Your Favorite Film Costumes

[Inky]

I was watching the witty 1942 comedy "The Man Who Came to Dinner" this evening and between some very hearty laughing, I was astounded by this Orry-Kelly dress worn by Ann Sheridan as Lorraine Sheldon - just look at these insane hand buttons/clasps that hold the bodice shut. Oh what I would not give to see this gown in color! Large image of full gown here. Some of my other favorites Orry-Kelly costumes were for Auntie Mame and Gypsy because when I was a little girl I wanted to grow up to be a grand old broad like Mame or Mama Rose!

This crazy but beautiful gown got me thinking - what are you favorite film gowns/costumes, who designed them and why do you love them so?

 

[Feathers]

I love the striped gown that Myrna Loy wears in the Thin Man. (You know, the one she wears during the cocktail party at their plush apartment? It's long and chiffon-flowy and she looks absolutely gorgeous in it; in fact, she looks great in anything she has on in that whole series! (Huge pic, sorry!)

Le sigh. I have more of course but that's the first that comes to mind.

 

[Feathers]

Oh p.s I just watched The Man Who Came to Dinner too! The letter is next...gotta love Bette Davis-thons!

 

[hailey greenhat]

i have no clue where this is from really but if someone else does.....

not an old film but i consistently love the costumes

and this is just a blatant excuse to post jimmy

 

[SayCici]

Simple, but one of Marilyn's suits from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes -

I'm crazy over that neckline, and the big collar. I'd rather look at the 'simpler' everyday outfits than the glamorous ones any day!

 

[lolly_loisides]

Adrian

My must have dress from the movies is the Jean Harlow evening gown that she wears in "Dinner at Eight". So elegant, so sexy, just perfect!
Any discussion of fashion designers for the movies has to include Adrian. His gowns were in literally hundreds of movies.

 

[miserabelle]

I can't find a picture of it, but I love the nightgown that Roxie wears in Chicago in the movie - both nightgowns actually, the 'real' and fantasy one. The costumes in that movie are gorgeous!

I also really love the dress that Satine wears in the end of Moulin Rouge!

xx

 

[December]

I dream of owning a dress like Ginger Rogers in Top Hat during Cheek to Cheek.

I'm toying with the idea of getting a similar one made for my wedding.

 

[maisie]

I was just watching the film The Women the other day and I don't thik there was a costume I didn't like! Espcially in the segment of the film that is in colour and show a 'fashion show'! Any excuse to get more beautiful costumes in to the film .

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/da/Cukorwomen4.jpg

 

[Lorena B]

Oh Inky, what a great idea for a thread!!
Please, lets keep it growing!!

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I like any costume ever filmed in the 1930s. lol Here are just a few faves:

Anything worn in Three On A Match (1932). They are all so simple and I would certainly wear every single one on a daily basis.

All those crazy costumes worn by Thelma Todd. I really do love the 30s for it's use of pointyness and OTT ruffles and large, exaggerated bows and sleeves. Nothing makes me gasp more.

And this is my favourite gown of all time. I just love pink!

 

[Feathers]

Speaking of Dinner at Eight, I love this one:

Those ridiculous feathered sleeves! I wish I had a gown like that in every color!

 

[Lusti Weather]

I have to second the nominations for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes; the outfits in that movie are to die for! (So are the ones in How to Marry a Millionaire. The fashion show part makes me drool.)

I am slightly obsessed with the "phantom hat" in Phantom Lady. All of the hats in that movie are incredible, actually!

 

[LizzieMaine]

There's a 1934 British musical called "Evergreen" in which Jessie Matthews wears an astonishing skin-tight black-and-white gown -- black on one side, white on the other, with the two sections demarcated by a zig-zag pattern down the dead center of the dress. She accents this with one black glove and one white glove.

I can't find a picture of this dress, but I first saw the film on TV when I was about thirteen, and never forgot it. When I finally saw the film again last year, I had remembered every detail of the gown.

 

[C-dot]

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

Gene's dress in Laura:

Bette scandalizing the town in Jezebel:

Marilyn in How to Marry a Millionaire:

Everybody in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers:

Adrian's gowns for The Women:

And everything Jean Harlow ever wore:

 

[C-dot]

I dream of owning a dress like Ginger Rogers in Top Hat during Cheek to Cheek.

Ginger designed that gown herself - It was ice blue and made out of ostrich feathers. When you watch the dance segment (if you can become un-mesmerized by the dancing) you can see pieces flying off all over the place. Fred hated that dress, because it got all over his suit. He nicknamed her "Feathers" after that

 

[MissAmelina]

I know these are not very obscure but they are the dresses that first caught my eye and made me appreciate the Golden Age.

The dress is Gilda still slays me everytime I see it. The contrast makes her skin look like milk, and I can imagine how substantial and soft the satin would feel to touch.

And Claudette Colbert's wedding gown in IHON (Also in satin....and I based my own wedding dress on it):

 

[Lily Powers]

So many to choose from, but one that I've found particularly mesmerizing, is the Orry-Kelly jumper dress Ingrid Bergman wore in Casablanca. Oh, I love the flowy, flirty dresses of the early 1930's films, especially the ones with Kay Francis, but there is something so wearable about this outfit.

 

[December]

Ginger designed that gown herself - It was ice blue and made out of ostrich feathers. When you watch the dance segment (if you can become un-mesmerized by the dancing) you can see pieces flying off all over the place. Fred hated that dress, because it got all over his suit. He nicknamed her "Feathers" after that

I didn't know that! Wow- she really was a talented woman!

 

[Inky]

yippee! I am really enjoying the photos and descriptions of the gowns and designers you all love in the movies! Keep them coming!

I too love Adrian's gowns, especially in The Women. I tried to find a photo of my favorite outfit that Rosalind Russell wears early on in the film - it has EYES on it! Those crazy details are soooo fabulous!