Why wear Fig Leaves when you can wear chiffon apparitions?

So tonight, off I toodled to the ICA for the Fashion in Film Festival to watch ‘Fig Leaves’ directed by Howard Hawks in 1926.  It casts a rather unfavourable light on fashion but its appearance in the film is nothing short of breathtaking.  The film revolves around the statement ‘In the beginning women had three problems – I haven’t a thing to wear!  I haven’t a thing to wear!  I haven’t a thing to wear!’  So then we are presented with a modern day Adam and Eve (literally their character names – Adam played by George O’Brien and Eve played by Olive Borden), a loving husband and wife.  However, Eve’s downfall this time round is her being lured by fashion, couture and expensive clothes, a garden of Eden in the form of the House of Andre, a self-obsessed pansy couturier who lavishes attention on Eve and tempts her with the beauty and materialism of fashion – a most delectable forbidden fruit.  The serpent is both Eve’s scheming neighbour Alice (played by Phyllis Haver) who plants the seeds of desire to be fashionable into Eve’s mind and Andre.  Of course, in typical Hollywood fashion, Eve sees the error of her ways and is forgiven by Adam. 

The message isn’t deep or meaningful, as it is supposed to be a comedy  but it is a fun little film to watch and I know fashion is the forbidden fruit and all but they make it look so damn good on screen thanks to the wonderful costumes by the legendary Gilbert Adrian. (Just check out his resume!)  Me thinks if fashion is the forbidden fruit, I think I’ll bypass the Adam and just take a huge bite (apple coincidentally being my favourite fruit of all!).   

Afterwards, there was also a mini-talk conducted by Bronwyn Cosgrove, ex features editor of British Vogue and also author of the fantastic SAMPLE: 100 Fashion Designers, 100 Curators book (which I highly recommend!).  She spoke about 1930’s Hollywood fashion concentrating mainly on the work of Gilbert Adrian, Travis Banton and Orry Kelly.  Her knowledge is part of her research for her soon to be published book about fashion of the Oscars. 

All in all a very insightful and enjoyable night.  Sometimes it’s nice to feel like fashion is not just the act of consumption and flipping through magazines but that there’s history and weight to the subject (something I constantly have the justify to people at work who think all I do is shop!).