Every year, it seems that high fashion covers less of its wearer’s skin than the year before. The trend of stylish and costly indecency seems like a modern trend, but it’s nothing new. It isn’t even a product of the last few decades. Watching old movies reminds us that the battle between couture and modesty is a longstanding one.
Today’s Moment of Movie Wisdom is from “Roberta” (1935). The scene in question takes place 51 minutes into this 106-minute movie. In this scene, John Kent (Randolph Scott) is reviewing the latest designs for the titular boutique which he co-owns with Stephanie (Irene Dunne). He’s a rugged football player, so he doesn’t know much about women’s fashion. However, he definitely knows he doesn’t like one slinky black gown which leaves little of its wearer’s torso to the imagination. This initial scene is a very short interaction, but the issue comes up again later in the film, proving very important.
John Kent and his best friend, Huck Haines (Fred Astaire), run a jazz band called the Wabash Indianians. They are hired for a café job in Paris, but the club owner Alexander Voyda (Luis Alberni) is disgusted when he realizes that they are pale-faced natives of Indiana, not Indians. Now stranded in Paris without work or money, they decide to pay a visit to John’s aunt Minnie (Helen Westley), who owns a dress shop called Roberta’s. Minnie is delighted to see her favorite nephew, introducing him to her lovely young assistant, Stephanie. There, Huck also runs into an old friend, Lizzie Gatz (Ginger Rogers), who now goes by Countess Scharwenka to help her European singing career.
The Scene
This scene is a mini fashion show. A series of models parades through one of the showrooms, wearing the different selections Stephanie has designed for the season. Stephanie encourages her new business partner to tell her if there’s anything he doesn’t like. The amiable John thinks just about everything in the collection is “swell,” while Huck and Lizzie wisecrack about the clothes and the models. One dress, however, produces a strong reaction from John. It’s a black satin evening gown with a very revealing halter neckline, especially on the buxom model, and a back which scoops down to the tailbone.
When John whispers to Stephanie that he doesn’t like that dress, she calls another designer over and proposes modifying the back. John firmly replies, “If you don’t mind, I’d like that dress out.” “As bad as that, huh?” Stephanie replies, surprised. “Worse,” he insists, so she agrees. Interestingly, John isn’t the only one who doesn’t like the provocative dress. When the model first walks out in it, Lizzie comments, “Doesn’t she look wonderful in that?” Huck sarcastically replies, “Marvelous. Sort of like a peeled eel.” He too seems uncomfortable with the revealing number.
Its Significance
The incident with the black dress proves very important later in the story. When Sophie arrives in Paris soon afterwards, she decides to buy a dress from Roberta’s to wear at the band’s opening. However, she is unimpressed by the store’s selections, rudely declaring that they don’t meet her fashion expectations. Huck and Stephanie are helping her shop, but John isn’t there. Huck has always disliked Sophie, so he’s rooting for Stephanie as a sweetheart for his friend instead. He slyly encourages Stephanie to show Sophie the “peeled eel” dress,” lying that it has been set aside for an elite customer. Sophie insists on seeing it and, naturally, loves the dress. Although Stephanie tries to tell her that it has been discarded from the collection, Sophie buys it, insisting that it’s the smartest thing in the shop.At the opening, Huck, still antagonizing Sophie, tells her that John won’t like her dress. She laughs off his warning, insisting that John likes everything she wears. Huck bets her that she’s wrong. When John comes over, Sophie proudly takes off her cape and asks John how he likes the dress. Scowling, he replies, “It’s the worst-looking thing I ever saw.” As Huck collects his winnings, John demands to know who sold the dress to Sophie. “Your partner,” she replies, adding, “She thought it brought out something elegantly alluring in me.” Furious at Stephanie, he apologizes to Sophie and tells her to send it back. She refuses and calls him ridiculous for even discussing women’s clothes. They quarrel strongly and break up for the last time.
After downing several brandies, John drunkenly confronts Stephanie. He provokes her into admitting that she sold Sophie “that vulgar, tasteless dress” because it suits her perfectly and that Sophie suits him perfectly. He realizes he went too far when she says she’s leaving the shop.
Changing Times
The black dress is shockingly indecent by classic film standards. You wouldn’t see something that revealing in an American film made ten, five, or even two years later. In 1935, Hollywood was in a transition period. In July 1934, the Production Code Administration (PCA) was formed under Joseph Breen’s leadership, and its job was to ensure that all films followed the Motion Picture Production Code’s guidelines for film content. One of those rules was decent costumes. Because of the PCA’s influence, costumes quickly shifted from the near nudity common in Pre-Code films of the early 1930s to the classy modesty which characterized Hollywood’s Golden Era.The peeled eel dress incident is not a pre-Code hangover but a vivid example of what the PCA accomplished. Just as John throws the vulgar dress out of the collection, Breen swept indecent costumes off the silver screen. The American people had said no to revealing dresses, and Hollywood had to listen.
