Influence of Hollywood Costumes on American Fashion Trends (1930s-1950s), Study notes of History

Download Influence of Hollywood Costumes on American Fashion Trends (1930s-1950s) and more Study notes History in PDF only on Docsity! HISTORY OF AMERICAN FASHION DURING THE HOLLYWOOD GOLDEN AGE by Amy L. Roberts Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Departmental Honors in the Interior Design and Merchandising Department Texas Christian University Fort Worth, Texas May 3, 2013 ii HISTORY OF AMERICAN FASHION DURING THE HOLLYWOOD GOLDEN AGE Project Approved: Stephanie Bailey, M.A. Interior Design and Merchandising Department (Supervising Professor) Sally Fortenberry, Ph. D. Interior Design and Merchandising Department Claire Sanders, Ph. D. Department of History and Geography 1 INTRODUCTION Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study is to provide historical research about fashion trends and cinema during the 1930’s thru the 1950’s, as well as give basic information about the most prominent and successful Hollywood costume designers of this era and their impact on general fashion trends. This study will also provide examples of particular film costumes that were popular and iconic during this time period and explain how these fashions, and those that created them, had a direct influence on the clothing trends embraced by American women. This study will prove a correlation between film costumes and general women’s fashions during the 1930’s through the 1950’s. Hypothesis The fashions and trends depicted by the costumes of major Hollywood motion pictures of the 1930’s, 1940’s, and 1950’s had a significant effect on the popular clothing trends during these decades in America. Historical research will show a strong correlation between fashions designed for film and the apparel trends of typical American women during the same period. 2 METHOD This study will examine literature already published about the effects of Hollywood movie costumes on the fashions worn by American women. The research focused on women’s film costumes because they tend to be more elaborate than men’s costumes, and are more sensitive to changes in silhouette. Comparisons will be made between changing styles of film costumes and the evolution of major fashion trends adopted by the majority of the female population. This study will also conduct research on several important costume designers from this era to provide specific examples for study. After taking into account all of these sources and looking at the comparisons, conclusions drawn will provide information about the relationship between film costume and fashion trends during the 1930’s through the 1950’s. 3 REVIEW OF LITERATURE Early History Hollywood film studios first established costume design departments due to the small number of fashion sources available in California. There was also a great need for historical costumes necessary for films set in various eras (LaVine, 1980). During the 1910’s through the 1920’s, the Western Costume Company had a large stock of historical costumes for rent, however this one source proved to be inadequate for the growing number of films being made each year. Early on, studios began to collect and organize costumes into wardrobe departments in order to store them for use in subsequent films. However, it was not until later years that directors such as Cecil B. De Mille would begin to realize the importance of costumes to the development of a film’s plot, which prompted these directors to demand new costumes to be custom-made for each film (LaVine, 1980). By the Jazz Age in the mid-1920’s, American women began to closely follow the clothing, hairstyles, and makeup worn by movie stars. Newspapers, magazines, and the films themselves provided women with opportunities to view the apparel of their favorite stars, both on and off the screen (LaVine, 1980). Studios carefully cultivated particular images for their stars, turning these typical young actresses into icons like Claudette Colbert and Mae West, whose personalities and apparel women all over the country emulated (Davis, 1993). With the end of the flapper era however, Hollywood movies began to change. Moviegoers increasingly called for more spectacle and grandeur in the film sets and costumes. As audiences embraced the exotic luxury depicted in major films of the day, studios began to increase the budget allowances for their movies, which 6 afford to own these expensive looks themselves, they instead eagerly observed the fashions worn by socialites and Hollywood movie stars. It was now more important than ever before for film studios to employ talented costume designers and to ensure that their movie stars were dressed in the most extravagant and stunning fashions in order to please audiences. Figure 1. Mae West in Every Day’s a Holiday, 1938. This figure features an example of the elaborate hats popular during this period. These extravagant costumes of the 1930’s often included luxurious materials such as feathers, beads, and furs. This was due to the prevalence of black and white movies, which presented a unique situation for costume designers during this period. This stark cinematography emphasized light, texture, and sparkle. Actresses were dressed “in a 7 fashion heavy with sexual imagery, which showed up well in black and white: glitter (especially the sparkle