Snowing and snowing

And since I seem to have so many things to keep me from sewing...(Boo), this afternoon Gentlemen Prefer Blonds was on and I taped it.  I watched it and I taped it.  So much fun....

But it reminded me all over again how much I love those designs from those old '50's movies.

Here they are in the same dress...well, same design.  First we all know that's a nude-colored inset in the center front...you can't see through it, but doesn't prevent you from looking...take note...great tromp l'oiell to mess with people's heads in formal wear...I love doing this.

Second and the reason I love this movie so much is this shows the entirely different figures of these two stars and how they were dressed according to their size and shape.  They were women who were sought after and adored.  Their figures were emulated.  They were both very full-figured gals and this shows it.  Back in the 1950's it was chic to have a voluptuous figure...it was sexy - very sexy.

Marilyn Monroe was 27 and Jane Russell was 32, no spring chicks, so their figures were pretty much set. 

Marilyn has a pretty well-balanced figure, and although her shape is healthy, she has a tiny waist, with her bust and shoulders in proportion to her hips, but voluptuous and full.

Jane Russell has one big problem...she has an abnormally small waist, and her hips are beautifully round, so in this movie you're going to find some fun techniques that Travilla used to normalize Jane's figure. 

NOTE:  an abnormally small waist will often look out of proportion and make the hips look larger.  Be careful cause your hips may not be large, it's that your waist is proportionally smaller.

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I just love these outfits....look at the fur piece around Marilyn's neck and down her back. It goes all the way to the hem in this dress.  But Jane's jacket, scarf and hat are awesome...This old classic "scarf" neckline under a jacket that has a button stance at the waist or just above, is classic.  Why?...well, this is a 1953 movie and I would wear that outfit today.  That's what makes it classic - it's timeless.

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Here she is again in that jacket...which has a little detail (take-off of a crest look) and the jacket has a nice vent in back, but it doesn't go all the way up to just below the waist or upper hip like most vents do, it's just tiny so it "flips" as she dances.

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I've talked about this one before...but again here is this neckline that Jane wears over and over in the movie.  This accentuates her bust  and makes her look bustier to balance out the thinness in her waist.  The lines coming up from the bustline to go inward at the neck, bring your eye to her neck which takes away from looking or noticing her tiny waist.

The other feature of this is that the men are all wearing nude colored trunks with a black trim on the bottom. This causes the illusion that the men are wearing nothing save a black strap, and causes you to look over and over to keep checking 'em out to make sure it's legitimate....that's why we're staring right?...not at their tight gluts or abs...right?  Well, that's why I'm staring!  !@#$^%#$%!!!!

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Again, Jane in her great cross over or halter line above her bust line.  This makes her look that much bustier to keep from accentuating how small her waist is.  Why is this such a big deal, because the smaller waist makes her hips look extra full, When you criss-cross in front like this, then the attention is taken off the waist, thus making the hips look like they aren't so full.  BTW, her hips aren't that full, it's the tiny waist that makes them look full. 

Marilyn is in a straight up and down, which she wears beautifully.  One thing I'm struck with in this movie is the normal size of Marilyn bust.  The bombshell reputation she had and her voluptuousness belies the size of her bust.  I would have thought she was a 40 D or something - at least a 38, but she was just a 36D.

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Again, Jane with the accentuation around her neck...see that high collar and that trim on the inside.  And Marilyn with a criss-cross at her bust, making her bust look much larger than it really is.  Notice how Marilyn's criss-cross ends up at her shoulders going out, while all of Jane's criss-cross ends up with it coming in at her neck....you can see the dramatic difference this has on how they both look.

Also, Marilyn should never have worn green, and this color doesn't do a thing for her.

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This is the epitome of the perfect figure in the 50's.  Her hips are very full, her waist is abnormally small and her bust and shoulders are small as well.  There's no ginormous shoulder pads on her shoulders.   Part of what makes her hips so full here is the style of this dress - it has two tails off the waist, which make her look a lot fuller in the hips.

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 Here Marilyn is again, and I love this detail on the cuff.  First the jacket sleeve is 3/4 length which was very common and beautiful, but also this gorgeous silk on the trim was just another added umph to the dress.

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 Then there's Jane Russel's dress in this scene...what a gown...this is what I call couture...you can almost see the designer just draping away and made it all work.  There's not criss-cross-in here, but notice how the strapless gown has the sides go up really high?  This is again to accentuate her bust and move out and away with that upward line toward her neck area rather than her waist, but being fitted the whole time.  This is also a great neckline to wear if you are at all subconscious about the shape of your upper arms/chest area.  It doesn't allow any "overflow" to show or you can at least hide it.  This fits snug under the arms cause that armhole is out and away from the bust and almost right on the armscye and shoulder line.

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I just love these outfits...great contrast color on Marilyn, and I swear it has some ribbon embroidery on it...it is 3-D whatever embroidery is on there, and Jane's wonderful fabric-bow neckline.

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This is one of Marilyn's signature dresses, songs and pieces.  It is meant to look very Parisian couture, they were in Paris....and although you would never intentionally put red and pink together, it works in this case cause the look is meant to be so in-your-face-rich that it takes off....otherwise I think the red cravats would be lost. 

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This fabric is probably tafetta and the "tucks" on the side make the dress look like it has a band around the top of the bustline, but my guess is that this is sewn in so that those tucks don't move or release in anyway.  Also look at the wrinkles in the remaining part of the bodice - not the tucks on the side (where a side bust dart would go).  These are caused by her moving around.  The main thing to note here is that  you will have what I like to call normal or natural wrinkles that don't need to set up alarms or need to be fixed.  They shouldn't be.

The other thing to look at here is that bow in back.  There is a clear marking where Marilyn's waist is and it's not lost, but you do have to be careful when you do a bow like this in back cause it often does and will make the waist delineation get lost.  IOW, the same color all together at the waist can make your eyes miss the waist.

Here's another quick view of that bow in back.  It's got a black liner that spills over and this helps a lot in making sure your eye sees this as the bow and not part of Marilyn's dress and back end.

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Here is Jane again in this cross-over look, but going up around her neckline and not out.

I know that we're not even close to wearing formals like this, but there are lots of principles in here that are fun to note...for sundresses, tops, that can help us all look a little better.  These old movies had styles that really fit and really looked great on the stars who all of them had their own figure problems, not because they were fat, but because they all had genetically different bodies.

Now all I have to do is find the original "The Women" - there's a mountain of stuff in that movie!

Comments

[Karin]

Great post! I loved looking at all the pictures and really enjoyed your commentary. Thanks :-)

[sdBev]

I find it interesting that you've pointed out, in several different posts, the neccessity of some wrinkles. When we're fitting, we often think we need to remove all wrinkles. It's good to have your voice of reason.

[AnaJan]

I love these clothes/styles analysis posts you have! Love the detailed explanation of the fit, the color and the cut. I find it so interesting!

[Ursula]

Thank you Claire for your review. You have so much knowledge in design lines for various figures. Would you do a review on those with hardly any waist indentations?

[Darci]

Love the post, the pics and the fit analysis! I'll be watching those old movies a little closer from now on!

More, please! Love it!

[Kathy]

I also love the style and care in costuming in those movies. I am fascinated by a beaded or embroidered dress Marilyn wears in Some Like it Hot, it is a a nude base beaded in "strategic " places, not really revealing, but sooo intriguing to look at. Thanks for taking time to break down all those outfits, love it!

[Inkstain]

Did your "subconscious" mean self-conscious? Loved this post for all its examination of great costuming. I've bookmarked you among my favourite sewing/style blogs on my blog.