Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Jul 1929)

18 Do the Stars Dress Badl?? Ruth Holly exhibits a costume which, with variations is seen at Hollywood parties, but nowhere else. Photo by Bull problem. Long discarded by the rest of the country, our standard last is still the awkward, round-toed short vamp. Generally this is used in satin, with a coy bow fastening the straps over the instep. Not one shop in Hollywood carries the natural-vamp last. Our one advantage is the easy informality for people who like it. Sweaters and skirts at dinner, and chiffon or satin dinner dresses at lunch, are accepted and frequent. Gloves are almost unknown. Hats may be worn, or not. Tennis clothes at the theater, afternoon dresses on the links. Even, as in the instance of Clara Bow, an orange bathing suit at a conference of studio executives. There are many who, technically, underdress. By that I mean those who wear the plainest and most conservative clothes practically all the time. These have the law of comfort on their side, and the charm of attractive sports-wear. From one point of view, Greta Garbo is probably the worstdressed woman in Hollywood. She doesn't give a whoop for sartorial competition. She puts on what is nearest, to hand, demanding of it only comfort. It bores her to dress to suit an occasion, so • she seldom does. I suppose she does dress badly, but it is the long, languid Garbo body inside the clothes that counts, so who cares what the clothes are ? Underdressing is negative; the positive error is overdressing. [ • I remember a May fair dance at which Thelma Todd wore her hair, for some dark reason, drawn to one side of her head, and twisted Continued on page 92 eyes extremely darkened, face whitened, lips reddened. And now, whoopee for the clothes ! Clinging, revealing, black satin in midsummer, engulfing furs whenever possible, heavy jewelry at all times, astonishing cigarette holders. Strongly perfumed, brilliantined . coils of hair, narrowed eyes. Mystery— mystery at any cost, even though no one cares to solve it. With the gradual change of the old order, this type is slowly dying out, though still evident. The cult of the individualists has an important position in the local parade. These ladies are indefatigable in their inventiveness". They take the current mode, and then carefully oppose it in every detail. They wear what no one else would, and as often as possible -introduce little originalities no one ever thought of before. Anything, everything, different is worth their experiment. Of them all, only one, whom I shall mention later, experiments successfully. The answer to this disregard of seasonal edicts, for dressing according to type and not fashion, is right here-. The majority of our actresses fall into one or another of the above categories. Some of them look ravishing, some look absurd, none looks smart. Hollywood modistes have learned the nuances, or lack of them, of Hollywood wardrobes. Subtlety is practically unknown. Types are so accentuated as to render every garment a costume. The most obvious feature is that all clothes reveal to varying degrees the figure. I will admit that the Hollywood figure is a thing of beauty and a joy, but not quite forever. Interest in it becomes lethargic when it is in perpetual evidence, even in coats and sports clothes. Eastern visitors find it almost impossible to shop here. „ . . ... -d-h-^ ■c 1 ^ i. i • 4. n • Kz^x. i. x i , ..: j Even in public, Bilhe Everywhere the stock is, naturally, ot that type calculated Dove dresses as if for to supply local demand. Shoes, ' especially, present a the screen. Alice White wears the standard flapper uniform.