#travis banton

[recycledmoviecostumes]

In 1936, Travis Banton, head designer at Paramount Studios, created the iconic “Fabergé” gown for Marlene Dietrich's role in the film 𝑨𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍. This extravagant dress featured gold embroidery, pearls, rhinestones, and faux jewels. It was one of the most expensive and spectacular gowns ever made, costing $8,000 at the time (around $100,000 today).   The gown was reused in a number of films, appearing with the sleeves removed and an added stole, on Felicia Atkins as Serina in the 1961 film 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑩𝒐𝒚.   In 1963 the stole was cut in half to be used as a turban and worn with the sleeveless altered bodice by a model in 1963's 𝑨 𝑵𝒆𝒘 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆.   After many years of use, the gown was purchased at auction in 1990 by Larry McQueen of The Collection of Motion Picture Costume Design. The gown’s intricate beadwork and delicate fabric required painstaking work to restore it to its original splendor. McQueen’s dedication to the restoration of this masterpiece ensured that it would be preserved for future generations to appreciate.   This dress has so much more information! Far too much for me to post here on social media. To learn more please visit one of the below sites:

  Larry McQueen’s The Collection of Motion Picture Costume Design at: https://filmcostumecollection.com   Or visit the page for this costume on our website at: bit.ly/PostEd208

[poppingmary]

Anna May Wong wearing her famous black silk dragon dress designed by Travis Banton for Limehouse Blues - 1934

Wong donated the gown to The Brooklyn Museum in 1956, wich later was transferred to The Costume institute at The Met.

[gatabella]

Marlene Dietrich by Edward Steichen, US Vogue, May 1935

Marlene Dietrich, the incomparable, wears Travis Banton dresses - one of lavender chiffon with a ruff of violets and above-the-elbow gloves of lavender lace, one of black tulle in billowing flounces. Her jewels are from Trabert and Hoeffer.

[ediths-shades]

Costume appreciation

MAE WEST in I'm No Angel (1933)

Costume design by Travis Banton

[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

February: Coeli's Monochrome Picks

I'm No Angel / Mae West as Tira

Coeli's comment: "Wowza!"

The pre-code era strikes again, with Travis Banton as the designer. The slinky, low-cut gown with spiderweb wrap in the bottom photo looks positively demure next to the costume she's almost wearing in the other photos. In Tira's defense, she is a circus sideshow performer. However, it's not too hard to see why this movie was cited as one of the factors leading to the implementation of the Hays Code.

Classic lines:

"Oh, Beulah, peel me a grape!"

"Well, it's not the men in your life that counts, it's the life in your men."

"When I'm good I'm very good. But when I'm bad I'm better."

[costumeloverz71]

Princess Nadya (Claudette Colbert) Masquerade costume.. Tonight Is Ours (1933). Costume by Travis Banton.

[roses-in-hollywood]

Marlene Dietrich in The Scarlet Empress, 1934.

Costumes by Travis Banton

[secretceremonies]

Claudette Colbert in publicity photos for the movie Tonight Is Ours (1933).

[bitter69uk]

Released on this day (5 October 1934) 90 years ago: Cleopatra, visionary director Cecil B DeMille’s lushly opulent and risqué account of the life and loves of Cleopatra VII. DeMille tells his story in 105-minutes – a model of concision compared to the to the bloated 1963 version starring Liz’n’Dick, which is a ponderous, mind-numbing four hours and twenty minutes long! The 1934 interpretation also offers the most sumptuous Art Deco of screen Cleopatras. (Which makes sense, because the Art Deco aesthetic was at least partially inspired by ancient Egyptian imagery). The Motion Picture Production Code came into effect during production, so the eroticism DeMille - the undisputed maestro of kinky pagan spectacle - was able to sneak past the censors is impressive. (We see exposed female nipples in the opening credits!). Claudette Colbert makes for a coolly calculating and seductive Cleopatra. Her slinky and revealing ensembles (heavy on gold lamé and exposed flesh) are by costumier Travis Banton, the genius who also dressed Paramount’s other divas like Marlene Dietrich and Mae West. His creations all seem to focus attention on Colbert’s boobs, and weirdly anticipate the wild looks Bob Mackie would create for Cher in the seventies. Bear in mind the durable Colbert made It Happened One Night, Imitation of Life and Cleopatra all in the same year – an amazing accomplishment for any actress. As Marc Antony, rugged British leading man Henry Wilcoxon matches Colbert for pulchritude and sex appeal (those togas sure showcase his muscled thighs). The sequence where Cleopatra initiates Marc Antony into Egyptian-style hedonism on her gilded barge - incorporating legions of homoerotic baby-oiled gladiators, slave boys in loincloths and semi-naked female concubines waving peacock feathers - is a fever dream of orgiastic Golden Age Hollywood depravity!

[mlesarina]

Bugle -beaded evening ensemble

In 1936, Universal Studios released "My Man Godfrey", in which Carole Lombard was the leading actor. In the studio image shown here , Lombard is wearing a beaded gown designed by Travis Banton, and her iconic 152 Carat Star Sapphire Diamond Brooch

Photo kathleenlynagh com

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, in Los Angeles.

[recycledmoviecostumes]

This distinctive suit, designed by Travis Banton, was first worn by Claudette Colbert as Jeannette Desmereau in the 1935 film The Bride Comes Home. It was worn the very next year by Martha Raye as Emma Mazda in Rhythm on the Range.

Costume Credit: Veryfancydoilies

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[poppingmary]

Evelyn Brent in a sapphire blue embroidered chiffon gown by Travis Banton for the movie Slightly Scarlet - 1930

[gatabella]

Marlene Dietrich wears the suit Travis Banton designed for her personal wardrobe, 1935

Marlene turns to beige kasha and sheer brown wool for her spring ensemble. The skirt length is important, the blouse of brown has a detachable Ascot scarf of the same fabric which also lines the smart cape. The cape is bordered in natural lynx and Miss Dietrich's hat is brown felt adorned by a single goose quill.

[citizenscreen]

Adrienne Ames, costume designer/stylist Travis Banton, and Lilyan Tashman at a fasihon show given by Banton at his home in 1933.

[precodesoul]

Alice White in Luxury Liner (dir. Lothar Mendes, 1933)

[costumeloverz71]

Dancer (Eleanor Whitney) Glittering dress.. The Big Broadcast Of 1937 (1936).. Costume by Travis Banton.