Gowns by Adrian: The MGM Years 1928-1941: Amazon.ca: Howard Gutner: Books

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

The famous 1930s Hollywood couturier Adrian is handled with kid-gloves in Howard Gutner's Gowns by Adrian: The MGM Years 1928-1941, the first book on the designer. Ever the perfectionist, "he treated the costumes of a chorus girl or extra with the same care, taste, and wit that he lavished on Garbo's crinolines in Camille," says Gutner. Replete with images Eva von Berne in petit point lace; Madge Evans in fluted ruffles at the neck, a peplum at the hips and a bouffant skirt; Joan Crawford in white silk crepe and black bugle beads; and plenty of costumes that never made it to the final cut and the ins and outs of both the fashion and the movie industries, this handsome book will please fashionistas and film folk.

From Booklist

Any longtime Hollywood fan would readily agree that nothing succeeded like excess--especially in the movies of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. And much of that success, claims researcher-editor Gunter, was due not only to the skills of such stars as Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford but also to the genius of one little-known costume designer--Gilbert Adrian, or simply Adrian, as L.A. dubbed him. The book starts with Adrian's predilection for the arts--born of talented parents and educated at Parsons--and, from there, almost instantaneous stardom when he joined MGM in 1924. Stars mentioned and movies cited will be familiar to almost anyone, including Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story, Greta Garbo as Mata Hari, and the wacky and wonderful Wizard of Oz. Best yet are the photographs, mainly in black and white, that showcase memorable "still" moments and the elusive process of artistic creation. Filmography appended. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Product Description

Tag this product

(What's this?)

Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.

Customer Reviews

12 Reviews

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.8 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Memorable Journey, Mar 22 2004

By

WJ (New York, New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gowns by Adrian: The MGM Years 1928-1941 (Hardcover)

This is an exceptional book that covers an amazing era in Hollywood films. The book obviously has been extensively researched and is extremely well written. The author has gone to great lengths to bring the costumes of Adrian alive, both in the text and in the extraordinary photographs. It is a book that should be read by those interested in costume design for film, Hollywood of the twenties and thirties, and in particular, the unique talent of Adrian. Adrian set a standard in costume design for film that, arguably, has not been matched, and the author has done him a great service with this beautiful book.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

4.0 out of 5 stars BEAUTIFUL TRIBUTE TO A MASTER CRAFTSMAN., Dec 17 2003

By

classic movie fan "tabby cat fan" (St. Cloud, outside Paris, France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gowns by Adrian: The MGM Years 1928-1941 (Hardcover)

To be honest, I haven't actually read this book yet. Since the previous reviewers/commentators have covered all the bases regarding this volume let me just say that GOWNS BY ADRIAN is a beautiful book with many lovely photos that have been lovingly reproduced (no dupey quality here!).

My only regret - and the reason for the 4 star rating - is that the majority of the photos are of Adrian's "modern time" creations. I would have loved to have seen more data/pictures from his costume pictures. To be sure MARIE ANTOINETTE is hi-lighted -- but it would have been terrific to have seen his splendid gowns for the other costume epics he created while at MGM.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

5.0 out of 5 stars A treasure, dahlings, an absolute treasure, Jun 8 2003

By

Mrs Baldwin (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gowns by Adrian: The MGM Years 1928-1941 (Hardcover)

I have two favourite things to do - sew doll clothes and study classic cinema, and this book inspires both. I didn't know much about Adrian before - I was always seeing his name in credits for MGM movies, and when I heard about this book I thought, "Hey, let's get it from the library and see what it's all about." I was completely pulled into the book right away.

There is a lot of text, all very informative and easy to read, and it is perfectly balanced by a whole parade of sumptuous black and white photographs of ladies gowned by Adrian, movie stills of the ladies in his designs, and several of Adrian's sketches for the dresses. I have looked at this book so many times and always find something new and interesting. I'm working on reading through it, but I am always reading here and there in it anyway, and in the filmography in the back I've been underlining the titles of all the movies he designed for that I have seen. (Quite a few, but not nearly all!) I am beginning to be able to tell just from looking at a dress in a movie whether it's one of Adrian's or not - and that's not just because I'm hearing the lion roar before the credits, either - he had a very definitive style, and when you expose yourself to enough of it, you immediately recognise it. Adrian could be bizarre and innovative in a very classy way. He knew what was right for the actress who would wear the dress, knew how to make the dresses play into the scenes in which they would be worn. He also believed that a dress should have "one note", or one thing about it that stood out and made it unique from any other gown - beading, embroidery, whatever - and I think that this is why even his more ordinary gowns had a certain look to them.

This book is an education and a delight and everyone interested in fashion history, movie history, or just beautiful things should have this on their coffee table.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 12 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Want to see more reviews on this item?

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 20 reviews 4.7 out of 5 stars

Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars How to Properly Dress Garbo, Crawford, Shearer & Madam Satan
This inspired book of fashion by Hoard Gutner is an obvious labor of love in it's 208 pages of glitter, glamour and sparkle. Read more

Published on Aug 24 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely superb!
After reading one of the reviews on this site, I felt obligated to rush to the author's defense, even though I have no personal connection to him. Read more

Published on July 28 2002