Adrian... Hollywood Designer Extraordinaire!

You may not have heard of him, but believe me you know his designs!

Gilbert Adrian was a major Hollywood costume designer from the 1920's to 40's.

He designed costumes for Rudolph Valentino and Cecil B. Demille, eventually moving to the mega Hollywood Mecca that was MGM.

It was here that he became know as one of the greatest film designers having designed costumes for over 230 films.

Courtesy of Fashion Encylopedia

Fully beaded gown worn by Joan Crawford in The Bride Wore Red

Jean Harlow in Dinner At Eight

Katherine Hepburn in Philadelphia Story

Greta Garbo in Inspiration

Hedy Lamarr in Ziegfeld Girl

Courtesy of Pretty Clever Films

Lana Turner in Ziegfeld Girl

The Wizard of Oz

Adrian became a favourite collaborator of icons such as Greta Garbo, Ingrid Bergman, Jean Harlow and Lana Turner to name but a few.

He is the man responsible for giving Joan Crawford her legendary strong shouldered silhouette in the 1939 movie The Women.

I recently watched this movie and was blown away by the costumes and in particular the technicolour fashion show in the middle.

He was also the designer on The Wizard of Oz and Philadelphia Story. (Two more personal fav's!)

Unfortunately he never won an Oscar for his work but that was because "costumes" weren't added as a category until after 1948.

Hi costumes were extravagant from angular, crisp, tailored suits to Ostrich plume and crystal embellished gowns. They were just what the depression era audiences were craving. Full-on indulgent glamour!

They actually went crazy for his looks, Macy's sold half a million reproductions of the frothy shouldered gown that Joan Crawford wore in Letty Lynton. A staggering number at that time...and what were all those ladies wearing that dress to???

Joan Crawford in Letty Lynton

As a designer he wasn't afraid to experiment. He used bold colour blocking, unusual prints, elaborate beading and he even showcased some Gothic themes!

 courtesy of My Vintage Vogue

Adrian's most famous legacy the "coat hanger" silhouette became a key look of the 1940's: padded shoulders, a slim jacket with details that emphasised the shoulders and a pencil skirt. Pretty much an inverted pyramid!

So now you know who Adrian was, or at least what he did.

He is one of the reasons we adore watching vintage movies:

Their jaw dropping and extravagant fashion; make us wish we lived in Old Hollywood, a land of make-believe glamour and opulence...

To see a few more instances of his work check out these YouTube videos:

Here

This one is particularly informative:

Adrian

Damn Fine Broads

For your amusement and entertainment I have selected a bevy of vintage Hollywood leading ladies. Each woman has led a really fascinating life and I will probably return to them individually in future blog posts, it feels wrong to say so little about such larger than life characters in this post but I don't want to overwhelm you with information!
Instead I am giving you a taster menu, including some advice and observations they delivered and suggestions of movies to catch their fabulousness in!!
There's nothing better on a cold dark evening than to light the fire, open a bottle of red wine and settle in with a classic movie.

These are not ladies to mess with!

Let's begin with the sassiest broad of them all, my personal favourite, the one and only......

Mae West

“Love thy neighbor -- and if he happens to be tall, debonair and devastating, it will be that much easier.” 

“Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before.” 

"Marriage is a great institution, but I'm not ready for an institution."

Check her out in "I'm no Angel" 1933

Katherine Hepburn

"If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun"

Absolutely hilarious in "Bringing up Baby" with Cary Grant 1938

Bette Davis

"Everybody has a heart...except some people."

Please Santa, I would like Bette's outfit, I've been mostly good, mostly...

Watch her in "Dark Victory" 1939 

(starring alongside George Brent*, Humphrey Bogart, Geraldine Fitzgerald & Ronald Reagan!)

*George Brent hailed from Roscommon and fled Ireland with a bounty on his head having served in the IRA during the war of independence 1919 - 1922. He was highly regarded by Bette Davis and starred alongside her in 13 films.

Joan Crawford

"Love is a fire, But whether it is going to warm your hearth or burn down your house, you can never tell"

Watch her in "Letty Lynton" 1932

(The dress above, designed by Adrian for the movie "Letty Lynton", was copied by Macy's in 1932 and sold 500,000 replicas across America!)

Judy Garland

"Always be a first rate version of yourself, instead of a second rate version of someone else."

Check out the fabulous gowns in full technicolor in "Meet me in St. Louis" 1944

Jean Harlow

"Must I always wear a low cut dress to be important?"

"When you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas."

Lauren Bacall

"I think your whole life shows in your face and you should be proud of that"

"You don't always win your battles, but it's good to know you fought"

Watch her in " How to marry a millionaire" 1953

 in one of her more comedic roles, 

co starring Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable and some really awesome fashion!

Ingrid Bergman

"Be yourself. The world worships the original."

"Happiness is good health and a bad memory."

You can catch her in the classic "Casablanca" co starring with Humphrey Bogart
but if you have seen that already you should definitely watch her in the Hitchcock thriller "Notorious".


I hope you enjoyed this post and you manage to catch some of the movies I have suggested.
Pour yourself a glass of wine, switch off the laptop and your phone, get cozy on the sofa and relax,
you won't be disappointed!!

xxx Caroline xxx