This spectacular black gown, adorned with a pattern of swirling sequins and accented with tulle ruffle slit along the side, was designed by Paramount’s Edith Head for Arlene Dahl to wear as the character Irene Bailey in the 1953 film 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒍𝒔. The costume was reused in 1964 in another Paramount production, where Carol Baker wore it as Rina Marlowe in 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒃𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔. In 1968, it was worn in an episode of 𝑩𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒛𝒂 titled 𝑨 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑩𝒖𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒅, where Lola Albright, as Dolly Bantree, wore it. This costume, owned by Larry McQueen of 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑷𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏, has been on display several times over the years, including the Oklahoma City Museum of Art’s exhibition Edith Head: Hollywood’s Costume Designer. See our blog post about the exhibit here: Bit.ly/EdithHeadReusedCostumes
