Coco Chanel in Hollywood: What Her One Year in Hollywood Reveals About Fashion, Film Costume and the Female Spectator Open Access

Abstract

This thesis explores Coco Chanel's collaboration with Samuel Goldwyn on the films Palmy Days, Tonight or Never and The Greeks Had a Word for Them. While the business partnership was deemed a failure by both the press and later scholars, it remains an important piece within film costuming history and reveals early efforts to appeal to female spectators using high fashion. Thus, this thesis argues that a thorough study of why Chanel's Hollywood work failed is necessary to understand later, successful collaborations between couturiers and Hollywood.

Table of Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1

Chapter One: Modernity, Mass Production and the Rise of Consumer Culture ............ 12

Fashion and Modernity ...................................................................................... 14

The Rise of Coco Chanel ................................................................................... 21

Early Cinema, Female Spectatorship and the Change to Classical Style .......... 26

Cinema and Fashion: A Mutually Beneficial Relationship ............................... 29

Chapter Two: Coco Comes to Hollywood ............................................................36

Samuel Goldwyn, Coco Chanel and the American Press .................................. 40

1930s Hollywood: The New Fashion Capital of the World? ............................. 45

Echoes of Chanel's Visit and Publicity .............................................................. 55

Chapter Three: Fashion 24 Frames a Second ..................................................... 61

Palmy Days ........................................................................................................ 63

Tonight or Never ................................................................................................ 71

The Greeks Had a Word for Them ..................................................................... 80

Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 89

Bibliography .......................................................................................................94

Other Works Cited ..............................................................................................102

Tables and Figures

Fig. 1 Alma Whitaker, "Sugar and Spice," .................................................................... 36

Fig. 2 "World's Style Center Shifts from Europe to Los Angeles." .............................. 47

Fig. 3 "Here's what Paris Designs for the Stars" ........................................................... 65

Fig. 4 Palmy Days Ad .................................................................................................... 68

Fig. 5 Displaying Chanel's Jewelry: Gloria Swanson in Tonight or Never ................... 73

Fig. 6 Swanson as Chanel in Tonight or Never ............................................................. 74

Fig. 7 Tonight or Never Ad ............................................................................................ 76

Fig. 8 Ina Claire shows off Chanel's wedding gown in Greeks..................................... 82

Fig. 9 Greeks Ad ........................................................................................................... 85

About this Master's Thesis

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Film and Media Studies
Degree	MA
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Gender Studies Design and Decorative Arts Cinema
Keyword	tie-ins Fashion Film Costume Chanel Goldwyn, Samuel
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Schreiber, Michele, Emory University
Committee Members	Oeler, Karla, Emory University Bernstein, Matthew, Emory University

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