Christmas Movie Dress Advent Calendar Day 5: Katharine Hepburn in DESK SET

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Yesterday, an untamed holiday wild woman! Today, a model of yuletide efficiency. In 1957’s Desk Set, directed by Walter Lang, Katharine Hepburn played Bunny Watson, the head of the research department at the Federal Broadcasting Company, who has spent most of the film wondering if her longtime boyfriend is ever going to propose to her while showing computer efficiency expert Richard Sumner (Spencer Tracy, of course) how the department operates while engaging in a more-than-mild flirtation with him. The story culminates at the company Christmas party, when Bunny bursts into the department full of cheer (and apparently, some Champagne).

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Now, this clearly isn’t an Advent Calendar of Christmas movie coats, so bear with us, because Hepburn and Lang devised a scene that leaned into her own fussy and animated onscreen persona, using her costume (designed by Charles Le Maire) as a way of revealing her thoughts. It’s always worth paying attention to a costume when it walks through multiple scenes and goes through several changes. Here, she’s the very picture of brisk, holiday cheer; so eager to get the party started with her girls that she hasn’t even bothered taking off her coat and one glove.

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As the Champagne flows, and Richard shows up, more and more of her holiday frock is revealed.

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Until finally, she throws off her coat in front of him and reveals herself in all her shimmery and efficient glory. The dress is a truly great design, because the shirtwaist style works well with Kate’s own persona as well as that of Bunny, and the silver color allows it to dominate the screen without being fussy or showy in a way that wouldn’t feel right for the character. She might be shimmery, but that’s a working dress. Just look at that high collar and those pushed-up sleeves. But she’s not done playing with this costume yet.

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The girls of the research department bought Richard a scarf for Christmas. Note how the gray and red color scheme calls back to Bunny’s costume. Romantically inclined characters are often dressed in shades that call back to each other as a way of underlining the connection they have. But Bunny being Bunny (or rather, Hepburn being Hepburn), she couldn’t leave that connection unstated:

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Y’know? That looks genuinely chic. We should note that she wrapped herself up in Richard’s scarf just before getting into a fight with her boyfriend. The costume is signaling that which hasn’t yet happened for the characters. Unfortunately for them, this is a movie, which means roadblocks need to be thrown up in front of any romantically inclined couple. Otherwise, there’s no movie, right? Everyone makes plans to take the party to a bar, just as the woman who’s being hired to effectively replace the research department arrives, devastating Bunny and the girls with the news.

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And she ends the scene covered up again. Her holiday romance frock well and truly covered for good.

Next up: Pure Fantasy Fashion!

[Photo/Still Credit: 20th Century Studios]

• 20th Century Studios
• Costumes
• Desk Set
• Katharine Hepburn
• Movie Advent Calendar
• Movie Costumes