Good Morning- or whatever time of day it may be for you- and Happy Mother’s Day!
I don’t know about you but I started my day by getting up at 4:30 a.m. to watch Lady By Choice on TCM. For those of you who have not seen the film, Carole Lombard plays a fan dancer who adopts a mother on Mother’s Day as a publicity gag to improve her image but instead finds herself developing a close relationship with her.
I woke up early hoping to tape the film but I was still half asleep I guess because I forgot to put in a blank DVD! Oh well. I enjoyed it nonetheless.
Anyways, if it wasn’t for the wonderful woman next to Carole in the picture above there might never have been a Carole Lombard. Aside from bringing her into this world, Elizabeth “Bessie” Peters supported her daughter’s screen dreams and instilled in her the 3 P’s she need to clinch them: patience, persistence, and passion.
“I have a most satisfactory parent,” Carole once said of Bessie. “Her idea on bringing me up was that I should be permitted to have and do the things that would make me happy.”
“So many girls have had to forget their families in order to follow stage or screen careers. But my mother never made it difficult for me.”
And as for Bessie’s attitude toward Carole’s tomboy tendencies she added: “My model mother never once remarked that little girls might do well with a few less bruised knees and battered noses. She was always there to cheer when I won.”
Cheers to all the marvelous mothers out there! YOU ROCK!
Carole Lombard LOVED hats. The crazier the better. Want to see some of them? I thought so.
This chartreuse felt hat was owned and worn by Carole Lombard around 1936:
A some what similar style hat in red:
A close-up of the red hat:
Here’s a beautiful black felt hat, trimmed with black satin and black veiling that belonged to Her Majesty:
Here’s the back of the black hat:
All of the items above were sold at auction some time ago and God bless the lucky lad or lady that got them!
Today we get to peek into the best part of Carole Lombard’s closet: her dresses!
Yes, the wonderful Miss-y Tally has returned with some more goodies from her vast and very lovely Lombard-ilia collection.
Tally, take it away . . .
1) First, is a lovely pink and silver, net cocktail dress, simply GORGEOUS, Very full skirt, and Carole must have looked incredible in it! No tears or flaws at all. Many COAs attached..Dated Late 1930s..
Close-Up of Carole Lombard’s Pink Dress:
2) A Lovely black chiffon evening dress with sequins along the waist and sleeves, Very beautiful! (Again as with the other black dresses, these are the chief items I believe they expected to be photographed in for b/w film. Exquisitely stitched..)
Close-Up of Carole Lombard’s Black Glitter Dress:
3) Another black cocktail dress, dated 1935, with lace at the top, black ribbon still attached, and chiffon skirt. Slightly flared at the bottom, typical 30′s fashion! Beautiful condition!
Close-up of Carole Lombard’s Black Lace Dress:
4)This last was nearly lost by a collector who “had no time or wish” to repair it (A dated early 1930′s white /lace gown of Carole’s. ) consisting of a full length slip with lace overlay, V-shaped back. The straps of the slip are ripped and the lace at the bottom is torn in one spot, but after serious PRODDING and PESTERING I persuaded him to sell it to me. Came with legitimate paperwork and COAs.(Cant BELIEVE the idiocy of ANYONE content with losing a rarity like this dress! I am convinced there Is somone out there who has the skill for proper repair, but I will leave that to FT WAYNE. I cannot hang it so had to display laid out.Hopefully you can see by the closeups how delicate and lovely it is.
Also included is a closeup of the tear of the straps…
The sound you all hear is Carole cheering Tally and everyone else on. There it is again! GO TALLY! GO TALLY!
All of these dresses are super stunning! I think the pink and white ones are my favorite. What about you?
Good morning everyone! Looks like another beautiful entry today with the fabulous Miss-y Tally showing us some of Carole Lombard’s jewelry. Let’s begin!
For this entry, we have 4 pr of Carole’s earrings:
1) a pair of silver and light blue stone beaded earrings. (scanned bw, but the stones ARE a light blue. Would look stunning with her blonde tresses!)
2) Next, emerald, diamond and gold drop earrings.Perfect shape and likely beautiful in the evening.
3) blue stone amidst diamonds earrings. (These are the ones I wore them to the Drs after the first cancer operation for GOOD LUCK, and had a feeling maybe she MIGHT have been “cruising in the vicinity”, cause it was good news for a year..These are from Carole’s hairdresser at Paramount)
4) White stone in gold clips earrings. No missing stones either and in beautifulcondition.(Given by Carole to Ben Nye and letter from him is included with COA).
A “Lady of Exquisite Taste” absolutely! (MORE To COME…)
I really don’t know how to express my gratitude Tally except to tell you that you rock and thank you thank you so much! besos!
