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Post by snsurone on Jun 7, 2018 23:44:48 GMT
Today, there was a mini-marathon of the Astaire-Rogers musicals.
I gotta say that Ginger's wardrobe was breathtaking.
Especially the evening gowns she wore in most of her dances with Fred.
Of course, she made other films for RKO, and I suppose her costuming reflected her economic status, such as in STAGE DOOR, where her clothing reflected her relative poverty.
But I especially love her gowns, with loose-fitting skirts that swirled as she danced.
I suppose they would be considered rather "daring" to later generations, especially in the '40's, where ladies' evening wear had long sleeves and high necks.
In the old format, I had started a thread on the ROBERTA board, saying that Claire Dodds' gown, described as "ugly and vulgar" in the movie, was actually the most beautiful dress in the movie.
There were a number of replies commenting on the beauty of Rogers' wardrobe, especially in the finale.
Orry-Kelly was a genius.
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Post by teleadm on Jun 8, 2018 15:46:41 GMT
 I've heard a story about this dress, that when ever they swirled, a lot of those feather felled off, but they managed to shoot it in a way that it's hardly noticable in the movie (that I have forgot the name of).  Another Orry-Kelly creation.  Ginger and Orry-Kelly again  Orry-Kelly digging some music, or trying to get some inspiration for his next movie dresses. |
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Post by snsurone on Jun 8, 2018 15:49:06 GMT
tele, the movie is TOP HAT, and the two were dancing to the music of "Cheek to Cheek".
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Post by teleadm on Jun 8, 2018 16:38:27 GMT
tele, the movie is TOP HAT, and the two were dancing to the music of "Cheek to Cheek". Offcourse!!! Top Hat and Cheek to Cheek |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Jun 8, 2018 20:55:17 GMT
I don't mean to rain on all this deserved appreciation for Orry-Kelly, but I'm pretty sure he never worked on any of the Astaire-Rogers pictures. He was at Warner Bros from the early '30s into the '40s, a favorite of Kay Francis and Bette Davis, and the only Ginger Rogers picture he worked on - as far as I know - was Gold Diggers Of 1933.
Over at RKO, Bernard Newman was the designer with the most Astaire-Rogers credits: Roberta, Top Hat, Follow the Fleet and Swing Time (he also did Rogers's gowns for the Astaire-less films Star Of Midnight, In Person and Vivacious Lady). Walter Plunkett worked on Flying Down To Rio, The Gay Divorcee and The Story Of Vernon and Irene Castle. Irene did Shall We Dance, and Howard Greer (of whom I'd never heard) dressed Rogers for Carefree.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Jun 8, 2018 21:34:39 GMT
This story about the feathered dress is especially ( but not olly) for teleadm  "For the "Cheek to Cheek" number, Ginger Rogers wanted to wear an elaborate blue dress heavily decked out with ostrich feathers. When director Mark Sandrich and Fred Astaire saw the dress, they knew it would be impractical for the dance. Sandrich suggested that Rogers wear the white gown she had worn performing "Night and Day" in The Gay Divorcee (1934). Rogers walked off the set, finally returning when Sandrich agreed to let her wear the offending blue dress. As there was no time for rehearsals, Ginger Rogers wore the blue feathered dress for the first time during filming, and as Astaire and Sandrich had feared, feathers started coming off the dress. Astaire later claimed it was like "a chicken being attacked by a coyote". In the final film, some stray feathers can be seen drifting off it. To patch up the rift between them, Astaire presented Rogers with a locket of a gold feather. This was the origin of Rogers' nickname "Feathers". The shedding feathers episode was recreated to hilarious results in a scene from Easter Parade (1948) in which Fred Astaire danced with a clumsy, comical dancer played by Judy Garland. " "Fred Astaire and Hermes Pan made up joke lyrics to the tune of "Cheek to Cheek": "Feathers, I hate feathers/And I hate them so that I can hardly speak/And I never find the happiness I seek/With those chicken feathers dancing cheek to cheek." More trivia at this link |
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Post by BATouttaheck on Jun 8, 2018 21:40:46 GMT
Here's a photo of Bernard Newman with Ginger, Doghouse6 Another of those talented "behind the scenes folks" who many of us may have never heard of but whose work we have long admired. Bernard Newman IMDb link |
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Post by petrolino on Jun 9, 2018 1:47:02 GMT
I feel like Ginger Rogers could make anything fly. Very adaptable.
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Post by snsurone on Jun 9, 2018 2:12:34 GMT
And let's never forget that she did everything that Fred did--only backwards and in high heels!
LOL
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Post by snsurone on Jun 10, 2018 17:18:38 GMT
Seems that costume design was a male bailiwick in classic era of Hollywood.