of diamonds), thick, lustrous furs, slinky dresses over curvaceous but slim figures, exotic flowers, and stark red lips” (Dyhouse, 2010, p. 29) (see Figure 2). Jewels and sparkling beads, as well as luxurious textures such as furs and feathers, gained a new importance in the public eye due to their usefulness and prevalence in film costumes (Dyhouse, 2010). Hollywood costume departments were especially fond of costumes featuring fur or feathers which emphasized the glamour and wealth of prominent actresses in films as well as in publicity stills. Several of the largest fur companies utilized popular actresses as spokespeople for their brands. Entire advertising campaigns were created to emphasize “the link between fur, glamour, and Hollywood legend” (Dyhouse, 2010, p. 38). However, as viewers began to copy the looks of their favorite movie stars and wear these materials, fur and feathers became more commonplace and lost some of its exclusivity and status. In response, costume designers, as well as actresses, turned to increasingly more expensive and exotic materials like peacock feathers (Dyhouse, 2010). 8 Figure 2. Jean Harlow in Dinner at Eight, 1933. This figure illustrates Gilbert Adrian’s design for a slinky gown with fur accents. The 1930’s saw Hollywood studios, for the first time, began to look for fashion inspiration not from the cutting-edge fashion leaders in Paris but from talented young designers in the emerging American fashion capitals of New York City and Hollywood. Typically, major Parisian fashion houses dictated the fashionable silhouette and trends for each season. Hollywood costume designers modified these trends for film, to make them compatible with the plot and character development of each movie (Stewart, 2005). The Great Depression ensured that only the rich upper classes of society could afford to obtain their designer wardrobes in Paris (Scheips, 2007). This created a large market segment of middle-class consumers who still wished to purchase formal and glamorous evening attire, yet did not have the funds for designer clothing from Paris. For these 11 placements and merchandising tie-ins were soon major sources of revenue for movie studios. Home appliances and automobiles were popular ways for the studios to feature brands, but what the female audience truly craved was the latest fashion trends worn by their favorite movie stars. Popular costumes from Hollywood films were mass-produced “with subtle alterations which rendered the spectacular effects of the silver screen suitable for the sewing machine and for everyday life” (Breward, 2003, p. 135). Manufacturers marketed these garments to the public as “Hollywood” brands, often with the label featuring the face of a famous movie star (see Figure 4). A single film could generate anywhere from 15 to 52 designs for manufacturers (Stewart, 2005). Sold through department stores and outlets such as Cinema Fashions, these wildly popular fashion lines created a demand for mass-produced apparel and promoted the garment industry in California, which laid the foundations for the successful fashion industry present in California today. 12 Figure 4. Advertisement for Studio Styles in Vogue, 1935. This figure illustrates mass-produced copies of film costumes which were marketed to the public. Another trend in movie-making that demonstrated the importance of Hollywood costumes to the audience was the popular “fashion film.” These movies often depicted fashion shows or costume revues as important elements of the plot, and they typically starred a well-known actress in the lead role (Berry, 2000). Many Hollywood films from the 1900’s through the 1940’s featured “a fashion show, key scenes in dress shops, slow poses in symbolic outfits, and long shots of exquisitely attired women descending grand staircases” ( Stewart, 2005). Fashion films were not only visual spectacles, but also served to make high-end cinema fashions more accessible to the general population (Berry, 2000). 13 As movies became increasingly popular, entire magazines began to follow the exploits (real or imagined) of stars in the film industry (LaVine, 1980). Movie magazines such as Photoplay and Silver Screen filled the heads of eager readers with “the fantasy that in Hollywood all women were beautiful, crime did not pay, husbands and wives lived happily ever after, and that it was possible for anyone to become a movie star” (LaVine, 1980, p. 41). These magazines featured interviews with actors, gossip about the personal lives of the stars, and advice on how to emulate the styles of favorite actresses. These magazines also showed pictures of actresses, dressed by their studio’s head costume designer in costumes from their latest film or garbed in original couture creations for premiers and awards shows, which were some of the most popular features. These publications also provided helpful advice on how to best achieve these looks and copy these outfits. Women avidly flipped through these magazines in order to see the latest outfits worn by the most glamorous movie stars. These movie magazines helped to cement the cultural importance and authority of film stars, including their function as fashion leaders and arbitrators of style. With the increasing influence of movie stars on the public, the 1930’s proved to be the first time in history that women were encouraged to dress