable to find a color photograph of her in the dress.


Angela Lansbury wore this embellished rayon brocade costume in The Court Jester (1955).
Head designed this gown and the others in the film basically in the style of the Medieval bliaut, complete with a fancy beaded lace girdle to hold down the volume of the very full, flowing skirt. Though some pinks, purples, and nearly neon costumes appear in the film as a spirited nod to Technicolor, much of the costume palette is of loden, oxblood, indigo, and mustard, all of which were achieved with natural dyestuffs in the period.


Here are costumes for Jack Lemmon and Natalie Wood for The Great Race (1965). Most of the costumes for the stars were designed by Head, but Donfeld does share design credit for the film.
Jack Lemmon wears this black silk-wool blend overcoat with (what I wish was faux) astrakhan lapel as Professor Fate. There is a matching astrakhan hat in the film.
The coat is lined in black silk. This is a wonderful blend of overcoat and duster styles. The large lapel and fiber content feel very coatish, but the shape of the garment, its arched flap pockets, the deep vent, and lighter weight of the fabric lend toward dusterish.

Natalie Wood wears beautiful costumes as Maggie Dubois.
This is a slim silk satin gown with silk net overlay. The overlay is richly ruffled at the slight fishtail train. The net is dotted all over with sequins in a polka dot pattern, and the bodice and straps are heavily ornamented with jet sequins, seed beads, bugles, cabochons, and drops. Because the overlay is so delicate, a few of them were made at the outset so that production would not be halted if something happened to the dress. Though practical, that also seems wildly extravagant!
Head on the set with Wood in a different costume.


This costume was designed for Yul Brynner in The Buccaneer (1958). Head designed for the majors and shared credit for the film with Ralph Jester and John Jensen.
The suit is wool trimmed with silk satin. (If you think Brynner looks trim in films, you should see this costume!) What is interesting to note is that this is not the suit which appears in the film. This costume was designed for Brynner to wear in the street market brawl scene early in the film.
In its final look for the film, the off-white wool pantaloons were switched for gray, the royal blue and scarlet jacket replaced with one that is slightly more teal and trimmed with emerald. Obviously, Brynner portraying Lafitte could not have looked this British!



I hope you enjoyed this first part of the tour. I shall return shortly with the next part.