2 Burst results for "New Fashion Center"
Dressed: The History of Fashion
Fashion and War in America
"Are currently in the midst of international fashion week. Yes and last week. We talked about the origins of the semi-chaotic relationship between fashion and Hollywood film. But we only got into the nineteen thirties so today. We're moving out of the thirties and into the nineteen forties. Which of course takes US straight into World War Two and on the show? We've talked a lot about fashion and war as it relates to Europe during World War One and World War Two but less so about the relationship fashion and war in America and it's actually incredibly fascinating because throughout the nineteen thirties. America's changing perception of their homegrown talent was reflected in Ariz- leading fashion magazines. Such as Vogue and Harper's bazaar at both of those magazines began to feature American fashion designers more and more throughout the decade. Elizabeth Haase reflected on this transitory period in American fashion in her book. Fashion is spinach which was published in nineteen thirty eight and in it. She writes quote in the late twenties ninety percent of the drawings and photographs. Where the work? A prison couturiers and. She's talking about Vogue and Harper's bazaar and then she says many pages and both magazines are now devoted to close created in America for American Life. The outbreak of World War Two and nineteen thirty nine mark significant shift in the fate of American designers who having continued to operate in the shadow of Paris throughout the nineteen thirties. Were suddenly left to stand all on their own and during the German occupation of Paris from June nineteen forty to August nineteen forty four. Many of the leading French couture houses were forced to close and those that did remain open did so under severely limited operations and some pretty severe restrictions as well right and for those of our listeners. Who might not have heard? April actually did a fantastic interview on stuff. You Mr History class which we featured a couple months ago so check it out if you want to learn more about fashion world war two so for the French fashion industry. This meant that communication with America during World War Two. It meant that one of their most important export markets was almost entirely broken and in one thousand nine hundred one after American designers and manufacturers presented promising fall and spring collections New York Times fashion journalist Virginia Pope well. She declared Murck City to be the fashion center of the world and AIRCON designers may have come into their own during the war but they did so under restriction and regulation beginning in nineteen forty two American fashion designers had to grapple with restrictions imposed by regulation l eighty five which were government imposed sanctions at severely limited. Just what designers could and could not produce the purpose of l. eighty-five was to conserve materials. Needed for the war effort and this included fabrics such as silk cotton wool. Leather Rubber Nylon. So you know pretty much. Every material that you need to make clothing and footwear and the regulations thus restricted just. How much material could be used in the making of new garments so we had campaign such as make-do-and-mend which encouraged people to avoid shopping altogether by mending their old clothes. Something we of course support very much today. L. eighty-five essentially challenge the very nature of the fashion industry itself. As we all know depends on the production of new seasonal clothing styles to stimulate consumerism and as we establish last episode Hollywood films while they were actively complacent and encouraging fashion consumption throughout the nineteen thirties and costume designers like their fashion designer. Counterparts were not exempt from L. Eighty five regulations during the war in an eighteen. Forty four article in the New York Times renowned Hollywood costume designer. Edith head called L. Eighty five quote. The greatest boone ever came to fashion designers in Hollywood so it would appear casts that in the nineteen forties costume designers still considered themselves as fashion designers. And she goes on to say about eighty-five quote. It vanished super luxury and brought us all down to Earth. Today we create sensible styles for women the kind that they can actually wear and she goes on to say how. Well I remember the day when we would swirl Fox skins around the hem of a secretary address or wipe satin uniform on a trained nurse. Now we hold to stark realism and by this time had been the head designer at paramount. For seven years she had taken over for her predecessor. Travis Banton in nineteen thirty seven and head like baton began her career in film working with Howard greer in the nineteen twenties as a costume illustrator before climbing the ranks and indeed head is certainly one of the most prolific and fame designers from the Hollywood golden age. Numerous books have been written about this prolific designer who April has eight Academy Awards for best costume design and wait for it. She has four hundred and forty four credits. On that's intense. She worked for almost sixty years in the film industry so she had an incredible career her first credit it dates to nineteen twenty five and her last film is dead. Men Don't wear plaid with Steve Martin. That released after her death in nineteen eighty two so she died in one thousand nine hundred. One at the age of eighty. Three head is quoted and Margaret Bailey's nineteen eighty-two book those Glorious Glamour Years as saying quote. I do not consider a motion picture costume designer necessarily a fashion creator because we do the script tells us to if we do a period piece then we recreate fashion. That was done before. And if we have a character role we do character close. It is only by the accident of a script that calls for fashion an actress that can wear fashion that some of the beautiful clothes will emerge. I don't consider myself a designer in the sense of fashion designer. I am a motion picture costume designer. So just how did head go from identifying as a fashion designer in Hollywood and the nineteen forties to firmly distinguishing herself as a costume designer by the end of her career? I love this answer. You pro because it actually lies with the advent of yours new-look which is a little unexpected as many of us know nineteen forty seven witnessed this dramatic and sudden change in fashion. Thanks to the unprecedented success of Christiane Yours Premier collection and he introduced dresses with nipped in ways. Those padded hips and full long skirts and they stood in direct contrast