Copacetic Clothes

Marilyn Monroe white dress in The Prince And The Showgirl

I just started watching The Prince and The Showgirl and couldn’t resist posting about the white dress Monroe wears throughout the film. I found it hard to find out but the costume designer on set was Beatrice Dawson (not credited on IMBD) the dress is beautiful ivory silk and chiffon beaded with one beaded sleeve one plain chiffon. The beaded chiffon overlay encases the silk layer until the calf where it kicks into a fishtail. It’s such a flattering dress on her figure especially the fitted asymmetric bodice. 

I think I have a similar ivory crinkle chiffon at home which could be used for this dress, I shall have to dig it out and test it out!

Dress re-make: Cherry print wiggle dress worn in The Misfits

**At the minute I’m posting images and inspiration of garments I will be re-making in the near future, I will of course be updating you on my progress of these re-makes.

And so to another Marilyn dress I would like to re-make that I think could be fairly inexpensive to do; the cherry print dress from her last completed film in 1961 The Misfits. I really love this film, Marilyn looks beautiful and it’s a really nice story. It’s also Clark Gable’s final film. I guess I like it alot because of the animal welfare message in the film as I’m a big animal lover myself, besides that I think Marilyn looks amazing in her simple outfits and slightly longer hair. 

I’ve found a couple of fabrics so far that I think are pretty close to the dress: 

Maybe I’ll go for the 2nd cherry print as there are no leaves on the original dress, I think it’s closer. I can do most of the work for this on the mannequin rather than flat cutting pieces, the skirt and bust drape on the body gathered into the waist. 

A backless number again (I told you I was a sucker for them) I’ll put a concealed zip in the back to keep the waist tight, and make some rouleaux for the shoulder ties. I’m quite excited to start this one as I can see it being more achievable than some other dresses on my list!

One of the first re-makes on the agenda …

Some Like It Hot is without a doubt one of my favorite films. It’s got 30’s fashion, it’s black & white, it has a hilarious love story, it’s got men in drag - dangerously handsome Tony Curtis and laugh-out-loud Jack Lemmon, and then comes the cherry (or should I say Sugar) on top; the delicious Marilyn Monroe.

The costumes in this film are divine, I really love 20’s/30’s glamour style and the work in some of the costumes are exquisite. I’m usually not very patient so for a change I would like to force myself to do some intricate beading on a full dress to conquer my impatience and tell myself I can do it. First things first to get the beads! 

The back detail is without doubt my favorite part of this dress. I’m a real sucker for backless dresses anyway and this I think is just beautiful. It’s such a risqué dress for it’s time and alot of actresses then wouldn’t of dared wriggle into such a sexy number, but thank goodness our Marilyn did as she looks fab-u-LOUS! 

Lot’s of black bugle beads are needed for this operation.

Dressing Marilyn

After drooling after this book in every bookshop I have seen it in recently I finally got it! The lovely girls at the studio I have been working at in Brighton got it for me as a leaving present. It’s such a beautiful thing full of two of my biggest passions; fashion and Marilyn. I’ve taken a few snaps of some great pages in the book (sorry for the poor quality isn’t great)

It’s a beautiful book filled with amazing photo’s of Marilyn in costume tests, at premiers, parties as well as photo’s of measurement details clipped to original pattern pieces for some of the most exquisite dresses.

I just got the book so haven’t had time to read up on anything properly yet but I absolutely love the details/pattern piece pictures and the gorgeous sketches by Travilla. There are some beautiful close ups of beaded/sequin and pleated sections that are really inspiring for glamorous gowns. One of my favorite dresses is the one above from There’s No Business Like Show Business, nude lining with crystals, beads and sequins adorning the dress. I would love to remake this dress, best get the embroidery hoop out for it to be ready by the end of the year! I would quite like to start collecting beads and sequins to be able to do so however.

There are alot of ideas in here that I can translate to simpler garments that wouldn’t take too long to make, I would really like to do some beading even on a top I think would look gorgeous on chiffon/anything sheer.