Why everyone in golden age hollywood musicals could outdress you: The relationship between Golden age cinema and Fashion

When we think of Classic American film cinema, this era is often referred to as "The golden age of Hollywood.") for most of us, there's always one defining scene that immediately pops into your head. whether is Debbie Reynolds in "singing in the rain" Dressed in that baby pink show girl outfit, or That iconic Fuschia pink gown worn by Marilyn Monroe in "gentlemen prefer Blondes" while singing "diamonds are a Girls Best friend", its hard to deny the correlation between the role Fashion designers have had in adding a visual exclamation point to these iconic film moments that have been impressionable enough on our hearts, to first remember the outfits that defined these iconic moments in cinematic history.

We can't talk about the golden age of Hollywood musicals without mentioning Singing in the Rain. So many iconic moments come to mind, but when it comes to fashion, one of the most fun and unforgettable moments is Debbie Reynolds performing "All I Do Is Dream of You". Reynolds first pops out of a giant faux cake wearing a pink showgirl outfit.

This piece was designed but legendary costume designer, Walter Plunkett, who also designed costumes for major Hollywood films of that time period, like Gone with the Wind.

The inspiration for the outfit was based on the classic 1920s and 1930s showgirl outfits. Show girl outfits of that time tended to be straighter in shape with longer, looser silhouettes. The one worn by Debbie Reynolds was made more modern for the time, making the one worn by her in the 1950s film, tighter to show off a more curvy frame, with a halter neck.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is one of the strongest examples out there of how fashion can, and has created iconic moments that will probably be imitated for the rest of time. The fuchsia dress made of Taffeta worn by Monroe while performing "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" was designed by the iconic Hollywood costume designer William Travilla. The designer was known for his risque designs for the time (Which 20th century Fox disliked). A not-so-common piece of fashion and cinema history is that Monroe was actually supposed to wear a gold dress for that scene, but Fox thought it was too scandalous, so he had the Iconic fuchsia dress worn by Monroe made in only 2 days. Fox agreed to let her wear the gold dress briefly in one scene of the movie, but it was only shown from the waist up. The designer was able to play off the popularity of the form-fitted silhouette introduced by Christian Dior before him and make his history by being a break in the fashion echo chamber at the time.

Even though some movie studios were scared of risque looks, like one fuchsia dress (and honorable mention the Beaded Orange dress worn by Monroe), it was in their best interest to have creatives like him on their team to garner interest in the film, but creating fashion moments on screen that were then imitated by millions off screen. This sentiment rings so true- even until this day, that look has been imitated by many and done. million different was; even by the greats like Madonna.

Even some of the most famous fashion designers in modern times, like Mugler, have gone on record citing William Travilla as their inspiration. Even crediting him as the source of inspiration for his iconic theatrical designs.

The well-respected, legendary Edith Head was the costume Designer behind Vera Ellen's costume while performing Mandy and the matching ble dress outfits worn by Vera and her co-star Rosemary Clooney, in the ever-famous classic Film White Christmas featuring Bing Crosby. The designer single-handedly helped popularize the idea of "Christmas Glamour" with her Santa-inspired dresses worn by Vera and Clooney. This was something never done before on a mass scale and was emulated immediately off-screen from generations to come and seen on many artists that we can think of today, from Mariah Carey in her iconic "All I want for Christmas is you" to Arianna Grande in her "Santa Tell Me" music video, and many more artists in between. What's even more interesting and inspiring about this designer is that she had virtually no formal training, swinging a sketch artist job at Paramount, by presenting a portfolio of sketches she "borrowed" from her classmates in her night drawing classes she was taking.

Witnessing how Fashion as an art is not on an island on its own-it's a fluid energy that has influence but is also is influenced by other art forms that shape some of our most fundamental memories is one of the greatest joys.