Betty Grable for my Money

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Title:

How To Marry A Millionaire [1953]

ASIN:

B0007RUSK8

Rating:

I was watching How to Marry a Millionaire last night, and clothes-wise out of the three it’s got to be Betty Grable for me.

Almost from start to finish she’s wearing a kind of Dior
tiny-waisted full-skirted New Look – which is kind of odd as fashion
historians tell us:

The first Christian Dior couture show was scheduled
for 12 February 1947. Clothes were still scarce and women wore the
sharp-shouldered suits with knee-length skirts that they had cobbled
together as makeshift wartime versions of Elsa Schiaparelli’s slinky
1930s silhouette. The Paris couture trade, which had dominated
international fashion since the late 18th century, was in a precarious
state. What it needed was excitement and Christian Dior delivered it in
a collection of luxurious clothes with soft shoulders, waspy waists and
full flowing skirts intended for what he called “flower women”. “It’s
quite a revelation dear Christian,” pronounced Carmel Snow, the editor
of Harper’s Bazaar, the US magazine. “Your dresses have such a new
look.”

What makes it odd is that the film came out in 1953…

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