VINTAGE INSPIRATION ON THE SILVER SCREEN

The vintage fashion trend keeps gaining momentum, inspired by several movies and the Mad Men television series. Regular and high-end vintage fashion stores have been around for a long time, and are doing good business. The scarcity of clothing appropriate for today's sizes, however, has been a challenge. But now local designers and small-scale clothing manufacturers are making new vintage-look fashions in a variety of sizes. Classic films from the 1930s through the 1950s can serve as constant inspiration, and the movie star icons of that era can serve up vintage either hot or iced.

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Ava Gardner is shown above in the mid-1950s. With Ava's dark bobbed hair and her hour-glass figure she was the perfect model for the styles of the 1950s. Several colors suited Ava but she looked especially smashing in red. This gown's ruffled bodice is accentuated by her small corseted waist.

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Deborah Kerr is shown above in a halter-topped circle-skirt for the film From Here to Eternity, 1953. Kerr usually played the cool and reserved English beauty in Hollywood movies. In From Here to Eternity she played an unfulfilled wife sparked by her lover Burt Lancaster. The dress above plays with the forms of the circle with its inter-twined circle decoration.

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Donna Reed also played against type in From Here to Eternity, taking on the part of a call-girl. Her role of the tough-tender love interest of Montgomery Clift suited her well. This beautiful black halter-top gown with split skirt was designed by costume designer Jean Louis.

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Sophia Loren was all over the screen in the 1950s. Here she is shown in That Kind of Woman, 1959, with costumes by Edith Head.  Loren too had the perfect look and figure for the fashions of the fifties. The cheerful use of polka dots in this simple dress was perfect. Dots can always be in style, whether in the 1950s or now ( see my post I See Spots ).

Elizabeth Taylor was another iconic beauty from the 1950s and 60s. Helen Rose designed the perfect dress for her in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. The Grecian draped, decollete white silk chiffon cocktail dress was such a smash that Rose started her own line of clothing featuring the Cat dress. Although the late Helen Rose no longer has a fashion line, the Cat dress is still in demand, and only vintage copies are available.

The blondes rule the next few images, with Kim Novak leading the pack in a form-fitted white ribbed sweater. Though it may be too warm now to think of sweaters, the variety of looks achievable through sweaters should always be considered. See my post Sweater Girls

Gloria Grahame was a sweet-looking and sexy vixen that got pegged for a lot of hard-luck film noir roles. But she also starred in such films as Oklahoma and The Greatest Show on Earth. Here she is shown circa 1946 in a fetching outfit of black shorts and gingham blouse.

The classic bohemian look is always in style. Marian Marsh is shown above wearing a beret and short-sleeved blouse, accessorized with a belt and scarf. She was posing for the film, Crime and Punishment, 1935.

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Shirley Jones never seemed to play any naughty roles - she was always the girl everyone loved. She was unforgettable in Carousel, Oklahoma,The Music Man, and The Courtship of Edie's Father, with many later roles on TV. She is shown above in the mid-sixties in a pretty floral dress of pink carnations and green leaves.

The old Hollywood movie fan magazines always used to emphasize looking at the various movie stars to see which one was "your type" when it came to finding fashion inspiration. Perhaps these stars can still provide inspiration for vintage fashion.

In the L.A area, vintage is being re-created by Stop Staring and Queen of Heartz, while many cities have their own vintage resale shops or even "at-home shop" options. And even Banana Republic is joining in with a Mad Men inspired line designed by the show's costume designer Jane Bryant.

GOTTA DANCE GOWNS

The dance gowns of the classic movie musicals appeared on screen like explosions of a supernova, with little left to preserve as Hollywood artifacts. The gowns had a short but hard life, with few surviving to come up for auctions like that of Debbie Reynolds, where only a handful were present. But ever since the first Hollywood movie musicals of 1929 and the 1930s, they have influenced fashion and the gowns of today's television dance contests. The costumes themselves may be mostly history, but we still have those wonderful movies and these beautiful stills to inspire us.




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Rita Hayworth (nee Rita Cansino) and Fred Astaire light up the screen in You Were Never Lovelier

Although the dance costume is meant to provide freedom of movement, its subtext is one of eroticism. As is the case with women's fashion generally, the interplay of concealement and revealment provides constant interest. Movie dance costumes revealed the female body either in translucent silhouette or in direct exposure. Along with the ballet, the generous exposure of leg not only shows better the movement of dance steps, but also provides for sexual allure.

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Cyd Charisse was one of the very best dancers, and had the looks to attract all eyes. She was one of the few dancers that danced with both Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly on screen. Here she's shown in a hot number with Gene Kelly in Singing in the Rain. Walter Plunkett designed her fetching dance costume for the pictured Broadway Melody Ballet. At a time when several great dancers had starred in Hollywood musicals, Cyd's overt sensuality set a new standard.

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Here's Cyd dancing with Fred Astaire in the Girl Hunt Ballet scene from The Band Wagon, 1953. Helen Rose had been designing most of the women's costumes at MGM when Band Wagon was produced. A tiff with the studio producers however put her on the sidelines and so Mary Ann Nyberg designed the costumes. While Cyd's red sequined gown in the number above was beautiful, its mismatching with black gloves is perennially distracting.

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Marge and Gower Champion were a great dancing team that starred in several movies at MGM. They danced in Show Boat, Everything I have is Yours, Lovely to Look At, and Give a Girl a Break, among others. Marge Champion was one of the movie stars that appeared as a guest and speaker at the 2011 TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood.

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One of the most beautiful dance gowns ever worn on film was this Ginger Rogers silver bugle-beaded costume designed by Bernard Newman. She wears it while dancing with Fred Astaire in the "Let's Face the Music and Dance" number in Follow the Fleet, 1936. Being made entirely of glass beads sewn on fabric, it would have weighed about 30 pounds. With the numerous takes in this filming, Ginger got more than a workout.

Here is Fred and Ginger in the Gay Divorcee, 1934. The thing that made them so popular, besides their great dancing, were those big smiles while they danced. It looked like they were really having fun together, a big tonic during the Great Depression. This was the first movie where they got top billing. Walter Plunkett designed Ginger's gown. Ginger's birthday was 100 years ago today, July 16th.

Fred dances here with the Mexican beauty Dolores Del Rio in Flying Down to Rio, 1934. Irene designed Miss Del Rio's gown. This was the first movie in which Fred and Ginger danced together. Although they were not the top stars, they stole the show.

With all the great young dancers today, you would think musicals and dance films would make a comeback.  A Top Hat sequel anyone?