Top 10 Classic Hollywood Gowns

When I watch a film from this period, the costumes get as much attention from me as the actors do. In many films, the costume design is the much needed icing on the cake to give these films that little something extra. It just goes to show you that the designers of that period were much more important than they may have known. Not only did they lend their hand in the productions of the films, they also had a lasting touch on the world of fashion. Many of their designs can be seen influencing fashions that are hip today. Below are my top 10 gowns of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Ok let's be honest, who could narrow it down to 10, so here are 10 of my favorites. It is probably no surprise how many times Edith Head pops on on the list...

Grace Kelly | To Catch A Thief (1955)

Blue Gown by Edith Head

Marilyn Monroe | Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Orange Gown by Travilla

Rita Hayworth | You Were Never Lovelier (1942)

White Lace Gown by Irene

Bette Davis | All About Eve (1950)

Brown Gown by Edith Head

Joan Crawford | Letty Lynton (1932)

Black & White Gown by Adrian

Audrey Hepburn | Funny Face (1957)

Wedding Gown by Edith Head

Jean Harlow | Dinner At Eight (1933)

Biased Cut Silk Gown by Adrian

Jayne Mansfield | The Girl Cant Help It (1956)

White Silk Gown by Charles Le Maire

Rita Hayworth | Gilda (1946)

Black Silk Gown by Jean Louis

Jane Russell & Marilyn Monroe | Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Red Sequined Gowns by Travilla

Book | Hollywood In Kodachrome

By day I work in a camera/photo shop here in New Orleans, so as you can imagine I have quite a love for photography. I'm not quite old enough to have had the full experience of film photography, but that doesn't mean I do not have respect and adoration for the art form. At the top of my list of favorite film mediums is Kodak Kodachrome. I help customers all the time with their old Kodachrome slides and they always produce the most gorgeous photos. Colors and sharpness so crisp the images jump off the print.

So when I came across the book 'Hollywood In Kodachrome' by David Wills while on my usual weekly mission at Barnes and Noble, I just had to have it! They must have just gotten these books in because it was wrapped in plastic and looked so perfect! Beautiful coffee table books full of Old Hollywood pictures will always be my drug of choice... 

The book opens with gorgeous photos and a foreword written by the lovely Rhonda Fleming. She talks about how she was discovered by talent agent Henry Willson and about her dislike of her Hollywood nickname, "The Queen of Technicolor." She also admits to not being a trained actress and that her main influences in Hollywood came from top model of the day Anita Colby. Honestly, I didn't know much of her before reading this, but I did appreciate her explanation of how the photography side of the studio system worked.

After we here from Rhonda there is a very informative introduction by David Wills where he discusses the beginnings and uses of color film in Hollywood during the early 1900's. One fact I didn't know before this book was that Kodachrome was the first sustainable color film to be made. Of course that came with a long list of cons, but it did produce some of the most vibrant photos ever produced. The lighting had to be bright, and make up had to be caked on, but the end result was phenomenal.

After the text, comes the real gems of this publication, over 250 gorgeously illustrated Kodachrome photos from 1940-1949. Everyone from Rita Hayworth and Veronica Lake to Lucille Ball and Betty Grable. My biggest surprise came toward the end of the book... apparently Marilyn Monroe's infamous nude 'Red Velvet' session by Tom Kelley was shot with Kodachrome! The color and vibrancy of these photos has always stood out to me and after seeing them in this book it all makes perfect sense.

I will forever have an admiration of the Old Hollywood style of photography. Whether it is the dramatic George Hurrell black and whites or the vibrant Kodachrome shots of the 1940's... the photos present the stars of that time as glamorous gods and goddesses. Even if only for a second, these photos share a little bit of that glamour with us mortals down here in the real world.

You can buy 'Hollywood In Kodachrome' at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. All of the photos used in this post were captured by me from my copy of the book.

Flashback Post | Rita Hayworth... Blonde Bombshell?

Some of you may remember my July 23rd, 2011 post highlighting Rita Hayworth's transformation into a blonde bombshell for her role in The Lady From Shanghai. If you do remember or if you don't, please check it out once again... it still amazes me how good she could look with any color hair.