according to their desired personality type. Popular books and ladies’ fashion magazines, as well as costume designers such as Edith Head, all instructed modern women to look at the way popular movie stars dressed and to follow their lead (Berry, 2000). This new push for a more personalized look coincided with a rise in mass-produced clothes. As low-cost clothing options flooded the market, companies looked for new ways to encourage consumers to spend more money. By telling women that they would all dress and look 16 woman could easily relate to them. Instead of an endless parade of couture gowns that the female viewer could never hope to own, movies featured leading ladies wearing day dresses and skirt suits which were practical for everyday wear (see Figure 6). Figure 6. Dorothy Lamour in a suit designed by Edith Head, 1944. This figure reflects the changes in fashion brought about by the wartime rationing of fabric. Another effect of the ongoing war was the rationing and restricting of fabric usage known as the L-85. These regulations included a maximum yardage, particular dimensions, rationed fabrics, and other details that limited clothing manufacturers. The L- 85 effectively prevented manufacturers from altering or modifying the boxy silhouette popular at the beginning of the war (Scheips, 2007). However, these restrictions only 17 proved to make American designers more creative and resourceful than ever. The L-85 rations also forced American women to copy the fashionable outfits they saw their favorite stars wearing using whatever odds and ends they could find. Melanie Hillmer wrote that “a seam painted on the legs did duty for the unobtainable nylons…Old things from the thirties were resurrected with wit and invention, and true creations came from the home sewing rooms” (Engelmeier, 1990, p. 14). With inspiration from film costumes, American women found ways to stay fashionably dressed despite the hardships and economic strain of war. United State’s involvement in World War II greatly affected the powerful and influential movie industry. The army drafted film studio employees for the war effort, and many more voluntarily quit their jobs in order to work for the war effort. Costume design departments faced further difficulties when “the expert workroom personnel, whom designers had depended on to execute their involved designs, now turned to urgent war work that offered them better salaries” (LaVine, 1980, p. 104). Additionally, the luxurious fabrics, trims, and beads which helped to create the fantastic costumes used in Hollywood films became scarce and were nearly impossible to find due to the disruption of international trade caused by World War II. Despite these cutbacks, female audiences still looked to Hollywood to provide them with an escape from the bleak reality of wartime. Costume designers had no choice but to cut up and repurpose old costumes from storage in order to create new outfits for their films. Robert LaVine explained in his In a Glamorous Fashion: The Fabulous Years of Hollywood Costume Design (1980) that: A skirt from one dinner gown might be used with a top from another and trimmed with the beaded motifs from yet another. Tailored woolens were taken apart, the 18 pieces of fabric redyed and then fashioned into new ensembles. Ribbons, lace edgings, silk flowers, and feathers were used over and over again as trimmings. It was thanks to the cleverness of Hollywood designers that movie costumes continued to have an air of fantasy and extravagance during the lean years of the early forties. (p. 104) The tireless work and ingenuity of these designers kept the dream of Hollywood fashion alive in wartime films. Due to these changes in America, as well as in Hollywood, during the early 1940’s, studios hastily wrote and filmed new movies with very limited budgets (LaVine, 1980). For these relatively simple productions costume designers bought outfits off the rack at stores or were simply designed using as little fabric and embellishments as possible. Therefore, the majority of these costumes were “realistic and accessible to women everywhere” (LaVine, 1980, p. 105). Female viewers found these outfits to be more practical and obtainable than the costumes Hollywood films had showcased prior to the World War II era. Leading fashion magazines of the day also noted this change. An article written by Edith Head for the Hollywood Quarterly states that “not so many years ago one of our leading studios put its actresses into dresses of almost unimaginable extravagance. But the trend today is away from eccentricity of line and color, flounce and peplum, ruffle and jabot” (Head, 1946). Despite the wartime rations and limitations set on the public, women were now able to sew or purchase the looks they saw their favorite stars wear onscreen. The dominance that American designers had enjoyed since the start of World War II did not last for long, as Paris soon reaffirmed itself as the undisputed capital of fashion. 