Fashion Friday #12: Gone With the Wind's 21st Anniversary

Gone With the Wind celebrated its 21st anniversary in March, 1961. The celebrations were held in Atlanta, Georgia, in conjunction with the Civil War Centennial. Newspapers around the world ran headlines such as Scarlett turns 21. The three day event took place from Wednesday, March 8th to Friday, March 10th.

The luminaries began to pour into Atlanta on Wednesday. Olivia de Havilland,  David Selznick, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr, George Murphy and several MGM business associates arrived together on a Gone With the Wind Delta Special flight. Thomas Mitchell, whom we all remember as Scarlett’s Pa, was too ill to attend the festivities. There was a large parade, with Olivia de Havilland in the lead car-- an open convertible-- that traveled down Peachtree Street.

Vivien didn’t arrive in Atlanta until the following day. After crossing the ocean, her plane landed first at Idlewild Airport (now JFK).  Vivien’s chosen outfit for the day was a two-piece tweed suit. The fawn colored suit featured large buttons and a fur collar. Her hat and shoes matched her suit perfectly in color. She topped her outfit off with a pair of dark sunglasses.

Unfortunately, when Vivien landed in New York, she agreed to a small press conference. The first reporter, who asked her a question, definitely asked her the wrong question. The journalist asked Vivien what part she played in Gone With the Wind.

Her response: Have you seen the picture? Have you read the book? When the fellow confessed that he had not done either, Vivien replied, Since you are not informed, gentlemen, there is no sense in continuing. But the reporter asked another question, Do you mind telling me what film you are going to do next?

The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone and I’m not playing the Roman spring! Then she swept from the room in true Scarlett O’Hara style. According to Dorothy Kilgallen, her response was far saltier than what she was actually quoted in the papers.

Vivien arrived in Atlanta on Thursday. Joseph Baird of The Christian Science Monitor wrote: Miss Scarlett O’Hara of Gone With the Wind  fame came home after 20 years of wandering in foreign parts, and the people took her to their hearts like a long lost daughter.

After disembarking, she received a bouquet of red roses from Mayor Hartsfield. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr, who was in Atlanta for the special occasion, also greeted Vivien at the airport. On the list of activities for the day was a visit back to the Cyclorama with Olivia de Havilland. Vivien had originally toured it on her first visit to Atlanta. Also on the list was a scheduled press conference. For this event, Vivien wrapped herself in a mink coat and capped her head in an amazing --you either love it or hate it (I love it!)-- hat.

This was a much easier press conference as all these reporters knew whom she’d played in the movie. Vivien called herself a middle-aged Scarlett and discussed her upcoming world tour with the reporters on hand. One question that Vivien was asked, How did you, as a British actress, manage a convincing Southern drawl?  She replied, I just studied it for two weeks. She was also asked about walking away from that press conference in New York. She said she felt sorry for him because he had never read such a marvelous book. I love the book and I love Scarlett.

On Thursday night, a costume ball was held at the Biltmore Hotel, hosted by the Governor of Georgia, Ernest Vandiver. Antebellum skirts swooshed through the hotel as ladies dressed up in crinoline dresses and the men dressed up as Confederate soldiers and gentlemen of days past. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr, recited part of Stephen Vincent Benet’s Pulitzer Prize winning, epic poem about abolitionist John Brown, titled John Brown’s Body.

Radie Harris accompanied Vivien Leigh to the ball.

Vivien wore an original ball gown, specially created for the 21st anniversary gala. One source that I have says the dress was made from satin, while another says it was made from silk. In either case, the white gown had a billowing skirt, which trailed behind Vivien when she walked. The dress featured a green velvet waistband with flowing ribbons down the backside of the skirt.

The very fitted bodice showed off the gown’s gorgeous embroidery. Green-blue sprays of flowers were embroidered onto the gown and peppered with pearls and rhinestones. Vivien’s accessories for the evening included a three strand pearl necklace with a diamond drop pin around her neck, while diamond hair barrettes adorned her coiffure. She topped the gown off with long gloves and a fox fur wrap, both white to match her dress.

David Selznick wore a traditional tuxedo, while Olivia de Havilland glowed in a gold ball gown. She accented her sleeveless, lace evening dress, with elbow length gloves.

The next evening Gone With the Wind re-premiered at the Loew’s Grand theater-- the same theater where the epic movie had its original premiere back in 1939. George Murphy played Master of Ceremonies.

On a special platform, Vivien told the crowd that It’s wonderful… it’s wonderful to be back. Her gown of choice for the evening was a sleeveless, white number with a small bow on the bodice. The ball gown featured sheer layers over the skirt, gathered in the back, for a cascade effect. She paired her dress with long white gloves, pearls and a brooch.

