The 1940s and 1950s were chock-full of Christmas movies. I could have done an episode that is hours long to cover them all, but instead, I will cover some of my favourites. Even then, it was difficult to choose just a few. I had to leave a lot off this list.
Something I also noticed… Several Christmas movies were made in 1947. I think after years of The Great Depression, then WWII, people were getting back into the spirit.
In this video, we will talk about the fabulous fashion from some of those movies!
The Shop Around The Corner 1940 – Margaret Sullavan
This is one of my all-time favourites. It’s tied with A Christmas Story 1983. This movie is whimsical and absolutely delightful! It stars Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan. The wardrobe for The Shop Around The Corner oddly does not have a specific wardrobe designer.
This movie was released in 1940, so you will still see style influences from the late 1930s, such as soft lines, puffy sleeves, and romantic looks. This definitely comes across in one of my favourite all-time billowy blouses! This is on my list of makes. How can you not fall in love with the floaty, polkadot fabric!
Speaking of romantic, and I’m not just talking about how Jimmy Stewart looks at Margaret Sullavan, look at these dresses!
It’s A Wonderful Life 1946 Donna Reed
Six years later, we see Jimmy Stewart in another accidental Christmas movie, It’s A Wonderful Life. I think it might be time to do a video about Jimmy; he is truly my favourite. This movie also stars the lovely Donna Reed. Edward Stevenson was the costume designer.
Donna’s wardrobe is beautiful and classic. This includes dresses, blouses, and skirts. Also, she is so sweet in this movie!
There aren’t the severe shoulders that you see in film noir movies. Which makes sense because this movie does cover years from 1919 to 1945. I think they also wanted to give Donna a softer look.
Miracle on 34th Street 1947 Maureen O’Hara
I’m not a huge fan of Christmas; I’m a Halloween girl. However, the movies on my list are charming and give me hope that I can rewrite my negative memories of the day with more positive ones.
Miracle on 34th Street has another stellar cast that includes John Payne and Edmund Gwynne, but we are here to talk about Maureen O’Hara!
Maureen wears a few lovely dresses in this movie that are geared to business attire. Her character, Doris Walker, is an Events Manager at Macy’s. She also has this luscious coat. However, the standout piece is a suit. It has a bit of a military look to it, almost reminiscent of a nutcracker, which makes sense, since Macy’s puts on a Santa Claus parade.
It Happened on 5th Avenue 1947 Gale Storm
Another classic from 1947 is It Happened on 5th Avenue. This movie stars Gale Storm. Such a great name!
Gale has a few lovely pieces in this movie, including this dress, this blouse, and this skirt, but it is the coat that is the prize winner for me. I’ve been dreaming of making a faux fur version of it.
The Bishop’s Wife 1947 Loretta Young
Give me a Cary Grant movie any day of the week. Pair him with Loretta Young and I’m in Heaven… see what I did there…
Another classic wardrobe, Loretta wears some very flattering dresses and fabulous coats! Adrian was the designer for the wardrobe for this movie.
Bell, Book & Candle 1958 Kim Novak
We are now going to skip ahead 11 years to the year 1958. This is an accidental Christmas movie, and when I say that, I mean the movie just happens to take place around Christmas time. This is another Jimmy Stewart classic and also Stars Jack Lemmon; however, it is the absolutely stunning Kim Novak who steals this entire movie, along with her cat Pyewacket, and her wardrobe.
By this point in the month, if you are one of my Patreon subscribers, you will already know that this is the theme for the monthly project. I was inspired by Kim Novak’s Wardrobe from this movie, including the use of the color red. Also, the entire movie has a wonderful witchy vibe to it, so that is absolutely what has drawn me in, and hands down, this is one of my favorite Christmas movies.
The use of black and other neutral colors is the perfect base for her wardrobe. Then throw in a splash of red and animal print, and you have the ultimate capsule wardrobe. Let me just show you a few of those pieces.
What are your favourite Holiday movies? Are you a Christmas person or a Halloween person? What are your favourite outfits from the movies I mentioned?
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