THE ADRIAN FASHION LINE

Adrian is best known for his stunning and glamorous gowns for the movie sirens of the Golden Age - Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, Hedy Lamarr, Lana Turner, Norma Shearer, and many others. During his time as costume designer at MGM, Adrian influenced world fashion through the popularity of American movies and movie stars. Much less is known about Adrian the fashion designer, which he became when he launched his own line and couture salon in Beverly Hills in 1942.

At the time, World War II had been ravaging Europe, and The U.S had just entered the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Parisian couturiers, who had mostly dominated American fashion influence, were now cut-off. The fashion that hadn't been influenced by Paris was largely influenced by costume design in film and the leisure fashions coming out of California. Always centered on his own creativity in fashion design, Adrian's motto became "American fashion for American women."  His fashion creations would now no longer reference his film work.




Adrian suit and veiled top-hat, 1944.

Adrian's new line was carried by the leading department stores, (then the primary sellers of high end fashion) in the bigger cities throughout the U.S. What makes Adrian's work particularly significant? For one he was a genius, but here are a few other reasons.

The other American designers also got a boost from the lack of European fashions. While the war and the prominence of military uniforms influenced American women's fashion, such as the dominance of olive, brown, black and gray colors, Adrian said he wanted to "shock American women into color consciousness." And of course broad-shoulders were also a significant military fashion influence, but Adrian had virtually launched this look with his designs for Garbo and Joan Crawford beginning in the late 20s, and whose films had influenced fashion around the world, including Schiaparelli's.

This Adrian creation above from 1943 he called "Crackling Flame." Adrian named all his fashion creations. This one was not only in a bright scarlet crepe, but featured a scarlet and fuchsia turban. Characteristic of Adrian was the asymmetrical use of a gold embroidered sleeve.

Adrian was a master in the use of stripes, but he also liked the patterns created from dots. Here he combined both in a rayon hooded dress from 1949. Adrian would often use buttons as decoration, and even pocket flaps, placing them at unexpected locations.

 

Here is another striped creation, a stunning suit that manages to convey a North African influence. After World War II finished, Adrian used ethnic and international fashion influences, a stimulus for American women who had not been able to travel in years.

                    

      Photo courtesy Doyle New York

Adrian was still Adrian, however, and although 1930s glamour had changed, he still believed in the purpose of a glamorous evening gown. Above is one that is stunningly beautiful, in a simple draped black crepe and silk, with a jewel-embroidered bodice.

And drama was also a lasting Adrian legacy. Such use of drama was considered less than desirable by the fashion press of the time. Nonetheless, Adrian worked to his own drumbeat, and such creations as this sculptural gown from 1948 were unveiled.

 

 

An air of mystery created its own drama. This Adrian black velvet suit from 1949 had a cape that could be manipulated into different looks.

Adrian employed wit and humor in his designs, a practice that was virtually unique in fashion. There are many such examples in his Adrian label creations, which of course would have been inappropriate in his film costumes. In the floral print dress above, a fabric leaf peeks out from the sleeve.

Adrian liked to work at opposite ends of a spectrum. He had created the most outlandish show-girl costumes ever seen, yet he used simple lines and spare details to create beautiful suits and gowns. His use of contradiction was also evident, as when he used gingham in his evening gowns to beautiful and unique effect. The suit above from 1947 has an asymmetrical and diagonal-line pattern of large buttons and flaps. Joan Crawford used the same suit in her film Daisy Kenyon.

                

 

                       Courtesy The Met

Long before Yves St.Laurent designed his "Pop-Art" fashions, Adrian had used color-blocked patterns in his "Modern Museum" creations from 1943. Adrian's gowns above include his "Shades of Picasso" creation from 1945, in front and far right. It's cape is seen from behind. It is also shown below.



Photo courtesy the Metropolitan Museum of Art

 

Photo The Met

Adrian loved bold prints on his gowns, many of which he designed and drew himself. One of his most notable is "Roan Stallion" shown above from 1945. The large asymmetrically placed horse makes this a unique design.

And did I sat Adrian loved dots? These dots are made from sequins, in a creation he called "Doctor I See Spots," 1944. Did I say he loved to use humor in his fashions?

Adrian had a childhood fascination with Africa and African wildlife. After a photo safari to Africa in 1949 he designed gowns and suits with snakeskin, zebra, and leopard prints. He designed this gown for his wife Janet Gaynor. He called it "The Tigress." He got a kick out of seeing who would catch on that tigers weren't from Africa.



Adrian in 1938.

Adrian's early retirement from a heart attack in 1952, and then his death in 1959, ended his career prematurely. He didn't want another designer to take over his label, and so the name of Adrian passed into history. After you see many of his film and fashion creations you will recognize his influence on successive generations of designers. He was one of the originals. 

The images above are the tip of the iceberg of Adrian's creations. More can be seen in my book:
Adrian: Silver Screen to Custom Label.

OH ORRY-KELLY!