Here it is... Make Overs | Rita Hayworth

Photos | Rita In Color

To me there is nothing better than a color photo of Rita Hayworth. Now do not get me wrong, even in black and white Rita's inner light shines through, but in color you cant help but love her. I know she was known as the Love Goddess and was one of the top pin-ups in the 1940's, but she is too sweet to be sexy. Her smile could light up anyone's dark moments and let's not even start with her ability to captivate you while she dances... here are a few of my favorite color photos of Rita.

Birthday | Rita Hayworth

I don't normally highlight a particular star's birthday, but I couldn't help it. Monday would have been Rita Hayworth's 93rd birthday! Rita is one of my favorite actors of all time [up there with Bette Davis and Joan Crawford] and hell... one of her films inspired this blog. Her humor and dancing always make for a great movie viewing experience. So...

Happy Birthday Rita!

Here is one of my favorite Rita scenes... "Zip" from Pal Joey.

And as a side note... yesterday was also Jean Arthur and Monty Clift's birthdays as well!

Fashion | Gowns By Kalloch

One thing that stands out most to me when I watch studio era films are the costume designs. There were many influential designers from this period, some more popular then others. Fashion artist such as Edith Head and Adrian are very well known, but after watching 1938's Holiday and Bringing Up Baby I discovered a designer I hadn't yet discovered. The name next to the gowns billing? Columbia Studio's Robert Kalloch.

Designs for Holiday & Bringing Up Baby

Robert Kalloch was born in 1893 in New York City. He got his start designing gowns for New York's high-profile socialites and dancers for Lucille Ltd. He got his break in Hollywood in the early 1930's when he was hired by Harry Cohn to help improve the low-budget reputation of Columbia Pictures. 

Designs for Mrs Miniver & His Girl Friday

Robert Kalloch was one of the biggest trendsetters in Hollywood during the 1930's and 1940's. Stars such as Fay Wray and Greer Garson were lucky enough to have their sophisticated wardrobes designed by Kollach. 

Irene Dunne and Robert Kollach with designs from The Awful Truth

Simply credited with 'Gowns by Kalloch', many memorable films of that period were touched by this leader of fashion. Films such as His Girl Friday (1940), For Me and My Gal (1942), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) and The Awful Truth (1937) are just a few of the iconic films he worked on. His designs can even be seen uncredited in 1934's It Happened One Night and Twentieth Century.

Wedding gown from It Happened One Night

 

Kalloch also gets credit for helping shape the style of Look Magazine's "Best Dressed Girl In Hollywood" of 1940, Rita Hayworth. He was the first to specially design a wardrobe for Rita as her fame was rising. He worked with Rita on such films as The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt (1939), Angels Over Broadway (1940), The Lady In Question (1940), You'll Never Get Rich (1941) and Only Angels Have Wings (1939). 

Designs for Angels Over Broadway, You'll Never Get Rich, & Lone Wolf Spy Hunt

As you can see Robert Kalloch stayed quite busy in his short time in Hollywood.

Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in designs from Babes On Broadway

Classic Hollywood: All Doll'd Up

After watching the film Sudden Fear (review coming soon), I decided to 'google' the film, as I usually do. It was then I came across a website full of repainted fashion dolls, made to look like some of my favorite Classic Hollywood stars. The works on this website ranged from Greta Garbo to Elizabeth Taylor. The work even extended beyond Old Hollywood featuring the likes of Cher and Bette Midler.

Joan Crawford in Sudden Fear || Notice the famous Crawford Mouth

The artist I am refering to is Joan Albuerne. He lives in the North of Spain and has combined his passions of painting, movies, and dolls to make these beautiful dolls in the likeness of some of the great stars featured on his website (juanalbuerne.com). Juan started painting at the age of nine and today has many of his works in private collections around the world... even in the King of Spain's personal collection. He has also won many awards and been featured in quite a few publications. His takes dolls such as Charice, Alysa, Candi, Janay, Barbie, Midge, Kira, Lea, Kayla, Nichelle, Christie dolls and changes the features. Sometimes even modelling new noses, mouths, and eyes. His work is impeccable and extremely detailed.

