Palmerin Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 ... was not very knowledgeable about the history of fashion. In both STRICTLY DISHONORABLE, a story set in the 1920s, and ABOVE AND BEYOND, set at the end of WWII, the fashions and hairdos are clearly of the early 1950s. Were the people of the sixth decade of the 20th century so tacky that they actually thought their ugly frumpy fashions were glamorous???!!! Marilyn and Jane Russell never looked worse than in the hideous dresses they wore in GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES! (exasperated groan) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 ... was not very knowledgeable about the history of fashion. In both STRICTLY DISHONORABLE, a story set in the 1920s, and ABOVE AND BEYOND, set at the end of WWII, the fashions and hairdos are clearly of the early 1950s. Were the people of the sixth decade of the 20th century so tacky that they actually thought their ugly frumpy fashions were glamorous???!!! Marilyn and Jane Russell never looked worse than in the hideous dresses they wore in GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES! (exasperated groan) Again, you assume that costume designers for these films were NOT very knowledge about the history of fashion, instead of the more logical reason; they were following the orders of the producer or director to showcase current fashions at the expense of historical accuracy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palmerin Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 Again, you assume that costume designers for these films were NOT very knowledge about the history of fashion, instead of the more logical reason; they were following the orders of the producer or director to showcase current fashions at the expense of historical accuracy. Look up THE SCARLET EMPRESS, where Catherine the Great, a woman of the 18th century, is made to look like Jean Harlow with penciled eyebrows and cupid bow lips Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 Look up THE SCARLET EMPRESS, where Catherine the Great, a woman of the 18th century, is made to look like Jean Harlow with penciled eyebrows and cupid bow lips So what. That doesn't prove that those involved didn't KNOW that the make-up choice wasn't correct for an 18th century women (which is the point you made in the OP, which I still say is false). They just didn't CARE. They decided to give Dietrich a modern look for their own reasons. As I said before, I assume the main reason was marketing of the star (in this case Dietrich). i.e. showing a modern 'hip' Dietrich was more important to the studio than accuracy. Hey, I can understand why that would bug someone, but I don't fault the people in charge of make-up or costume or assume they are clueless. I fault the producers, directors, and studio suits. Note that this also applies to scripts with historical inaccuracies. E.g. My Darling Clementine where Doc Holiday is killed in the O.K. Corral fight. I assume the screenplay writer knew that didn't actual happen but the suits wanted Doc to die so Doc died. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slaytonf Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 Movies are always about the times they are made in, not the ones they depict. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palmerin Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 Movies are always about the times they are made in, not the ones they depict. Por desgracia=unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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