We characterize the European Baroque by its dramatic lighting, dynamic movement, frequent use of diagonals, repetition of motifs in infinite variation, forms built upon forms. Artists used lavish materials and embellished them with elaborate details. When individual works of art were brought together, sharing common styles and themes, they created even greater wholes. In the 1930s Travis Banton translated that spirit into pure Hollywood.
Banton's most "Baroque" examples of costume artistry were completed under director Joseph von Sternberg's visionary eye. Every detail in the von Sternberg films harmoniously meshed—scenery, costumes, makeup, even the postures of star Marlene Dietrich. Costume designer Banton, art director Hans Dreier, and photographer Lee Garmes, worked along with others toward an intricate and unified style.
Banton's careful choice of costume materials complemented the sophisticated lighting techniques found in von Sternberg productions. His fabric palette ranged from absorbent to highly reflective. The combined talents of Banton, von Sternberg and Dietrich constructed a femme fatale as ethereal as the sparkle of a diamond.
As moving pictures moved, so did costumes by Banton. Playing across his reflective surfaces, the light skimmed the screen like moonbeams on water. To increase this kinetic impact, Banton's couture sprouted feathers, fluttering veils, acres of chiffon, and anything else that moved with the slightest breeze or gesture. This assured Paramount that even in the midst of full-screen revolution, not an eye would stray from the star. Shanghai Express pitted guerilla leader Warner Oland against Marlene Dietrich, but she stole the scene, wearing hypnotic buttons that swung like swashbucklers on chandeliers.
Besides his technical and formal considerations, Banton concentrated on capturing the essential mystique. He created numerous guises to capture Dietrich's ambiguity—sexy masculine dress, elegant rags, etc. She even looked desirable in a gorilla suit. Dietrich glowed in glorious absurdity.
Love goddesses dressed by Banton spanned quite a range. Claudette Colbert alone crossed from temptress to dedicated wife. Banton "gilded" bawdy Mae West, investing her burlesque regalia with opulent class. Contrast West's grand-staircase curves with streamlined Carole Lombard, for whom Banton introduced a version of the bias cut to reveal her slender, natural form. Sculpting her body through drapery, he celebrated the anatomical ideal of the 1930s. Although West had the Rubensian body, Lombard's figure-caressing fabrics captured a sexuality just as potent.
—Edith C. Lee
Banton's most "Baroque" examples of costume artistry were completed under director Joseph von Sternberg's visionary eye. Every detail in the von Sternberg films harmoniously meshed—scenery, costumes, makeup, even the postures of star Marlene Dietrich. Costume designer Banton, art director Hans Dreier, and photographer Lee Garmes, worked along with others toward an intricate and unified style.
Banton's careful choice of costume materials complemented the sophisticated lighting techniques found in von Sternberg productions. His fabric palette ranged from absorbent to highly reflective. The combined talents of Banton, von Sternberg and Dietrich constructed a femme fatale as ethereal as the sparkle of a diamond.
As moving pictures moved, so did costumes by Banton. Playing across his reflective surfaces, the light skimmed the screen like moonbeams on water. To increase this kinetic impact, Banton's couture sprouted feathers, fluttering veils, acres of chiffon, and anything else that moved with the slightest breeze or gesture. This assured Paramount that even in the midst of full-screen revolution, not an eye would stray from the star. Shanghai Express pitted guerilla leader Warner Oland against Marlene Dietrich, but she stole the scene, wearing hypnotic buttons that swung like swashbucklers on chandeliers.
Besides his technical and formal considerations, Banton concentrated on capturing the essential mystique. He created numerous guises to capture Dietrich's ambiguity—sexy masculine dress, elegant rags, etc. She even looked desirable in a gorilla suit. Dietrich glowed in glorious absurdity.
Love goddesses dressed by Banton spanned quite a range. Claudette Colbert alone crossed from temptress to dedicated wife. Banton "gilded" bawdy Mae West, investing her burlesque regalia with opulent class. Contrast West's grand-staircase curves with streamlined Carole Lombard, for whom Banton introduced a version of the bias cut to reveal her slender, natural form. Sculpting her body through drapery, he celebrated the anatomical ideal of the 1930s. Although West had the Rubensian body, Lombard's figure-caressing fabrics captured a sexuality just as potent.
—Edith C. Lee
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