For this Throwback Thursday, I will review the costumes in The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) in verse, a la Elizabeth Barrett Browning, in an ode to the film’s costume designer, Adrian.
Oh Adrian, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…
I love thee to the width and length and height
Your giant hoopskirts and gowns can reach, never out of sight
For leading ladies like Norma Shearer, full of grace.
I love thee despite thy un-corseted bodices
Most darted and princess-seamed, by 1930s patterns right.
I love thee freely, as you add ruffles left and right.
I love thee purely, tho’ your work is in black and greys.
I love thee with all the glitter, glitz, and bows
Liberally applied, and with such precision placed.
I love thee in historical flicks on Turner Movie Classics
Like this one romanticizing Victorian poets, with
’30s makeup, puppeh, hints of incest, and, more hoopskirts than
Anything set in 1845 would be historically accurate.
Jdkvkvjfuxuz!! PUPPEH!! Lookit his little face!
All true, ruffles, icky pa, and voluminous hoops. But Adrian, I’ll take it.
This was inspired. Love the captions. And I think that the tassel is vastly overlooked design element nowadays.
Poor Frederic March. Great romantic comedian, but he got stuck in some very odd roles. Good pooch, though.