21 Simple costumes that still communicated wealth and high class were the norm for designers. Hollywood’s interpretation of the New Look included not only full skirts and impossibly tiny waists, but also rich fabrics and intricate details. Without the restrictions of wartime rationing which had limited movie costumes for so long, costume designers once again were able to create lavish and sensational designs for their films. However, these costumes never quite reached the level of excess seen in designs from the 1930’s. American fashion culture had changed; audiences now preferred more practical and simplistic outfits that they could replicate in their everyday lives rather than the unattainable dream of film costumes from the thirties (LaVine, 1980). There was another major change in silhouette by the late 1950’s. In contrast to the corseted waists and full skirts of the New Look, designers began to create unstructured and straight-cut clothing that was more comfortable and wearable (Laver, 2002) (see Figure 8). The chemise, or sack dress, was a highly popular version of this new silhouette. Coco Chanel’s laidback tweed suits and relaxed dresses were also favorites of the fashion community. These easily-obtainable trends would increase in popularity through the end of the decade and into the early 1960’s (Laver, 2002). 22 Figure 8. Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face, 1957. This figure depicts the straight-cut silhouette which would replace the New Look as the dominant silhouette in the 1960’s. During the 1930’s and 1940’s, the star power of the lead actors involved in the project determined the box office success of a film. The studios were dependent on the stars they created to draw large audiences. By the 1950’s however, studios as well as audiences became more concerned with the quality of the movies themselves (LaVine, 1980). Talented directors became the top commodity of Hollywood, though a few movie stars managed to maintain the popularity necessary to carry movies on their own (LaVine, 1980). Some examples include Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe. The diminishing importance of movie stars coincided with the slowly declining popularity of movies. The post-war years also marked a steep rise in viewers for television shows. Because of the smaller budgets of these shows, the costumes tended to be much simpler 23 and less formal than the typical costumes for motion pictures. It allowed the television shows to showcase casual, everyday clothing options that viewers could adopt easily into their own wardrobes. This led to a rise in the practice of buying designer costumes off the rack from boutiques, rather than designing and creating an entirely new outfit (Engelmeier, 1990). Exciting plot twists were not the only reason for watching popular TV shows; women wanted to get a glimpse of what popular television actresses would wear on their shows each week (Fox, 2000). The job of a costume designer was shifting and becoming less important as the fifties progressed. Movies as well as television shows purchased the majority of the wardrobes, rather than designing new costumes for each specific character. With the 1960’s came significant changes for movies, fashion, as well as costume designers. Costume Designers Introduction This literature review focused on four influential costume designers from the Golden Age of the 1930’s through the 1950’s. These particular designers all worked in Hollywood for many years, with the pinnacle of their careers occurring during the Golden Age. All these designers were highly popular during their careers, and become household names among the American public. Each of these designers also created designs and fashions which women all over America copied fervently. Finally, all of these costume designers contributed something unique to American fashion, and indirectly towards a distinctive American identity. Gilbert Adrian Gilbert Adrian was born Adrian Adolph Greenberg on March 3, 1903 in Connecticut. He became interested in the theater at a young age, and by the time he was 26 1941). He designed iconic looks for highly popular movie stars such as Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, and Katherine Hepburn. Today, Adrian is best known for his work on films like Romeo and Juliet (1936), The Bride Wore Red (1937), The Wizard of Oz (1939), The Philadelphia Story (1940) and Pride and Prejudice (1940). Despite his many accomplishments, Adrian never received an Academy Award for his work. Adrian’s unique designs perfectly fit the demands of the studio executives, movie stars, and viewing public. Working with almost limitless budgets, he could create designs that were, in his words, “becoming, useful, and beautiful” (Davis, 1993, p. 214). According to Ronald Davis in his book The Glamour Factory, “Adrian had a passion for sequins and glitter, preferred straight lines, liked bows, loved black against white, and avoided middle grays” (Davis, 1993, p. 214). While the costumes designed by Adrian were always beautiful and luxurious, Adrian himself admitted that ease of movement and practicality were of little importance to him (Davis, 1993). Actresses wearing his creations were often unable to sit in their dresses, forcing them to rest on specially built “leaning boards” when they were not filming scenes (see Figure 10). 