to the war regulated fashions of years prior which is why so many people loved them. Unfortunately for the many films released the year that this change took place. The costumes were immediately glaringly out of fashion again. Dino Dior's new look was significant reminder. That though film cost you may be perceived and interpreted as fashion it will never be able to truly contend with the whims and follies of contemporary trends. And Edith. Had designed costumes for eleven films that were released in nineteen forty seven so to say that she was affected is a bit of an understatement. Here and looking on this period for the book. Edith head's Hollywood edith reflected quote. I learned my lesson. The hard way just offered Dior brought out the new look every film I had done in the past few months. Looked like something from the bread lines with each screening. I vowed that I would never get caught by fashion trend again and became a confirmed fence sitter. Although despite her weariness of fashion trends did not keep her designs from apparently sparking them as was the case with address she designed for Elizabeth Taylor and a place in the sun which was a nineteen fifty film in a nineteen seventy-eight article for the American Film Journal. Edith wrote my dress for Elizabeth Taylor and a place in the sun was taken up by manufacturer of debutante Party dresses. Someone at paramount wants counted at a party thirty seven Elizabeth Taylor's dancing. All studio designers have created something that influences fashion. But a good costume designer. Shouldn't try to influence style though. Naturally he hopes to hit upon something that many people will like
Dressed: The History of Fashion
Fashion & Film
"Episode actually has been on my mind since our very first season and it combines both my passion and my career because today we talk about fashion and film and we actually thought this was a particularly fitting episode with which to launch season three seeing as it's February. WNYC which is an eventful month for fashion in film. We are currently in the midst of course of the International Fashion Week Circuit and the Ninety Second Academy Awards Air. Just this is past Sunday February ninth. Not that I've seen many of the Oscar contenders this year. But let's be honest. I mainly tune in to see what everyone is wearing. Yes exactly the same. Although I did watch rock man last night which I know I loved. You're so so on costumes. Were amazing. Customer agree on that yet and we actually got to see a couple of them in in person when we were in L. A.. Recently which was very cool but the Oscars is definitely one of fashion industries. Highlights of the year. You know. I think it's safe to say that. What celebrities as where to this star centered? Event is just as exciting as the awards. Show itself and I'm sure many of our listeners will be joining us in watching the pre show coverage where where we will get an up close and personal look at all the glamour shirt to be on display on this year's red carpets and speaking of red carpet April you and I both. It's had our very first red carpet experience last month when we attended the iheartradio podcast awards. Yes and I will have to. I have to say getting ready for that stuff. Takes a really long time. I had no idea. We're inheriting makeup literally. Our it was very fun. Yeah it it was very fun so you're going to hear a little bit more on our first fashion history mystery of the season where we talk about all things red carpet including our favorite picks from this year's red carpet and an interview with Bronwyn cosgrave. Who is the author of the book made for each other which is an in-depth behind the scenes? Look at the history the of red carpet fashion so the Academy Awards dates back all the way to the nineteen twenties but the first films are being made as far back as the eighteen ninety s so the movies being produced ladies for over one hundred and twenty years you know. I think we should probably preface this episode by saying this is only intended as an overview of very huge topic like Jain enormous topic. Yeah I mean it's so big that we've chosen to focus almost entirely on the relationship between fashion as as it relates to American Hollywood films and for the most part I mean there will be a few exceptions and even by narrowing our discussion. There are still so many fascinating winning stories and players involved with a subject that it is impossible to cover them all in one episode. And that is why we are bringing you to yes and as you said. Casas is a huge topic and there are many different angles which we could look at the intersections of fashion and film. Historically of course the most obvious one is the depiction of fashion in film and that is fashionable clothing as costume worn by characters in support of the visual narrative of any given plot and this fashionable clothing can be worn both in contemporary films. Those intended to be set within the time in which their audience are living now currently when interviewing them and also period films film set in the past so clothing and fashionable clothing at that is one of the most vital production elements in selling link any given period in history it is very central to the quote unquote look of a specific time and place and we have to give many a costume designer props further further historical accuracy over the years but April. I think you would agree that present day fashion is a pretty powerful force and even the best designers have been guilty of implementing unconsciously or not contemporary beauty and fashion aesthetics into their period costumes. So if you look at any number of the westerns from the nineteen sixties for instance instance set in the late nineteenth century. But I can't even tell you how many heating ladies in these films are costumed with bouffant hairstyles eyeliner. They're so good. You know not to mention that these electric colors of their bustle gowns so fashion in film and we're using the term film today because while the majority of the movies were talking about where filmed on film so fashion and film have been inextricably linked since the earliest days of cinema. The I motion picture films were produced at the end of the nineteenth century by the first decade of the twentieth film production had fast evolved into a mass entertainment industry tree. Hollywood obviously as we all know in Los Angeles California was epicenter and the home to over seventy studios and counting by nineteen fourteen and prior to the advent of film. Theatre was a hugely popular form of spectator entertainment. And it was thanks to this medium that that female audiences had long been accustomed to viewing their favorite