David Selznick presented a leather bound copy of the Gone With the Wind script to Mayor Hartsfield (who had also been mayor in 1939), along with portraits of Margaret Mitchell and Clark Gable. The portraits were unveiled by Vivien Leigh (for Gable) and Olivia de Havilland (for Mitchell).

This last picture is a screenshot from a youtube video on the festivities in Atlanta. From this angle, the side of Vivien's dress is visible and one gets a partial glimpse of the backside of her gown.

Thanks for joining me for this week's Fashion Friday post!

Sources:
Boxoffice Magazine, March 1961
Radie's World by Radie Harris
The Christian Science Monitor, March 13, 1961

Fashion Friday #11: A Streetcar Named Desire

Vivien Leigh arrived back in the United States on August 1st, 1950, at the Idlewild Airport (now JFK), in New York. She was on her way to Hollywood to begin filming A Streetcar Named Desire. Vivien had originated the role of Blanche on the London stage and would now play her in the movie version. After meeting up with her new director, Elia Kazan, the two of them traveled by transcontinental train to California, stopping off in Wisconsin for a quick visit with her good friends, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne.

Vivien Leigh and reporters, August 1950

Vivien Leigh and Elia Kazan arrived in Pasadena on August 6th. Vivien stepped off the train, looking as young and relaxed as the day she started Gone With the Wind, with a huge smile on her face and white sunglasses in her hands. “Gadge and I have gone over the script line by line in New York and on the train coming out here,” Vivien told reporters. Gadge was Kazan's nickname.

Elia Kazan and Vivien Leigh

The outfit Vivien chose, to meet and greet everyone, was a two-piece silk ensemble, gray with yellow polka dots, with a full skirt and topped off with a jaunty little hat. She wore the same outfit on multiple occasions, a habit she started with the rehearsals for the London stage version of A Streetcar Named Desire.

When asked whether or not she and Olivier would be staying in the states for an extended duration, she replied,  “Our stay must be limited because we have to return to England to prepare for the great national drama festival, which is the centenary of one held in 1851. It is an event that will fulfill itself in all branches of entertainment, and we both hope to contribute to it as notably as possible. Therefore it will require much time and effort in preparation. Mr. Olivier could not accompany me, because he was concerned in England with the opening of a new play, but as soon as the London premiere is held, he will fly to Hollywood. I expect his arrival next Sunday. He has signed, of course, for a picture at Paramount, the adaptation of Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie.”

Olivier arrived in Hollywood a week after his wife, on August 13th, accompanied by Vivien’s daughter, Suzanne Holman. Vivien and William Wyler greeted the pair at the airport. Olivier showed off his new mustache for his upcoming movie, Carrie. After embracing, Vivien told reporters, “I can’t get used to his mustache. He felt he had better wear it until Mr. Wyler had determined whether or not it would be right for the picture.” Olivier admitted to not liking the mustache. The couple also admitted to reporters that they “would like to tour America sometime on the stage…”

“I never see Larry when he’s writing and directing, so I’m delighted that he’ll just be acting in Carrie Ames for Willie Wyler and Paramount. Even with both of us busy, we may have some time together.”

Another person brought over from the play's Broadway production was costume designer, Lucinda Ballard, who would later receive an Academy Award nomination for her costume designs for the movie. One of the things I most enjoy about Blanche's clothing is that Lucinda seemed to have captured Blanche's very being with her designs. She used soft feminine lines with delicate layers of silk, chiffon, lace and ruffles, reflecting Blanche's fragile state of mind and flirty girlishness.

The first costume from A Streetcar Named Desire is this blue number. The blue chiffon gown has what appears to be a faded covering of pink chiffon, with a ruffled collar and cuffs. Blue silk trim runs through the ruffled collar, ending in a bow at the bodice. The trim also runs through the sleeves' ruffled cuffs.

Vivien wears this gown in several scenes throughout the movie. Here she's pictured with Karl Malden.

Here's another photograph of Vivien wearing the blue dressing gown, captured in a light-hearted moment during a break in filming. She's posing with Gary Cooper, whom I cropped out to get a close-up view of Vivien's costume.

The second costume from A Streetcar Named Desire is this pink dressing gown. This particular robe was auctioned off a few years ago as part of the Debbie Reynolds collection. The pink and ivory silk gown features embroidered silk flowers on the chiffon sleeves with a ruffled collar, cuffs and bottom trim. The auction's catalog noted that the gown was in very fragile condition and that its original color had been hot pink.

Here's Vivien wearing this pink gown, in a scene with Karl Malden. 

