|
|
 |
|
"FASHION IN FILM"
Pictured above are two of the most famous gowns in movie history. At left, Audrey Hepburn wears "the little black dress" that eventually sold at auction for $800,000. At right, Keira Knightley in "the green dress" from 2007's "Atonement," which was copied and turned into a popular seller by a garment firm. |
Film stars taking the place of fashion supermodels?
of TheColumnists.com
When Hollywood star
Clark Gable took off his shirt in the Oscar-winning 1934 film
"It Happened One Night" and moviegoers saw he wasn't
wearing an undershirt,
nationwide sales of undershirts plunged overnight. That was a
blinking red light for both the movie industry and the fashion
industry.
What they learned from that incident is that the moviegoing public is deeply influenced by what movie stars wear--or don't wear--on the screen. Influenced enough, it seems, to change their own fashion choices. Gable was "The King" among male Hollywood stars and if he thought it was manly to go without an undershirt, millions would follow his example.
But perhaps the more interesting fact we learn from watching the Starz cable network's new original program "Fashion in Film" (Tuesday, Nov. 25, at 10 PM on Starz) is that an underwear manufacturer later paid the makers of a subsequent Clark Gable movie to let him be seen on film wearing one of their undershirts.
Product placement is the term they use to describe that practice today--and it apparently has become a regular thing in the financing of new movies. An auto manufacturer will pay to have the star drive their car on screen. Designers will pay for the star to wear their gowns, not only on screen but in public appearances on "the red carpet" at awards shows.
In the 75 years or so since the "undershirt incident." filmmakers and fashion merchants have learned a whole lot more about the curious links between movies and the sales of fashions.
For instance, they now understand that Katharine Hepburn, who hated wearing dresses, on screen or off, was a major influence in the trend in which women got out of dresses and into pants. Marlene Dietrich, who often chose an androgynous look for herself in films and in person, made it acceptable for women to dress like men and still look fashionable, even while wearing a man's tie.
"Fashion in Film," which is hosted by film critic Richard Roeper, is part of Starz' ongoing "Starz Inside" series of documentaries. It does a pretty good job of illuminating the changing role of fashion on screen and it utilizes a great many experts as "talking heads" in the program, ranging from models like Tyson Beckford, actresses like Jennifer Beals ("Flashdance") and Malin Akerman ("27 Dresses"), fashion designers like Monique Lhuillier and Jean Paul Gaultier, and movie costume designers like Sharen Davis and Debra McGuire.
Among the juicier tidbits:
. Audrey Hepburn became an "iconic" fashion figure on film and heavily influenced what female moviegoers wore. Her "little black dress" in her most fashion-conscious of films, "Breakfast at Tiffany's," was a milepost in fashion history and the original that she wore in the film last sold for $800,000 in auction.
 Diane Keaton won an Oscar playing "Annie Hall" with Woody Allen in 1977, but her funky outfits started a fashion rage that's still going. |
 "The Devil Wears Prada" may have kidded the fashion industry mercilessly, but it also created a number of fashion trends. |
. Diane Keaton's funky thrift store wardrobe for "Annie Hall" (1977) also remains an iconic fashion look and is still influencing shoppers because it has been so frequently copied by designers in later years.
. Fashion "supermodels" like Cindy Crawford have had very limited success making the jump to movie stardom, since most of them have no real acting experience or talent. But movie stars are now replacing supermodels as paid wearers of fashions from the top designers.
. Celebrities are now turning themselves into "brands" by either starting their own companies or lending their names to companies that market the fashions they prefer to wear. Examples: Jennifer Lopez, Sarah Jessica Parker.
. The most successful example of "brand marketing" a celebrity as a fashionista may well be one-time "Charlie's Angel" star Jaclyn Smith, who lent her name to a budget line of fashions sold by the K-Mart chain and has made millions from it.
. The long-running series of James Bond films--22 of them to date--have been the most influential movies in terms of men's fashions.
. The scene in "American Gigolo" (1980) in which Richard Gere lays out all his Armani outfits, trying to decide which one to wear, was a significant step in the popularizing of Georgio Armani designs and set a pattern for the "branding" of products in future films.
. The 2006 film "The Devil Wears Prada" may be the most fashion-conscious movie of all time because it took viewers inside the fashion process and involved moviegoers in the transformation of nerdy Anne Hathaway into the glamorous fashionista she has become in real by the film's conclusion.
I might add that I strongly disagree with the experts who rave about "the green dress" that Keira Knightley wore in 2007's "Atonement" as one of the most influential outfits in movie fashion history. I was moved much more by the outfit she wore when she stepped into the large water fountain in the film and emerged with her outfit plastered to her splendid body--and quite transparent.
But then, what do I know about fashion? Heck, if I'd been the guy who took my shirt off in "It Happened One Night," people would have run screaming from the theater, undershirt or not.
©2008 by Ron Miller.
This column first posted Nov. 24, 2008.
TO ACCESS RON MILLER'S ARCHIVE OF COLUMNS
ON THIS SITE, CLICK HERE: MILLER
ARCHIVE
You can comment
on this column online. Please address your message to either
"The Editors" or Ron Miller . To send an email, click
here and don't forget to mention Ron's name: talkback@thecolumnists.com
|
|
|
Archives |
|
|