Grace Kelly in Rear Window

After seeing these beautiful dolls, I looked up other custom repainted dolls and found some awesome things. It inspired me to share my finds in a little series here on Blame Mame called Classic Hollywood: All Doll'd Up. There are some stars who will get their own posts (like Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe), but we will start out with a few of my random favorites...

Lana Turner in The Postman Always Rings Twice || Complete with cigarette and case

Rita Hayworth in Gilda

Cyd Charisse in Singin' In The Rain

Keep an eye out for more in the future by Juan and other artist...

Quote Of The Week

From what I have read about Rita and other stars of the Golden Age, it was hard for many of them to find love with someone who wasn't in love with their on screen persona. Guess that shows how good the movie machine was at creating a star. You can find more post about Rita Hayworth here.

Film | Classic Films Around The World

This post is for The Great Movie Project's World In Film blogathon. The challenge of this blogathon was to highlight films made in each of the 7 continents. I decided (for obvious reasons) to do this blogathon with a classic film twist...

Film | You'll Never Get Rich

The other night I watched the 1941 war-themed musical You'll Never Get Rich, starring Rita Hayworth and Fred Astaire, for the second time. While the plot may not be the most exciting, the movie is still just as enjoyable the second time. 

Photos | Hollywood In Color

After looking at your favorite actors in black & white all the time, sometimes you forget they did exist in a color world. Below you will find some photos of some of my favorites in glorious color!

Bette Davis

Behind the cut are more photos and don't forget to visit the Blame Mame Photo Gallery for more!

Make Overs | Rita Hayworth

Rita Hayworth may be best known as the red-head Femme Fatale, but for a short period of time Rita could have been called a Blonde Bombshell. Though her transformation into a blonde wasn't her first major make over, it was definitely the one that got the most attention. 

Rita is a publicity still for The Lady From Shanghai

Few people remember that Rita was a natural brunette, but that is probably because the studios dyed her hair red before she hit it big in the movies. Rita changed her signature hairstyle for her starring role in the film The Lady From Shanghai. Under the guidance of her former husband Orson Welles, her hair was cropped short and dyed a shade known as topaz blonde. The change was done without Columbia studio head, Harry Cohn's knowledge and it made him furious. The film was a flop at the box office and many say it was because the public couldn't accept one of their biggest stars changing so drastically. Rita never made another film as a blonde.

Rita caused quite a stir at the studio as she changed her signature style

The big transformation was documented in a series of photographs that you can find below.

Film | Down To Earth

I recently signed up for Netflix and I am very pleased with the selection of classic films they have available. The first one I received was Rita Hayworth's 1947 film Down To Earth. I recently watched a few musical numbers from the film and was excited to be able to watch it. The movie was beautiful to watch and the dancing was superb by all the actors. The costumes and movie sets were beautiful and the glorious Technicolor made it all pop. My only gripe with the film is that I didn't find it showcased Rita's great dancing. After seeing her other films such as You Were Never Lovelier and Cover Girl, I was left wanting more. Even with that said, I loved every second of the movie and will have to keep my eye out for it on DVD.

 

Photos | Stars With Their Pets

Stars & Their Pets

Since I love animals, and have quite a few of my own, I thought I would do a post with pictures of vintage stars sharing the lense with their beloved pets.

 Joan Crawford with Fancy [Poodle]

Photography | George Hurrell

I love everything about Classic Hollywood, but one of the things I enjoy most is the portrait photography. From the dramatic lighting, to the exaggerated posing, to the perfectly designed faces... it is hard to pin point what makes these photos so fun to look at. Whenever I look at these type of photos, it makes me feel like I am in another time. Of all these photos, the photography of George Hurrell is some of my favorite. The way he used lighting to compose these gorgeous shots impresses me everytime I look at them.

HURRELL WITH DOROTHY JORDAN, CIRCA 1932