It's also the outfit she wears when she tells Karl Malden (in that incredible scene) she wants magic, not realism. I don't want realism. I want magic! Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I do misrepresent things. I don't tell truths, I tell what ought to be truth. And if that's sinful, then let me be punished for it!

Here's a screenshot of Vivien, again in the pink gown, and Karl together right before he turns on the lights! Both Vivien and Karl won Oscars for their performances: she for Best Actress and he for Best Supporting Actor.

Thanks for joining me for today's Fashion Friday post!



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Fashion Friday #10: House of Balmain

On Tuesday, October 25th, 1960, Vivien Leigh arrived in Cherbourg with her companion and fellow actor, Jack Merivale, aboard the Queen Elizabeth liner from New York. The two were fresh off the stage from co-starring in the play, Duel of Angels.  Vivien stepped off the Queen Elizabeth wrapped in a pale mink coat, with pearl and gold bracelets visible at the cuffs. Vivien’s fur baby, Poo Jones, also accompanied the couple.

Upon disembarking, the couple were asked about their romance.  You know I never discuss my private life, she said. John and I-- why, I've known him for 25 years, since we were both young things, struggling to make our names in London. He is a wonderful person. Jack was asked about a possible marriage between the two of them. Good heavens! That's very flattering, but I'm not going to say anything about it. The couple left Cherbourg for Paris in Vivien's blue Rolls Royce.

While in Paris, they stayed at the Hotel Raphael-- in separate rooms, of course. The couple visited one of Vivien’s favorite designers, Pierre Balmain. Her purpose in visiting was twofold: 1) Balmain would be creating her clothes for The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone and 2) she wanted something new for her personal wardrobe. At the House of Balmain, Vivien tried on approximately a dozen dresses. She finally settled on a dress with a matching coat, after Jack gave his approval of the outfit by saying, That’s the one, darling. You look wonderful.

Jack and Vivien attended the opening night of the ballet, La Belle Au Bois Dormant (aka Sleeping Beauty), on Thursday night. The play was produced by the Marquis de Cuevas and held at the Theater des Champs-Elysees. Cuevas was quite ill and attended the show’s premiere in a wheelchair.

Vivien wore her new ensemble from Balmain’s to the premiere, while Jack wore a classic tuxedo. Vivien's matching coat and dress were both made from the same red patterned, satin, material. The coat featured a collar with lapels, which ended just at the dress’ bodice. The coat’s sleeves were three-quarters in length. The evening dress featured a wrapped bodice, with a low cut V.

Jack and Vivien are pictured leaving the ballet. I know this isn't the best quality, but I wanted to share anyway, to show off the full length of the dress. 

Thanks for joining me for today's Fashion Friday post!

Fashion Friday #7: Gone With The Wind in Atlanta

In December, 1939, Atlanta fell under the spell of David Selznick's masterpiece, Gone With the Wind. The mayor of Atlanta, William Hartsfield, declared a three day holiday to celebrate the movie's premiere at Loew's Grand Theater on Peachtree Street. Three of the main cast members flew in from Hollywood, which included Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable and Olivia de Havilland. Other celebrities attending the premiere included David Selznick, along with his wife Irene Selznick, Laurence Olivier, Carole Lombard and Claudette Colbert.

On Thursday, December 14th, Vivien and other cast members attended the Junior League Ball. Vivien's dress for this event was specifically designed for her by Walter Plunkett, the costume designer for Gone With the Wind.

Vivien's black evening gown was made from lyons velvet, a stiff and thick velvet fabric fashionable at the time of the premiere. The dress featured a fitted bodice, trimmed in white ermine, and sleeves capped off by ermine and ermine tails. From Vivien's waist, the dress flared out into a wide, full skirt. Willard George designed her cape, made from ermine and their black tails. Paul Flato designed Vivien's jewelry for the evening, which featured a diamond butterfly clip for her hair, a diamond & ruby bracelet and a diamond bow ring.

Below is a formal, publicity photo of Vivien in her Junior League Ball gown, which really showcases the skirt.

Also in attendance at the Junior League Ball was Laura Hope Crews, better known as Aunt Pittypat, and Ona Munson, the film's Belle Watling. The two ladies came dressed as their characters from Gone With the Wind.

Laura Hope Crews wore a gray taffeta [dress] with grey bengaline shoes, black silk stockings, blue net scarf, blue mittens, blue lace and ivory fan and a gray lace and blue velvet cap. To complete her outfit, Miss Crews topped her natural hair with Aunt Pittypat's blonde wig. The mittens referenced are the fingerless gloves Laura is seen wearing in the photo below.

