Film Fashion Friday: Fashion Show February: Lovely to Look At (1952)

Cast

Kathryn Grayson.....Stephanie

Red Skelton.....Al Marsh

Howard Keel.....Tony Naylor

Marge Champion.....Clarisse

Ann Miller.....Bubbles Cassidy

Zsa Zsa Gabor.....Zsa Zsa

Directed by Mervyn LeRoy

Gowns by Adrian

Synopsis

Al Marsh, Tony Naylor and Jerry Ralby, Broadway producers, are desperately looking for backers. Al is one of the heirs of a dress salon in Paris, but this is almost bankrupt. The two other heiresses, Stephanie and Clarisse and the three producers are able to convince the creditors to back a fashion show there. Things become complicated, when Al and Tony fall in love with Stephanie and Al's New York girl friend Bubbles arrives. (Taken from IMDb)

Fashion Review

This film has a lot of things going for it: 1. Adrian designed the gowns/costumes, 2. It is a musical, 3. It is in color, 4. It is a remake of Roberta (1935), and 5. It has a wonderful fashion sow sequence at the end of the film.

Many vintage fashion lovers hail Adrian as being the top Hollywood fashion designer of his time. There really doesn't need to be a "review" section, because with Adrian's name attached to a picture, you best believe it is going to hold some spectacular fashion. While this may not always be the case, I think it's a fair generalization.

Adrian was born in Connecticut in 1903 and studied at the School for Fine and Applied Arts. One of his first jobs was to design sketches for George White's Scandals. This lead him to catch the eye of Irving Berlin, who was impressed by some of his costumes at the Grand Prix Ball. Berlin commissioned Adrian to do some designs for the Music Box Revue. Eventually, Adrian caught yet another eye, that of the wife of Rudolph Valentino. He did work on three Valentino films which gained him a contract with De Mille Studios. After a two year stint, Adrian moved to MGM in 1928, where he would remain until 1942. Here Adrian was able to put his talents to great use, designing for both period costume dramas and providing MGM's top stars with fashionable wardrobes. In 1942, Adrain left MGM to open his own shop in Beverly Hills and continued to sporadically design for movies. His last film was Lovely to Look At, where he designed both the fashion show garments and the clothing for leading players. Adrian died seven years later and with his death, Hollywood lost a little bit of class.

Fashion Show Evaluation

This is definitely the most elaborate fashion show I have seen on film. The staging is intricate and it put on rather like a Broadway play. What I find interesting about this film is that the sequence and the whole film for that matter, appears in color. With the exception of Lucy Gallant (1955), the short sequence in The Women (1939), and Designing Woman (1957) I cannot think of another fashion show sequence that focuses on day and evening wear that appears in color. Singin' In the Rain (1952) is in color, but the fashion sequence is not exactly a fashion show per say, and many scholars argue that it does not fit into the fashion show-in-film category. Neptune's Daughter (1949) does appear in color, but the show focuses solely on swimwear. I find it fascinating that most of the fashion show sequences that appear in Classical Hollywood films are in black and white and are present in mainly films from the 1930s. This says a lot about the climate of the 30s in America. Moviegoers went to the movies to escape from their dim reality and what better than a fashion show to help them accomplish that? The black and white would seem to be a detraction from how we normally think about fashion. However, I see it like a blank canvas for women spectators to picture the color they like best -- a great selling ploy in my opinion.

Lovely to Look At is available on DVD through the Warner Archive Collection.

Film Fashion Friday: Fashion Show February: Neptune's Daughter (1949)

Okay, here's the last post for today. I ordered them so you could just scroll down to read each one as they build on one another. Enjoy!

Cast

Esther Williams.....Eve Barrett

Red Skelton.....Jack Spratt

Ricardo Montalban.....Jose O'Rourke

Betty Garrett.....Betty Barrett

Keenan Wynn.....Joe Backett

Costumes by Irene

Directed by Edward Buzzell

Synopsis

Scatterbrained Betty Barrett mistakes masseur Jack Spratt for Jose O'Rourke, the captain of the South American polo team. Spratt goes along with the charade, but the situation becomes more complicated when they fall in love. Meanwhile, Betty's sensible older sister Eve fears Betty's heart will be broken when Jose returns to South America. She arranges to meet with the real O'Rourke and love soon blossoms between them as well. (Taken from IMDb).

Fashion Review

I love this movie so all the fantastic fashion is just icing on the cake. What I love most about this film, is to a certain degree, we see what goes on behind the scenes in the fashion world (see first image). Eve is shown sketching designs and even takes us the viewer into the factory where the swimsuits are made. All of the films for today receive a grade of 9 or above (which I didn't take the time to mark down in the two posts above) and I really feel that's due to their plot circling around the fashion world. How could Hollywood present a movie about fashion designers without having a well dressed cast?

