Many of you might be aware of the recent auction at which Debbie Reynolds sold her vast collection of Hollywood costumes and memorabilia. (Here’s where you can get the program if you’d like a look. It is fascinating.) The ‘big ticket’ items fetched big prices as expected, perhaps most notably was Marilyn Monroe’s subway dress from The Seven Year Itch, which went for $4.6 million.
I’ve had this post in my drafts for a long time now, and it spurred me on to think – if I had a lot of money to drop on a favourite dress(es) from the movies, what would those be?
I give you my Top Ten.
#1 – Grace Kelly in Edith Head, Rear Window
It is one of the most famous shots in a Hitchcock movie – or any movie, really. James Stewart wakes up groggy from a nap when who should loom into focus, slowly, exquisitely, but Grace Kelly for a kiss. A little while later, they discuss her dress:
Kelly: [It is] A steal at eleven-hundred dollars. Stewart: Eleven-hundred? They oughta list that dress on the stock exchange.
I can understand his incredulity. Paying over a grand for a dress these days is expensive enough, so just imagine how much it would’ve been in the fifties. Kelly pulls off this look (and all the high-end others) with her usual cheeky sophistication and moxy. Both of which she needs in this film, as she gets into some hairy situations while she and Stewart try to prove that Raymond Burr is a wife-murderer.
#2 – Keira Knightley in Jacqueline Durran, Atonement
The dress which went straight into many ‘Best Costumes Ever’ lists – and with good reason. In it, Keira Knightley was flashy, confident, and sleek. As she walked along the floor, with the bottom hem lapping around her ankles, she exuded purpose. In that light, James MacAvoy didn’t have a chance. Of course, she’s probably of only a handful of women who can wear a dress that accentuates the hips and pelvis the way this one does and wear it well.
#3 Jeanette MacDonald in Adrian, Maytime
Adrian is possibly my favourite costume designer. This dress from Maytime may not be the best example or most famous of his work, but it is one very close to my heart. Maytime is my favourite Eddy/MacDonald movie, and this is the dress she wore to the May Day fair the day she and Eddy fall in love. As a child I loved its flounciness and layers; the rosette at the bust and the way it sat on (or almost off) her shoulder. I suppose one of the benefits of black and white movies is that it encourages one to imagine what something looks like in ‘real life, and that is what I did.
#4 Vivan Leigh in Walter Plunkett, Gone With The Wind
Ah, Scarlett O’Hara’s picnic dress, the one Mammie chides her for wearing (“You can’t show your bosom ‘fore three o’clock!”). My first favourite dress. Also, I’ve often wondered if the introduction of green velvet here – just a little – was a way of foreshadowing what was to come for her character. After all, later, she dresses herself in pure green velvet from recycled curtains to trick Rhett into believing she was still rich. The green to red velvet (seen next) changes I’m sure could been seen as green = green girl, inexperienced to red = passionate, lustful.
#5 Vivian Leigh in Walter Plunkett, Gone With The Wind
Here’s the aforementioned dress, a dress with many descendants, for I cannot see Winona Ryder’s red dress in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (by Eiko Ishioka), Nicole Kidman’s in Moulin Rouge (by Catherine Martin and Angus Strathie), or #8 (see below) without being reminded just a little of this one. Maybe I’m alone in that! This is a dress forced upon Scarlett, though, by Rhett, to really ‘show up’ those who gossip about her and Ashley around town. Therefore it is a dress without a happy circumstance; it is surrounded by scandal, as it glints in the light.
#6 Marilyn Monroe in Orry Kelly, Some Like It Hot
Here’s one with an Australian connection: Orry-Kelly (born Kiama, New South Wales) had a very long career in Hollywood. Some Like It Hot (if you’ve not seen it, you must) is one of the most beloved comedies of all time, but when I was a child I spent the better part of it squinting at this dress, confused (and scandalised) because I was certain I was seeing Marilyn’s nipples. I wasn’t – but that was the point, of course. To keep us guessing and keep our attention.
#7 – Emma Watson in Jamy Temime in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
You first see her peek out shyly before coming down the steps at the Yule Ball, lovely in pink satin, ruffled skirt, and with a simple purple ribbon tied around the waist. “She looks beautiful,” it is whispered, and so she does.
This might show my age, but when I first saw it I nodded approvingly thinking it was quite age appropriate.
#8 – Judy Garland in Irene Sharaff in Meet Me In St Louis
Nothing screams Christmas movie for me more than a dress like this from Meet Me In St Louis. Seasonal red, bringing out the tones in her hair, with a sweetheart neckline and a simple string of pearls.
#9 – Billie Burke in Adrian in The Wizard of Oz
Note the designer, Adrian again. An iconic dress, seen and spoofed many times since, most recently (for me) on the Halloween episode of Community. When I was a child I couldn’t get over the sparkles, how the sleeves looked like spun sugar, her crown like toffee, and the fabric seemed to be fairy floss-touch soft.
I might have been a touch obsessed.
Adiran also designed the famous ruby slippers. According to Wikipedia there are approximately 2300 beads per shoe and he only added the bow on the top two weeks before shooting began.
#10 – Olivia de Havilland in Milo Anderson in The Adventures of Robin Hood
This #10 was open to so many potential candidates, but I chose this Milo Anderson dress because I love this Robin Hood (still the best, IMO) and this scene in the forest where Maid Marian begins to see for the first time that Robin Hood isn’t a bandit or a criminal, but a hero. She’s feisty (you can tell here from the hand on her hip) and I always loved that regal combination of the purple and maroon over the metallic silver, all made resplendent by Technicolour.
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Tell me what dresses are your favourites from the movies. I fear a girlfriend of mine may never forgive me for not choosing an Audrey Hepburn gown! These are the agonies of choice, I’m afraid 😉
