Hollywood Head Game
by Robert J. Avrech
Ava Gardner had rich lustrous hair, but in this glamor photo from the 50’s, Ava is transformed into a sensual bird of prey.
Step into an Orthodox synagogue on Shabbat, the Sabbath, and you’ll notice that married women cover their hair, donning hats, scarves, or sometimes just an elegant patch of lace. Hat variations are endless, and to yours truly, fascinating.
In Israel, you can usually pinpoint a woman’s religious and political ideology—Modern Orthodox, Right Wing Hasidic, Hippie Hasidic, Orthodox Feminist, Black Hat Orthodox, Gun Toting Settler (totally hot!)—by noting the head gear she favors.
Now, step back in time to Hollywood’s Golden Age and you will discover that an astonishing variety of hats are part of almost every wardrobe, and frequently used in studio generated publicity stills. Unlike today, classic Hollywood understood that elegant and creative millinery conveys multiple meanings that are a valuable part of a star’s glamorous arsenal.
Gloria Swanson became an international star and fashion icon under the direction of Cecile B. DeMille. Here, as the notorious Sadie Thompson, Swanson shows that they didn’t just have faces in the silent era, they had hats!
George Hurrell, the greatest of the Hollywood studio photographers, doesn’t just plop a hat on Anita Page. He transforms it into negative space, thereby framing Page’s alabaster skin and creating a truly iconic image. No wonder Benito Mussolini fell in love with the young star, proposing marriage in one of his many fan letters.
Betty Grable was best known for her legs and for her tempestuous marriage to band leader Harry James, a mosaic of infidelity, violence and booze. But here, the pin-up queen of WW II, looks solidly middle class, like a perky N.J., yenta.
Dolores Costello was one of the most beautiful women in early Hollywood. Tragically, Costello’s lovely but fragile skin was ravaged by the heavy make-up used in silent films. She spent her final years in seclusion, running her avocado farm. This finely spun hat adds to her mysterious allure. Costello, briefly married to bad-boy John Barrymore, is actress Drew Barrymore’s grandmother.
Mae Murray, a self-destructive star of the 20’s, appears incredibly modern. Only the bee stung lips date her look. Murray walked out on her MGM contract when she married a phony European nobleman. She ended her days impoverished and stark raving mad, wandering the streets mumbling that she was still a great star. By the way, if you’re a retro kind of girl, Perpetual Flapper has a step by step tutorial on how to create those bee stung lips.
Kay Francis, a pre-code Warner Bros. star, looks like a modest milk maid in this shmatte. Ironic, because Francis kept a diary, written in code, in which she detailed her numerous affairs with men and women—and her eight abortions.
Merle Oberon sports a somewhat tilted nautical theme. Oberon always looked elegant and frostily upper class. She hid the fact that she was of mixed race parentage. Her mother was Anglo-Sri-Lankan and her father, probably British, but so far, unknown. When the press or her Hollywood friends were around, Oberon made her mother pose as a house maid.
Recently, beauty pageants have been in the news because of the unconscionable leftist assault on Carrie Prejean. There were no hats in the 2009 Miss U.S.A. contest, but take a look at the Miss America contestants of 1933. Times and skirt lengths have definitely changed.
Not a Hollywood actress, but Chana Gittel was always a star to your faithful screenwriter. Here, my maternal grandmother, age 17, models an outfit that she designed and sewed, with matching hat, perfect for a stroll in the park. Photo approximately 1909.
Copyright © Robert J. Avrech
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68 Comments
Great article, as usual, Mr. Avrech. Now, tell this newly single Lutheran boy more about these Gun Toting Settlers! (insert wolf whistle here) LOL If she's got a 1911, she's got my heart…
Great post! Thank you!
Just when did hats become passe?
You're very welcome.
I date the end of hats to John F. Kennedy's presidency. He was vain about his thick thatch of hair and didn't want to cover it up. In the 60's, like so much else, hats took a steep nosedive.
I won't normally defend Hollywood, but in this case I think Hollywood just went along the the greater fashion trend of time. Hats were the norm back then, while in modern times, they ain't. Why? I don't know, I'm not a fashion historian, but the truth is hats have fallen by the wayside for people, and are only worn when weather requires them.
It might have something to do with us becoming a more "indoor" culture, where more of our activities are inside buildings rather than outside. If you know anything about traditional hat etiquette, you know that the majority of hats are taken off when entering a building. As people spent more times in buildings… Anyway, that's the best theory I can posit.
Thank you. Good article BTW.
I don't see a come-back for hats. I always loved the look of a fedora.
This is wonderful, THANK you! I too want to know when hats became passe? I ask this as a Catholic who USED to need to wear a head covering at Mass (it was tradition, not any doctrinal or liturgical requirement). I really miss that.
