Hollywood Before Glamour: Fashion in American Silent Film

260 Pages·2013·5.329 MB·English

by  Michelle Tolini Finamore (auth.)

Hollywood Before Glamour
Also by Michelle Tolini Finamore
JEWELRY BY ARTISTS: In the Studio, 1940–2000 (with Kelly L’Ecuyer)
Hollywood Before Glamour
Fashion in American Silent Film
Michelle Tolini Finamore
© Michelle Tolini Finamore 2013
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-0-230-38948-9
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.
Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work
in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2013 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-35117-6 ISBN 978-0-230-38949-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230389496
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing
processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the
country of origin.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13
For Dan, Oliver and Madeleine
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
List of Illustrations viii
Acknowledgements xi
1 Introduction 1
2 The Working Girl and the Fashionable Libertine:
Fashion and Film in the Progressive Era 12
3 World War I and “American” Design in Fashion and Film 45
4 “Goddesses from the Machine”: The Fashion Show on Film 74
5 Costumes and Gowns: The Rise of the Specialist Film
Costume Designer 107
6 Peggy Hamilton: Queen of Filmland Fashion 141
7 The Birth of Hollywood Glamour 168
Appendix: Partial Filmographies for Lucile and
Peggy Hamilton Adams 181
Notes 183
Bibliography 229
Index 241
vii
Illustrations
1.1 Gloria Swanson in outfit worn to visit Essanay Studios,
Chicago, 1914. Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center,
The University of Texas at Austin. Courtesy of Gloria
Swanson Inc. 2
1.2 Page from Gloria Swanson’s scrapbook showing Swanson
as fashion plate in various press clippings. Harry Ransom
Humanities Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin.
Courtesy of Gloria Swanson Inc. 3
2.1 Yard of Priscilla Shirtwaist Designs, Ethelyn J. Morris, Boston:
Priscilla Publishing Company, c. 1906. 15
2.2 Advertisement for J. M. Gidding and Company Department
Store, 1920. 19
2.3 Two women strikers on a picket line during the “Uprising of
the 20,000” garment workers’ strike of 1910 in New York City.
George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress, digital
ID eph.3a49619. 33
2.4 Mary Pickford in The New York Hat (Biograph 1912, director
D. W. Griffith). From the Collections of the Margaret Herrick
Library. 35
2.5 Marie Dressler in Tillie’s Punctured Romance (Keystone Pictures
1914, director Mack Sennett). From the Collections of the
Margaret Herrick Library. 39
2.6 Marie Dressler in Tillie’s Punctured Romance (Keystone Pictures
1914, director Max Sennett). From the Collections of the
Margaret Herrick Library. 40
3.1 Alma Rubens in Peggy Hamilton-designed dress for The Gown
of Destiny (Triangle Film Corporation 1917, director Lynn F.
Reynolds). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young
Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles. 70
4.1 Still from Perils of Pauline (Pathé, 1914, director Louis Gasnier),
showing Pearl White in third episode entitled “The Pirate’s
Treasure.” From the Collections of the Margaret Herrick
Library. 91
4.2 Still from Perils of Pauline (Pathé, 1914, director Louis
Gasnier). From the Collections of the Margaret Herrick Library. 92
viii
Illustrations ix
4.3 Pearl White in Perils of Pauline (Pathé, 1914, director Louis
Gasnier), wearing Lucile-designed dress. From the Collections
of the Margaret Herrick Library. 93
4.4 Sketch from Lucile’s couture house 1914–15 season; “Pericon”
dance dress, 1915. Department of Special Collections, Charles E.
Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles. 94
4.5 Norma Phillips as “Our Mutual Girl” Garbed for Spring,
Reel Life 18 April 1914, showing Phillips in Poiret model. 99
4.6 Norma Phillips in Our Mutual Girl. From the Collections of the
Margaret Herrick Library. 100
4.7 Photograph of the premiere of the fashion serial
Our Mutual Girl at the Rex Theatre in January 1914,
showing the promotional material on the theater front and
horse-drawn wagon advertising that circulated throughout
the city to draw viewers to the theater. 106
5.1 Gloria Swanson in Combination dinner gown/bathing costume
for film Smoke (Triangle Film Corporation 1918, director Jack
Conway) designed by Peggy Hamilton. Department of Special
Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of
California, Los Angeles. 108
5.2 View of Selig Film Company wardrobe department, 1912. 113
5.3 Photograph of D. W. Griffith in wardrobe department, late
1910s. Private collection. 118
5.4 George Brusinski shoe sample, 13" (cid:2) 5". From the George
Brusinski Papers, from the Collections of the Margaret Herrick
Library. 123
5.5 Anna Moore/Lillian Gish wearing negligee in Way Down East
(United Pictures 1920, director D. W. Griffith). Photo by Bain
News Service, New York. George Grantham Bain Collection,
Library of Congress. 129
5.6 Clara Kimball Young in The Forbidden Woman (Garson Studios
1920, director Harry Garson), wearing shepherdess ensemble
designed by Lucile. 136
6.1 Peggy Hamilton at Triangle Studios, circa 1918. Department
of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library,
University of California, Los Angeles. 144
6.2 Reproduction of Peggy Hamilton’s fashion page from the
program for Peggy Hamilton’s Fashion Pageant for the
Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, 1925. 150