Christmas Movie Dress Advent Calendar Day 22: Barbara Stanwyck in CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT

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Yesterday, a holiday lady with a never-ending ache! Today, a fast-talking Christmas bullshitter who really knows how to wear a tree-decorating gown.  In director Peter Godfrey’s Christmas in Connecticut, Barbara Stanwyck plays Elizabeth Lane, a proto-Martha Stewart type who writes a nationally syndicated homemaking column full of recipes and tales of her baby and husband on her farm in Connecticut. Her publisher arranges for her to host a returning war hero (Dennis Morgan) who read all of her columns while recuperating in the hospital. This is a problem because there is no husband, baby or farm in Connecticut. Faux versions of all three are quickly and haphazardly arranged and wouldn’t you know it? Madcap antics ensue. There’s a lot more, including a fiancee and several baby mixups, but we’re here to talk about the dress.

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And there it is. The true reason for the season: decorating a tree big enough for a cathedral while standing on a ladder in a sickening gown listening to a cute guy in uniform sing carols to you. What more could a girl want at Christmastime?

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We assume we don’t have to explain that she falls in love with him, as one does when cute guys in uniforms sing for you.

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What more is there to say? It’s 1945. Once the cigarettes come out, it’s all over. This is practically foreplay. She wears this costume past this scene, but really, it’s all about this scene. If there’s a point to this gown, it’s to be as fabulous as possible while still feeling almost appropriate, in a 1940s Hollywood sort of way, for a farmhouse in Connecticut. Legendary costume designer Edith Head, who Stanwyck requested personally for her gowns, was smart here. The dress itself is all shape, since there’s no color or embellishments to define it. Belts or brooches or any sort of beading or embroidery would have tipped it over (further) into absurdly impractical territory. The jacket gives it a cozy, wintertime feel while still being glamorous enough for… well, for Barbara Stanwyck.

Next up: T Lo’s All-Time Fave (because this isn’t a countdown)!

[Photo/Still Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures, ]

• Barbara Stanwyck
• Christmas in Connecticut
• Costumes
• Movie Advent Calendar
• Movie Costumes
• Warner Bros. Pictures