A noteworthy event of 20th century American fashion was the emergence of the film costume designer as an influence on everyday fashion. Prior to the 30s, Hollywood imported European fashion designers to bring some much needed style and class to their offerings after the excesses of the 20s. When the Paris designers returned home, Hollywood designers came in to their own designing both period epics and modern fashion features. Due to the success of both the film industry and the untiring efforts of the studio publicity departments, many costume designers became house hold names and used this recognition when they made the shift to fashion design. They were certainly helped in the USA by the absence of French and English fashion during the war years. By the time their houses closed in the 50s and 60s, the influence of film designers on retail fashion had begun to fade. Today even most fashionistas can't name a film costume designer. And yet in their day designers such as Howard Greer, Adrian, Irene, Helen Rose, Edith Head and Travis Banton were as well known in the US and even internationally as many Couture designers. The greatest of them all was possibly Adrian, whose work in film and fashion influenced much of American fashion in the 1940s. His fashion work commands serious attention to this day. Greer was an earlier star, but his work went on for years, and was seen as recently as 2005 when Sarah Jessica Parker wore a black and pink Greer dress to the CFDA awards. Both Irene's and Helen Rose's work continues to be highly collectible. Banton and Head, while influential, never attempted their own wholesale houses.
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Written by Hollis Jenkins-Evans/pastperfectvintage.com
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HOWARD GREER, 1886 - 1974. Greer was an earlier designer than Adrian, and as well known in his day. Like Adrian, Howard Greer was credited by Vogue with "a sixth sense about the fashion future." Greer got his start as a sketch artist for Lucile, Ltd. in 1916. He served in World War I on the front line in Europe, staying in Paris afterward and working for Lucile, Molyneux and Poiret. Greer returned to New York in 1921, and became a costume designer for Famous Players Lasky, the forerunner of Paramount. He designed primarily modern dress films with glamorous wardrobes for the star, no matter what her social standing. In Designing Male he stated: "Designing for the silver screen is a highly specialized talent. The dramatic flare necessary on film is often too flamboyant and exaggerated for private wear, and, by the same token, subtleties of color, fabric and drapery in three-dimensional clothes can be utterly devoid of personality and interest before the camera". According to David Chierichetti, "One of Greer's greatest assets was his ability to understand the vibrant personalities of the Paramount ladies, and translate them into clothes". Greer's contract ran until 1927, when he left Paramount, to work in custom clothing and leave the black and white constraints of film.
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Written by Hollis Jenkins-Evans/pastperfectvintage.com
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ADRIAN, 1903 - 1959. Adrian was born Adrian Adolph Greenberg. As a teenager he changed his name to Gilbert Adrian in 1922. His father was Gilbert Greenberg, who later changed his own last name to Adrian to signal pride in his son's accomplishments. Adrian started out in costume design working with Irving Berlin and later George White's Scandals.
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Written by Hollis Jenkins-Evans/pastperfectvintage.com
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IRENE ,1907 -1962. Born in South Dakota, Irene Lentz made her way to Southern California by 1927 where she started in film as a dress extra. Irene studied at the Wolfe School of Design, and opened a dress shop, Irene of California, on the campus of UCLA at the urging of her husband Dick Jones. Attracting the notice of such stars as Lupe Velez and Dolores del Rio, Irene caught on and became a success.
She closed the shop at the death of her husband. After spending time in Paris, Irene returned to California and opened a second shop in 1933, first across from the Hollywood Bowl, then on Sunset Boulevard. Her windows gained the notice of Bullock's-Wilshire, and she went under contract to them as the head of their Costume Design Studio where the duties were to design fashions for stars to wear in films.
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Written by Hollis Jenkins-Evans/pastperfectvintage.com
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HELEN ROSE, 1904 - 1985. Helen Rose studied in Chicago before journeying to Los Angeles in 1929. She started with Ice Follies costumes and designed musical sequences for Fox under the direction of Fanchon and Marco. She went to Twentieth Century Fox in 1943 and signed with MGM in 1944. Rose stayed with MGM until the 1960s. She was much admired by the stars of the 1950s, especially the younger women she dressed while Irene tended to the more established players. She was considered a strong designer for musicals which had become MGM's focus. Rose's best film work was fashion oriented rather than historically accurate. As a film designer and a fashion designer, she often used the same fabrics for both, despite the fabric being incorrect for period films. Rose’s wedding dresses became a must for the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Ann Blyth, Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds, and Pier Angeli among others.
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