As part of her Style Stories series, movie fashion expert Kimberly Truhler will be examining the style evolution of the legendary Gloria Swanson next Tuesday, March 10, by focusing on two of Swanson’s most iconic films: Cecil B. DeMille’s Why Change Your Wife? (1920) and Billy Wilder’s Oscar-winning Sunset Boulevard (1950). Truhler’s Style Stories presentations take a close look at two films from different eras in the careers of classic Hollywood stars, offering insight into their lives, their evolution as actresses, and their ascent as style icons. Learning the stories behind their screen style gives us even deeper insight into the history of film as well as the impact of these women on the history of fashion.
Truhler’s talks take place at the Annenberg Beach House in Santa Monica — the former estate of screen star Marion Davies and William Randolph Hearst. The March 10 event is free to the public but you need to RSVP here to reserve a seat. I first met Kimberly Truhler at the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood. A fashion icon herself, she evokes the era of Hitchcock’s leading ladies — whether it’s Grace Kelly, Kim Novak, or Eva Marie Saint. Truhler has spent more than 20 years studying the history of costume design. In 2009, she founded GlamAmor in which she writes about many different aspects of costumes in the movies and their influence on fashion today. She teaches a course in the History of Fashion in Film at Woodbury University in Los Angeles, hosts an online webinar series, and is a frequent guest speaker around Southern California. Truhler currently has two books in the works — a biography of costume designer Jean Louis and a book on nearly a century of fashion in the movies. I talked to Kimberly about next week’s presentation.
I love the idea of the Style Stories series. How did it get started?
My talks (and college class, webinar series, and so on) all began with the History of Fashion in Film, 1920s-1970s a few years ago. This guest speaker series covered 50 films with the most iconic costume design that both influenced fashion at the time of their release and also continue to inspire fashion today.
The Style Stories series delves deeper into the lives and influence of four style icons — Marlene Dietrich, Gloria Swanson, Joan Crawford, and Audrey Hepburn — who were all featured in the History of Fashion in Film. The focus of each talk is on two of their films to discuss the different costume designers they worked with and how their style changed (or didn’t) between the movies. Though we look at those two movies and their influence in great detail, we also get into many additional aspects of their lives both on and off the screen.
I love that these talks take place in Marion Davies’ former beach house. It seems likely that your current subject, Gloria Swanson, spent some time there back in the day, don’t you think?
Oh, yes, Gloria definitely spent time there! Marion was famous for her parties at the Beach House, and Gloria was a friend who played at the estate many a time. I’ll be sharing photos of the two of them together in the presentation. Two of my other Style Stories subjects have a connection to the place as well — Marlene lived in the Guest House (that still stands) when she first moved to L.A. from Germany, and Joan Crawford was another frequent guest at Marion’s parties with her then-husband, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
I think many people who know Gloria Swanson primarily from Sunset Boulevard forget what a massive star she was during the silent era, not unlike Norma Desmond. Would you go so far as to call her a style icon of that time period?
She was absolutely a style icon of the era. She was, in fact, THE style icon of the era. As I will discuss, Gloria really set much of what we now know of as early 1920s style. In fact, my History of Fashion in Film series starts with Gloria in DeMille’s Why Change Your Wife? (1920), and I will discuss that film at length at Tuesday’s talk.
In the earliest days, Gloria did not choose her costume designers, but she became very close with them and learned from their expertise. Cecil B. DeMille was an enormous influence; everything — from the choice of designers to their designs — was directed and chosen by him. Billy Wilder, in contrast, was very different. His only standing order to costume designer Edith Head was that Norma Desmond was not to be laughed at or considered a joke — she might be living in the past, but she was still extremely fashionable.
As Gloria emerged from her time working with DeMille, she really started to steer her own style. She chose her own designers and she collaborated with them so closely she claimed credit (rightly or wrongly) for designing much of what she wore. These designers worked with her off-screen as well.
What do you think is Gloria Swanson’s biggest contribution to fashion, either in movies or in popular culture?
It’s very broad — again, in general, much of the early 1920s style was defined by her. If you think of turbans; feathers; layers of jewelry, including bracelets worn high on the arm; unstructured gowns made of draped lamé, crushed velvet, or exotic prints, etc. — this is all pure Gloria style. Her name might be most associated with Sunset Boulevard today, but her style influence is so vast people don’t even know to attribute it to her. That’s something I hope people will get a better appreciation of in my talk.
If you could own and/or wear one outfit that Gloria Swanson wore in a film, what would it be?
There are a few. The gowns in The Great Moment (1921) and Her Husband’s Trademark (1922, both by Ethel Chaffin), The Love of Sunya (1927, by René Hubert), and Tonight or Never (1931, by Coco Chanel) are all incredible. Since Gloria was only 5-feet tall, they’d never fit me, though. But I’d be happy to just gaze at them lovingly and longingly!
What do you think about the state of fashion in the movies today?
I find that when it’s good, more often than not it’s the result of borrowing inspiration from classic cinema. That’s one reason these films never go out of style.
Do you have any other talks coming up?
I have two more in Style Stores series — Joan Crawford on May 12 and Audrey Hepburn on July 21. On April 25, I’ve been asked to give a talk on film noir at the Egyptian theater followed by a screening of one of the films I discuss. More details on that coming soon!
Click here to register for Kimberly Truhler’s free presentation, “Style Stories — The Evolution of Film Icons Through Costume Design: Gloria Swanson,” which will take place on Tuesday, March 10, 2015, between 6:30 and 8:30 PM at the Annenberg Community Beach House in Santa Monica, California.