That Touch of Gold

Gold lamé dresses are always show stoppers here are my 3 favourites from 3 great films.

Marilyn Monroe's pleated halter neck dress by Travilla, 1953 for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. A stunning dress which needs no explanation.

Joan Crawford's Two Piece; Skirt and bra top by Adrian for The Women 1939. This dress caused a sensation as a bare midriff in eveningwear was unprecedented. Previously there had been backless and sort of back and sideless but nothing as revealing as this.


Joan Bennett in a pleated evening dress with piped hem for Vogues of 1938 designed by Helen Taylor in 1937, a fabulous movie about the theft of a dress collection with lots of the lovely Joan posing in a wide variety of frocks etc. A sort of 42nd Street for the rag trade with the same leading man - the delicious Warner Baxter.

Delman Platform Evening Clogs 1938

Delman introduced the platform evening clogs shown above in 1938 they were intended for the small woman to wear at the theatre or opera or at a dinner party. The evening sandals below are c1948



Herman Delman opened his first shop in Hollywood in 1919 after working for his father in Portland Oregon who had very conservative taste. The Hollywood shop was closely followed by another in New York. He began to design shoes and hired other designers to create a new line that was young and fashionable. His influence
on English shoe design and sizes and fittings in the 1930s was considerable. Delman signed Roger Vivier under an exclusive contract in 1938 but the war got in the way, they worked together in 1941 and on and off again for several years. Delman also had strong associations with Rayne in the 1950s and 60s. The company is still very successful today.

Polka Dot Couture #1 Gres 1955

Fabulous evening gown by Mme Gres
Model Enid Boulting
Photographer Henry Clarke

I find it hard to resist polka dots, any size or colour combination,
so here is the first in a series for all you dotty people out there.

Marsha Hunt in Mainbocher 1935

From 'The Way We Wore' by Marsha Hunt.

"Hollywood and Paris unite in dressing pretty Marsha Hunt for a smart fall fashion parade. Making her picture debut in Paramount's The Virginia Judge, Miss Hunt takes time out to model Mainbocher's stunning green and white tweed ensemble in five pieces. Robert Galer of Hollywood has designed the chamois colored felt hat, which is bound with yarn and banded in green grossgrain. The French Bootier, also in Hollywood, offers a new and smarter version of the laced Oxford in suede and patent leather."


From Wickedlady Collectables.


I bought these shoes for myself last year but alas they are half a size too small (they're 4.5 GB), they are very similar to those Marsha is wearing in the photo above but without the patent toe cap. They date from the late 60s or early 70s. Find them at Wickedlady Collectables. My loss.....

1930s Eau de Nil Silk Evening Shoes by Rayne

I bought these stunning late 1930s evening shoes from Miss Peelpants last year. They are made of eau de nil silk, silver kid and lined with flesh pink leather. The oval rhinestones are nearly 1 cm long. I would guess that these are an American design, the label inside says 'Expressly for H&M Rayne Ltd'. I have also seen a black version at
Shoe Icons which have the whole of the silver kid on the front covered in rhinestones.

This pair fit me beautifully but alas my lifestyle doesn't fit them at all. So I think a 2nd Fantasy Wardrobe is called for As it is fantasy and therefore I can have ANY dress in the world I think I would go for Lelong. His dresses were considered the ultimate in sophistacation by a large proportion of English women in the 30s who knew about fashion.



Not quite the right colour perhaps but I'm in a navy mood at the moment.

An Evening with Dita Von Teese

To all you Dita fans who happen to be in LA on the 22nd July. Be sure to take in her show at The Avalon at 1735 Vine Street.

On the programme is the WORLD PREMIERE of her new Opium Den show, plus the US Premiere of Le Bain Noir featuring a very sexy costume by Elie Saab.

Also in the lineup is the Cointreau Tease. Guest stars include Ava Garter, Selene Luna and Murray Hill. Tickets are very reasonable at $30. Get them at here.

Still going with the 60s thing...

Honey West (Anne Francis). Glamourous blonde detective with tall tanned scandinavian side-kick Sam (John Ericson) and pet ocelot Bruce (Bruce).

Honey made her first appearance in an episode of Burke's Law and the same year (1965) got her own show. Smart and sassy she runs her own agency and has a fair collection of bugs, secret detector vans, a Shelby Cobra, gowns and guns.


She was the first US female detective to have her own show, Sam does a lot of
worrying and gets her out of trouble when needed (reasonably often). But judo, karate, an arsenal of guns, lots of scientific spy gadgets and some kick-ass outfits got her out of trouble most of the time. However the plots are fairly mundane and predictable, sadly the show was cancelled after only 1 season of 30 episodes.

Honey did her thing in a series of slim sequinned sheaths, animal print bikinis, coats and dresses and a leather trouser suit a la Emma Peel.

California Cottons & Max Factor 1960

Part two of the California Cottons Advertorial Magazine, this time with added Max Factor.


Here we have a colour chart for foundations and details of the make up the girls are wearing on the next page.






The girl in the black dress with yellow daisies is the ballerina Svetlana.

Here is the actress Susan Hampshire.



All the colour pictures have details of the makeup used.
The magazine is available at Wickedlady Collectables

California Cottons Summer Dresses 1960

Having just about survived England's first heatwave for over 3 years and now shivering in temperatures below 20C, I thought it would be a good time to post these pages from a Vanity Fair supplement of Summer 1960. An early advertorial for California Cottons and Max Factor.

So far I've only scanned half of it as there have been several power cuts because of thunderstorms, but now the weather is cooler we can all get back into our nylon foundation garments, net petticoats, slips, stockings and gloves :-)
The girl with the poodles is Henrietta Tiarks who married the heir to the Duke of Bedford the year after these photos were taken.
Next-time - Max Factor's Fashion Harmony chart.