Dancing Dee: The Story Of A Dress

Dee Turnell was an MGM era dancer and actress. With 21 films to her credit (IMBd) she danced her way through Hollywood alongside some of the greats like Cyd Charisse, Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. She was born in Illinois on born on November 27, 1925 (and according to my source she passed away in January 2003 as Dee Thorpe in Walnut Creek California). She made her way to New York in 1944 and began her dance/acting career in the film Copacabana  (Groucho Marx and Carmen Miranda).

There was no doubt that she was a part of MGM history of escapism films and a highly talented dancer/performer. There is scarce and conflicting information about her personal life. One source says she left Hollywood in 1955.  She had three children, two daughters and a son. There is more to her story for sure but the mystery intrigues me.

Cyd Charisse w Dee 1948 - Words and Music

Cyd and Dee

Ballet dancer Dee Turnell performing at Copacabana nightclub. (Photo by Eileen Darby/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)

The Dress:

A friend from my past connected me with a woman who had a gorgeous Vintage gown she thought I may be interested in for my eBoutique Evolution Vintage. We met and she showed me the dress and I  immediately fell in love with the exquisitely beaded bodice. She began to tell me the story of a woman who once lived a glamorous life who was, because of old age and ailments under her care in the East Bay of California. She was given permission from one of Dee's daughters to take whatever she wanted as many of her personal effects were being discarded. She spent a lot of time with Dee in her later years and felt the need to rescue some of her personal items, this gorgeous gown included. She expressed how humble and kind Dee was while she was caring for her. She didn't make the connect about who she was until after she had passed and she went through photographs that were left behind.

I wish I knew the exact story of this dress but I am sure it saw the inside of a Hollywood or Palm Springs function, cocktail party or some other soiree. This gown is from a time where actresses who worked for film houses actually purchased or had gowns made from them by costumers. Many of today's stars are given their dresses or are loaned them by designers. This gown appears to be purchased from the then famous Los Angeles department store 'Robinson's' where famed costume designer Helen Rose did a run of commercial evening gowns but altered/reinforced for the actress.

Vintage 1960's Helen Rose chocolate Brown evening gown with an exquisite jeweled and beaded bodice.

It appears that the interior bodice of the gown was deconstructed and fitted to Dee by the hand of a costumer/tailor. I consulted a costumer who was employed my Paramount Pictures for 20+ years and she confirmed that the gown had indeed been altered from it's original state for the actress. The interior was altered from the original state; the original zipper and the label re-sewn in (see image). I have left the garment in the state that I procured it.

The bodice appears to be hand crafted in India due to color pallet and bead work. The pattern is backed with chiffon on the interior and a piece of "french bone" in the garments center to assist in the shape. The bodice is comprised of intricate beading detail (bugle beads, crystals, rhinestones, large and small beads) In a gorgeous color pallet of Browns, coral, moss green, lime green, orange and red. Accented with Aurora borealis beading ans droplets trimming the empire waist (measuring 1.25"). The back of the bodice has an extensive hook/eye closure system.

The waist is empire style and the fabric used in the skirt is a Matte Jersey. A perfect fall gown.

Bust = 36"

Waist= 28"

Hip=56+

Length = 60"

Plenty of additional photographs available upon request of interior and exterior of garment. A great piece of Hollywood History.

$1,000 USD

I would love to see this dress get a new life!


Where would you wear it?

Dee: April 10, 1944 - New York

Helen Rose: A Costume Legacy

Helen Rose Sketching 1957

I recently had the pleasure of acquiring a piece of fashion history who's designer is known as well as a few details about the lady who wore it. I rarely have the chance to obtain any sort of information on the designer or the woman who gave a garment it's first life but this time I was blessed to do so. MGM ear Dancer Dee Trunell owned this gorgeous gown and it could be yours, BUY IT

 Helen Rose born in Chicago on February 2, 1904.  She studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and first started to design costumes for nightclub shows.  After moving to Los Angeles in 1929 she designed costumes for Ice Follies and Fanchon and Marco (wiki). After a short stint at 20th Century Fox in the 40's  she was hired by MGM (Metro-Goldwyn Mayer) in 1943 where she spent the majority of her career dressing screen sirens of the MGM era including Elizabeth Taylor, Barbra Stanwyck, Lana Turner, Lauren Bacall, Grace Kelly and a whole host of other beauties in addition to the lady who owned the gorgeous dress pictured above, on screen dancer Dee Trunell (Details on Dee's dress in tomorrows post as it becomes available for purchase via EVOLUTION VINTAGE). I read she was a master of chiffon and was famous for her beaded bodices and chiffon dresses. Mrs. Rose said in a 1981 interview with The  Los Angeles Times that she favored that material because of the way it moved and picked up light.

 Designing Women -1957

The designer with Grace Kelly and a costume sketch for The Swan 1956

Helen won two academy awards for costume design for  The Bad and the Beautiful in 1952 

 Lana Turner

and for I'll Cry Tomorrow in 1955 

Susan Hayward

and nominated eight additional times. She was widely known for designing wedding dresses for the women she dressed on screen.

Her two most famous brides:

Elizabeth Taylor (Marries Conrad 'Nicky' Hilton in 1950)

It was Elizabeth's first of her eight marriages. She was 18 with a 20" waist on that day.  Helen Rose had 15 people working full days for almost three months on the garment with its twenty five yards of shell-white satin embellished with bugle beads and seed pearls, trailed by a fifteen-yards of satin train. The dress was a "gift" from MGM to Elizabeth in exchange for press in much the same way fashion houses gift celebrities for the red carpet. This dress sold at auction in 2013 for a jaw dropping $188,000 and was created in 1950 for $1,500.

Grace Kelly (Marries Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956)

I had read it was a gift from MGM. likely for publicity for the studio. During the design process they were working together on what would be Grace's last film High Society. Rose said about Grace "She is a dream to work with...I showed her two sketches of the final design and she chose the one she wanted.  That was all there was to it."

Philadelphia museum of art.

For more details on this garment and Grace's Style pick up the book: Grace Kelly: Icon of Style to Royal Bride

To her Helen has 116 credits for Costume Design for film and 32 for Costume/Wardrobe Department. She went on from film to create her own collection under her label: Helen Rose. Rose’s label dates from 1958/9 – 1976, when she retired. She wrote her autobiography "Just Make Them Beautiful" a line that Louis B. Mayer was often quotes as saying to her and penned a second book called "The Glamorous World of Helen Rose". She left the world a little less colorful place on November 9,1985 at the age of 81 passing away in Palm Springs.