Olive Kelly: Meet Me in St. Louis

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Reviving Irene

When I think of legendary costume designers of old Hollywood, Edith Head immediately springs to mind. The clothes that she put up on the silver screen are mesmerizing and never seem to be dated.

Edith Head

I have a new costume designing legend to admire.

My issue of The Hollywood Reporter arrives on Thursdays each week and this week there is an article about the reinvigoration of a clothing line created by another legendary Hollywood costume designer, Irene Lentz.

Irene Lentz

Irene began her career as a silent film actress and then opened up a small dress shop. After her first husband died, she began designing costumes for the studios and dressed stars like Lana Turner, Hedy Lamarr, Rosalind Russell, Ava Gardner, Ginger Rogers, Marilyn Monroe and Doris Day. When she became frustrated by the limitations the studios placed on her designs (she wanted artistic perfection, the studio heads wanted economic savings), she started a mass line that was sold in luxury retailers alongside the latest Chanel lines. The line was a smash success and one of the most impeccably tailored, luxurious and modern lines of the mid-twentieth century. Irene pieces are hot commodities at the L.A. vintage store Decades and Tory Burch recently wore an Irene gown to a New York charity function.

Doris Day in Lover Come Back

Loretta Young in Bedtime Story

Ginger Rogers in Shall We Dance

Marlene Dietrich in Seven Sinners

Carole Lombard in Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Rita Hayworth in You Were Never Lovelier

Irene's success was marred by unhappiness late in life. Irene met a tragic end after drinking two pints of vodka and jumping from the 11th floor of The Knickerbocker hotel (the same hotel where I Love Lucy actor William Frawley was dragged after suffering a heart attack in the street). Irene's friend Doris Day, speaking of Irene's death in her autobiography, said that Irene had revealed to her that she had been in love with Gary Cooper who had died the year before Irene's suicide. Whether Cooper reciprocated those feelings is unknown. Irene's death may have been caused by unrequited love or a broken heart or mere unhappiness.

Whatever caused her end, her work is now being revived in a line by Greg LaVoi with the blessing of Irene's surviving family and the results, while not on par with the real Irene designs, have made me want to rewatch some of my favorite old movies and think of the beautiful style and tailoring that will now have a second act.

Tory Burch in a Vintage Irene design purchased as Decades Los Angeles

Incidentally, Irene Lentz was not the only famous Irene to make a name for herself in the golden age of Hollywood. Irene Sharaff, winner of 5 Academy Awards and 1 Tony award, was also involved in making clothes for some of Hollywood's biggest stars (and the two Irenes are often confused with one another...take The Hollywood Reporter article, an article that describes Irene Lentz designing for Barbra Streisand when Streisand dealt primarily with Irene Sharaff).

Irene Sharaff

Sharaff designed costumes for Meet Me in St. Louis, An American in Paris, Cleopatra, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Guys and Dolls, The King and I, Funny Girl, and West Side Story. In the spirit of designing Irenes, here are a few highlights from her career as well.

Judy Garland in Meet Me in St. Louis

Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra

Leslie Caron in An American in Paris

Gertrude Lawrence in The King and I

Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Comfort Cinema

Fall always invites images of pumpkin spice lattes, changing leaves, sweaters, and pecan pie. The general theme of nearly everything related to fall is comfort. Comfort food in particular is often a topic of the season that is the launching pad to the holiday whirlwind. Comfort cinema is another way to enjoy and appreciate those crisper fall days. Here are some ways to welcome the cool weather by snuggling under a blanket on the couch and turning up the nostalgia factor with your remote control.

Comfort Cinema

What classifies as comfort cinema varies by season (ex. I love Pride & Prejudice and Jane Eyre but the former is a spring favorite; the latter a winter pick) and, of course, individual. These movies are just a few of the films that I seem to yearn for every time the weather changes. Watching each one is like visiting an old friend and I am always eager to see them again.

Little Women (1994)

Even this image of the March sisters comforts me. I reread the book every fall and vacillate between believing I am Jo, Meg & Amy. I also would absolutely subscribe to the Pickwick Papers and accept any and all marriage proposals from Laurie (hence, the identification with Amy).

Anne of Avonlea (1987)

What is more comforting than Gilbert Blythe and Anne Shirley finally pledging their love to one another in the midst of a day of apple picking? Really, try to find one thing...

You've Got Mail (1998)

I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.

There are also references to twirling, children's books, pumpkins, Christmas trees with ruby slippers and repeated trips to Starbucks. I often try to recreate the feeling I get from watching this movie by visiting Cafe Lalo or wandering the Upper West Side. Sometimes (meaning usually), only the movie can do the trick.

Rudy (1993)

I am not a huge football fan but I challenge anyone to watch this movie and not root for Rudy to make it onto the Notre Dame football field. I cry every single time and so does my father and I am willing to bet his tears are not a result of just really loving the game of football.

When Harry Met Sally (1989)

This movie almost did not make the list but then I realized I was excluding it only because I had recently posted about both You've Got Mail and When Harry Met Sally for my Nora Ephron tribute. I could not delete a movie so deserving of comfort cinema status merely because it has appeared here previously. This movie made me realize that one of the most important aspects of finding someone to date in New York City is so that you have someone to help you lug your Christmas tree down the street.

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Yellow cabs, little black dresses, a writer who doesn't write, a cat named Cat...in writing it seems so bland but in reality it is as sparkling as the jewelry at Tiffanys and as comforting as Holly and "Fred"'s final embrace in the rain.

The Cutting Edge (1992)

Hockey star and ice princess: two different backgrounds and one Olympic goal.

My sisters and I used to watch this movie over and over again. The remakes and sequels are terrible but the original can brighten even the gloomiest day.

Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken (1991)

Based on the true story of Senora Webster,a girl who participated in a carnival act during the Great Depression in which she dove from high towers on horseback into a pool of water below. The depression-era setting, the obstacles everyone in the movie must overcome and the love story that triumphs in the face of seemingly insurmountable adversity (it's Hollywood but it's based on a true story!) makes this a movie to watch over and over again.

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Judy, Judy, Judy...she met her future husband,Vincent Minnelli on this film and sang some of her most memorable songs (ahem...Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas) but she is not even close to the only reason to love this classic movie. Margaret O'Brien, long thought to be the scene stealer of the fictional St. Louis family in her role as Tutti, the brightly colored period costumes, the "gee whiz" language and a particularly amusing scene with a long-distance telephone call all make this movie a joy to watch again and again and again and...well, you get the picture. Garland did not want to make this movie because she felt there was no story but later admitted it was an amazing addition to her repertoire because although there is no action at the heart of it, there is a loving family living life and that element alone creates endless scenarios for the audience to relate to their own life (although perhaps in the real world we have less musical numbers).