Vivien Leigh's Oscar Dress
It was Hollywood's biggest picture and one of the biggest roles of all time. Vivien Leigh walked into the history books for her portrayal of Scarlett O'Hara and walked into fashion history with her fun, floral frock.
It's a well-known story that filming had already begun on David O. Selznick's opus Gone with the Wind and still there was no Scarlett O'Hara. Every working actress—just about—had shot a screen test for the coveted role, but none were considered truly suitable for the temperamental, feisty Southern belle who spends nearly four hours commanding the screen in every scene of the epic Gone with the Wind.
The backlots were being cleared for production space and Selznick took the opportunity to use it for filming the Burning of Atlanta scenes with Scarlett and Rhett (who'd be played by Clark Gable) shot in silhouette. While overseeing the shoot, his talent scout brother Myron reportedly walked up to him on set with a young British ingenue on his arm and said, "Here's your Scarlett." It was Vivien Leigh and the rest is history.
Gone with the Wind premiered in December 1939 and was an instant hit. It earned 13 nominations and won eight of them, which was a record at the time. Among the winners was Vivien Leigh, in perhaps the most telegraphed win of all time. Who else was going to win the Oscar that year? Honestly.
So when Vivien won, she collected her Oscar in a beautiful Irene gown that looks more like it belongs on a beach resort than an Oscar ceremony. Irene Gibbons designed the poppy-patterned dress that features my favourite element: the cutouts on the waist. It's such a departure from the corseted style of Scarlett O'Hara.
Irene designed clothing from the Bullocks Wilshire department store but also worked as a costume designer in the '30s, designing costumes for films like Shall We Dance, Vivacious Lady, You Were Never Lovelier and Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
Vivien was nominated again in the Best Actress category in 1951 for her performance in A Streetcar Named Desire. She won, making her one of few actresses who has a perfect record of wins against nominations; and making both of her winning performances for tragic Southern belles.
Vivien did not attend the ceremony that year, and her Oscar was accepted on her behalf by Greer Garson.
Lovely dress! I always loved her coat, too!
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