I’m sure this post will put a smile on Vincent’s face. Miss-y Tally is sharing some more of her Lombard-ilia and has sent lovely photos of Carole Lombard’s lingerie! Take a peek:
“Enclosed are scans of the White islet “House dress” of Carole’s. Though hard to
make out in the picture, it IS islet, but it is a shade “yellowed”, and BOY! There’s a reason! This is the dress that was kept (and STILL is) in a tight plastic clothes bag as it REEKS of cigarette smoke. Incredible to know that evidence of Carole’s vice should still be here after all these years, but it is like a “Blast from the past” when you are next to it. VERY plain lines, but I think it may be one of my favorites because of this “Lucky Strike perfume” it carries w/ it! Really makes Carole come alive in your thoughts!)”
The white inslet house dress:
Close-Up of the white islet dress:
“Next are 2 handmade slips, one basic black and the other a VERY elegant pink with ablack lace hem and front..As you can see from the closeup ,VERY sheer and delicate, when you think SOMEBODY actually stitched this this!”
Carole Lombard’s Black Slip:
Carole Lombard’s Pink Slip:
Close Up of Pink Slip:
Once more, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Tally for being some generous with all of us at CaroleLombard.org. We are all so grateful.
P.S. I have been unable to access my e-mail or even my hosting account for the past few days and apologize for the inconvenience any of you have been experiencing. Hopefully the technical bugs are gone and will never return!! xoxo
Pam my dear: ask and you shall receive! Tally’s sharing with us that letter from Kay Gable about the sale of Carole Lombard’s brown dress and flowers. So here you go:
“Here is a scan of Kay’s letter mentioning the dress sale in Feb of 1963.The woman’s name was SIMON, and she had lost the original envelope, as the outside says, but inside was one of those colored “STARS HOMES” post cards that are easily found..(On the back of it was a sketch of Mickey Rooney’s home) The flowers are still stitched as Kay mentions.(I wonder what OTHER pictures she had sent to Mrs. Simon???)”
The Envelope & Postcard of the Ranch:
Just in case you’ve already forgotten, here are some pics of the flowers and dress she is referring to:
Muchas gracias Tally for once again, opening up the vault! Stay tuned for more including a seal coat!!
This is the fifth in a as-long-as-it-takes-part series with Miss-y Tally and her wonderful collection of Lombard-ilia. Hopefully you are all enjoying this series as much as I am. If you don’t know what the heck I’m talking about CLICK HERE to see Part 1. Let’s get to it!
“Scans of some more handbags, Carole’s pink-alligator skinned compact and embroidered white gloves. The compact and gloves are in the black bag; it has a beautiful multi-stoned clasp. Again the brown one has a gold clasp and satin inside, coppery color.”
Carole Lombard’s Black Handbag:
Carole Lombard’s Brown Clutch:
Carole Lombard’s pink-alligator skinned compact:
The inside of Carole Lombard’s pink-alligator skinned compact:
Carole Lombard’s embroidered white gloves:
“Original mirror and coin purse. Some scratches along the mirror compartment, likely Carole made. I had an admirer, from many years ago pop in during the worst of the cancer treatment @6 years ago. He bought me that for $600, then he disappeared. I have ALWAYS appreciated that bag!lol Funny the way people pop in and out . . . I think Carole would have laughed. I’m just glad it’s here, definitely a bag to carry with furs and a beautiful gown.”
Carole Lombard’s Brown Bag and Coin Purse + Mirror
Let’s give a big round of applause to the fantastically terrific TALLY! THANK YOU!! And don’t forget: if you have Lombard-ilia of your own you’d like to share, send us an e-mail at info@carolelombard.org and you’ll be automatically entered in our April Carole Lombard Content Give Away.
Note: You are more than welcome to e-mail us even if you don’t! xoxo
Welcome to Part 4 in this awesome series we have been having with Miss-y Tally sharing her Carole Lombard-ilia with all of us. Lots of items today so let’s get to it!
“There are 2 shots of the brown dress with THE corsage of fake flowers Clark had made at MGM. The letter verifying this from Kay Gable is here).”
Full View of the Dress:
Close up of the flowers:
“Also the feathered turban, and the copper-panel dress. Forgive me the long shot isn’t very clear, but the closeup of the top is better, Very plain by itself but with a fur and accessories.”
The Feathered Turban:
A Full Length shot of the Copper-Panel Dress:
Close Up On The Top of the Copper-Panel Dress:
“Lastly in this bunch the beaded bag from the 1920s. NOT ONE Bead is missing despite [being] torn inside. She must have enjoyed carrying it.”
Stunning. All of them. Once again I’d like to give a big THANK YOU to Tally for being so generous with CaroleLombard.org. We LOVE you.
If you have any Lombard-ilia of your own you’d like to share, shoot us an e-mail at info@carolelombard.org and you’ll be automatically entered in our April Carole Lombard Content Give Away.
Lots of love and light everyone.
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