Written by Madeline Mecca, Ithaca College
At the turn of the 19th century, costume design for the movies wasn’t yet an established endeavor. More often than not, costuming choices were left to the discretion of actors and actresses, who had to unearth clothing from their own closets. They had to pick and choose as they saw fit for their characters. Actors who showed up to auditions impressively dressed were far more likely to land a role than those with humbler clothing. But as silent film gained traction, costumes became more elaborate, and designers were brought in to weave their magic. The casts of movies began to fully embody their characters — sleek satin gowns and fur wraps for femme fatales, perfectly tailored suits for detectives and businessmen, cloche hats with feminine details for respectable ladies. The craft continued to evolve and designers like Edith Head and Adrian Adolph Greenburg rose through the ranks with their glamorous creations.
Irene Castle, actress, dancer, and the most photographed woman of the 1910s, took this fresh interest in fashion to even higher heights by creating her own fashion line, Irene Castle Corticelli Fashions. The beloved star, her face framed by her often-imitated chic bob and progressive attitude, was already a household name when she developed her brand in 1917. The fashion lines, while still sensible, mirrored Castle’s own iconic looks and preferences: graceful dresses with loose silhouettes, the shedding of restrictive corsets, and a response to the burgeoning desire for more relaxed footwear. She even wore slacks! She launched the brand in tandem with the Wharton Studio-produced serial, Patria. Naturally, this first line was made with a fabric called Satin Patria. An advertisement detailing the fabric’s quality reads:
No one knows better than [Irene] that only satin of unbelievable softness could build such enchanting draperies or such bewitching little sleeves. Its lovely surface, so lustrously smooth, catches every passing glint of light. And this contrast, this ever-moving play of shimmering light and softest shadow against its folds, gives Satin Patria its unsurpassed charm.
The choice of words in the ad lent itself to an undeniably landmark moment in fashion. Castle and her associates seized this opportunity and projected it onto the wall of history, forever cementing her pivotal influence. Irene Castle Corticelli Fashions’ last season was Fall/Winter 1927 but her influence on what women wore lived on.
Between Irene Castle and the overall evolution of costume design, these acts of expanding fashion further into the realm of actors and actresses’ lives and images was revolutionary. It changed the standard of stars relying on their own closets to make a movie, elevated costuming to an art form, and a new era of glamour and moviemaking was born.
