Silhouettes and the Silver Screen

Joan Crawford in the MCM film “Dancing Lady,” 1933. (Publicity still courtesy Photofest.)

Women have been taking fashion inspiration from film ever since the 1930s. In the 1930s, women would dream of the day they could look like the actor on screen, with their perfect hair, makeup, and fitted sparkly dress. Women wanted to feel this way because of the stress that was put on them by the economic problems that were happening during this period. The film had the glamour that everyday people didn’t get a chance to experience. Watching film gave the population hope that things would get better and allowed them to escape their problems in life. This essay presents the dress Joan Crawford wears in the film “Dancing Lady, directed by Robert Z. Leonard” as representing the ideal women during this time period. To demonstrate this, first a description of the dress, description of a normal dress style of the 1930s and lastly, a comparison of the two in order to explore the impact of Hollywood films on everyday fashion in the 1930s. Looked into Vogue articles to see what was happing during this time, to see if people were aware of the impact that Hollywood was making on women during the 30s. Comparing the different fabric that was being used in the two groups. How was women’s wardrobe changing from the influence of Hollywood? Proving that during the 30s Hollywood had great influence in women’s fashion.