Fashion In Film Friday - The Flapper

Since the early 1900's when motion pictures were first coming to life, costumes have been the most important element.  Aside from the actors capability to make you believe in the characters they portray, the wardrobe for each character has been just as much an essential element to each film.  For as long as we can remember, the fashions we've seen in the movies we love to watch have had a major impact on our own personal style choices. The very first vintage film that sparked my interest was "The Flapper", a non talkie flick made in 1919. Actress Olive Thomas was 25 at the time she played the role of a 16 year old pretending to be a flapper. Thomas' look in the film was the embodiment of the trends of the approaching 1920's, from the bobbed hairstyles & cloche hats, to the short hemmed fringe flapper dresses that shimmied.

Olive Thomas, born in 1894, was an American silent film actress and socialite who gained her rise to stardom after being hired as a dancer in the Ziegfield Follies.  A vixen in her time, known for being a wild party girl, Thomas posed nude for a Peruvian artist before she went on to sign with an international film company to which she acted in over twenty movies in four years.  Her untimely death at the young age of 26, happened by accident when on a coke binge, she mistook her husbands syphilis meds (liquid mercury bi chloride) for either water or alcohol?  Either way, she screwed up big time and it cost her, her life...

'Flappers' by common definition, were women who were seen as non conventional in that they had no shame in their game and were totally not unopposed to wearing excessive makeup, drinking booze, smoking, driving and most of all had no issues with professing their attitudes towards sexuality which was unheard of at the time!  Sounds like they laid the ground work out for us!
I absolutely am in love with the designs of this era and am convinced that this timeless style will always be 'IN'.  Just this past year we are still seeing designers at the board, creating their unique versions of the 'modern flapper'

pics: silentsaregolden.com, tumblr.com, myspace.com, maureentillman.blogspot.com, freenewfashiondesign.com

The Re-Birth Of 'Period Collars'

Vintage trends this Fall are going waaaay back, and I mean way!  All the way back to the days of innocence as there has been a dramatic rebirth of the Victorian style for this upcoming Fall 2011.  During the Edwardian period (1901-1910), high neck collars were popular among women and often adorned with elaborate lace applique and beading & often considered a form of jewelry.  Mind you this style is not to be confused with the gi-normous Elizabethan collars of the Medieval times...

In spite of the fact that the Edwardian collar couldn't be any more modest, covering up 'everything', women of that time actually considered the style to bring an ambiance of allure because of the allure of leaving much to the imagination in that they were giving the viewer 'nothing to see', but 'everything to wonder about'.  That really wasn't such a bad concept eh?  This past year during Paris fashion week 2011, the fashion house of the late designer Alexander McQueen brought new life to the vintage style of Edwardian collars with their Fall line up of suits that entail hints of Goth peppered with industrial chic.  

In regards to Goth, the new generation has definitely been instrumental in bringing back the popularity of the Edwardian collar while at the same time, maintaining true to the original design ...

  pics: photobucket.com, flickr.com, deliaohdelia.blogspot.com, capitolcharlotte.com

Fashion In Film Friday

The 1959 movie 'Some Like It Hot' starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and the legendary Marilyn Monroe was a controversial film for it's time due to the fact that it ended up being banned in several states, Kansas, Memphis & Tennessee.  This was due to the lead male characters played by Lemmon & Curtis, wearing women's clothing which in turn sparked an 'adult entertainment' restriction because of the idea that it was promoting cross dressing.  That was not the case at all as the plot centered around two struggling musicians in the 1920's, on the run from the mob hiding out with an all girl band, disguising themselves as women to fit in...

The movie showcased an amazing costume wardrobe of styles beyond befitting the vintage days of the roaring 20's.  One dress in particular worn by Marilyn pushed the boundaries of that prudish era of what was allowable on screen, when in one scene she wore a dress considered so 'barely there' that it was said to have been her first on screen nude scene!  The dress was made of sheer chiffon and the bust was adorned with two appliques placed appropriately to hide certain parts of her anatomy.  Isn't it amazing to think this was considered risque?  

Besides Marilyn's questionable fashions in this film, 'Some Like It Hot' was said to have been a movie that inspired or promoted rather, cross dressing.  If you look back in history, cross dressing in film as they refer to it, or rather men dressing as women and vice versa, goes back to the early 1900's with silent films.  Truth is, there is always going to be an air of taboo where the subject of gender bending on any level is concerned but I don't really think that movies or music for that matter really has anything to do with promoting that degree of change in anyone and the idea that it can or does, is pretty much ridiculous!  What do you think?...   

: shotsyvintage.wordpress.com , vintagehllywood.virbcom , post-gazetteorg, moviepostershop.com , diaryofacelluloidgirl.blogspot.com , blog.dressvintage.com