Customer Reviews

Adrian: Silver Screen to Custom Label

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adrian, a/k/a gilbert adrian, was one of the few designers for the classic hollywood films that did not blow his own horn during his time in the fashion industry as both costume designer and couturier.

in his somewhat short life, he worked hard, played hard and draped some of the film industry's most glamourous bodies in uniquely beautiful designs. his creativity was unstoppable. yet, in a weird twist of fate, he was never to compete for an academy award.

it is a wonderful thing to see another book published about this genius/workhorse! there are some of his gowns that defy description, such as his 'letty lynton' dress with its wildly ruffled sleeves. or, his showgirl get-ups that were featured in 'the great ziegfeld' and re-used time and again for mgm's less lavish musicals. and his period designs for the films of garbo and jeanette macdonald (to name a few), while not painstakingly researched, supply great amounts of aura for these actresses and the films.

it would be nice for the academy to pay tribute to him, travis banton and many others one year. but as it won't get more people to watch, it probably won't happen.

but that's fine. let the books keep coming and let the reinvestigations of the makings of glamour, hollywood style, spark many a scholarly discussion as they should.

I've got to say that when I saw a book devoted to "Adrian," I got very excited, because I am a great admirer of his work during his years at MGM. However I must admit that I was disappointed with this book for its lack of actual content. If this were a simple photographic display of Adrian's works, I would have enjoyed the book more; it is the content that weakens the presentation.

The narrative starts out fine, giving the reader a sense of Adrian's struggles to delve into the fashion business first in Paris, then in America. Wonderful tidbits about the actresses like Crawford and Garbo are scattered throughout the initial 20 pages. But once Adrian's reign at MGM ends, so does the intrigue of the text. The interesting dichotomy of grand art and snappy human interest evolves into a verbose textual rendering of Adrian's creations, spanning about 15 years. Pages upon pages are spent lightly describing gowns from each collection, them not all having photographic companions to help the non-seamstress reader visualize these descriptions. In addition, the layout of the book causes confusion in that gowns described in the text are not necessarily juxtaposed on the same or corresponding page; then, too, some photographs are included that never were referenced in the text, making the reader wonder if they "missed" something.

I feel that this book's content could have been made stronger if more was included about Adrian's personal life, to give the reader insight into the genius behind the design. It is obvious that very little research, outside of photographic, has contributed to the content, which I think reasons its sketchiness. Critique and criticism by reviewing columnists as well as quotes by models or celebrities would surely have been a wonderful addition to the plodding text.

Because of the wonderful photographs, this makes for a great coffee table book. However its lack of content diminishes its viability as a strong read.

I work a lot. My spare time is really limited, so I wanna enjoy it. A couple of years ago, I sort of noticed that while I was watching movies, I hooked up on fashion stuff, like outfits, gowns, etc. The movies that I, as a matter of fact, watch are forgotten films dated 1920's, 1930's. I am keen on silents, actually.

So, my shy acquitance with fashion started with the aforementioned silents. For me, silents represent some kind of a wondrous space, which is unique and challenging. Ladies and gents that show up in these movies are the miracles which appeal to your perception of reality. The images of many such an actress and actor are complex and dubious.To grasp this complexity, I surmise, you have to consider the image multi-faceted.

Facets differ, you know. One of them is clothes. At the time, Gilbert Adrian aka Adrian Adolph Greenberg was the biggest polisher of facets. He used to be a Costume Designer for MGM studios in 1920's-1950's. The scope of creative work performed by his genius totals 250 films. These are gowns tailored by him that you find the most tantalizing.

He dressed different ladies of the day and enigmas of the century like Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Janet Gaynor and, among others, his inspiration, Greta Garbo.

You can't help resisting the temptation of figuring out how Adrian managed to work out and create such an avalanche of glamorous wardrobe.

In the book "Adrian: Silver Screen to Custom Label", you will find a lot of information how Adrian would come up with his ideas and the influences he got to make his ideas work. The book also covers after-movies period in Adrian's life, his trips to Africa and South America.

It is a must read for everybody who feels that fashion is not just a word composed of 7 letters.

Overwhelming reading!

I have long been an admirer of Adrian. It's a shame that Oscars for costume design weren't given out until 1949, because he'd have garnered many of them. He could design something as basic (yet revolutionary) as the "Letty Lynton" dress, or as dazzling as the costumes in "The Great Zigfeld," both in the "A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody" number, then in the "You Never Looked So Beautiful Before" stage show. I think his crowning glory was his work on "Marie Antionette." I knew little about Adrian after he stopped turning out his stunning creations for the movies, and went into private business. This is a beautifully produced book, with many pictures of his later coture creations, some insights about his married life with actress Janet Gaynor, and his passion for travel. For Adrian fans everywhere, this is a book to own and cherish.

Fantastic book - gorgeous photographs and behind the scenes antidotes give you the sense of actually being there in Hollywood during this glamorous age.

I love this book soooo much i remember all the old movies that Adrian desigend for .. so happy with this book thanks Robert

I think this book has a lot of information on Adrian's career and wonderful photos of his models and of the Hollywood stars. Really interesting.

THIS COPY WAS DAMAGED OBVIOUSLY FROM THE PRINTER...BAD CUTTING JOB.
I LIKE THE BOOK VERY MUCH BUT I AM WAITING FOR A REPLACEMENT FROM THE DEALER. WE SHALL SEE.