Friday, October 28, 2011

Friday Video: Silent Screen Actresses Model Flapper Fashions, 1928

Friday, October 28, 2011

Susan reporting:

Today's video is a short newsreel fashion show, featuring several Hollywood actresses modeling the latest fashions for 1928. Like a clip I shared earlier, this is a rare, early use of Kodachrome. Because of it, the women seem startlingly contemporary and fresh, as do many of the clothes. And check out those cars!

Of course I couldn't resist trying to learn more about these silent film actresses.  In order of their appearance:

Corliss Palmer (1902-1952) was a popular silent screen actress, appearing in numerous films beside such famous actors as Charlie Chaplin, Max Sennett, and Oliver Hardy.
Raquel Torres (1908-1987) was a Mexican-born actress who appeared in both silent and sound films. Today she's best remembered for playing a would-be Mata Hari in the Marx Brothers' move Duck Soup (1933).
• Laura LaPlante (1904-1996) was the most famous of these actresses in her time, and between 1921-1930 was Universal Pictures' most popular star. Talkies effectively ended her career, but her last movie, the Western Arizona (1931) included a young actor named John Wayne.
Ruth Elder (1902-1977) was perhaps the most interesting of all these ladies. She was not only an actress, but also an aviatrix who - in a plane dubbed the American Girl - attempted to duplicate Lindbergh's solo flight across the Atlantic to prove that women were equal to men.

6 comments:

MrsC (Maryanne) said...

That last red and white outfit is STUNNING!!! I want to immediately go home and make a shawl collared red coat with floral lining too!

Lauren R said...

Oh so lovely. I love seeing flappers on film, in color at that!

Fanny said...

So cool! I had no idea colour film came that early... You get a completely different feeling of the reality behind the screen!

MJ said...

Now I know why my grandmother's wedding hat/veil looked the way it did! She was a flapper and had a Roarin' 20s personality throughout her life. I'm also amazed at how short the skirts are. No wonder their parents were scandalized!

Anna said...

Ahh, so amazing to see!!! The colour brings it so much closer, just amazing.

And oh, I want all of it!!!

Anonymous said...

yes! but what about the outfit underneath with the red coral pearls! I want the whole outfit!!!
I love this blog!

 
Two Nerdy History Girls. Design by Pocket