"Clothes make the man" (or woman). This is especially true in early Hollywood silent films where a character's appearance could show an immense number of different things about them. For example, Theda Bara's role in A Fool There Was (1915) was known for her revealing clothing, seductive appearance, and being the first "Vamp."
Wardrobe and costume design played a larger role in silent films than in modern movies. The character's clothes told the audience who they were and what their role was in the movie. In this in-depth analysis, the author provides examples and explanations about noteworthy characters who used their appearance to further their fame.

Lora Ann Sigler is a professor emerita of art history at California State University. She is a portrait/landscape artist and designer living in San Pedro, California.

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments

Preface

Introduction

1.¿We Flutter to the Flickers

2.¿The Look of Life

3.¿The Look of (Foreign) Life

4.¿Warner's, We Have a Problem

5.¿Strangers in a Strange Land

6.¿We're Funny That Way

7.¿Past Imperfect

8.¿That Sounds About Right!

9.¿Where Did You Get That Frock?

Epilogue: (Ad)dressing the Present

Appendices

A: Busby Berkeley

B: The Thomas Mooney Case

C: The 1919 Entertainment Strike

D: On the Flip Side

E:¿ Photoplay (August 1925)

Glossary

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index