Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film

Costume
Adrian. EVERETT COLLECTION. REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION.
influenced Western costume design and fashion, as seen
in films such as The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001, 2002,
2003), designed by New Zealander Ngila Dickson and
by Richard Taylor, who devised the armor. Eiko Ishioka,
who created fabrics for Issey Miyake in the 1970s and
costumed Cirque du Soleil in the early 2000s, showed
international blends in the science-fiction film The Cell
(Tarsem Singh, 2000), Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Francis
Ford Coppola, 1992, Academy Award Ò), and the Nohlike
Mishima (Paul Schrader, 1985).
TREND SETTING
Early costume designers, such as West and Adrian, recognized
design as a great force in twentieth-century haute
couture. Their work, crucial in the establishment of
American style as a world competitor, was the first to
outstrip the French, who dominated fashion commercially
and artistically. By the 1910s, stars were photographed
in cinema clothes for fashion magazines and
Sears-Roebuck catalogues, and the word ‘‘film’’ was used
as an advertising lure. But the public’s desire for these
clothes is ironic, as many are impossible to wear. Jean
Harlow’s form-fitting satin gowns were glued to her body
and steamed off. Mae West was sewn into two identical
garments for a scene, one for sitting, one for standing,
because each was so tight she could not do both in either
of them. Glenn Close also was unable to sit in Anthony
Powell’s sexy costumes for her in 101 Dalmations (1996).
The pink gown Marilyn Monroe wore to sing
‘‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’’ in How to Marry
a Millionaire (1953) was made from upholstery satin and
lined with felt. Given this, it is astounding how many
fashion firsts emerged from the bizarre necessities of a
film set: padded shoulders (Adrian in the 1930s for Joan
Crawford), the cling dress (Rambova for Salome), the
strapless bodice (Jean Louis in 1946 for Gilda, anticipating
Christian Dior’s New Look of 1947), the pillbox hat
(John Frederics and Adrian for Greta Garbo in 1932)
and many others.
The provenance of style setting was debated between
Europe and America but, by the mid 1930s, the couturieré
Elsa Schiaparelli (1890–1973) acceded, ‘‘What
Hollywood designs today, you will be wearing tomorrow’’
(Mulvagh, p. 123). Though some of these firsts
appeared simultaneously (Schiaparelli and Adrian both
introduced padded shoulders), a film spreads a ‘‘look’’
faster than any other medium and credit usually sits with
the costume designer. In 1918, the simple black velvet
suit, white blouse, ribbon tie, and beret designed by the
director Louis Gasnier and worn by Pearl White in The
Mysteries of New York (1914, aka The Exploits of Elaine)
became de rigueur among working women. In 1932,
Adrian’s ruffled gown for Joan Crawford in Letty
Lynton was the first to be mass marketed and Head’s
evening dress with flowered bustiere for Elizabeth
Taylor in A Place in the Sun (1951) became a 1950s
prototype. Even fabrics, such as Adrian’s gingham dress
for Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story (1940)
and Head’s tropically patterned sarongs for Dorothy
Lamour in Jungle Princess (1936), have started trends.
Styles have been effected by war and censorship. The
censorial 1930 Hays Code forced designers into ingenious
uses of glamour to substitute for sheer sex and the
1930s’ glamour ended with World War II’s cutbacks on
costume budgets.
The mid-1960s, with the lifting of censorship laws,
saw design return to extremes. Some costumes, such as
Piero Gherardi’s for Juliet of the Spirits (1965, Academy
Award Ò nomination), Milena Canonero’s for AClockwork
Orange (1971) and Danilo Donati’s (1926–2001) for Il
Casanova di Federico Fellini (Fellini’s Casanova, 1977),
were exercises in artfully wild imagination. Many generated
important fashions. Theadora Van Runckle’s
(b. 1929) clothes for Bonnie and Clyde (1967, Academy
Award Ò nomination) initiated 1930s gangster glamour
(including a braless look). Ann Roth’s (b. 1931) designs
for Jane Fonda in Klute (1971) brought maxi-coats with
mini-skirts into vogue. Phyllis Dalton’s Dr. Zhivago
380 SCHIRMER ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FILM