Adrian Dresses

[maisie]

Has anyone heard of the designer Adrian i have a dress with a label with this name in it, it is such an amazing day dress the fabric, the cut are all gorgeous, does anyone else know about this designer or if his dresses are valuable?

 

[Lauren]

Oh my gosh, yes! Masie if it's in good condition it is museam worthy!

Adrian is my favorite designer. His full name was Gilbert Adrian and he started designing for movies (maybe the stage before that?) And did movies like The Philadelphia Story, Marie Antoinette, the Wizard of Oz, among others. He, like other designers, started designing his own line.

I have a coat rumoured to be Adrian and it really is the pride of my collection. Please, please, please post pics!!!!!

 

[Lauren]

From Wikipedia:

Adrian Adolph Greenberg (March 3, 1903 – September 13, 1959) was a Hollywood costume designer whose most famous costumes were for The Wizard of Oz and other Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films of the 1930s and 1940s. On occasion, he was credited in his film work as Gilbert Adrian, (a combination of his father's forename and his own), or simply as Adrian.

Early life
Adrian was born on March 3, 1903 in Naugatuck, Connecticut to Jewish immigrant parents Gilbert and Helena (Pollack) Greenburg. He attended the New York School for Fine and Applied Arts (now Parsons School of Design). In 1922, he transferred to NYSFAA's Paris campus and while there was hired by Irving Berlin. Adrian then designed the costumes for Berlin's The Music Box Revue.


Film Work
Adrian was hired as the head costume designer for Cecil B. DeMille's independent film studio. In 1928, Cecil B. DeMille moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Adrian was hired as chief costume designer at the studio. In his career at MGM, Adrian designed costumes for over 200 films. During this time, Adrian worked with some of the biggest female stars of the day like Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, Jean Harlow, and Joan Crawford. Adrian was behind Crawford's signature outfits with large shoulderpads, which later spawned a fashion trend. The Women (1939), filmed in black and white, originally included a 10 minute fashion parade in Technicolor, which featured Adrian's most outré designs; often cut in tv screenings, it has been restored to the film by Turner Classic Movies.


Later life
Adrian left MGM in 1941 to set up his own independent fashion house, though he still worked closely with Hollywood. He married Janet Gaynor in 1939, and they remained married until his death in 1959. He only returned to MGM for a final film, 1952's Lovely to Look At. Despite his success, Adrian was never nominated for an Academy Award.


Quotes
"It was because of Garbo that I left M-G-M. In her last picture they wanted to make her a sweater girl, a real American type. I said, 'When the glamour ends for Garbo, it also ends for me. She has created a type. If you destroy that illusion, you destroy her.' When Garbo walked out of the studio, glamour went with her, and so did I." [citation needed]


Filmography
Her Sister from Paris (1925)
The Eagle (1925)
Cobra (1925)
The Volga Boatman (1926)
Fig Leaves (1926)
For Alimony Only (1926)
Young April (1926)
Gigolo (1926)
The Little Adventuress (1927)
Vanity (1927)
His Dog (1927)
The Country Doctor (1927)
The Fighting Eagle (1927)
The Angel of Broadway (1927)
The Wise Wife (1927)
Dress Parade (1927)
The Forbidden Woman (1927)
The Wreck of the Hesperus (1927)
The Main Event (1927)
My Friend from India (1927)
Chicago (1927)
Almost Human (1927)
A Ship Comes In (1928)
Let 'Er Go, Gallegher (1928)
What Price Beauty? (1928)
Stand and Deliver (1928)
The Blue Danube (1928)
Midnight Madness (1928)
Skyscraper (1928)
Walking Back (1928)
The Masks of the Devil (1928)
Dream of Love (1928)
A Lady of Chance (1928)
A Woman of Affairs (1928)
A Single Man (1929)
Wild Orchids (1929)
The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929)
The Godless Girl (1929)
The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929)
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1929)
The Single Standard (1929)
Our Modern Maidens (1929)
The Unholy Night (1929)
The Thirteenth Chair (1929)
The Kiss (1929)
Untamed (1929)
Dynamite (1929)
Their Own Desire (1929)
Devil May Care (1929)
Marianne (1929)
Not So Dumb (1930)
Anna Christie (1930)
A Lady to Love (1930)
Montana Moon (1930)
This Mad World (1930]])
The Divorcee (1930)
Redemption (1930)
The Rogue Song (1930)
In Gay Madrid (1930)
The Lady of Scandal (1930)
The Floradora Girl (1930)
Our Blushing Brides (1930)
Let Us Be Gay (1930)
Romance (1930)
Private Lives (1931)
Possessed (1931)
Laughing Sinners (1931)
Grand Hotel (1932)
Red Dust (1932)
Smilin' Through (1932)
Strange Interlude (1932)
Today We Live (1933)
Dinner at Eight (1933)
Queen Christina (1933)
The Cat and the Fiddle (1934)
The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)
Nana (1934)
I Live My Life (1935)
Wife Vs. Secretary (1936)
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
The Gorgeous Hussy (1936)
Born to Dance (1936)
Camille (1936)
The Girl of the Golden West (1938)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Balalaika (1939)
The Women (1939)
Susan and God (1940)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Boom Town (1940)
Woman of the Year (1942)
Flight for Freedom (1943)
Rope (1948)
Lovely to Look At (1952)


And here's a book on him from Amazon that's his film work in the 28-41 at MGM. It's a brilliant book.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Adrian also designed a line a men's neckties, back in the late '50s.

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[Lauren]

Yes, he did. Do you know if those are valuable at all, Marc? I picked one up at an estate sale...

 

[Marc Chevalier]

No, they're not valuable. Some valuable vintage "designer" ties, in order of desirablility (on eBay), are:


-- 1940s and early '50s Salvador Dali ties (usually go for $150 to $300+)

-- 1940s and early '50s Lilly Dache ties (can go for over $100)

-- 1940s and early '50s Countess Mara ties (prices vary; from $20 to $60+)


.

 

[Honey Doll]

Lucky Duck!!

There is an Adrian on the bay I am lusting over-- can't touch the $2k price tag!

Could you share a pic of yours?

Honey Doll

 

[Vanessa]

I will chime in on the pleas for pictures. . .plllllllease?

 

[maisie]

I must post a picture, i have been so busy though, as i have been selling at bit of stuff on ebay, etc. Thats how i actually remembered i had this dress! But will definatly do it tomorrow lol!

 

[CherryRed]

WoW! To own a dress by Adrian......I'd feel just like Jeanette MacDonald!!!

 

[maisie]

WoW! To own a dress by Adrian......I'd feel just like Jeanette MacDonald!!!

Unfortuntly it doesn't fit though! Too short waisted!!