FROM THE HOME FRONT
Susan Martin: Fashion tips that stay in style
Fashion advice for the day: “The cardinal sin is not being badly dressed, but wearing the right thing in the wrong place.” Ouch. No, I did not dream up this quote – nor is it a new one. Legendary costume designer Edith Head said it.
In 1959, she published a style guide called “The Dress Doctor” that became a best seller. She shared tips and also some tidbits about the Hollywood stars she dressed.
This is the designer who once said: “A dress should be tight enough to show you’re a woman and loose enough to prove you’re a lady.”
Now, an adaptation of the book has been published and refreshed with fanciful drawings by fashion illustrator Bill Donovan. This is where I found the above quote.
The book’s full title: “The Dress Doctor: Prescriptions for Style, from A to Z” (Collins Design, $19.95).
“A” is for Audrey (Hepburn, if you need to ask); “B” is for Bowling (as in what to wear to the alley) and so on.
Of Hepburn, she wrote: “Audrey knows more about fashion than any actress save Dietrich. Her fittings are the 10-hour, not the 10-minute, variety.
Of Shirley MacLaine: “Shirley fits into no mold or pigeonhole. She’s the most completely uninhibited, completely honest person I’ve ever met.”
As for Head’s fashion advice, how fun to flip through this new book and see which tips stand up today and which do not.
Back then, imagine a book that informed women that wearing a hat was optional for attending a dog show.
Or that bedroom slippers were a no-no for doing housework (mocs, flats or low-heeled tie shoes OK).
Head, who won eight Academy Awards for Costume Design, died in 1981.
But, nearly 50 years after her book was published, how do these words of wisdom sound?
• Don’t let your clothes be fitted too tightly. Even a perfect figure looks better if it doesn’t resemble a sausage. Only bathing suits should ‘fit tight.’ ”
• “Don’t be too different. You don’t want to dress like the herd, but you don’t want to look like a peacock in a yard full of ducks.”
• “Don’t be afraid to wear a becoming costume many, many times. It’s an old-fashioned idea that you must have a new dress for every occasion or party … the modern approach is to change accessories.”
Or, how about this one, her advice for going clothes shopping: “Make a ‘grocery list’ and know exactly what you’re looking for. This will keep you from squandering your budget on haphazard accessories or a cute hat that matches nothing.”
As for the basis of Head’s quote at the top of my column, she explained in her book that she was once invited to a party at Ginger Rogers’ house.
The party was from 5 to 8 p.m., so Head did the sensible thing: She wore a little black dress –with white gloves and hat (remember the era).
But it turned out that the party was not for tea or cocktails, as Head had expected.
Rogers had forgotten to mention that it was an ice cream party. The actress answered the door wearing a gingham dress.
Head’s quick solution: She promptly removed her hat and gloves.
