16/100: Fashions of 1934 (1934)
The feathers and furs of a Pre-Code fashion scammer story
Fashions of 1934
Costumes by: Orry-Kelly
Directed by: William Dieterle, with a musical number by Busby Berkeley
This movie may be for you if: you daydream about feathers, you can’t resist a con man, and your idea of good time involves a backless 1930’s gown.
Where to watch: Currently only available to rent (YouTube, Apple TV, Prime Video)
I’ve found that the 100 Fashion Films Project has illuminated two often divergent categories of “fashion films”: there are fashion films that feature iconic and influential costume design with little mention of fashion in their stories, and there are fashion films that are literally about fashion. Though Fashions of 1934 was never a hit, it is one of the earliest examples of the latter. The movie showcased the inner workings of fashion as an industry, giving audiences some of the first silver screen examples of fashion illustration, salons, buyers, and models in a fictional setting.
Film wasn’t a brand new medium for fashion in the 1930’s, but most earlier examples were short features akin to modern day fashion shows. Fifty Years of Paris Fashions 1859-1909 (1910), widely considered the first fashion film, was made up of a series of silent tableaux featuring examples of high fashion across various periods. The format was a success with female audiences, prompting newsreel services to produce similar shorts to showcase the latest designs from Paris and London. In 1913, famed couturier Paul Poiret enchanted worldwide fashion lovers with a look at his designs modeled in the garden of his Paris couture house. A New York Times journalist described the mesmerizing presentation as “goddesses from the machine.”
1925 saw the release of the silent romantic comedy The Dressmaker From Paris. Based on a synopsis in a film magazine review it was likely the first fictional fashion film, more in line with the big screen entertainment we think of as a “movie” today. However, the film was since lost, and there are no prints known to exist in any archive. Based on the (self-imposed) perimeters I assigned The 100 Fashion Films Project, Fashions of 1934 is the earliest viewable example I could find of the capital F Fashion Film.
The costume design for Fashions of 1934 was done by Orry George Kelly, credited throughout his illustrious film career as Orry-Kelly. The designer first moved to New York City to pursue an acting career, but was quickly forced to explore his other artistic talents to make ends meet. Kelly painted murals and sold block printed designs on shawls and ties before landing himself a costume design job for a theater.
Kelly moved to LA around the same time as his former roommate and struggling vaudeville actor Archie Leach. Upon arriving in Hollywood, Leach would quickly get his big break with a contract at Paramount under a new name: Cary Grant.
It’s believed that Kelly and Grant were in a tumultuous romantic relationship for many years, alluded to by Kelly himself in his 2015 book Women I’ve Undressed. Though their relationship would fracture over the decades, they provided each other essential support during their early days in Hollywood. Grant’s agent was the one who took Kelly and his design portfolio to Warner Brother’s in 1932, leading to a life-changing offer as the studio’s chief costume designer. Upon his hiring, Warner Brother’s encouraged him to hyphenate his name to make it sound “more exotic.”
Kelly lived as a quietly but openly gay man in an extremely homophobic industry and society, all while contributing to the costume design of over 300 films during his time in Hollywood. Prior to designer Catherine Martin’s fourth Academy Award in 2014, Orry-Kelly was the most prolific Australian Oscar winner in history. He took home the Best Costume Design Academy Award for An American in Paris (1951), Les Girls (1957), and Some Like It Hot (1959).
Fashions of 1934 was released just months before the rigorous enforcements of the Hays Code, in which the newly burgeoning American film industry was met with content restrictions. Though the code was technically adopted in 1930, it wouldn’t be widely abided until the summer of 1934, with American films released between 1929 and early 1934 to become known as “Pre-Code.” Fashions of 1934 included cheeky innuendo, scantily clad women, and some very questionable ass slapping, all of which was soon to essentially disappear from Hollywood until the late 1960’s.
William Powell starred alongside Bette Davis, who insisted on being dressed by Orry-Kelly for almost all of her films. Despite her love for Kelly’s work, Davis disliked her character design for this particular picture - and for good reason.