I think hats are a wonderful accessory, and those photos you provided prove that beautifully.
Boy, those days of the fedoras and boaters were, according to George Costanza, a bald man's paradise.
Hats will make a come back, as soon as someone figures out they will protect you from Global Warming.
Fashions come & fashions go, but grace and beauty are eternal. I have a similar picture (about 1915) of my paternal grandmother dressed in a similar fashion.
But secular head cover back then – whether for men or women – was an outgrowth from something more practical: protection against the weather. Of course, the outrageous plumage of Hollyweird had mostly to do with protection against humility.
Those with a more modest budget could still afford a modicum of fashion along with the utility of hat – until the ubiquitous protection of modern autos & buildings did away with any need for that sort of thing, at all.
Curiously, our national level of obesity, diabetes, and cholestral rose as hats disappeared.
Men & women without hats are obviously to blame.
Our Dear Leader must appoint a Hat Czar.
Thanks for the Hollywood Head Game, Mr. Avrech!
The hats are neat. One old geezer's opinion: Grable was hot; Gittel was not
Loser hat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKfITYXltso
Hats protect you from head colds in the winter, and skin cancer in the summer. Hats are good. I wear them all the time.
I think hats gave women an elegance that is sadly missing today.
Speaking of hats I watched Mulholland Falls last night. It showed me a Los Angles I remember growing up and the hat squad! Nick Nolte's (any relation to John?) LAPD squad that was no nonsense -
Dude…you just insulted his grandmother!
I'm glad you picked that up. I was having a little fun with Robert (to see if anyone would notice) – they all are obviously lovely ladies, and that is the truth.
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I LOVE HATS!!! This is why I will always be fond of the 80s – hats made a comeback because of shows like Dynasty and the unabashed retro-feel of a lot of cloths (not everyone was a headbanger, okay?) – I sported quite a few chapeaus myself – a particular favorite that I mourn to this day (I dont know what happened to it) was a beautiful black brimmed thing with a net that came down veil my face. I had an entire outfit built around this hat. Love it love it…really miss it.
And then there was the brief flirtation with fedoras back in the 90s. I love it when my husband wears his. Hats SHOULD come back.
Thank you Mr. Avrech! Delightful article!
Churchgoing black women have maintained a long history of elaborate "crowns." See: Aretha's hat at the inauguration…not actually all that elaborate or unusual in some circles. I actually like this story about Aretha's hat because you don't really think of millinery as a prosperous profession any more: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/kit...
I'm a casual hat fan myself. They really do add a little 'ping' to an outfit, from baseball caps to buckets to berets. I just wish I could rock a cowboy hat.
Just be careful…I believe Avretch has 'casually' mentioned his firearms prowess…
. . . . but his prowess as a blogger is even greater!
Undeniable…but blogging won't kill ya!
My settler friends and relatives favor Glocks for various reasons. Men usually wear holsters and women tote their firearms in pocketbooks. In Synagogue there are always several combat rifles, M16's, Galili assault rifles, etc. present in case of a major attack by the Arabs.
let's just hope it doesn't bring us all I.R.S. audits.
So if Jed gets any "mysterious" letters to visit on the firing range.. he should turn the other direction?
Gimme an Akubra hat (crocodile dundee) for guys, those are the best kinda hat to own.. It just had the anyday feeling, that gave you a feeling of being somewhat formally dressed… not to mention, you always looked like Sam Spade, no matter what clothing attire you had on
for ladies… I can't remember what the beret type is in the Grable picture is, but to this day, if I see a lady in that kind of hat.. (and worn properly… ) it's.. Wowzsas!!
It looks like she's got a scallion shoved in it, tho.
We used to be required to wear hats to church when I was growing up. My mom always had such gorgeous chapeaus – feathers, ribbons, huge brims – always dramatic. I've worn my share of gorgeous hats, especially in the 80s. I still wear a hot pink big brimmed hat to the beach…I look adorable (if I do say so myself) and I'll hopefully never have cancer.
I love learning about the Golden Age of Hollywood. I grew up in San Diego and one of my favorite shows was Dialing for Dollars. Bob Dale was the host and he would tell you littel bits of gossip. That's were my love of oldies began. 'Course, down here we are getting ready for Opening Day at the Del Mar racetrack, and those hats are interesting.
Oh boy do I remember wearing hats to Mass! I looked quite smashing back then – there is one thing I can do and that's wear a hat with panache. I love my Tilley hat and wear it all the time now. It keeps the sun off and my head cool (although we have had a pretty cool summer so far – reverse Gore effect?)