Ona Munson also wore her Belle Watling red wig, which complemented her outfit made from cerise taffeta ...[with] silken folds under the skirt. Her four petticoats were embroidered eyelet, hooped and plain. She wore pantalets and a bustle. Her accessories were roses, gold bells, a purple net scarf and a pair of bell earrings. Bell earrings for Belle!

Clark Gable and Carole Lombard also attended the Junior League ball. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find a description of Carole's outfit. They are pictured with Atlanta Mayor William Hartsfield and his daughter, Mildred, who was lucky enough to sit next to Gable for the evening's festivities. Mildred's dress was heavy yellow moire taffeta striped with gray, featuring a square neck and long sleeves. Both the neck and sleeves were trimmed with old cream lace. The dress had a tiny waist and full skirt worn over crinoline petticoats. She wore an old gold necklace with pendants and gold drop earrings. In  her hair she wore yellow ribbon bows and on her shoulder she wore yellow orchids with red throats. Black lace mittens, black velvet bag and cape completed her costume. Wow, she's got a lot going on! 

The next evening, December 15th, saw the premiere of Gone With the Wind. Once again, Vivien chose to wear a Walter Plunkett gown. This lamé gown was a brilliant gold, perfectly setting off Vivien's dark brown hair with its hints of reddishness. As with her Junior League gown, publicity portraits were taken of Vivien in her gold dress.

The gown is of gold lame, draped in Oriental fashion, with harem hem line and draped girdle accenting the small waist. Girdle and the short sleeves are quilted in rose pattern and studded with gold sequins. Vivien's jewelry featured an acorn and leaf design, fashioned from topaz and diamonds. The matching necklace and bracelet resided quite nicely in its gold setting as did the princess cut topaz ring on her pinkie.

Vivien's unofficial date for the evening was the sharply dressed Laurence Olivier, recent star of "Wuthering Heights." Olivier's tuxedo was made from a dark coloured wool, with stripes only a shade lighter than the suit. The top coat featured tails, pointed lapels and a left breast pocket. The matching pants came with a five button fly.  His tux was specially created for him by Roche and Pollock in September, 1939. 

Also, in attendance at the premiere, was author Margaret Mitchell. She wore a fashionable pink full skirted tulle gown, a full length white velvet evening coat, a pink bow in her hair, and a camellia corsage given to her by the producers. (Atlanta History Center) Below is a photo of Mitchell's full length coat, along with a picture of her wearing the coat while speaking to the crowds. One can get a slight glimpse of her long skirt as the pink tulle dress plays peek-a-boo with her evening coat.

Mitchell's dress featured a fitted bodice, with off the shoulder sleeves. She's pictured seated, in between Jock Whitney (financial backer of GWTW) and her husband, John Marsh (wearing the glasses).

Carole Lombard, aka Mrs. Clark Gable, also attended the premiere, on the arm of her man. She wore a medieval cape of blush satin with a train, [which matched her gown]. Blush is in the pink-color family. I love Carole's netted hood. It must've been quite striking against her blonde hair.

Here's Ona Munson as she arrives at the premiere and poses for photographers. Ona's wearing a dark, green velvet, evening gown with a fur jacket and corsage.

The two ladies, in antebellum costumes, next to Ona are twin sisters, Virginia and Charlotte Starr. They were two of the thirty girls selected to act as hostesses for Gone With the Wind's premiere.

Finally, here's Olivia de Havilland, arriving at the theater with Jock Whitney, whom she also sat next to throughout the show. Olivia wore a black velvet evening gown with an ermine fur jacket. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find a full length photo of Olivia in her evening gown.

Thanks for joining me for today's Fashion Friday post!


Unless otherwise noted, all italicized dress descriptions are from Herb Bridges. 

Fashion Friday #6: The Woman In Fashion

In 1949, Doris Langley Moore published The Woman In Fashion. This book featured clothing and accessories from Moore's private collection covering the years 1800 to 1927. Moore gathered several famous ladies (actresses, ballerinas, society ladies, editors and opera singers) to model her collection. Some of the models for the book included: Rachel Kempson- with her daughters Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave, Googie Withers, Margot Fonteyn, Beatrice Lillie, Sally Ann Howes and of course, Vivien Leigh.

Doris Langley Moore

Doris Elizabeth Langley Moore came into this world on July 23rd, 1902. One internet bio of Moore states that she grew up in South Africa and returned to England in the early 1920s. She became a fashion collector and historian, scholar, author, Lord Byron authority, co-founder of the Costume Society, wife and mother.

