Old friends and Old films

Posted in 30s by liztregenza

Today my post is in part soppy I love my friends, and also part fashion/film history.

My friend Caro is seriously an amazingly special lady, we’ve known each other since we were 4 (gulp. 19 years) and went to both primary school and high school together. Caro has, over the years, educated me well in old films. We’ve watched countless films together (more Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn than you can shake a stick at) and last night decided to go for two Fred Astaire/ Ginger Rogers classics. First off was Roberta (1935) , the focus of my post.

My squealing throughout the film says something about how much I enjoyed the costumes I think….

I won’t give away the whole story but as a quick overview Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire are almost the second pairing in this film (the main one being Randolph Scott and Irene Dunne). And the film centres mostly around the high end fashion house of Roberta and Huck’s (Fred Astaire’s) band ” Wabash Indianians”. But, for me the plot of the film is secondary (or even tertiary) to the insane costumes and dancing that feature throughout.

Of all Fred and Ginger films I have seen the costumes in this are my favourite hands down. The costumes were designed by Bernard Newman who designed for quite a number of RKO pictures (including Swing Time and Top Hat) , although understandably as this film is about a fashion house these are amongst the most spectacular. Newman had couture credentials and was actually also the head designer for Bergdorf Goodman. The majority of Newman’s film credits come from the years 1935 and 1936, although he designed for RKO from 1933. Apparently (although I can’t say for absolute certain on this) Newman was used for this film on Dunne’s recommendation.

The costume budget for the film was huge, hitting in at $250,000 but I have to say, well worth it. I think this film is particularly striking for the detail in the costumes, the cut of the sleeves, collar detailing, necklines etc. etc. I really could go on, but I recommend you watch it for yourself.

One such amazing necktie with matching cuffs. (Irene Dunne)

The cut of the sleeves on this dress were just perfect, with sleeves and bodice in contrasting fabric.(Claire Dodd)

The “wet look” was one of Newman’s design signatures. This is one of the most striking of the film (although as Caro and I discussed it has a bit of a fetish look to it)

This crazy cowl neck coat (that I am sure must have been weighted to sit in this way) as worn by Dunne also has a fabulous reverse fastening detail to the back.

The film is also great for fur accents, which even in black and white seem to come completely to life.

Daringly sensational black backless dress. As also worn in the film by Claire Dodd.

Crazy chevron dress which has a real Schiaparelli feel to it.

Utterly amazing 3 piece swimsuit worn in the fashion sequence towards the end of the film. The styling of this swimsuit seems particularly modern.

A still from the fashion show towards the end of the film.

A small snippet about the film from Ginger:

With handsome clothes by my favorite designer, Bernard Newman, and beautiful songs to dance to, I had the time of my life playing this role.

“Bernard Newman’s clothes in Roberta for me and for Irene Dunne were exceptionally clever and handsome. The gold lamé dress I wore for the “I Won’t Dance” number was a dress I had bought while in New York as part of my trousseau. That was the first time I ever wore a personal dress in a motion picture, and it was probably because Bernard Newman had designed it. For the “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” number [sung by Dunne], he created a long black satin dress, with a wonderful piece of faux jewelry on the chest. Men always commented on that gown; indeed, I never met a man who didn’t like that dress.”

(From Ginger Rogers memoir)

That Gold lame dress

The black dress worn by Ginger Rogers whilst Irene Dunne sings “Smoke gets in your eyes”

as Stephanie

Headdress worn by Dunne for “Smoke gets in your eyes” The dress was actually red even though it looks very pale in thefilm stills (can’t get a picture that isn’t terribly fuzzy of it mind you!). This headdress cost an eyewatering $6,000.

My personal favourite though is not one of the striking gowns, but the incredible jumpsuit worn by Ginger Rogers in one of the dance sequences “I’ll be hard to handle”.

16Sep2013

Vogue Book of British Exports. Can you help?

Posted in Vintage by liztregenza

This post is a plea for help!