Anyone know where i can get a copy of the Boarding Hat that Rose wore in "Titanic"??? I love the Edwardian look (my best look as a matter of fact LOL) – and that hat was HUGE. I want one.
I forget how stunning Betty Grable was. What a stunner.
Offhand I think it was when Hollywood and the fashion industry became filled with liberal airheads. They tend to get overheated while complaining about things and hats covered the escape valve.
They say, what, 90% of the body's heat escapes through the head, so keeping it in keeps the atmosphere from warming up. Also the tin foil increases the insulating value.
And wear his bullet-proof hat!
I've had to wear a "cover" all of my military career. I was pretty much anti-hat while I was off-duty until I was stationed in Germany – I was at a Christmas market at Nuremberg in a pouring rain which was miserable, and after that I wore a hat at the hint of inclement wet, cold weather. I didn't like the heavy woolen German hats, nor did I like looking too American with a baseball cap or (much worse) cowboy hat, so I settled on a fedora, which kept everyone guessing. Similarly, my next assignment was in Tampa, where I noticed after a round of golf that my normally short hair wasn't thick enough for protection with some painful sunburn up on top. So, again I wore one if I was going to spend any amount of time out in the sun. Now, I don't have any problems wearing one if the weather demands.
I'm sure you could. I have one since, living in Tennessee, it's pretty much standard wear.
Cardinal Fang:
Thanks so much for your kind words.
A few years ago, one of my best friends killed a terrorist in the town of Efrat before the Arab detonated his vest. In the following link you will read why my buddy carries a Glock in a Fobus speed holster.
I think you'll find this most informative:
http://www.seraphicpress.com/archives/2008/08/the...
King:
Apparently, being stunning is not enough. During WWII, while Grable was at home, her husband, Harry James, was on tour sleeping with numerous women, the bag band groupies.
Ironic, when you consider that Grable was the pin up star of WWII, and every GI yearned for her.
"Hippie Hasidic…"
It may take me all day to come to terms with that. I mean, we had Jesus Freaks when I was a teen in the 70's (Spectacularly represented by Norman Greenbaum's Spirit in the Sky; ironically, because he's Jewish… but then so was Jesus. LOL!), so would a Hippie Hasidic be a Tetragrammaton Freak?
I'm having trouble visualizing this concept. Perhaps a photo would help.
Fashion-trend minded young men (and women) are wearing a lot of those short-brimmed straw fedoras this year, and Kangol caps really haven't gone away. I see a lot of young women here in L.A., even in the heat, wearing those oversized knit berets as well. They're still around–someone's go to be keeping al those mall kiosks going! It's just interesting that for most people they're a completely casual accessory now.
In fashion or not – I have always worn hats to church/synagogue/funerals/weddings. I love them and it is a great way to be creative with trims and tulle. My hats and I get loads of compliments along with the plaintive phrase "Oh I wish I could wear hats".
My response is that anybody can wear a hat if the want to. As of yet there is no trend czar.
Indeed, proper ettiquete is to remove one's hat when entering a building, unless one is under arms.
And how many of those found their way into landfills I wonder?
"If Jews in Europe owned guns there would be several million dead Nazis and their collaborators—and far fewer dead Jews."
Truth indeed sir! Taught by my grandfather who barely made it out of there in time, to my father and then to me and my sibs.
Especially since Obama is making a big deal about "not" throwing her under the bus. (Don't watch one side of his mouth, while he talks out the other):
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul21/cl...
Guess the "I'm sorry we polluted, please don't you" India Apology tour bombed.
Well, I guess it's safe to say that Harry James was a class-A moron. Or just a regular grade pig.
BTW, good article sir.
That's an amazing, informative blog! Weapons are the tools of my trade. I started out as a weapons man on an SF A Team, and for over 32 years, I've checked out hundreds of different pistols, rifles and shotguns, from black powder to the latest cutting edge technology. It comes down to two factors – first, what you're comfortable with, which includes what you can hit a target with, and second, what type of weapon is best suited for the task at hand (right tool for the right job). If you can find something that fits both of those two factors, hang on to it. That also includes supporting equipment, like the Fobus holster. I have one for my P99 as well, and also one for my latest acquisition, an FN 5.7 which may eventually replace the Walther as my pistol of choice. I eagerly await your next contribution to Big Hollywood.
Cardinal:
I had a feeling you, and many of my readers, would appreciate the post about my buddy. It's ironic, I was trained in Israel by an instructor—a deadly and gorgeous IDF woman from Yemen—who only used a 1911, 45. That's the weapon I use now, and though mine weighs a ton, it's a classic Springfield, I have tried the Glocks and just can't get used to the feel. I suppose after shooting off a zillion (not really, but close) with a single pistol, and in general hitting at what I aim, it's not easy to switch. As you say, it's a tool and cutting edge technology might not be the right fit.