Ms. Moore founded the Museum of Costume in Bath (now known as The Fashion Museum), in 1963, though she'd been planning a fashion museum for decades. In an interview she gave in 1938, Moore said that at the end of each year, she was putting away at least two dresses (evening and day), with accessories, for her future museum. Her idea behind doing this was so that people of the next century may have a perfect picture of changing fashions, year by year.

Below are the descriptions of the dresses that Vivien wears in The Woman In Fashion. The descriptions are quoted directly from the book.

From 1877,  here's the first dress modeled by Vivien Leigh in The Woman In Fashion:

This bottle green gabardine tunic, trimmed with intricate embroidery and coloured fringe and worn over a black half trained skirt was the beginning of my collection. Bought in Paris by a woman accustomed to spend substantial sums on dress, it was preserved among family relics until it ultimately made its way into my possession.  The dress... is buttoned nearly all the way down, a style which was revived -in very different shape- during the First World War under the name of the coat frock. In the eighteen-seventies it was called the matinee and was described in The Ladies' Treasury as the proper costume worn when ladies enter the billiard room for the purpose of playing billiards or bagatelle.

It has sleeves of comfortable width, terminating a little above the wrist, but lengthened in this case by a black chiffon frill, pleated and ruched, which falls over the hand. The neck-line... is fairly high, but not, as in the years to come, actually covering the neck. The future trend is indicated, however, by the black velvet ribbon on which hangs a locket. The bustle has greatly diminished in size. A mere pad now suffices to effect the desired protuberance.

The little round topped hat, worn towards the back of the head has a straw crown and a turned up satin brim. By a compensatory impulse, the forehead was invariably more or less covered with a fringe. Aesthetic ladies had their fringes cut straight and despised curling tongs, but almost no one committed the defiance of completely exposing the forehead.

From 1883:

We see in this gold coloured brocade evening dress the last phase in the transition between the tied back costume and the revival of the large bustle....

The back drapery of Miss Leigh's dress is lined with gold satin, and a kilting of the same material appears at the bottom of the skirt between the deep indentations of the satin bound border.  The front drapery is of lace in a dark yellow shade, and is drawn up a la blanchisseuse or a las laveuse [washerwomen].

The bodice is laced down the entire back opening, surely the most inconvenient of all nineteenth century modes, for it meant that the dress could not by any possibility be fastened except with a second person's assistance, and even then not rapidly.

The decolletage is of very moderate depth and is square in shape. There is a trimming matching that of the skirt. The lace covered sleeves reach to the elbow- a length that wouldn't have been permissible with full evening dress a few years earlier.

The fan is of an entirely new design recalling a very old one, and is made of the natural feathers of the scarlet ibis set off by white swansdown and a humming bird.

From 1898:

A black velvet jacket, relieved with white and embroidered handsomely with steel beads and a half-trained black broche skirt appropriately trimmed make a carriage toilette suitable for visits of ceremony. A certain sense of formality is conveyed by the sable and velvet bonnet, now a little suggestive of ancien regime. The bonnet was, in fact, persistently worn, after it was otherwise outmoded, by those who sustained the character of grande dame.

To judge from the prevalence of lorgnettes in the smartest nineties fashion plates, they were sometimes used rather as an attribute of stateliness-- a counterblast to the undignified modern sporting girl- than through any epidemic of myopia.

The Woman In Fashion is a lovely book for those interested in fashion. The book is 184 pages in length, containing 108 black & white illustrations and one color illustration.


A list of other works, fiction and non-fiction, by Moore:
All Done By Kindness
The Child in Fashion
The Technique of the Love Affair
Pleasure: A Discursive Guide Book
My Caravaggio Style
Marie and the Duke of H
Fashion through Fashion Plates, 1771-1970
The Museum of Costume Assembly Rooms Bath, Guide to the Exhibition and A Commentary on the Trends of Fashion
E. Nesbit: A Biography
The Great Byron Adventure
The Late Lord Byron
The Late Lord Byron: Posthumous Dramas
Lord Byron
Lord Byron Accounts Rendered
Ada, Countess of Lovelace
Pandora's Letter-Box: Being a Discourse on Fashionable Life
The Pleasure of Your Company: a Textbook of Hospitality, co-authored with June Langley Moore
The Vulgar Heart: an enquiry into the sentimental tendencies of public opinion
Doris Langley Moore's Book of Scraps: New Verses for Old Pictures
A Game of Snakes and Ladders
Not At Home
The Quest (a ballet)
Carlotta Grisi by Serge Lifar, translated by Moore
Gallery of fashion 1790-1822 from plates by Heideloff and Ackermann (contributor)
Victorian Jewellery by Margaret Flower with a contributing chapter by Moore