Orry-Kelly was one of the great Hollywood costume designers of the Golden Age, who designed outstanding wardrobes for contemporary, musical, and historical movies. His film credits span the classic era, and he designed costumes for Bette Davis, Olivia De Havilland, Merle Oberon, Marilyn Monroe, Shirley MacLaine, and Natalie Wood, among many others. His distinctive style was stamped on the early Warner Brothers films, where he gave its leading ladies the panache and chic expected of the 1930s movie stars. His designs for Bette Davis in particular added greatly to her unique persona in films from Jezebel to Now Voyager.




This stylish Warner Bros. costume sketch by Orry-Kelly
was likely done for Kay Francis in the mid-1930s.

Orry George Kelly was born in Australia, the son of a tailor. Although he studied art and tailoring, he moved to New York as a young man to pursue a career in acting. He became friends and roommates with Archibald Leach, an aspiring actor who soon changed his name to Cary Grant. Orry-Kelly began designing costumes for Broadway, an early training ground for several film costume designers, he then migrated to Hollywood. Cary Grant was helpful in getting Orry-Kelly launched at First National/Warner Brothers in 1932, where Kelly  found his calling.

Above is an Orry-Kelly costume sketch,
probably made for Ann Dvorak. 

Orry-Kelly liked to place the design emphasis on the collar and bodice in his early costumes. This was the area that framed the face and where film close-ups accentuated the star's persona. He also like to embellish sleeve cuffs. The long and languid glamour gowns of the 1930s were another specialty of his.

Orry-Kelly sketch for an unknown film.

By 1934, Orry-Kelly was designing costumes for over fifty movies a year for Warner Brothers. He rendered his own costume sketches, but he was so overwhelmed with work that he couldn't do the kind of detailed faces he liked on his sketches - so he started painting or drawing his costume sketch figures without heads. He designed several of the Busby Berkeley musicals, along with Milo Anderson, such as 42nd Street and Gold Diggers of 1933.

An Orry-Kelly sketch for the movie Gold Diggers of 1933

The costume sketch above was designed by Orry-Kelly for Helen Vinson. Although the design is for a movie unknown to me, the photo below shows Vinson wearing this beautiful gown.

Helen Vinson in the Orry-Kelly pink satin gown with black trim.



Orry-Kelly shows a gown to Ann Sheridan at Warner
 Brothers in 1941

 

The photo above is of Dolores Del Rio wearing another
 stunning Orry-Kelly gown in Wonder Bar, 1934.

Orry Kelly designed the outstanding women's wardrobe for Casablanca, including Ingrid Bergman's costumes. Orry-Kelly left Warner Brothers in 1945 and worked for several different studios. He was one of three costume designers who worked on An American in Paris, along with Walter Plunkett and Irene Sharaff, who together won an Academy Award for Best Costumes. Another significant film he designed for was Auntie Mame, starring Rosalind Russell in 1958.

      Photofest

Another assignment was for an especially notable film, Billy Wilder's Some Like it Hot, with Marilyn Monroe. The photo above shows Orry-Kelly fitting Marilyn's dress. Marilyn is also shown below in a scene from the movie. The gown is made of nude souffle with streamers of bugle-beads. Orry-Kelly made the most of Marilyn's highlights in this dress.

      Photofest

Orry-Kelly was a real wit, a trait he shared with Adrian and Walter Plunkett. He titled his unpublished memoirs, Women I've Undressed. But he also shared the bad habits of Travis Banton, Howard Greer, and some other designers of being a heavy drinker. Mixed with his temperamental nature, this could lead to some difficult situations. Later in his career Shelley Winters refused to come out of her dressing room trailer for a costume fitting. Orry-Kelly rocked the trailer back and forth until the terrified Winters ran out.

One film that Orry-Kelly narrowly missed out on doing was My Fair Lady with Audrey Hepburn. The director George Cukor wanted him for the film and so did Warner Brothers. But Cecil Beaton was specified in Alan Lerner's contract ,so Orry-Kelly lost out. Beaton's costumes for the film have been sanctified by time, but I think Orry-Kelly would have done an even better job.

Orry-Kelly died of liver cancer in 1964 - gone but not forgotten.

HOW TO DISPLAY AND PRESERVE COSTUMES & VINTAGE FASHION

The recent auction of the first part of the famed Debbie Reynolds Hollywood costume collection begs the question, how will the new owners care for these treasures? While the owners can treat them as they wish, it would be comforting to know that they had the long-term preservation of these fragile relics in mind. The high value of these objects would seem to imply that their proper care is assured. But the care and conservation of costumes and textiles is now a science, and there is much to consider in properly storing and displaying of these objects.



                         Photo by Christian Esquevin  

Shown above is a gown worn by Lana Turner in "Diane," designed by Walter Plunkett. It was displayed at the Paley Center for the Debbie Reynolds auction by Profiles in History.