I have already done a post on Irene, giving her background and such; so if you are interested, click HERE to be directed to that post. Irene is amazing. I am sure I say that about many of the fashion/costume designers I feature on here, but I truly feel that way. I try to pluck out films that were worked on by designers other than Edith Head and the like. Don't get me wrong, Head is great, but I feel so are some of her contemporaries as well.

Fashion Show Evaluation: Wrap Up

I chose this film to wrap up the posts for today because it combines the ideas found in the other two films selected for today, but does so in a slightly different way. The fashion show sequence in this film is less integrated into the narrative. While we have the two audiences present, we do not see them during the sequence, the spectator sitting in the theatre seat is being directly addressed full on for the duration of the show. So, while the show is part of the narrative, it is presented to us the viewer in a slightly different manner. We also get the posing that is present in the other two films, but the models are not on a runway and more than one model is present at a given time or is alluded to, because there are all assumed to be on the same rock. I think this sequence presents many of the same ideas as the other two do. The swimsuits are being put on display for the viewer and might influence them to go out and purchase something similar because of this movie. We also can find traces of how these swimsuits might make one feel: like a glamour girl or a pin-up. This film is an example example of the idea of "soft promotion," where the fashion show sequence is used as a way to promote clothing sales. This film also "teaches" women how to behave in swimwear, walking gracefully and posing in a slightly seductive manner, possibly in an effort to display one's best assets. However you feel about what these fashion show sequences seek to achieve, I think we can all agree that they are excellent documents of fashion history, giving us vintage gals some spectacular eye candy and fashion inspiration.

Neptune's Daughter is available on DVD and for rental through many services.

Film Fashion Friday: Musical Month Round Up

Well, this is the last installment of the Musical Month feature here on Film Fashion Friday. I hope at least one of the films featured throughout the course of the month was a new discovery! For the last week, I decided to feature three films with not any one of them being a main selection. All three films are available on DVD and can be rented through Netflix or may very well be at your local video store..... if you still have one close by. All of the Blockbusters around here have shut down and we now have to rely on a small regional chain, which is still a great place to rent from, but unfortunately doesn't have a good classics section. Anyways, on to the films!!

The first film and probably the best this week fashion-wise is Neptune's Daughter (1949) starring Esther Williams and Red Skelton. This was one of the first Esther Williams' film I had ever seen and immediately fell in love with the water dancing! If you haven't checked out Ms. Williams yet, this is a great starter film and is typical of most of the other MGM and William's collaborations. The plot is zany and the costumes and hairstyles are drool worthy.

The plot is kinda confusing, but it basically follows Esther and her sister and the trouble her sister creates when she falls for Red Skelton, whom she believes is a famous polo player. The real polo player has it bad for Esther and there begins all the craziness of the film. Esther's character is a swimsuit designer and her designs are fully showcased throughout the course of the narrative. Irene designed the costumes for this one and did a really brilliant job. I have featured a few other works by Irene, so if you want to know more, just click the label. Overall, this film is a great inspiration for summer looks and contains some serious vintage bathing suit eye candy!

I couldn't do a musical month without featuring at least one Judy Garland film! Out of all her wonderful pictures, I choose Till the Clouds Roll By (1946). This is a true all star cast with many of the big names when it comes to musicals. The film is based on the life story of Jerome Kern and showcased a plethora of fantastic costumes spanning a few decades, not to mention the lovely stage costume creations, all the work of Helen Rose. Again, another costume designer I have featured on here before. As with Irene, click the label to see more on Ms. Rose.

As a whole, I would call the dress in this film a bit more artistic, but there are several scenes where there is "street clothing" being presented. With all that being said, I could totally picture someone integrating the saloon girl look in the middle picture into one of their daily looks. I really love the glitz and glam of this film and I hope you will too, if you haven't seen it that is!

The last film for this week is South Pacific (1958), undoubtedly one of the most famous musicals of all time, for both the stage and filmic renditions. What I found interesting about this picture is that off the rack clothing was used for a great majority of the film and none of the wardrobe managers had much of a career before or after this film, kinda one hit wonders if you will. Nevertheless, I am loving the beachy outfits that could totally transplant themselves into any vintage gal's summer wardrobe. Plus, this movie really makes me want to visit the beach!

I hope everyone enjoyed the musical month..... I know I did!! :)

Keep sending in suggestions; I love to here from you!! Film Fashion Friday will resume its regular postings on June 11th. Stay tuned!!!!

Emily