Monday, January 31, 2022

Recycled Costumes: Marie Antoinette (1938) - Part 1

This series will look at the sumptuous costumes designed by Adrain for the epic Norma Shearer film Marie Antoinette (1938) and the films in which they were recycled. I thought about going "in order" but decided to just choose them at random. 

This month's costume is a green velvet and gold lace gown worn by Shearer in the scene where the mob storms the palace. 

The gown in full.

A closer look at the bodice.

Detail of the gold lace sleeves. Note the green tulle inserted between the layers.

Detail of the design on the skirt

So far I have spotted the gown in two other films: on the left in Two Sisters From Boston (1946) and on the right in The Black Castle (1952).

UPDATE: It looks like it also appears in Monsieur Beaucaire (1946) starring Bob Hope. I have not watched the movie yet but will update with screenshots when I get the chance to watch a clear copy. Sadly, it is also in black and white.

Photos of costume in color are from here. Post will be updated if I spot the gown in more films.

2 comments:

  1. What a gorgeous dress!!! I'd be recycling that dress left and right if I were doing costuming, though I imagine it wasn't a particularly comfortable one to wear.

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    1. The heaviest gown Shearer wore was the wedding dress. It was 108 pounds!! They had to have special rigging underneath to distribute the weight.

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