27 Figure 10. Jean Harlow resting between takes of Dinner at Eight, 1933. This figure illustrates a leaning board, which allowed actresses to rest comfortably between takes without damaging or wrinkling their costumes. Adrian was one of the first costume designers to understand that fashion designing and costume designing were two completely separate concepts. He insisted that movie costumes must highlight and enhance the character without overpowering the actor. The costumes should also give the audience a hint of the personality and intentions of the character while remaining subtle (Davis, 1993). His deceptively simplistic designs readied American women for the pared-down aesthetics of the World War II years. Adrian chose to leave the movie business in the early 1940’s, due to a combination of decreasing budgets and increasing demand for plain and boring designs (LaVine, 1980). Feeling creatively restricted, Adrian moved on to creating a line of clothing sold under his own name. Adrian decided to open a shop in Beverly Hills to showcase both his custom-made and ready-to-wear designs (LaVine, 1980). This was in 28 the midst of World War II, when American women were completely cut off from the Parisian designers who traditionally dictated fashion trends. Adrian was already well- known to the American public because of his work on many beloved and popular films in the 1930’s and early 1940’s. American women embraced his sleek and practical designs, which featured padded shoulders and slim skirts due to the wartime rationing of fabrics, as well as his more glamorous designs for eveningwear. Despite the lean and hard years of World War II, Adrian’s business continued to flourish and demand for his designs never slowed. Sadly, Adrian’s influence in the fashion world began to fade in 1947, after Christian Dior introduced his New Look silhouette. Adrian was resistant to this slim- waist and full-skirted silhouette, but the trend proved to be unstoppable. Despite his diminishing popularity, Adrian continued to design unique and beautiful looks for his collections, which featured exotic animal prints, gingham motifs, and modern-art inspirations (“Gilbert Adrian,” 1980). In 1952, he closed his business due to health concerns from a non-fatal heart attack. Adrian died in Los Angeles on September 13, 1959 (Trapnell, 2005). Today, historians remember Adrian as an important figure in Hollywood fashion and for helping to create the iconic “American look” of these decades. Edith Head Edith Head was born in California on October 28, 1897. As a child, her family moved around from Mexico to Arizona to Nevada. All of these locations influenced her future costume designs. For high school and college, Head moved back to Los Angeles and devoted herself to studying first Spanish and then French language. After completing 31 major films. Movie stars like Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly would also often ask Head to design looks for their personal wardrobes, and some would even purchase their favorite film costumes directly from the studio (Head & Calistro, 1983). Though Head was well-known and admired for her work by people in the film industry, she gained widespread popularity in1936 with her designs for Dorothy Lamour’s appearance in the film The Jungle Princess (LaVine, 1980). Particularly popular was the wraparound sarong (see Figure 11), which swimsuit manufacturers continued to copy for years. This flattering style remains popular with women on beaches all over the world. Figure 11. Dorothy Lamour in The Jungle Princess. This figure depicts a sarong designed by Edith Head and widely copied by swimsuit manufacturers. 32 Another of Head’s most influential designs was a dress she created for Elizabeth Taylor to wear in the 1951 film A Place in the Sun. This New Look style featured faux violets sewn onto the bodice and a voluminous skirt (see Figure 12). It proved so popular with audiences that companies rushed to create mass-produced versions of the design (Bruzzi, 1997). Figure 12. Elizabeth Taylor in a dress designed by Edith Head for A Place in the Sun. This figure shows the most popular dress from the movie, which was mass-produced and sold as a formal dress for young women. During her long and prolific career, Head worked with almost all of the notable stars of the day, including Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich, Ingrid Bergman, Claudette Colbert, Hedy Lamarr, Ginger Rogers, and Grace Kelly to name a few. Some of Head’s most notable films include The Sting, Roman Holiday, A Place in The Sun, Samson and Delilah, All About Eve, Sabrina (along with Hubert de Givenchy), Sunset Boulevard, The Lady Eve, and Funny Face 33 (Head & Calistro, 1983). The 1950’s proved to be one of the most successful decades for Edith Head. She worked steadily with many prominent actresses and directors, and received Academy Award nominations for her designs every single year. Head was nominated for a total of 35 Oscars with 8 wins. She remains the most honored costume designer in the history of the Academy Awards (Head & Calistro, 1983). Though she was not the only major costume designer during Hollywood’s Golden Age, Head is certainly the most well-known due to her unbelievably prolific career. She continued to work for Paramount and create beautiful and award-winning costumes right up until her death on October 24, 1981 (Head & Calistro, 1983). John Orry-Kelly John Orry-Kelly was born in Australia on December 31, 1897. From an early age, his mother encouraged and supported his artistic talents, though she did not approve of his dream to become an actor (“Orry-Kelly,” 1981). However, by 1923 Orry-Kelly had moved to New York City to pursue his dream. In order to supplement his