Film Fashion Friday: Of Human Bondage (1934)

First off, the winner of the Street of Women DVD is Lauren!! Thanks to everyone for entering. Lauren, email me within a week and I will get your DVD in the mail.

This week's film is an interesting one because I am sure many would not include this in their list of fashionable classic films. After reading my thoughts, I hope you will be able to see that it has some interesting elements present.

Cast

Bette Davis.....Mildred Rogers

Leslie Howard.....Phillip Carey

Frances Dee.....Sally

Kay Johnson.....Nora

Reginald Denny.....Griffith

Directed by John Cromwell

Gowns by Walter Plunkett

Synopsis

Bette Davis is a waitress who uses her good looks to lure in gentlemen to fund her fun. The unsuspecting Leslie Howard, a painter turned medical student, becomes enamored with Davis and starts pursuing her. By the way, Howard just so happens to have a clubbed foot, which complicates things even more. Howard ends up throwing Davis to the curb in an effort to start a new and healthy relationship with Nora. However, when Davis comes back, Howard drops everything to be with her. This trend happens yet again when Howard meets Sally. How does he handle it this time? Does he throw true love away to be with Davis?

Fashion Review

I found the fashion selection in this film to be immensely interesting. I would consider this to be among one of Plunkett's earlier films, where he is still trying to get his feet wet. However, I think he did a wonderful job with this film, especially with Davis, whom I am sure had a thing or two to say about what she was and wasn't going to wear. There are three kinda of women presented in this film: the homely wifey type: Sally, the debutant social scene type: Nora, and the tramp: Mildred. Plunkett does an excellent job dressing each type in a way that conveys what type of woman they are just by looking at their clothing. If you are going to watch this purely for fashion inspiration, I would pay attention to Nora and Davis at the beginning of the film. Davis starts out fairly normal and then slowly, with each scene, morphs into a cheap looking woman.

One thing I think Davis does very well is positioning her body in a why such that it "displays" the clothing and well as herself. Of Human Bondage was base off a 1915 book in which the character of Mildred really is a prostitute. Since of the strict PCA code, the film could only slightly allude to this. {{{SPOILER}}} Mildred is also suppose to dye of syphilis rather than TB, however Davis still wanted her death to look real verse being given the "Hollywood treatment." To do this, she came up with her own make-up and some accounts say she applied her own make-up for these last few scenes. While the information is a little unclear, it is interesting to consider the fact that Davis was such a serious actress that she wanted to get dirty and look like hell in order to give a more realistic presentation.

One thing I noticed about this film, in relation to fashion, is the only time Davis is "glamorous" is during the dream sequence Phillip has. Here Davis is wearing a dress that could easily be compared to the famous Letty Lynton dress that her rival Joan Crawford wore only two years earlier. I find it fascinating that during this dream, Phillip is fantasizing about his idealize version of Mildred and this "idealize" version just happens to be wearing a dress much like the Letty Lynton dress, which was hugely popular and set trends for the era. In order to be ideal, Mildred must be glamorous and to do so, she must be trendy. I think this dream has a lot going on with it and I could go on and on. :) I would love to hear your thoughts about the dream after you watch the film.

Of Human Bondage is in the public domain, so it can easily be found online streaming and there are tons of copies of it for sale (cheap I might add). If you have Netflix, it can be viewed online there.

Hollywood and Fashion: Mae West and Elsa Schiaparelli

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Whenever I am doing a search for Schiaparelli items on both eBay and etsy, bottles of Shocking always seem to pop up. I really love the design of the bottle and thought my readers would enjoy learning more about the perfume, just as I did.

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In my research, I came across several stories that all told pretty much the same tale. As legend has it, when Mae West was set to start working on her 1937 film, Every Day's A Holiday, she contracted Elsa Schiaparelli to make the gowns for the film. (See still below for a tiny look at the film's wardrobe. The film is only available on VHS and I have been since searching for a copy to be able to view these great designs!) West was dead set on having Schiaparelli make the gowns for the film, but Elsa refused to come to Hollywood for fittings. In order to solve this, West had a dress form of her body sent to Elsa. Upon first look of the form, Elsa is reported to have said "shocking." Apparently, this was her inspiration for her next perfume, which debuted in 1937. The bottle was designed to look like West's dress form and the name taken from Elsa's reaction to first seeing the form. Great story huh?

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Although I really want to see this film, it will be hard to know if the gowns used in the film are the actual works of Schiaparelli or not. As the rest of the story goes, once the costumes arrived in Hollywood, they did not fit and I am not sure if they were let out and used in the film or not. There doesn't seem to be much information out there on the web. I am sure that the archives in L.A. have detailed records of this, but for now, it will just be left to mystery. Even though West wanted to continue to use Paris designers for her films to follow, she employed the help of Walter Plunkett instead, ultimately rescuing his dwindling career. Following his work on Gown with the Wind (1939), many producers refused to hire him, thinking his services would be too pricey. So, to avoid any further fitting problems on this film, West went with a U.S. designer. When Plunkett appeared for their first meeting, West greeted him absolutely naked and said "Walter, I'd like you to see what you're working with." What a woman!

Emily

Film Fashion Friday: Mr. Imperium (1951)

I was so excited to feature this film this week!! Not only is it a really great movie featuring Lana Turner, it also features a fabulous costume designer, Walter Plunkett. Plunkett is known for his designs in Gone With the Wind and Singin' in the Rain, among numerous other hollywood classics. He shares an Oscar with Orry-Kelly and Irene for their collaboration on American in Paris. Since Plunkett was apart of so many iconic fashionable films, I really wanted to feature a film of his that is lesser know but still has a keen eye for style.

Mr. Imperium (1951) stars Lana Turner as a traveling showgirl that captures the heart of a prince in hiding. The two begin a whirlwind romance that comes to halt when the prince's father becomes ill. One of my favorite parts of the film is a brief montage of Lana and the Prince enjoying the French rivera. During this, Lana is shown wearing some great casual looks, including the classic 40's dungarees and button up shirts. A definite inspiration for a vintage gal's casual option for a daily look.

Lana is also seen wearing a few different coats throughout the film, which I thought would be a great inspiration for the up coming colder season. My favorite combination is the red coat and turban paired with the pale yellow dress. I love the red and yellow color combo and just may have to try that out myself this spring!! Overall, this is a great Plunkett film that may not be as well known as his other pictures, but it still holds up to his reputation for magnificent style. The film is available on dvd and is on Netflix but it appears they don't have the dvd yet, however you can save it to your queue.

The honorable mentions for this week are Madame X, another great Lana Turner film, and Coco Chanel, starring Shirley MacLaine.

I remember seeing Madame X as a young girl and was totally captivated by it. It receives an honorable mention for a lovely green gown worn during a party scene and the wonderful mid-60's fashions.

Coco Chanel just recently came out on DVD and I highly recommend that everyone see this movie. It is great on so many levels. The plot is structured through flashbacks, making for a very engaging narrative. The costumes are simply amazing and feature really great designs from the turn of the century to the mid-50's. I know this film didn't really receive great reviews, but I think vintage lovers will be able to appreciate the fab costumes. Plus the actor that plays Boy is quite the hunk!!

I am approaching my 100th post and I think I am going to do a giveaway tied into Film Fashion Friday. Look for more info as I get closer to my 100th post!!

Emily