Thanks so much for your service.
Hucbald:
In the late 60's early 70's quite a few Jewish hippies returned to Judaism. Most were from secular Jewish households where the real religion was liberalism. As such, these kids had very little grounding in authentic Judaism. In their search for meaning and G-d, they were attracted to Lubavitch Hasidim. I have a few friends who fit this profile. The women often wear hippiesh flowing skirts with fashionable head wraps that are often shot through with metallic thread, silver and gold are the favored colors. It's a very specific look and you have to be conversant with the culture to recognize the look. Sorry, no pics at hand. But I hope this answers your question.
I was going to complain about the lack of Myrna Loy, but a sweep through Google Image revealed few shots of all the great hats she wore in the Thin Man series. I did find this though.
http://www.style.com/slideshows/standalone/beauty...
I think Asta wants the hat for himself.
That's also the pistol with which I was trained. I went to a 2-week course taught by some amazing marksmen. Before that, I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, even if I was standing in it. I must have fired over 2,500 rounds just through that pistol, an old M1911A1 Remington Rand that may have gone ashore on D-Day. It was loose and rattled, but at the end of that course, I was able to reliably hit the 50 meter target about 95% of the time. If you have a large hand, as I do, you might want to check out the Para Ordnance P14 which gives you fourteen rounds of .45 as opposed to seven, out of what looks to be an otherwise standard 1911A1. If I'm not worried about concealment, that's what I carry – nothing better. Again, it's what you're confident in that you can hit your target, and what you feel comfortable carrying. Thank you again for a great article. I'll be looking for your contributions in the future.
I think that is true.
My observations as a young'n, in the 1960s. Most of the men who were 50+ years of age wore a fedora, trilby or pork-pie style hat. The women of the same age usually wore a small, pinned hat in their dress-up or go to church atire. If they were 50 or younger, no hats. In the 1970s, only men 70+ years of age were still wearing their hats when they dressed up.
I'll never forget my father buying my brother and I trilby hats to wear to church around 1967. I made the mistake of walking into the church building without removing my hat. A crusty old Church Elder of 80something years growled at me to, "Take my hat off in the building!" Scared me to death and I never committed that piece of poor manners again when I was young.
Campaspe:
Myrna Loy. Sigh. Yes, I deserve a severe scolding. I also received an insanely irate letter to my g-mail account demanding to know how in G-d's name I could omit Marlene Dietrich in her tux and top hat.
My reply: Stay tuned for Part II.
Peregry:
I'm sorry if I gave the impression that I'm blaming Hollywood. Not at all. Here, as you say, Hollywood is just drifting along with the general culture. But, hey, remember Andie MacDowell's hat in "Four Weddings and a Funeral." The hat is easily the most memorable thing about that film. So Hollywood starlets would be wise to find a good milliner and make an impression.
Cardinal:
I'll take a look at the Para, tahnks for the tip, but getting me to give up my Springfield is going to verge on the miraculous.
It looks almost exactly like a 1911A1, with the only difference being that the grip is about twice as big – hence the necessity for a large hand. It also feels a little better balanced for me. It's slightly heavier, but you get the 14 rounds of .45 which can be a big plus – less need to reload.
Great article, Mr. Avrech! Keep them coming. But why Glocks? I had a Glock 19 which I replaced with a Walther P99. I didn't like the Glock's single action, or the safety "feature" in the middle of the trigger. If you're referring to a .45, then nothing beats a 1911A1 style, particularly a hi-cap like a Para-Ordnance P14.
"Indoor" culture you say? Tell that to the masses of fools coming into the theater with baseball caps firmly seated.. on their heads!
I just happen to wear a black fedora whenever the weather allows. I picked it up for ten dollars from a Woolworths right after I got out of the Air Force. Its pretty beat up and weather worn at the moment, but would cost too much to replace.
I am in search of a steel bladed hat similar to that worn by Odd Jobb in Gold Finger (though I think he had a derby or bowler, not a fedora).
Love this post. Doesn't Dolores Costello look a lot like Marion Cotillard? (We can hope that she had more sense, though.)
It does!
Thanks Robert.
Glocks are hawt!
I recall hearing that men's undershirts took a dive in sales after Gable was shown in It Happened One Night (1934) not wearing one. It makes me think of Veronica Lake and her famous hairstyle, and how the government asked her to say or do something to encourage Rosie the Riveter to not ape it at work since it was leading to accidents. I don't think hats have recovered, but I love them. Fair skin tends to need protection.
[...] Robert Avrech/Big Hollywood :Hollywood: The Head Game [...]
I don't tote a gun, but I do wear hats!
And on backwards at that.
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