income while he looked for acting jobs, Orry-Kelly would often paint murals in restaurants and night- clubs. It was one of these paintings that caught the eye of an executive at 20 th Century Fox, who hired him to illustrate movie titles for silent films (“Orry-Kelly,” 1981). By the end of the 1920’s, Orry-Kelly had returned to the theater, this time as a set and costume designer for vaudeville and Broadway productions (LaVine, 1980). After the stock market crash in 1929, Orry-Kelly had a difficult time finding work with theaters. He moved around several times, eventually ending up in Hollywood. With some help from his old friend and former roommate Cary Grant, Orry-Kelly got a job designing costumes at Warner Brothers, which was where he first met actress Bette Davis 36 looked natural in spite of their theatrical use” (LaVine, 1980, p. 233). Rose created carefully detailed costumes which were dramatic and yet still contemporary and relevant to the fashions of the day. Directors and actresses alike adored Rose for her “down-to-earth, warm personality,” (LaVine, 1980, p. 236) and would often specifically request Rose to create their costumes. Stars such as Elizabeth Taylor, Lana Turner, Grace Kelly, Deborah Kerr, Esther Williams, and Ava Gardner asked her to create looks for them both on and off- screen. Some of Rose’s most famous films include High Society, I’ll Cry Tomorrow, The Swan, Father of the Bride, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Rose is also well-known for designing Grace Kelly’s wedding dress for her marriage to the Prince of Monaco. This particularly upset Rose’s arch-rival Edith Head, who was close friends with Grace Kelly at the time (“Helen Rose,” 1998). Rose’s designs showed a structured silhouette that was simple and devoid of unnecessary details. Rose gave her actresses “a soft, practical, up-to-date look that reflected the contemporary young American suburbanite” (LaVine, 1980, p. 237). Her looks tended to be more simplistic than opulent and over-the-top, which female audiences loved. They connected with Rose’s on-screen creations because they were accessible and wearable (“Helen Rose,” 1998). Upper-middle class women wanted to own these looks, and less affluent women dreamed of wearing these garments. Rose also had great success selling mass-market copies of her designs in department stores. Several iconic dresses that she originally designed for some of Elizabeth Taylor’s films were wildly popular and sold thousands of copies. Some examples include the modest wedding dress in Father of the Bride (1950), the famous 37 white dress in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) (see Figure 13), and the simple slip from Butterfield 8 (1960). Figure 13. Elizabeth Taylor in a dress designed by Helen Rose for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 1958. This figure illustrates one of Rose’s most iconic designs, which was in high demand from both actresses and typical American women. Due to these achievements, Rose decided to leave MGM in 1966 and devote herself full- time to designing ready-to-wear garments for exclusive department stores and specialty shops all across the country (LaVine, 1980). Designing her own line allowed Rose more creative freedom, as well as a way out of the rapidly changing movie industry. The old Golden Age of Hollywood and the studio system were slowly dying, and the role of costume designers was shifting (“Helen Rose,” 1998). Costume design was no longer the glamorous and fashion-forward profession of the 1930’s, 1940’s and 1950’s. Helen Rose 38 died in November of 1985 (Friedland, 2010), as one of the last great costume designers of the Golden Age. 41 IMPLICATIONS Cinema and television fashions have always played an important role in the popular clothing styles of the day. However, with the rise of the internet and blogging in modern times, the fashion industry downplays and even ignores the impact of fashions and costumes featured in movies of the past few decades. Nevertheless, cinema fashions, when used effectively, can still be socially relevant and influential today. Fluctuations and changes in apparel trends have always been an indicator of the social and economic conditions of the period in question. Movie costumes provide a window to these time periods, allowing researchers to view past trends in modern times. Some movies can even predict or create new and emerging fashion trends within society. Often well-known and highly respected designers choose to use certain movies or looks from films as the inspiration for their fashion collections. Though cinematic costumes are not as great a force in the fashion industry as they once were, movie costume styles are still relevant and important in today’s society. Studying both the past and present impact of Hollywood fashions on actual clothing trends can be extremely helpful to apparel companies and clothing manufacturers. Studying the public’s reaction to certain film looks and fashions can even predict how well a certain trend might perform in the consumer market. And, there is no denying the enduring power and influence of movie stars in modern society. These stars often promote certain products or fashions, and the clothes these stars wear to events and even in their day-to-day lives is a subject of great interest for many Americans. This obsession finds its roots