Monday, August 19, 2013

How to Dress Well 101

                                 Robert Montgomery (1932)

The man just knew how to dress well.  Men's casual wear of the 1930s was gorgeous ... errr ... the casual wear of the upper class, I mean, not the clothing worn by the men waiting in line for free soup.   And Bob knew how to put it all together:  the paisley ascot, the perfectly tailored sport coat and pants, and white bucks, of course.  Notice how the pant cuffs just hit the top of the shoes.  No breaking of the pants crease for Bob.  

The photo above is one of a whole series of shots taken both in and outside of the Beverly Hills home he purchased in 1932.  It's referred to as a colonial bungalow type home.  Nice, I'm sure, but not quite the mansion he builds later.  Bob did not have to stand in any food lines.

What I like about the photo below is that the photos on the wall were taken by Hurrell.  Original Hurrells.  And he has them on his wall because they are pictures of his polo ponies, Hurrell was just the photographer at the studio doing Bob a favor.  Wonder what happened to them. 

4 comments:

Debbie said...

According to Elizabeth Montgomery, one of the horses (I believe the smaller, dark one) was named Betty, after Bob's wife. Liz said that the two Betty's hated each other. lolo

ari_1965 said...

Those photos would look wonderful properly matted.

Kristina said...

Neat. I wonder how many Hurrell "home" photos like these were hanging around other stars' houses. As Pancho Barnes would say, "even the horse looks glamourous!"

Kathy said...

Debbie - One does have to wonder who ranked higher in the Montgomery household in 1932 - any of the ponies or Betty. Horses in his den I can see, but those horse prints over the mantel?

ari_1965 - Agreed...looks like Bob framed and hung the photos himself, and he should have had someone else do it.

Kristina D - I've always thought it amusing that the very unglamorous Pancho Barnes was responsible for Hurrell's introduction to the movie colony. And, yes, to think of all the photos taken by Hurrell that we haven't seen...thousands I'm sure.