Talking pictures : how they are made and how to appreciate them (1937)

Costuming the Picture costumes in The Great Ziegfeld required over fifty yards of light material each. The designer and the producer of the picture felt that the expenditure was more than justified when the first appearance of the costumes brought exclamations of delight from the audience at the first preview of the film. When a modern story is to be made, the gown designer will prepare water-color sketches of his ideas. He mav do fifty or sixtv of these, offering three or four conceptions each of fifteen or more gowns that the feminine star will use during the picture. Then the procedure is as follows: He goes over these sketches with the star, the director, and the associate producer. Selections are made. The crowns are then cut and assembled on forms. These forms are an exhibit in themselves, for they are the exact size of the player. When an actress joins a studio, a form is modeled to her exact measurements. Thereafter, all but final fittings are made on this form. All forms are kept up-to-date each month, by padding or removing padding in order to keep pace with changes in the star's figure. The system saves time. Because of it, fittings are unnecessary and in an hour a star can try on a dozen completed crowns with the certaintv that onlv very minor 1 C? J.J changes, if anv, will be necessarv. While gowns for a new picture are being made, a star may continue work on a current production. In emergencies, a well-equipped studio wardrobe can do seemingly miraculous things. A few years ago, a [ 115]