Christmas Movie Dress Advent Calendar Day 16: Loretta Young in THE BISHOP’S WIFE

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Yesterday, the perfect Christmas girlfriend! Today, the perfect holiday wife. You didn’t think we were just going to feature the remake, did you? In director Henry Koster’s The Bishop’s Wife, Loretta Young play’s Julia, the title character, who has become enamored of her husband’s (David Niven) angelic helper Dudley, played by Cary Grant. After providing aid and guidance to the bishop and various parishioners, Dudley decorates their Christmas tree and reveals to Julia that he’s developed feelings for her.

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She is shocked by Dudley’s forwardness and rejects him outright, Dudley leaves and all memory of him goes with him. Julia and her husband reunite happily, all problems solved. The point of this dress, from the costume design team of Irene Sharaff and Adrian, is largely the same as the one worn by Whitney Houston in The Preacher’s Wife; it’s supposed to thread the needle on depicting her as a modest woman of faith while at the same time delivering the level of glamour expected of a leading lady in a mainstream film in 1947. It’s very flattering, if nearly featureless on camera, but that delicate lace collar adds just the right amount of conservative modesty while also providing some visual interest near her perpetually soft-focused face. The effect is akin to a glamourous, beautiful nun; a comparison the famously devout Catholic Young almost certainly would have enjoyed.

Next up: Another sad holiday frock!

[Photo/Still Credit: Samuel Goldwyn Productions]

• Costumes
• Loretta Young
• Movie Advent Calendar
• Movie Costumes
• Samuel Goldwyn Productions
• The Bishop’s Wife