There's nothing better than having a rest on a Sunday while watching a film - like the musical Les Girls (1957) directed by George Cukor - featuring visually intriguing costumes.
The movie - with music by Cole Porter - tells the story of three ladies - Joy Henderson (Mitzi Gaynor), Sybil Wren (Kay Kendall) and Angele Ducros (Taina Elg), working as dancers in a Paris show directed by their boss, American dancer Barry Nichols (Gene Kelly).
The plot by Vera Caspary was actually based on an article that appeared in The Atlantic and that focused on a showgirl reminiscing on her touring years.
When the film opens we are indeed introduced to a trial: after the publication of her tell-all memoir about her days with the dance troupe, one of the girls, Sybil (Kendall) is sued for libeling fellow dancer Angele (Elg).
As the court case proceeds, the film unravels via flashbacks recalled by two of the girls and by a final special witness who recount their own versions of the facts.
There are some charming flashbacks showing dance numbers (the film also features Geoffrey Holder and Carmen de Lavallade, dancers; Charles Manna, comic, and the Glee Club, Corps de Ballet and Rockettes) characterised by rich and colourful costumes by Orry-Kelly.
As chief costume designer at Warner Bros. between 1932 and 1944, followed by subsequent contracts at the other major Hollywood studios, Orry-Kerry had a long career spanning more than three decades and 295 film credits. The costume designer was engaged by MGM Studios producer Sol Siegel for this film.
The girls wear matching costumes on stage, while off stage each of them seems to be characterised by a different wardrobe: Sybil is lady-like in beige or cream ensembles; Angele looks like an independent French woman, always impeccable, but also dynamic; Joy, an American singer, favours more functional clothes and often wears separates and trousers as well.
Knitted tops are particularly interesting as they go from classic and elegant buttoned ones to more modern and minimalist designs, like the olive green short sleeved top with a triple vertical stripe in emerald and grass green donned by Sybil in the "You're Just Too, Too!" number, or practical jumpers the girls used to rehearse, such as the one in the scene in which Barry and Angele are working on the golden rope choreography.
Musical and dance genres are different in the films, ranging from vaudeville to experimental ballet, and wardrobes and costumes try to mirror these differences.
In the first dance numbers black and white with some touches of red prevail; this combination of shades returns towards the end of the film when Joy and Barry dance in the energetic waitress/motorcyclist number.
There are mainly elegant dresses in the first numbers, while the "Ladies in Waiting" white costumes featured a very naughty detail, an aquamarine bow provokingly perched on the girls' bottoms.
One of the most memorable piece remains the flower basket dance costume donned by Angele at the beginning of the movie, with flower baskets placed in strategic areas of her body to create a sensual, alluring and ironic composition.
The '50s gowns in jewel tones the girls wear for the final party they give to Barry, are particularly striking, with Sybil and Angele wearing a similar combination of topaz blue and emerald green and Joy in a pearly white and ocean blue shoulderless peau d'ange (angel's skin; a fabric manufactured using a satin weave and usually made from silk yarns) dress.
When the girls get married, they leave behind their theatrical careers but also their fancy costumes and we see them again in court wearing more formal and elegant attires matched with refined accessories and hats (made by Leah Barnes who also created the headdresses for the film Auntie Mame; Sydney Guilaroff worked instead on the hairstyles for this film).
Orry-Kelly became the first Australian costume designer to win three Academy Awards, for An American in Paris, Les Girls and Some Like It Hot.
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