theater actresses and the clothes they wore as the latest word and chic and and actresses wore high fashion on an off stage and we'll heralded as fashion icons in newspapers. Fashion Magazines and film would prove no different different with its bevy of Silverscreen starlets who would capture the admiration of millions of women audience goers all across the country so with the film industry fast on the rise in the early twentieth century. We see the debut of the first film Fan Magazines such as photo play and Motion Picture magazine. And both of these magazines presented actresses as this fashion trendsetters. And you WANNA go down a rabbit hole. You can go to media history project dot org forward slash fan magazines because they have a huge archive five of keyword searchable magazines on there. So have a blast so far but it will it will take up an entire afternoon. Photo play even had a regular column dedicated to fashion which often featured full-body photographs of actresses so as to best display their entire gowns printed in black can white though. These photographs were accompanied by text. That really detailed the gowns color and fabric for the enquiring reader actress Norma talmadge was featured so often in the fashion section in a photo play that she was even named fashion editor for a short time in nineteen twenty by emphasizing the dress and appearance of these early film stars. These he's magazines played a pivotal role in establishing film actresses as fashion icons. But you may be wondering who was dressing them today. We're all accustomed to the important role the costume designer and Costume Department and Film and Television Production. Obviously what would Miss Marvelous. Mrs Mazel be without Donna and her talented team of assistance. Cutters fitters Taylor shoppers. dyers agers the list. There are a lot the people helping out on those productions. Let's just say Oh. Yeah but actually in the earliest days of cinema. There was no such thing as a costume designer and thus no costume department dedicated educating to produce in costumes for a specific movie so according to costume designer and historian Deborah Landis in her book dressed century of Hollywood costume design. She's actually written quite extensively on the history of Hollywood design. So you're going to hear her name. Come up quite a bit so according to Deborah Producer Adolph Zuqar and director. D W Griffith were among the first to recognize the importance of and need for the professional costume designer. And this was in the nineteen ten's but we still do not see standardization cassation of the costume designer and department until the nineteen twenties so prior to this actors and actresses were largely expected to provide their own wardrobes for contemporary foams. With many I mean those who could actually afford it. I suppose many of these people work directly with their favorite fashion designers to create their specific onscreen. Looks for instance. Paul Poiret as you all know who we adore and love. He designed the period costumes for acclaimed actress. Sarah Bernhardt in the nineteen twelve French film. The loves of Queen Queen Elizabeth. It does not surprise us at all. That far was among the very first fashion designers to embrace the new medium of film as a way to extend. His influence is an advertise his brand although he would never admit it. Of course big neither would contemporary lady Lucille Duff Gordon. Who designed the gallons for the leading ladies for over twenty films between Nineteen Fourteen and nineteen twenty two starting with the perils of Pauline starring? Pearl White I love that AH film And in April nineteen eighteen vote dedicated to page spread to Lucille designs for actress Clara Campbell Young and the Nineteen nineteen eighteen film. The reason why which was written by Lucille sister the famed novelist turned screenwriter. Eleanor Glynn thanks to there's well known collaborations nations. I mean. Is it any wonder that Motion Picture magazine declared that quote motion picture actresses where the latest modes and they declared this in its September nineteen fourteen issue. The article goes on to say that quote women revel in the style of gown much better in the picture show than she can in the pages of some fashion journal but this brings up a very very interesting point April because we all know how quickly fashion can change and what was in fashion when you're designing and then shooting a film while it might have changed I by the time. The film was released six months to a year later. Case in point Lucille's designs for Clara in the reason why might have been presented by vogue as the latest fashions nineteen eighteen. But I know at least one of those designs came straight from her nineteen seventeen collections. Clair West one of the very first screen credited costume designers address address. This very issue in an interview with women's wear daily in December nineteen nineteen according to her fashionable film costumes reproduced thanks to new fashion forecasting which is fascinating. She goes on to say quote. It is particularly difficult to dress characters for the screen when one considers that the close not only must be up to date but they must be several months head of style and you know by designing for the future Claire and other costume designers designers of this time really consider themselves both costume and fashion desires case in point one month prior women's wear daily had interviewed West about the influence silence of Hollywood on fashion in an article titled Motion Pictures To Create New Fashion Center and at the time West was under a seven year contract with the picture and distribution distrubution company. lasky famous players company. Soon to be known as a name. Some of you may recognize paramount pictures quote as for the role which motion pictures plays plays and fashion resort. In Miss West opinion there is no limit West oversaw the designing and making of costumes for the entire film company. So this is no oh small order and she did this in a three story building devoted entirely to costume production just to give you an idea of the size of this costume. Department West fulltime fulltime team consisted of sixty five women including five flower makers ten designers. Numerous seamstresses to Taylor's staff hairdressers. There's a number of assistance quote in this way said West. We have the ideal conditions under which fashions should be created and created. Is the keyword right here because they were not buying you know off the rat clothing cast for both period and contemporary films. The majority of the clothes seen on the stars in Hollywood films were produced made to measure for them in