Some interesting images of period clothing for boys are available in movies. Producers vary greatly in the accuracy with which fashions are portrayed, some, however, take great pains for accuracy and detail. Important studios can finance enormous budgets for major films, permitting considerable attention to detail. Some of the child actors have been known to
object to some of the styles they had to wear. The boy playing Harlan in Life with Father, for example, apparently was most displeased with ther kilts he had to wear, especially because of none of his brothers had to wear them. Some producers shy away from some costuming because of possible reaction. Thus productions of Little Lord Fauntleroy, for example, do not have Cedric in ringlet curls and in many cases not wearing a lace-trimmed velvet suit. Apparently the producers concluded the sissy image would adversely affect the box office success of the film. Movies set in contmporary petiods are a particularly useful source of information. This is especially true of European films. Unlike Hollywood productions, boys in ,many of these films often appear to have worn their own clothes rather than special costumes. In addition, movies from various European countries help to fill in the limited information and information on boys clothes in many countries. You will eventually be able to search the folms by both countries and titles as well as chronologically and clothing styles.
Film is a powerful medium in today’s culture. Great care, however, is needed to critically examine the historical accuracy and value of Hollywood and foreign movies. It is important to assess, how accurately the costuming is. It is also important to understand why movies some movies have inaccurate costuming. In many cases it reflects low budgets or simply poor film making, nut there are other reasons. Film makers sometimes choose costumes that the producer thinks will appeal to the audience rather than what is historically accurate. Productions of Little Lord Fauntleroy, for example, often 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 desi