Hollywood Wardrobe Rooms

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 37, 13 February 1937, Page 18 (Supplement)

Hollywood Wardrobe Rooms

Returning to Melbourne from a six months’ visit to the United States, almost two months of which were spent in Hollywood, Miss Jennifer Gilmour, who passed through Auckland recently, had many interesting facts to tell to the film city. What impressed her most, however, was a visit to the wardrobe rooms of some of the studios. There beautiful gowns of every description and every period hung in a forgotten line. Some of them w'ould perhaps be useful to many people, but none of them would ever be worn again. The lovely materials were left to decay. At the conclusion of a picture the actress was permitted either to purchase the gowns she had worn or, with the consent of the designer, to have others made on the same lines. Usually, however, the wear and tear on the gowns during rehearsals j was so severe that they were very often unfit for further use. ( [ Individual Styles. 1 | The gowns were designed to suit both | the individuality of tho actress aud tho roles she typified. Case 3 were often oe(curring wherein one actress chosen for I a certain part had had to be replaced by another. This necessitated not merely tho refitting of gowns to be worn but entirely new designs. Each j studio employed several dress designers, said Miss Gilmour, but very often they worked upon the suggestions and requirements of the actresses. Many of • the important stars, such as Greta I Garbo, Marleno Dietrich, Joan Crawford, and Norma Shearer knew exactly what styles they wished, and the designers carried out their suggestions. Adrian —Dress Designer. The most well-known dress designer in Hollywood was Adrian, who styled the clothes worn by all the leading actresses. The design was first of ail made up in some material closely resembling that of which the finished gown was to bo made, so the reactions of the sound machines to tho material could be gauged. This, test model was finished off in every little detail just as the gown itself would be. The materials used for the costumes seem on the screen were all the best of their kind, as cheap materials were not considered satisfactory either in appearance or durability.