subscribeThere are still fashion moments from the film Midnight that just cannot be ignored. Stephanie’s (Hedda Hopper) toga like hostess gown, is the picture of poise. Simone’s (Elaine Barrie) extreme, underwater like affair, hat choice is daring. And the “Baroness Cherny”, slips into this “negligee”, half lamp shade and precursor to a swinging Laugh-In style mini, you have to love. Saucy or Demure?
Next is Colbert’s charming evening dress for the country. The sleeves play a part all on their own. They frame and lift, a delightful choice for the dance. These sleeves always maintain their lighter-than-air loft and like Colbert herself, never appear crushed nor deflated.
After the ball, one needs to face the day with a crisp breakfast dress, neatly belted and smartly cuffed. Take note of the way she accessorizes by tucking her sunglasses into the belt of the dress. No one here is hefting their designer bags to dine.
A sad, but very Hollywood annotation: The designer responsible for all these amazing costumes was Irene Lentz. On November 15, 1962, three weeks short of her sixty-second birthday, Lentz took a room at the Knickerbocker Hotel, checking in under an assumed name. She cut her wrists but when this did not prove to be immediately fatal, she jumped to her death from her bathroom window at about 3 p.m., landing on the extended roof of the lobby, where she was discovered later that same night. She had left caring notes for friends and family, for her ailing husband, and for the hotel residents, apologizing for any inconvenience her death might cause. As per her wishes, she was interred next to her first husband, F. Richard Jones, in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
In 2005, Irene Lentz was inducted into the Costume Designers Guild’s Anne Cole Hall of Fame.
