This morning on CBS’s Sunday Morning program they interviewed Debbie Reynolds. In the course of the interview they mentioned that she was selling off her significant collection of Hollywood memorabilia. It’s a really remarkable collection, ranging from movie posters and programs to costumes, props, even old movie cameras.
What they didn’t mention is that you can see the collection online including both things that are still available for sale and things that have already been sold. It’s really quite interesting. Take a look, in particular, at the women’s wardrobe which includes outfits worn by Debbie, Ann Blyth, Betty Grable, and Grace Kelly. Just to name a few. I suspect that not many of today’s movie actresses could squeeze into a lot of them even if they were corseted.
The dress at the left was worn by Jennifer Jones when she played Elizabeth Barrett in The Barretts of Wimpole Street. It was designed by Elizabeth Haffenden, who won Academy Awards for Costume Design for Ben-Hur and A Man for All Seasons.
There is no shortage of anorexia among Hollywood’s actresses. Lots of links and photos. Actual weights are hard to find, but weights between 70-90 are reported.
http://www.readthesmiths.com/articles/entertainment/Top_20_Shockingly_Skinny_Celebrities?page=4
Steve
It’s not just weight. It’s size. Today’s actresses are taller and larger-boned. Additionally, today’s there’s a different fashion silhouette—big boobs, no waist, no hips.
Renee Zellweger presents a good example of what I’m talking about. She varies from wearing a size 16 to, at her skinniest, a size 6. When she’s at her unhealthily skinniest size 6 she has no boobs, no hips, no waist, and her ribs show. Additionally, she’s worked out so much that her arms and shoulders look like a linebacker’s.
Ava Gardner wore a size 0. 0s, 1s, and 2s were commonplace among the actresses of yesteryear. If they had eating disorders, there’s not much record of it.
Ms. Zellweger is Norse and Swiss. Different type.
You are certainly right about the height. IIRC correctly, Miss America in the 50s-60s averaged about 5’6″ and 120. Of late, about 5’10″” and 102.
On Reynolds, her Tammy song was incredibly popular. My grandmother loved it so I got to hear it a lot. I had totally forgotten that Leslie Nielsen played the male romantic lead across from her. Fay Wray was her mother. The good old days.
Steve
Tammy and the Bachelor was another of the many pictures I saw at the drive-in. That was in Leslie Nielsen’s romantic lead phase, long before his comic lead phase. You may recall that he played the captain in Forbidden Planet, a Commander James T. Kirk before James T. Kirk.
For decades the standard store model height was 5’7″. Audrey Hepburn was 5’7″. Capucine was 5’7″. Lauren Bacall was 5’8″. She wore a size 2 when The Big Sleep was made. Couture models have frequently been significantly taller going all the way back to 1900.
I think I’ve told this anecdote before. A year or so ago I was in the checkout line at Whole Foods. The cashier was a very slender young woman. I said to her “I know this is impertinent but are you a 1?” She, surprised, said “Yes”. I explained that I had sisters who were 4s and 6s and had costumed women so I knew about women’s clothing sizes.
You don’t see many 1s or 0s these days.
Dress sizing changes over the years. Today’s 0 is not the same as in the 50’s. I do not recall the reason, but I think it is technical. The reason models are thin is that they are easier to fit.
Women’s sizing has more variables. For men, chest size is one number, but for women, it is at least two. A dress has to fit the shoulders, chest, bust, hips, and waist. Two women can have all the same measurements except the bust, and they will need a different size.
@Janis Gore once referenced a sewing website, and it went into sizing issues.
Hopefully, she and her boots are doing well.
I’m surviving, and those boots are still dandy. I wore the brown ones to the service at the little local Good Shepherd Episcopal Church today. My next-door neighbors invited me.
That website was Kathleen Fasanella’s Fashion Incubator.