A 50s Charles James on the Oscar red carpet!

Just saw that! Love her! Love Tim!

 

Photo Link

http://justjared.buzznet.com/photo-gallery/2523648/marisa-tomei-oscars-2011-red-carpet-03/

Love it!

 

thank you for that link, brenda! i was dying to see it. oh my gawd, it's fabulous! what i wouldn't give to be able to have that in my hands.

 

One could see it better when she was on stage, presenting.
Quite incredible, the structure, and it also looked beautiful in motion.

 

I wonder where she bought it/borrowed it... I don't think a Charles James evening gown has been up for sale in fifteen years!

 

I was wondering the same thing, Jonathan. She did say, on the Red Carpet, that she'd owned it for some time.

 

From the link I posted above, it says the dress came from Lily Et Cie

Here is an article from the NY Times from last year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/fashion/14CRITIC.html

 

Ah... Lily et Cie... yes, it's well known as a place to buy high end vintage couture.
The owner, Rita Watnick, is a BIG buyer at the auctions. I believe she is the one who got a HUGE settlement from 1974 production of The Great Gatsby. She had rented them everything she had at the time, including original Chanels. The director, on a whim, told everyone to 'JUMP INTO THE POOL' which of course resulted in that famous scene, but it ruined every dress she had loaned. The money from the settlement set her up with Lily et Cie.

 

Well, she won the Academy Award for 'My Cousin Vinny' in 1992, so maybe she went shopping for it around that time. My theory, anyway.

 

Now THAT is an Oscar-worthy dress! :adore:

And Jonathan--what a story about the Lily et Cie owner! She must have been traumatized... (but appears to have recovered ;) )

 

Hi,

Yes, I saw the Oscars and loved seeing a Charles James dress "in action", and on a real woman. She has real curves!

That reminded me of something I have been trying to find out for a friend who is writing about Charles James. I could be wrong, but I remember a few years back that Sigourney Weaver wore a dress that I could have sworn was a James. The curtain opened and she was standing with her back to the audience, showing the back of this gorgeous dress that I think was cream and deep red. She was posed EXACTLY like those famous photos (was it Beaton?) of the James Girls in their evening gowns, some with their backs turned...you know the ones. Does anyone know if that was indeed a James gown and what year it was? I am trying to find out the year of the Oscar show (not the gown).

Lily et Cie, eh? Yes, she is well known. I visited the shop a few years back, I got lucky and she was open for a few hours, I did not need an appointment. I do not know if you need one today, but back then the shop was always closed unless you rang up first. I only had 5 minutes to browse, and wanted to ask about some hats of course! Maybe it is time to go back!

Anyhoo, the dresses, and the show last night were a bit lackluster. A few highlights, but overall not impressive. Of course, it is always great fun to dish on all the women and their taste in clothing! Here in LA we get a 3 hour "pre game show" so we see lots more of the folks before the show.

I even saw a friend of mine in the audience!

Barbara

 

I went in the store once, when it was on Melrose. No comment, primarily becuase my memory is hazy, but I seem to recall a chilly atmosphere.

 

Hi,

Yes, it was a bit chilly atmosphere.

Jonathan, I had heard versions akin to that story about the Great Gatsby. Lily's version is a bit different than what I have heard. Partly true anyway. She may indeed have gotten a sizable settlement from loaning her clothing, and that set her up in business, but that scene was definitely not done on a whim by anyone involved The scene was carefully arranged, lit, timed, and set up, with every actor on the set well aware that day that they might be or would be jumping into the pool or fountain. Although it is possible that some actors who should have remained dry may have jumped in (directed to or not) on a whim of their own or the director. In any event, it was definitely pre scripted. However, she did lose a lot of clothing and she surely deserved the settlement.

It has been suspected that everyone BUT her knew of the impending doom of the clothing that day, and afterwards, in order to sooth her, the producers told her it was the director's whim as a way of explaining it away. OOPS!

Reminds me of all the wonderful Edwardian clothing that went down on the set of The Titanic. So much ruined.....oh well.

Thanks for bringing up that great Hollywood story! Fun, no?

Barbara

 

Barbara - I am not surprised the story is different from what I heard. My source, although he always relayed honest gossip (he had an inside ear on fashion in Hollywood), his stories were HIGHLY dramafied. I knew his version of the story would be true, even if the facts weren't! I have forgotten the amount she supposedly received but it was something like 1 million dollars (which in the late 1970s would have been a considerable amount) I was told she used the money to buy vintage clothing and couture (which in the late 1970s was far more available and a LOT cheaper) and a couple of years later, once she had a sizeable stock again, reopened her business.

PS: I was told that the dresses from Great Gatsby were put into garbage bags and by the time they were returned, they were covered with mold! I don't know if that is part of the true story or not, but its good gossip!

 

Jonathan,

We should be so lucky.....right? Thanks for that added info...I did not know she received THAT much money or that was how she got the seed money for her shop. I only knew the facts about the day of the drowning vintage and couture and that she made some money from it....I had no idea of how much..$$$ ....yikes.....or that the story got so dramatized.

I personally like the dramatized version, don't you? If I were her I'd tell it that way too!

Barbara

 

This gown got voted Worst dress!