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Screen Style Fashion and Femininity in 1930s Hollywood Sarah Berry |
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A social history of 1930s film and women's fashion. Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich—all were icons of beauty and glamour in 1930s Hollywood. Screen Style reveals the impact of celebrities like these on women filmgoers, looking beyond the surface of the films and fashions of the era-often described as forms of escapism from the difficult realities of the Depression—to show how Hollywood presented women with models for self-determination during a time of rapid social change. Revealing the fascination of Hollywood movies in the thirties with strong-willed women—from the ambitions of gold-diggers, working girls, and social climbers to the illicit appeal of female androgyny and ethnic exoticism—Sarah Berry presents a lively, accessible, and lavishly illustrated look at films, fan magazines, and advertising. She views Hollywood glamour in the context of popular debates about fashion, identity, and social status, discussing such films as What Price Hollywood?, The Bride Wore Red, and The Bitter Tea of General Yen; big-budget, style-driven vehicles such as Fashions of 1934 and Vogues of 1938; and musicals, costume dramas, and Technicolor extravaganzas. Screen Style explores the consumer economy that was still a novelty in the 1930s, as well as the shift from "class" to "mass" fashion marketing. Berry analyzes Hollywood and fashion-industry perceptions of the huge potential buying power of women, both as purchasers of goods for the entire family and as filmgoers, and the subsequent boom in star endorsements and merchandising, fashion publicity for upcoming films, and movie tie-ins of clothes and accessories. Wide-ranging changes accompanied the popularization of fashion, including the growing acceptance of cosmetic use and women's appropriation of pants. The fact that more women than ever before were working outside of the home led to a blurring of the social distinctions that fashion had traditionally served to accentuate-and, as a result, popular fashion provided women with a new tool to challenge and shape their roles in society. "In Sarah Berry's lavishly illustrated study of the relationship between Hollywood fashion and women's identity in 1930s America, she laudably seeks a nuanced point of view about the social impact of the heyday of on-screen glamour. Readable, comprehensive, and clearly argued, Sarah Berry's study of fashion in 1930s films has the potential not only to expand on the theoretical dialogue about its subject but also to serve the general reader and the film student as an introduction to a substantial number of largely unknown films and stars who nevertheless make up an important part of Hollywood history." —Film Quarterly “Screen Style tackles several topics, from Depression-era feminism to the economic impact of women’s buying power. Author Sarah Berry’s behind-the-scenes look at fashion, film and femininity has wide appeal. With a positive and conversational tone, the book discusses the impact of 1930s screen queens on American female culture, fashion and attitudes. Glamorous black-and-white press photos feature Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford and Marlene Dietrich among others.” —Today’s Librarian “Screen Style is a well-timed book covering 1930s Hollywood, femininity and fashion. Sarah Berry interdisciplinary methodology focuses on themes such as class, race and industrial techniques of mass marketing and their relationship to femininity. Archival research, rather than engaging in deeply feminist debates about gender performance, is the true strength of the book. Berry not only covers an area which has been seriously neglected, but produces the first in-depth and comprehensive academic work on this subject with a historical film studies-oriented perspective. Screen Style is well researched and clearly written. The book is worth reading not only for those interested in 1930s stars, fashion and gender, but for those more broadly interested in Hollywood history, genre and audience research.” —Media International Australia “It is a great read. Anyone who loves movies for their visuals as well as their stories will find this book riveting.” —Review of Communication "Scholarship on the film industry implicitly devolves to an economic base, but Berry deals with commerce explicitly. She argues that the popular fashion system offered women an opportunity to challenge and shape their social roles. Berry takes the subjects of fashion and fan cultures, usually considered trivial, as salient in women's access to a greater range of social worlds. Finally, Berry looks at the role of Hollywood stars such as Garbo and Hepburn in popularizing menswear and thereby promoting gender androgyny." —Canadian Journal of Film Studies Sarah Berry is assistant professor of film and media studies and production at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York. 256 pages | 45 black-and-white photos | 5-7/8 x 9 | 2000 |
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$67.50 Cloth/jacket