How Carole Lombard Became The Best Dressed Star

MOVIE MAGAZINE, MAY 1935
By: Dorothy Kugler

SIMPLICITY-
Conservatism-
Unerring taste-

These qualities have put Carole Lombard on the pinnacle of smartness- they have caused Travis Banton, Paramount’s designer and one of the leading authorities on women’s fashion in the world, to name her as the best-dressed woman in films.

The day of the “clothes horse” in pictures is rapidly drawing to an end. More intelligent audiences are demanding something more than the spectacle of a woman trailing across the screen attired in enough frills and furbelows to clothe the entire cast. Theatrical and “stagey” looking clothes are passe for the star of today. Carole Lombard is Hollywood’s foremost example of this metamorphosis.

There was no better source to which I could have gone for an answer to my questions, and my questions were these:

“How did you become the best-dressed woman? What advice can you give which would be helpful and practical to girls in less glamorous walks of life who want to know how to be well-dressed on smaller salaries?”

Miss Lombard’s answers were so satisfactory and practical that I am putting them here with the certainty that they will prove highly useful to any woman with a conscious where her clothes are concerned.

“I have always stayed on the conservative side of the fence regarding dress,” Miss Lombard told me. “Any departure from established forms and standards should be done gradually and with the trend of style,, not radically and violently. A woman who goes to extremes in the matter of apparel is preferring ostentation to good taste. She will never be considered truly smart.”

The beautiful blonde star could not emphasize too strongly the importance of simplicity. Simple things, well-cut, which are compatible with the figure and the personality, distinguish the unquestionably fashionable woman. Clothes should be worn as part of the individual’s personal make-up and must be molded to fit accordingly. Miss Lombard’s wardrobe is a collection of discreet, finely made garments, created and chosen to suit her individuality, and they make Carole look like Carole, and like no one else.

“The importance of clothes has always been apparent to me,” she explained, “and income hasn’t been the dominating factor. Smartness is not a matter of money. It is an attribute solely dependent on taste. And it isn’t how many clothes you have that marks you as well-dressed; it’s what kind of clothes.”

“Most girl try too hard to have too much, and the result is a jumbled wardrobe of cheaper grade things, with nothing matching and no one outfit complete and perfect in itself. It is a senseless, futile procedure to pick up various types of wearing apparel and gadgets her and there and fill your closet with a number of things of varied colors and styles.”

“The clever girl is she who finds what colors suit her best and sticks to them. Then her accessories do not have to be numerous, because they will always match the outfit she is wearing. Her ensembles will always blend. Colors such as blue and soft browns are always ‘right.’ They can be worn in any season in any part of the country. If you don’t happen to be one of those people to whom these colors are becoming, then go for the warmer shades which are extremely smart.”

THEREIN lies the reason why Carole has always been well dressed and is now regarded as the best-dressed woman on the screen. She wears only what is becoming. In other words- she wears the clothes- they don’t wear her. She allows her gowns to enhance her personality, not to hide it from view, and she in turn enhances them.

The girl who does not study herself to find what is most suitable to her particular type, but blindly follows fashion, loses her own individuality in the mob. But to those who do want to find their correct medium of expression through clothes, a word of advice from Miss Lombard- let it be simple; let the cut and the color be your guides.

While I was chatting with her, the thought occurred to me that I might ask Carole’s advice on a weighty, glaring problem, which no one has ever solved.

“What do you think should be done about the short and dumpy?” I queried. “Their number is legion, and no one has ever seemed to be able to do anything when it comes to making their clothes appear distinguished on them.”

“In the first place,” she replied, “there is no excuse for the average short and dumpy person. There is diet, there is exercise, there are methods of improving the posture to everyone. But, if they just won’t [Continued on pg. 76]

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