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Classic Hollywood Style
Classic Hollywood Style explores iconic looks from the golden era of Hollywood, covering 35 films from the 1920s to the end of the 1960s. Caroline Young looks at the history and social context of the costumes through stories from the production, photos, interviews and original costume design sketches, and tips on how to 'get the look' today.
While we celebrate the glacial elegance of Grace Kelly and the skin-tight sexiness of Marilyn Monroe, behind every look on screen was the costume designer who shaped the image. In the golden age of Hollywood, designers like Edith Head, Adrian and Travis Banton became stars in their own right. Women queued up to see the latest Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo release to lust after the glamorous costumes the stars would wear on screen. Department stores shamelessly mass-produced copies of gowns, film magazines would preview the new looks and women ran up their own versions on their sewing machines. In the 1960s women lowered their hems and sported berets to look just like Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde. Even today, an article on the little black dress will inevitably make mention of Audrey Hepburn.
Every one of these films has perfectly captured a moment of fashion zeitgeist or has become an indelible image of cinema, whether it is Garbo in a trenchcoat in A Woman of Affairs, Joan Crawford's shoulder pads in Mildred Pierce, Rita Hayworth's strapless dress in Gilda, James Dean's red windbreaker in Rebel Without a Cause or Steve McQueen's ivy league style in The Thomas Crown Affair. Through archived records, studio press releases, behind the scenes memos, costume designer sketches and notes, censorship records and articles from magazines of the time, this is a behind-the-scenes look at the classic costumes of the silver screen.
While we celebrate the glacial elegance of Grace Kelly and the skin-tight sexiness of Marilyn Monroe, behind every look on screen was the costume designer who shaped the image. In the golden age of Hollywood, designers like Edith Head, Adrian and Travis Banton became stars in their own right. Women queued up to see the latest Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo release to lust after the glamorous costumes the stars would wear on screen. Department stores shamelessly mass-produced copies of gowns, film magazines would preview the new looks and women ran up their own versions on their sewing machines. In the 1960s women lowered their hems and sported berets to look just like Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde. Even today, an article on the little black dress will inevitably make mention of Audrey Hepburn.
Every one of these films has perfectly captured a moment of fashion zeitgeist or has become an indelible image of cinema, whether it is Garbo in a trenchcoat in A Woman of Affairs, Joan Crawford's shoulder pads in Mildred Pierce, Rita Hayworth's strapless dress in Gilda, James Dean's red windbreaker in Rebel Without a Cause or Steve McQueen's ivy league style in The Thomas Crown Affair. Through archived records, studio press releases, behind the scenes memos, costume designer sketches and notes, censorship records and articles from magazines of the time, this is a behind-the-scenes look at the classic costumes of the silver screen.
- GenresFilmNonfictionFashionArt
208 pages, Hardcover
First published October 9, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 9, 2017
This was such a great book on Classic Hollywood, I loved it. Classic Hollywood is honestly one of my favorite things, and three Audrey Hepburn films!
September 7, 2012
Caroline Young's background is in Literature, Film and Journalism but her love and appreciation of classic Hollywood fashion is quite evident in this book. She takes a look at 34 films starting with Camille (1921) and ending with The Thomas Crown Affair (1968). Other notable films include Gone With the Wind (1939), Casablanca (1942), Gilda (1946), The Seven Year Itch (1955) and Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). There is a nice mix of popular films as well as some lesser known ones. There are 3 films from the 1920s, 7 films from the 1930s, 8 films from the 1940s, 11 films from the 1950s and 4 films from the 1960s. Each movie gets 3 spreads, 6 pages total with a couple movies getting an extra spread, 2 pages. There are many full page images but the focus really is on the text. Young explores the decision making of the fashion, the relationship between designer and star, the cultural influence of the film's fashion as well as the role the fashion plays in each film.
There was a big error in the book in which the author claims Joan Crawford was the queen of MGM in the 1930s when that actual title went to Norma Shearer. This error rubbed me the wrong way. If the author and publisher were willing to fix it, I'd bump my review to 4 stars. It's really an enjoyable read and it's well-researched but I'm a big Norma Shearer fan so I couldn't overlook that big error.
My full review is here: http://outofthepastcfb.blogspot.com/2...
There was a big error in the book in which the author claims Joan Crawford was the queen of MGM in the 1930s when that actual title went to Norma Shearer. This error rubbed me the wrong way. If the author and publisher were willing to fix it, I'd bump my review to 4 stars. It's really an enjoyable read and it's well-researched but I'm a big Norma Shearer fan so I couldn't overlook that big error.
My full review is here: http://outofthepastcfb.blogspot.com/2...
March 14, 2013
Such a glamorous read with amazing pictures and wonderful stories.
It's a shame that it ends suddenly with 1967.
Did you know:
* The Oscar for Best Costumes was not introduced until 1948.
*Male actors had to provide their own wardrobe as most (or in some cases all) of the costume budget for a film went to the ladies wardrobe.
It's a shame that it ends suddenly with 1967.
Did you know:
* The Oscar for Best Costumes was not introduced until 1948.
*Male actors had to provide their own wardrobe as most (or in some cases all) of the costume budget for a film went to the ladies wardrobe.
June 7, 2019
The content is uneven, sometimes it focuses more on the costume designers, sometimes on the actors, sometimes on well-known facts, sometimes on some behind the scenes aspects. As a result, not all chapters are equally interesting or completely representative for the history of costume design (the choice of films included being a subjective one).
But a nice reminder of the gorgeousness of Hollywood film costumes and the efforts that went into creating them.
But a nice reminder of the gorgeousness of Hollywood film costumes and the efforts that went into creating them.
November 12, 2018
Not enough pictures. Prose was too general; not enough about the costumes.
January 10, 2014
If you like either style or movies this book is the bees' knees! Gorgeously laid out, it is a good mix between fabulous photos, clothing history and movie history. It gives great insight to how how the costuming industry worked, how the movies informed fashion and vice versa, and gave me some films to add to my must-watch list. Read it!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews