Dress in Detail: the "Scarlett" Dress

            Here I am with another Dress in Detail costume analysis! (If you missed my others, on Judy Garland's "I Don't Care" dress and Ginger Rogers's "Never Gonna Dance" dress, give them a read!) I must confess to you that I've never seen Gone With the Wind, but the costume design is legendary. Walter Plunkett (who I just featured in my Singin' in the Rain article) was the mastermind behind the extravagant, historical costumes of this film - and none were grander than Vivien Leigh's. I'll be taking a closer look at the famous red dress from the birthday party scene which perfectly sums up the character of Scarlett O'Hara.

            The "Scarlett" dress is meant to be a showstopping attention-getter, slightly scandalous for the 1870s. It certainly achieves its goals. The design for this costume was meant to be wildly different from both what the other characters were wearing and what Scarlett had worn in the rest of the film. That way, not only would it stand out in that particular scene, but also in Scarlett's whole wardrobe. Walter Plunkett chose the vibrant color on purpose, both symbolically (scarlet/Scarlett) and to convey the traditional meanings behind the color red - love, desire, revenge - that Scarlett's character embodies in the scene.

            The dress itself is hand-sewn from scarlet velvet and embroidered on the bodice and skirt with glass beads. The bodice is boned like a corset for structure and shape, and has a low sweetheart neckline. Ostrich feathers, dyed to match the velvet, form giant plumes on the shoulders and down the back of the dress. This, along with the gathering of the skirt fabric, gives the back the appearance of a "bustle" which was the dominant silhouette in women's fashion at the time.

            In 2012, the dress was restored to preserve it for future costume exhibits and as a wonderful example of costume design from the Golden Age. Feathers were added to replace the aging ones, and some skirt fabric was removed to prevent the dress from weighing itself down. You can watch a fascinating video about the restoration here. Today it remains in incredible condition for a costume that's over 80 years old!

            I hope you enjoyed my latest Dress in Detail! I love this costume and and I loved getting to learn more about it. If you have any thoughts for future dresses to analyze, let me know in the comments!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Costume Analysis of Singin' in the Rain (1952)

Image
               Singin' in the Rain is one of those gorgeous films where you can pause at any moment and it might as well be a painting. Besides being an iconic movie, it's a stunning combination of Technicolor and fashion - which is why I decided to round up the costumes in one big stunning survey. Here it is: the Singin' in the Rain Costume Analysis !                  Scene One: The Movie Premiere               At the beginning of Singin' in the Rain , Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) are at the premiere of their latest film, The Royal Rascal. The year is 1927, and silent films are just making the switch over to talkies. Don and Lina are dressed in coordinating white outfits - because they're such an amazing screen team who totally adore each other! (Sarcasm intended.) Even though Don can't stand Lina, their matchy-matchy outfits turn them into a unit. Don wears a trench coat over his tuxedo, and Lina's in a sparkly sequin fur wrap, m
Read more

Aah! A Shriek in the Night (1933)

Image
              Doesn't that poster just say it all? Pre-Code murder mysteries are a special kind of madness - the usual formula includes a sassy reporter trying to make her way in a man's world, inevitably stumbling into a murder (and a romance). She's your everyday career girl but somehow dresses like a model, isn't afraid to confront creepy guys lurking in basements, and cracks cases as easily as one-liners.             A Shriek in the Night followed this well-loved storyline, proving the biggest hit that independent "Poverty Row" studio Allied Pictures would ever release. Its success was mostly due to Ginger Rogers, fresh out of 42nd Street and Gold Diggers of 1933 and about to become a worldwide sensation in Flying Down to Rio . Despite her undeniable screen presence and comedic timing, A Shriek in the Night doesn't make full use of Ginger's talents - it's more of a preview for what's to come.               The movie starts with - what els
Read more

Sun, Sand, & Screen Teams: Flying Down to Rio (1933)

Image
             Since it began in 1928, RKO Radio Pictures was a B-movie factory. As fast as they could find a hundred chorus girls and a script, they'd be in production - often for a mere three weeks before the film raced into theatres. Most of these attempts were flops, a few turned newcomers into stars, but every so often they'd land on a smash hit. Flying Down to Rio , a pre-Code B-movie musical, ended up launching an era.               Like most B-movies, it followed the common advertising formula - "Stupendous musical! 200 beauties!" It promised audiences an exotic South American summer, complete with sunny beaches, catchy songs, and chorus girls performing airplane stunts. They got what they bargained for - and then some. Special effects, including ghost-like clones of the characters representing their inner thoughts. Dolores del Rio, a Mexican actress considered the first and biggest Latin American movie star of the Golden Age. Extensive camera shots of Rio de J
Read more