in society’s fascination with the cinematic costume choices of movie stars during the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930’s through the 1950’s. 42 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH There has already been extensive research conducted on the major costume designers of the Hollywood Golden Age, as well as on the fashion trends of each decade within this time period. However, there has been little research on the causal relationship between cinema fashions and popular apparel trends. It is this relationship that is most important and relevant when attempting to understand the impact of movie fashions on modern society. Further research about the selling rates of department store clothing, especially clothing made to resemble particular movie costumes and promoted by movie stars would provide a clearer understanding about this relationship. During my research, authors often mentioned how quickly some reproductions of movie costumes sold out in retail stores. However, there are very few concrete sales numbers to back up this statement. Studying the fluctuations of these selling rates to determine potential patterns would help to shed light on the social and economic conditions of the time period. It would be of interest to compare the selling rates of these dresses to the popularity of the movie in which they were first featured and to the star power of the actress who originally wore the design. It would also be informative to have access to sources and research about some of the less well-known costume designers who nevertheless played an influential role in creating iconic and popular film costumes during this era. Finally, a study conducted to analyze if, as society has become more casual, a shift has been made to analyze what movie stars wear off-screen rather than on-screen could be useful to the fashion industry. Both the film and fashion industries can utilize this type of research to understand their past influence on society and their potential future impact. 43 REFERENCES Basinger, J. (2007). The star machine. New York: A.A. Knopf. Berry, S. (2000). Screen style: Fashion and femininity in 1930s Hollywood. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Breward, C. (2003). Fashion. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bruzzi, S. (1997). Undressing cinema: Clothing and identity in the movies. London: Routledge. Davis, R. L. (1993). The glamour factory: Inside Hollywood's big studio system. Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press. Dyhouse, C. (2010). Glamour: Women, history, feminism. London: Zed Books. Engelmeier, R., Engelmeier, P. W., & Einzig, B. (1990). Fashion in film. Munich: Prestel-Verlag. Fox, P. (2000). Star style at the Academy Awards: A century of glamour. Santa Monica, Calif.: Angel City Press. Friedland, N. E. (2010). Costume design and film: From magical realism to authentic attire in everyday wear. Performing Arts Resources, 27, 49-62. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.tcu.edu/docview/821047823?accountid=7090 Gilbert Adrian. (2002). Contemporary Fashion. Gale. Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com.ezproxy.tcu.edu/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/Reference DetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=false&pro dId=BIC1&action=2&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CK1613000003&userGro upName=txshracd2573&jsid=1089aaa82bcc543726dc3cc233067369 46 `Weitz, R. (2004). The History of Women's Hair. Rapunzel's daughters: What women's hair tells us about women's lives (pp. 12-23). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. William Travilla. (1993). Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television, 11. Detroit: Gale. Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com.ezproxy.tcu.edu/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/Reference DetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=false&pro dId=BIC1&action=2&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CK1609006832&userGro upName=txshracd2573&jsid=0c7bcb781d7ebc394ef2489f03be8900 ABSTRACT This thesis explores if the fashions and trends depicted by the costumes of major Hollywood motion pictures of the 1930’s, 1940’s, and 1950’s had a significant effect on the popular clothing trends during these decades in America. The hypothesis was tested by reviewing literature already published about Hollywood movie costumes and the fashions worn by typical American women. Comparisons were made between evolving styles of film costumes and the similarly changing fashion trends adopted by female viewers. Focused research was also conducted on several important costume designers from this era to provide specific examples for study. By examining and analyzing these results, conclusions indicate that there is indeed a correlation between cinema costume fashions during the Hollywood Golden Age and the fashions of typical American women during the same decades. While Hollywood fashions tended to follow the popular apparel silhouettes and trends of the time, the widespread popularity of cinema during this era contributed to the spread and assimilation of these trends. To take advantage of Hollywood’s influence on popular culture, clothing manufacturers often copied and adapted the on-screen costumes of film stars for average American women.