 costume Cedric much more plainly and with shorter hair than called for in Mrs. Burnett's book and the Birch drawings. Apparently producers decided that actual fancy Fauntleroy outfits would not be well received by audiences. HBC is unsure just who producers think woul be adversly affect. Perhaps boys, but one questions how many boys would have gine to see a production of Little Lord Fauntleroy in the first place.
Movies used to have a great influence on how people dressed. This was especially true of womens' fashions. Male stars also had siome influence. Male stars such as Fred Astaire, Gary Cooper, and Tyrone Power were known for their snappy dressing and often
imitated. I'm less sure about children, especially boys. Certainly mothers wanted to dress their girls like Shirley Temple, but I'm not sure there was any desire to dress their boys like Jackie Coogan or Roddey McDowell. I'm also not sure that boys themselves were influenced by movie fashions. Boys used to par much less attention to how they dressed. Today there are a lot of influences, affecting both how mothers want to dress their children and how children want to be dressed. Movies appear to be less important than other media. The fashion designers can make all kinds of proposals, individualism is encouraged, but young eople especially get their wardrobe ideas more from rock, rap, and country music singers than from what they see in the movies. Even sports stars are widely emulated. Some recent films have had some fashion infuences. When Bonnie and Clyde came out in 1967 Faye Dunaway's clinging 30s sweaters and skirts and beret designed by Theodora Van Runkle (nominated for an Oscar) were widely copied. More recently, the torn sweatshirts and knitted muscle warmers
worn by Jennifer Beals playing a dancer in Flashdance showed
up in aerobics classes everywhere.
The costume designer's job is similar to that of the set designer. The clothes (and set design) should set the mood and enhance the characters, but you shouldn't notice them too much--if the designer has done his job correctly. One subject that HBC has been able to find little information on is how decisisions on children's clothing are made. Presumably the producer meets with the costumer designer. One would think that the greatest attention is given to the adult actors, especially the women. One might think that the costume designer may have more latitude concerning the children's clothing than the adult's outfits, especially if thdey are not the central characters. This probably varies from producer to producer. Also film budgdets are a factor. Low budget foreign films, for example, may not even costume the children, but allow them to wear their own clothes. Another factor is that sond producers may costume the children in a way that might attract audiences. Disney for example rarely outfitted the children in movies with contemporary American settings in short pants, apparently comcluding that American boys would consider them sissies. By the same token, productions of films like Little Lord Faintleroy often take pains to avoid dressing the main character as depicted in the book. Presumably the costume designer is given strict guidelines by the producer in these instance.
Costumes are especially important in period film. Unfortunately, costumes in period films are not always that authentic. The 1949 version of The Great Gatsby starring Alan Ladd, for example, had
clothes that were more late 1940s than 20s. But in the 1974 version Mia Farrow's flapper dresses were true to the 1020s period. Sometimes producers don't budget for real period costuming whichcan be quite expensive. Other times the movie stars balk and don't want to wear the period clothes designed for them because they don't think they are flattering. In 1975 Raquel Welch insisted on more provocative costumes for The Four Musketeers whereas Geraldine Chaplin allowed herself to be made up and dressed true to the period. There are often major mistakes. In the latest version of Titanic Kate Winslet's ruby-red lips were teribly inappropriate. An