Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1918)

64 Photoplay Magazine when I am asked to outline the male costumes for an elaborate modern feature, is for the story. I want to get acquainted not only with the characters to be portrayed, but to follow them as artistically as possible through all their falls and rises of fortune. Obviously I cannot put the London modes on the self-made graduate of a freshwater college — nor will that graduate be the same, in appearance, when he has been two years in New York. As to the types of clothes, it is necessary for each man to have a slight, perhaps almost imperceptible, alteration of the prevailing mode for his particular needs. "Correct winter modes for the middle-aged man, 1918," is a pleasant fiction of the ready-made clothes advertisements. No two men are built alike, have the same features, nor the same manner. Standardization of clothes may get by very nicely in the street — but it won't do for a twelve-foot man on an eighteen-foot screen, viewed in the aggregate by millions and millions of critical eyes. To have the reputation of "a well-dressed actor" depends upon more than the size of one's wardrobe. A "type" dresser is probably the best dresser of all, for he is one who, finding the best "line" in his clothes adheres to that line, which brings out all his good points and muffles any defects of face or figure, to a certain extent at least. Of course a motion-picture actor who has a reputation for correctness cannot maintain this on two or three slovenly-cared-for suits of clothes. He must have proper clothing for any occasion — and then he must lend his wardrobe continual care to keep it in perfect condition. In my continual repression of "freak" clothes I must still give individuality all the latitude I can possibly allow it. For instance — I make all of the things for a certain famous director-general. The only long trousers that this man has worn in three years belong to his evening attire! His only desire in his other suits is an extreme negligee — yet the coat and trousers that accompany his puttees must be of the finest material, in quiet, negative shades. Consider a great comedian whom you all know. This little fellow on the screen is so ridiculous in his grotesque and ill-fitting outfit that his monotype clothes are as dis tinctive as his fun-making. In private life his limited wardrobe is one of extreme simplicity, and always that of a gentleman who hates anything ostentatious in any way. Or a world-renowned director who has a passion for quiet grays: this celebrated gentleman considers negligees a quasi-artistic pose. He never wore puttees in his life, and were you to find him in his most strenuous working moment you would only behold — sartorially — a mature, well-dressed business man. To handle the star of the screen is in itself an art, because an actor who is a real actor necessarily has a certain amount of temperament, and to work with him it is necessary to be indulgent a great many times. Nevertheless I have not found one who is not a loyal friend — and more, possessed of the right dressing instincts himself, once those instincts are turned into the proper channels. Two seasons since a big firm decided to take a prominent young "Coast Defender" East. He came to me, so anxious to have the proper attire that he had outlined the designs himself, in advance. He felt very much hurt when I told him that however his fall styles might "go" j in small-town personal appearances, he could hardly hope to displace John Drew as a Brummel in New York. But he learned — that boy; and today my admonitions are not; needed to keep him correct as any gentleman who ever walked down Piccadilly. The whole motion picture business has evolved, in costuming, as it has evolved in everything else. We are entering the age of screen gentlemen. I think it is profoundly important that men dress correctly on the screen, because the screen must be, more and more, the world's one great arbiter of fashion. The stage does not reach one per cent of the people who see motion pictures. The motion picture will logically become the supreme fashion plate. This is a most interesting age for a tailor to live in — if he has artistic instincts and an imagination. We are probably on the verge of some profound changes in attire; just what, I have no idea. The influence of military affairs on dress has not yet begun, as far as it affects the civilian, but it will undoubtedly be great. "Work or Fright?" THE lines before the various film studios made up of men looking for work have always been long enough to cause comment. But this picture, snapped before the World Film Studios in Fort Lee, N. J., shows the record line of any studio, any time. It was the morning after Crowder declared the moving picture a war essential. "Work or fight!" said General Crowder; but are all of these men looking for jobs because of their love of art? The end of the line cannot be seen for the reason that — like a railroad track — it disappears into the horizon.