The only female designers were Irene and Edith Head.
That strikes me as rather odd; you'd think that women would know better what looks good on actresses than men.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Jun 10, 2018 17:36:55 GMT
for anyone who is interested in seeing the names of some COSTUME DESIGNERS (male and female ) for Hollywood Movies here's a Wiki-Link Academy_Award_for_Best_Costume_Design#Winners_and_nominees
I realize that posting links in reply to an OP is one of the tell-tale signs of being a troll but there it is, anyway ! |
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Post by teleadm on Jun 12, 2018 16:57:08 GMT
I don't mean to rain on all this deserved appreciation for Orry-Kelly, but I'm pretty sure he never worked on any of the Astaire-Rogers pictures. He was at Warner Bros from the early '30s into the '40s, a favorite of Kay Francis and Bette Davis, and the only Ginger Rogers picture he worked on - as far as I know - was Gold Diggers Of 1933. Over at RKO, Bernard Newman was the designer with the most Astaire-Rogers credits: Roberta, Top Hat, Follow the Fleet and Swing Time (he also did Rogers's gowns for the Astaire-less films Star Of Midnight, In Person and Vivacious Lady). Walter Plunkett worked on Flying Down To Rio, The Gay Divorcee and The Story Of Vernon and Irene Castle. Irene did Shall We Dance, and Howard Greer (of whom I'd never heard) dressed Rogers for Carefree. In my defence, I wrote "ginger rogers" and "Orry-Kelly" on Google Image, and those pics popped up among many others, so I assumed they were Orry-Kelly creations.  |
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Post by teleadm on Jun 12, 2018 17:02:12 GMT
This story about the feathered dress is especially ( but not olly) for teleadm "For the "Cheek to Cheek" number, Ginger Rogers wanted to wear an elaborate blue dress heavily decked out with ostrich feathers. When director Mark Sandrich and Fred Astaire saw the dress, they knew it would be impractical for the dance. Sandrich suggested that Rogers wear the white gown she had worn performing "Night and Day" in The Gay Divorcee (1934). Rogers walked off the set, finally returning when Sandrich agreed to let her wear the offending blue dress. As there was no time for rehearsals, Ginger Rogers wore the blue feathered dress for the first time during filming, and as Astaire and Sandrich had feared, feathers started coming off the dress. Astaire later claimed it was like "a chicken being attacked by a coyote". In the final film, some stray feathers can be seen drifting off it. To patch up the rift between them, Astaire presented Rogers with a locket of a gold feather. This was the origin of Rogers' nickname "Feathers". The shedding feathers episode was recreated to hilarious results in a scene from Easter Parade (1948) in which Fred Astaire danced with a clumsy, comical dancer played by Judy Garland. " "Fred Astaire and Hermes Pan made up joke lyrics to the tune of "Cheek to Cheek": "Feathers, I hate feathers/And I hate them so that I can hardly speak/And I never find the happiness I seek/With those chicken feathers dancing cheek to cheek." More trivia at this linkHere's another trivia: When Fred Astaire made Daddy Long Legs 1955, Leslie Caron wanted to design her own clothes for some scenes where they should dance together, Astaire said "OK, but no feathers!" refering to his experience with Top Hat. |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Jun 12, 2018 17:36:56 GMT
I don't mean to rain on all this deserved appreciation for Orry-Kelly, but I'm pretty sure he never worked on any of the Astaire-Rogers pictures. He was at Warner Bros from the early '30s into the '40s, a favorite of Kay Francis and Bette Davis, and the only Ginger Rogers picture he worked on - as far as I know - was Gold Diggers Of 1933. Over at RKO, Bernard Newman was the designer with the most Astaire-Rogers credits: Roberta, Top Hat, Follow the Fleet and Swing Time (he also did Rogers's gowns for the Astaire-less films Star Of Midnight, In Person and Vivacious Lady). Walter Plunkett worked on Flying Down To Rio, The Gay Divorcee and The Story Of Vernon and Irene Castle. Irene did Shall We Dance, and Howard Greer (of whom I'd never heard) dressed Rogers for Carefree. In my defence, I wrote "ginger rogers" and "Orry-Kelly" on Google Image, and those pics popped up among many others, so I assumed they were Orry-Kelly creations. Yeah, those things happen all the time with image searches; no worries. Of those you posted, the first is Newman's feather-and-satin gown for Top Hat (although Ginger said more than once that she designed it); the sheer black creation in the second was by Irene for Shall We Dance; the third with the slacks may actually be an Orry-Kelly, as it appears to be from Ginger's pre-Astaire Warner Bros period (although I can't identify the film). |
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