The Silver Screen Oasis

Modern women, including actresses, wear trousers on a regular basis, but what about stars from the silent era through to the 1950s. i also think that actresses with great legs for some reason suited pants

I thought Bette Davis looked lovely in a white pant suit worn in A Stolen Life

Marlene Dietrich in films like Morrocco, Dishonoured and Witness For The Prosocutuion

Greta Garbo in Queen Christina

Clara Bow as an abulance driver in Wings

Edna Purviance looked rather fetching in both Shoulder Arms and Behind The Screen, rather daring for films made in the 1910s.

Ginger in Follow The Fleet and Roberta

Judy Garland in Girl Grazy and A Star Is Born

Barbara Stanwyck in almost all her 50s westerns from The Furies through to Forty Guns and in the 60s The Big Valley

Joan Crawford in Johnny Guitar. Ella Raines in Tall In The Saddle. Jean Arthur in The Plainsman and Arizona

Vivien Leigh oozed star quality dressed as a male busker, supping a pint of beer in a London pub in St. Martins Lane, made a yr before GWTW. she also looked terrific in pants at the begining of The Roman Spring Of Mrs. Stone, when she was in middle age

Ingrid in For Whom The Bells Toll, Joan Of Arc, The Inn Of The Sixth Happiness and though it was made in the 60s it was set in the 40s The Yellow Rolls Royce

Marilyn looked sensational in pants in River Of No Return and The Misfits

Jean Simmons in The Big Country

I agree about Barbara Stanwyck. Man, even in her 60s when she was dressed in those tight pants in "The Big Valley", she was HOT!

How about Marie Windsor and Beverly Garland in jean cutoffs in "Swamp Women"? Super legs there.

raftfan wrote:I agree about Barbara Stanwyck. Man, even in her 60s when she was dressed in those tight pants in "The Big Valley", she was HOT!

How about Marie Windsor and Beverly Garland in jean cutoffs in "Swamp Women"? Super legs there.

OMG - Marie & Bev in jean cutoffs - get me the DVD !

How about Katharine Hepburn? I thought that many times she looked more girlish in slacks than in suits. And I always loved Lucille Ball in slacks. She looked very elegant in dress slacks.

Thanks for the reminder about Kate. she and Marlene were probably the greatest fashion trailblazers as far as women wearing pants is concerned.
i remember Kate in an interview in her advancing yrs asked why she never wore skirts. she replied 'Try Wearing One.'

from one Hepburn to another, i think Audrey inspired women of the 50s to wear trousers

Ken -

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stuart.uk wrote: i remember Kate in an interview in her advancing yrs asked why she never wore skirts. she replied 'Try Wearing One.'

Whenever I hear that exchange quoted, I can't help thinking that it's sort of a shame, the era being when it was, that no one ever persuaded Kate to try wearing a woman's kilt; I bet if she ever had, it would've become a close second choice for her "bottoms".
Trust me, nearly everyone I know (male & female) who gives one a serious try, finds them addictive!
And coincidentally, there is a registered Hepburn tartan.
In closing, remember Kate's tart reply to her pushy fiance in Pat & Mike, when he criticizes her nonfeminine attire?
"They're not trousers, they're slacks - watch your mouth."

Glad you enjoyed it, Ken. My pleasure. I know the movie was once out on VHS. Actually, it's a pretty anemic film (outside of the - ahem - visuals), with Touch Connors proving a most ineffectual hero. In fact, it was listed in "The 50 Worst Films of All Time".