The Ornamented Being
Ornamented: -verb: Adorn; beautify
Be·ing: -noun: Fulfillment of possibilities; essential completeness
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The Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin made an appeal for donations so they could restore 5 iconic dresses worn by Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone With the Wind.”
The dresses were kept in proper archival conditions, with controlled temperature and humidity, wrapped in acid-free paper. However, that wasn’t enough to reverse the years of damage. There were holes and frayed spots, tears, unseamed seams on all of the dresses. All the Ransom Center could do was keep them from getting any worse.
To celebrate the 75th anniversary of “Gone With the Wind” with a full exhibition of the Selznick Collection in 2014, the Center appealed to the public to raise the needed restoration funds. They raised $30,000 in a few weeks from generous donors.
The 5 dresses which they hoped to restore were the green velvet dress Scarlett made from curtains, the burgundy ball gown she wore to Ashley Wilkes’ birthday party, the wedding dress from her wedding to Charles Hamilton, and a blue velvet peignoir and a green velvet dressing gown.
Unfortunately, the green curtain dress could not be saved.
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Another piece of history lost
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Ek! One last movie costume! I keep meaning to post this one.
One of my favorite Gone with the Wind costumes.
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“The Curtain Dress, symbol of Scarlett’s will to survive, was worn in three scenes: the jail scene in which Scarlett asks Rhett for financial assistance, the scene in which Scarlett walks through the Atlanta streets with Mammy, and the scene in which Scarlett meets Frank Kennedy.
Also known as the Drapery Dress and the Portieres Dress, the dress has a moss green velvet overskirt that parts in the front to reveal a chartreuse velvet underskirt. It has fitted sleeves with a semi-cape on the left shoulder and a drapery cord belt.The color of the dress presented Plunkett with several problems. It had to suit the color of Vivien Leigh’s eyes and it had to conform to Technicolor specifications. Furthermore, it had to look as if it were made from the draperies at Tara. So the dress was aged as if the sun had faded the material.
The replica of the green curtain dress worn by Scarlett O’Hara was made of 16 yards of Italian cotton velveteen. The silk tassels and cording were reproduced by Scalamandre of New York. The dress took over 200 hours to complete, from April 22 to July 8, 1986. The original is also housed at the Ransom Center.
Replication Project Director: Sister Mary Elizabeth Joyce, Incarnate Word College, San Antonio, Texas
Designers: Carrie Harrell and Jan Hevenor”
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Clark Gable as Rhett Butler and Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara in the film Gone With the Wind (made in 1939), set in Georgia in the 1860s.
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There are 1176 button holes that the velvet ribbons lace through.
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collegeculinary asked:Could you have some “Gone with the Wind” themed posts? I’m rereading the book and falling in love with it all over again :)
Of course I can! I’m from Tennessee so I adore all things Southern!The famous Bob Mackie costume worn by Carol Burnett in her “Went with the Wind” parody of “Gone with the Wind.” Unlike Scarlett O’Hara, Burnett’s dress included the curtain rod. National Treasures in Popular Culture exhibit, National Museum of American History, Washington, DC. I remember watching this when it first aired:
