We all have our own favourite ways to get into the Christmas mood: some of us like preparing a delicious meal or a special cake, while others love decorating the house or wrapping up presents for their dearest ones. Yet there is a passion that many of us collectively share - watching a film. The choice is wide when it comes to Christmas, but, if you're a fashion fan, White Christmas (1954) by Michael Curtiz is a lovely option. The movie features indeed many lavish gowns designed by Edith Head.
Starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney (George Clooney's aunt) and Vera-Ellen, the film features a soundtrack by Irving Berlin, including a new version of "White Christmas", first sung by Crosby in the film Holiday Inn.
The film follows the vicissitudes of two ex-U.S. Army soldiers, Captain Bob Wallace (Crosby) and Private Phil Davis (Danny Kaye), who, after the war, become famous entertainers and successful producers.
After meeting the Haynes sisters - Betty (Rosemary Clooney) and Judy (Vera-Ellen) - they follow them to Pine Tree, Vermont, where the girls have a performing engagement in a ski lodge.
Here the four entertainers and the entire cast and crew of Bob and Phil's show create a new musical at the Columbia Inn. The business is owned by Bob and Phil's former commanding officer, General Waverly, and it's in desperate need of snow and visitors.
From such a plot you can naturally expect a lot of drama, romance and some tears, but lavish costumes as well: Head had to create designs for four radically different characters that could help revealing their personalities to the audience.
Clooney favours classic '50s styles with dresses with tight bodices and puffed up skirts or pencil skirts. As the film proceeds and she falls in love with Crosby, her wardrobe becomes more sensual and also includes the velvet dress she wears to sing "Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me".
Clooney's conservative wardrobe matches with Bob's personality and also symbolises her role as elder and more responsible sister (Clooney was actually younger than Vera-Ellen when they shot this film).
Judy seems to be dressed in more exotic and dynamic styles that also highlight her talent for dancing (at 18 years old, Vera-Ellen became one of the youngest ever Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall), even though some film fans claim that in this film her wardrobe (including her robes and sleepwear) was designed to cover her neck which had been damaged by anorexia. Both the sisters often wear costume jewellery, though Betty prefers simple pearls and Judy often wears multiple chain bracelets especially metal or golden ones.
While in Holiday Inn (also with costumes by Edith Head) the main characters dress according to the holiday period being celebrated, in this film the costumes become a way for the characters to transform themselves: when we first meet the Haynes sisters they are performing a rather naïve act in identical pale blue gowns with a tight fitted lace bodice, multi-layered tulle skirts and huge ostrich feather fans. Though they look lovely, they are also indistinguishable one from the other. When they get involved in Bob and Phil's musical they genuinely blossom revealing their talents and skills.
There are wonderful costumes during the "Minstrel" and "Mandy" numbers (check out the dancers in watermelon costumes, but leave behind the racist "watermelon stereotype" that some people point out about this number as watermelons could be interpreted also in other ways...), with designs going from long gowns covered in shining sequins to short dynamic costumes in bold shades or with embroidered details in sparkling stones. The lush colour palette was in part due to Technicolor and Paramount's new VistaVision process.
Edith Head also created for the characters in this film a wonderful travelling wardrobe and day clothes that they wear in between one rehearsal and the next.
A practical and functional yet lovely ensemble that Clooney wears on the train to Vermont consists in a pencil skirt, a knitted top with a cascade of lovely appliqued strawberries (View this photo) and a matching jacket (with a bright red lining) and bag.
The final gowns donned by the sisters are reinventions of the Santa Claus costume (with some sparkling holly added in Clooney's case) and they can be considered as classic and extravagant festive gowns.
Fashion and film fans keen on rediscovering some of the costumes for this film can do so at the Rosemary Clooney House in Kentucky where they keep both originals and copies of many costumes donned by Clooney in the films she starred. Enjoy the film and the festive mood!
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