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Monday, March 12, 2018

Monday Morning Inspiration/To Make of Not Make Your Own Gown

I am a Frontline junkie. For those of you who may not know, Frontline is a wonderful program that airs on the Public Broadcasting station. I find the program to be especially informative, and always interesting. Last week, I watched a piece on Harvey Weinstein. It's a piece that I think everyone should see, as it shows how important it is to speak up about abuse as well as injustice. I think that you will find that it's 55 minutes well spent.

Now, I am a week late with this post, but pretty dresses are always fun to look at :)

After the Oscar's aired last week, I decided to Google, "the best Oscar gowns of all time." It's rather interesting what popped up, and was most prominent, the gown that Joanne Woodward wore when she won Best Actress for Three Faces of Eve. And here's the best part, she made her dress!!! Not only did she make it, she also designed it. The fabric cost $100.00, and it took her 2 weeks to complete the gown. This was not about saving money as she and her husband, Paul Newman had already reached a point of being Hollywood stars. 

I think she looks stunning in her gown.


Of course the gown did not go without notice. Joan Crawford made a very snide remark, "Joanne Woodward is setting Hollywood glamour back 20 years by making her own clothes."Sounds more like sour grapes to me. The best revenge for a comment like that is just to proudly raise that Academy Award ;)


No other actress has worn a gown of her own making since Joanne Woodward. In 1966, Julie Christie won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in Darling. A friend made her gold dress, using a commercial pattern. 


The still pictures do not do the dress justice. I found this video of her accepting her award. 


I pulled out a few other gowns that were either gorgeous, or memorable.

Always lovely, Audrey Hepburn.


I love this gown worn by Marilyn Monroe.


This gown worn by Halle Berry has to be one of the best all time Oscar gowns.


Julia Roberts in a vintage Valentino gown. 


While many didn't like this, I love the ease of pairing a white shirt with a gorgeous Vera Wang skirt. 


Of course Cher and Bob Mackie always left us with something to talk about :)


Nicole Kidman always personifies grace. This gown was such a change in what we usually see on the red carpet.


Who could forget this gorgeous beaded gown worn by Lupita Nyong'o, designed by Calvin Klein? 


My favorite gowns from this year's Oscars were,

This simple, yet elegant gown worn by Laura Dern. I especially love the sleeve! 


And this beautifully structured gown worn by Nicole Kidman. The blue is magnificent on her.


What a dream it would be to slide in to these gowns (sigh!), but...if by chance I ever make it to the Oscar's, I will be making my own gown! Hey, ya never know, it just might happen!!!

Have a fabulous day, and do a little dreaming :)
 Rhonda



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4 comments:

  1. This is wonderful. I had no idea anyone made her own Oscars gown, much less Joanne Woodward! It really is beautiful, isn't it? I'm impressed!

    I don't know what prompted it, but I've been thinking a lot over the last few days about the dresses my sisters and I made for formal dances back in the '60s. We made all of our formals, and in our case it was due to financial considerations. We always had the most beautiful dresses, made by my mother, often using remnants of velvet, silk, brocade. All 4 of us were short and skinny, so she could get by using combinations of coordinating luxury fabrics. We lived in a fairly affluent community, but we never felt deprived in our selection of clothing - at least I didn't. Because I could sew, I could wear whatever I could imagine.

    My sister was queen of the senior prom in a column dress made of 1.5 yards robin's egg blue lining satin, overlaid with white lace. The lace was deeply discounted because it was 2 pieces, each less than a yard. I think my sister spent less than $5 on the fabric. I did her blonde hair in a French twist, and she looked as cool and elegant as Grace Kelly.

    I've seen some of the gowns you have made, and I know that your hand-made gown will be the most beautiful at your (hypothetical) Oscars!!

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  2. What a fun post! Re: Cher--that's when she still looked like Cher! LOL Now, I have no clue who she looks like! LOL

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  3. I now have even more respect for Joanne Woodward. Marilyn Monroe is in a class of her own. I saw other pics of Kidman and did not like what the top dis to her skin/muscles.
    It has been decades since I went to the cinema on a regular basis and have never watched on the internet. Most of the new actors I only know by name.
    I am sure you would find my name if you looked up "old fuddy duddy"!
    I second Key March about the quality of your sewing - par excellence!

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  4. Isn’t that sad? I’ll bet it was because of the snarky attitude/commentary on the dress that nobody since has ever attempted to design and sew their own “original” gown for such a prominent awards ceremony (unless it’s for a fashion award). Why put yourself through the embarrassment, when you can simply blame the designer on your ugly (more than likely) gown, and your publicity people for making you wear it?
    Maybe it should be mandatory to have a gown created at a price under a certain amount of money, and sewn either yourself, or by a close friend or relative that isn’t famous if you want to go, and the whole “if you don’t have anything nice to say...” concept is strictly enforced as a rule for attending as well. Being snide is not ladylike or classy anyway.

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