The first thing to know about vintage costumes is that they can not stay on display for extended periods of time. The main problem is that light, either natural or electrical, will fade the colors of the costume and will eventually weaken the fibres in the fabric. The hanging of heavy materials, even on a mannequin, will place stress on the part of the fabric bearing the most weight. The presence of furs, beading, jewelry or rhinestones will add greatly to the weight of the costume or its parts, such as sleeves. If a costume should stay on display for longer periods, it is best to cover it with muslin or cotton to shield it from light when it is not on view. It is also important to add support to as much of the costume as possible.



 





Tunic designed by Leon Bakst as a costume for Blue God, the Ballets Russes, 1912. Courtesy the National Gallery of Australia.

The National Gallery of Australia has a wonderful collection of costumes from the Ballets Russes. These ballets and their costumes heavily influenced fashion in 1912 and beyond. The Gallery installed its first exhibition of the costumes in 2011. Many of the costumes had never been on exhibit since first worn on stage. Due to their fragility, their display will always be rare. Some costumes needed to be restored thread by thread. For an amazing modern recreation of the Firebird ballet and costumes from the Ballets Russes, in a filmed version, see ClassicBecky's blog.

                           Photo by Christian Esquevin

The famous dress above worn by Debbie Reynolds in Singing in the Rain, designed by Walter Plunkett, was also in the Debbie Reynolds auction. Since the dress undoubtedly had been on display at the first Debbie Reynolds museum and casino, its colors have faded considerably. It was originally bright blue and cream colored. The dress above in Debbie's collection was a variant of the screen-worn costume, but its original bright blue color would have been the same as the screen-worn version.

     FIDM Museum

The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising presents an annual exhibition of screen-worn film costumes from the previous year (on occasion with older costumes). The costumes are always tastefully and carefully displayed. Even with new costumes, extreme care must be given. Sometimes they are made of vintage fabric, or include the fur, feathers, beads, metallic objects, and other elements that are fragile. Handling and moving is done methodically and by more than one person. Placing costumes on mannequins is also a challenge. The mannequins themselves should be planned for this purpose. They should provide the necessary support as well as have the right fit. Period costumes need to have mannequins that can adjust or be padded to show the right body type. There are currently specialty mannequins that are designed for archival presentation. See the offerings of Dorfman Museum Figures for example. Needless to say, the sizes of vintage costumes and fashions are usually too small to fit a current mannequin or dress form.

             Photo by Melanie Pitkin

Suzanne Chee and Sarah Pointon of the Powerhouse Museum pad a garment with acid-free tissue.

As is true with textiles and vintage fashion, costumes have a variety of enemies. Insects will eat or nest in fabric, water or moisture from whatever source will likely stain fabric, and mold or mildew will often develop. Some air circulation helps with the latter problem.The fabrics themselves will often have their own self-destructive but unseen elements. Mothballs and cleaning fluids leave their residue, and even natural organic chemicals like the lignin in linen, or processing chemicals like sulphur in wool and various dyes will cause staining, bleeding and deterioration. And with most all vintage clothing and costumes, you don't know what they have been in contact with, including make-up, food, and beverages. Short term freezing will kill the bugs. Heat accelerates fabric deterioration, so a cool place with a constant and even humidity level is ideal. Costumes or garments with beading are very prone to having the thread holding a chain of beads break, and vintage sequins will bleed their color after contact with liquids. Both of these materials are also frequently sewn onto very sheer and delicate fabric.

            The Powerhouse Museum

Costumes stored flat is ideal. Padding of the interior with acid-free tissue, or better yet clean cotton (bedsheets that are rinsed of cleaning products are very suitable) is encouraged. This helps avoid creasing that weakens fibres. Although this is a special cabinet drawer, the box inside will help when transporting the costume. When there are metal parts like buttons, grommets, hooks, etc. it is best to place wrapping around them so that rust will not bleed to the fabric and avoids snagging or meshing.. 

          FIDM Museum



This storage system is at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising Museum.

Costumes can be stored on hangers if they are not heavy or fragile. Padded hangers should be used.

The padded hangers shown above were designed to hang vintage garments. Quilt batting and cotton can be used to make padding for hangers.



The FIDM Museum shows above how a peacock feather headdress designed by Rudi Gernreich is stored. A mount is made and the headdress is kept stable with cotton twill tape.

Two costumes from The King's Speech are displayed above at Barley Hall of the York Archaeological Trust in the U.K. The costumes were part of the exhibition, From Hamlet to Hollywood. Costumes not protected by glass or plexi should be off-bounds to touching. Costumes displayed in the open should be very carefully vacuumed afterwards. An excellent source of information on preservation is the National Park Service, which has several museums in their trust. See their Conserve O Gram series on various preservation topics.

With knowledge and proper care, we hope the preservation of these treasures will keep them available for a few more generations. Such care is not cheap. Even the Harry Ransom Center  at the University of Texas had to raise private money to fund the preservation and restoration effort for their Gone with the Wind costumes.