As some of you may be aware (particularly if you follow me on twitter) i am currently completing research for my Masters degree dissertation. As part of this I am looking into lots of original magazines from the 40s and 50s. But here i have come to something of a sticking point. I am desperately searching for copies of Vogue Book of British Exports. A magazine that started in 1940. I am particularly looking for copies from 1945, 46 and 47. If you have a copy (or if you know of a local library that does- copac and worldcat searches have not helped me at all!) then PLEASE let me know. I am happy to purchase copies of this magazine if you have any, or just come and look at them.

Vogue book of British exports (here you can see the two copies I actually own!!!)

11Sep2013

New (old) dress purchases

Posted in Exciting discoveries, New purchases by liztregenza

I honestly think I have a problem when it comes to buying dresses. I need to pay my masters fees, but instead I have purchased lots more dresses. It’s a real life problem.

Anyway, I thought i should share one of said dresses because a) it’s fabulous and b) it’s a Horrockses

This lovely Horrockses number (yes, another one!) came from a lovely lady I fleetingly saw at the Chap Ball last year. She was wearing what can only be described as the most fabulous dress I have ever seen. Anyway, we became friends on facebook and she offered me this simply sensational Horrockses which i could not resist adding to my collection.

The dress is from 1948 and the print is by Alastair Morton, you can see the dress in a slightly different colourway in this advert. The dress cost £5.7. 8 a fair sum for a printed cotton frock in the period. The advert featured in Vogue in May 1948.

It’s interesting to see that the price of this dress is also shown with relation to the amount of coupons it would have cost (10). This was because rationing was still in force in 1948 (read more about rationing here). I was also interested that the dress fastens down the back with buttons, whereas a zip fastening would have probably been better. Again, I think this is probably due to rationing. Although I do have a few earlier Horrockses with zips most do fasten with buttons.

This advert also suggest that the dress was an exclusive to Harvey Nichols. I wonder whether this was just the dress in this colourway, or whether the actual print was an exclusive. My dress only has the Horrockses label, so I can’t be sure.

I was then rather chuffed to find an article ( by absolute accident) in the April 1948 issue of Ambassador. Images from the article are below, and you can see a number of absolute classic Horrockses prints that I have seen time and time again featured in it. I have also transcribed the full article as owing to my terrible photography skills you can’t really read it!

Horrockses style new fabrics and fashions

For many generations the name Horrockses has been a household name synonymous with quality cotton goods. Horrockses fashions ltd. Makers-up of cotton fabrics produced exclusively for them by the parent company (Horrockses crewdon and Co. ltd. Preston) are now marketing a collection of fine fabrics and fashions on which this feature is based.

During recent years tremendous strides have been made in the technical and aesthetic development of cotton fabrics. The materials shown here have passed exhaustive tests for fading; they are shrink-proof, fast to light and washing, and have been treated with Horrockses Finish for permanent crispness.

Alistair (sic) Morton, one of Britain’s soundest and most progressive textile designers, has not only created this range, but has also supervised the technical production. His rich clear colours emphasise the gaiety of the patterns right through to the styling of the garments themselves (models for town and country, beach and ballroom, housecoats, etc.). Great care in the making has been taken to facilitate laundering and ironing. Horrockses’ fabrics and fashions- right in quality, style and moderate price- are amongst the most interesting British export goods.

In a moment of intense geekery I was particularly interested to note the mention of Alastair Morton here, as Horrockses were keen to portray a total image for the brand rather than convey the individual designer. Here, and also in a later 1948 issue of Ambassador (an altogether similar feature) Morton’s name was prominently featured. Perhaps early on in their marketing strategy this was a technique they chose to follow, before later ( i reckon after Cleveland Belle became director) abandoned. My other thought on this is whether this was actually an extended advert that Horrockses paid for, or whether this feature was of the Ambassador magazine’s choosing…If this was not a promotional feature it was certainly unusual for a single company to take up a whole article in this manner for Ambassador and again suggests the importance of the brand in the late 1940s.

On a slightly related note, if you want to help me out, so I have the money to pay my masters fees ( I promise I won’t spend it on more dresses) I have lots of fabulous pieces in my etsy shop right now, and on my ebay too.