ICONIC MOVIE DRESSES: Jean Harlow's white dress in "Dinner at Eight" (1933)

This post is one in a series focusing on the 28 most iconic movie dresses in cinema history, as identified by a survey (of friends, professors, fashion experts and my own recollections of films from the silent era through the present) that I conducted in conjunction with a recent story. Check back tomorrow when we'll reveal another dress! 

This Monday will mark the 75th anniversary of the theatrical release of "Dinner at Eight" (1933), the Depression-era MGM dramedy directed by George Cukor and featuring an all-star cast that included John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Marie Dressler, Billie Burke, Lee Tracy, Edmund Lowe, Madge Evans, Jean Hersholt, Karen Morley, Phillips Holmes, and a young up-and-comer by the name of Jean Harlow.

Harlow had first been noticed a few years earlier in Howard Hughes' passion project "Hell's Angels" (1930). After loaning her out to other studios for films like "The Public Enemy" (1931) and "Platinum Blonde" (1931), he sold her contract to MGM, where she was properly groomed for stardom in risque pre-Code vehicles like "Red-Headed Woman" (1932), and "Red Dust" (1932). But it was only after she gave her standout comedic performance -- and donned a certain dress -- in "Dinner at Eight" that she fully realized her potential as an actress and became one of the top 10 box-office stars in America, as well.

In the film, Harlow portrays Kitty, who could well be the original desperate housewife: She's a ruthless social climber and unhappily married woman who is cheating on her husband, verbally abuses her maid, and just wants to party.

When she finally gets the chance, at the film's eponymous gathering, she is decked out in a stunning, form-fitting white satin evening gown with fluffy shoulders and a bare back. (The color matches her platinum blond hair and her Art Deco-style bedroom.) Designed by Adrian -- who costumed all of MGM's leading ladies throughout much of the 1930s and 1940s, and created not only dresses but also Joan Crawford's signature shoulder pads and Judy Garland's ruby red slippers -- it was so tight that Harlow could not even sit down, so MGM constructed a cushioned board (see above, right) on which she could recline between takes.

Though many moviegoers in 1933 could barely afford a ticket, let alone couture fashion, they could still dream, and many did about what came to be known as "the Jean Harlow dress." Those who had disposable incomes apparently did commission reincarnations, as look-alikes reportedly turned up at many upper-crust social events that year.

---

Photos of Harlow in her "Dinner at Eight" dress, left to right: surrounded by visiting director Edmund Goulding, co-star Edmund Lowe and director George Cukor on the set; being examined by co-star Marie Dressler in a scene; reclining on a cushioned board between takes to avoid busting at the seams.

Credit: MGM