dolly Tree
A Dream of Beauty Gary Chapman
A long lost artistic genius of the Jazz Age, Dolly Tree was famous on both sides of the Atlantic, for her extravagant creations that appeared in stage shows, cabaret, couture and film in the 1920s and 1930s. This illustrated biography with over 600 images captures her unique talent, exploring her achievements as a dress designer, including her Hollywood career at MGM. ‘Famous in England and the big Contintental capitals’, Pearson’s Magazine, 1923. ‘Miss Tree has a genius for dress design as all of us who go to the theatre know’, the Tatler, 1925. ‘Internationally known for her stage and costume designs’, Theatre Magazine, 1929. ‘The no1 modern style designer of the MGM studio’ and ‘the outstanding modern style expert in movieland’, Buffalo Courier Express, 1938. ‘One of Hollywood’s foremost fashion designers’, Los Angeles Times, 1940.
Dolly Tree (1899-1962) was an illustrator and costume designer during the 1920s and 1930s and was a prime example of the New Woman. Her artistic flair touched so many stage and screen personalities that even if you have never heard of her before you will be familiar with her elegant creations for such movie stars as Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, Judy Garland, Maureen O’Sullivan, Rosalind Russell and many other MGM players. She was unique in the breadth and scale of her productivity by working in London, Paris, New York and Hollywood and having several distinctive careers designing for the legitimate stage, cabaret, couture and film. Very few of her contemporaries could match her myriad achievements. Signifcantly, she was the first English person and the first woman to design for the Folies Bergere in Paris. She also created the quintessential 1890s look for Mae West in Diamond Lil (1928) which was later immortalised on the screen. Dolly Tree’s creativity had a profound impact on fashion and her modern approach to dress design, with its chic air of simplicity, has given her creations a timeless quality that can still be glimpsed at in modern couture.
Contents Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5
In the Beginning: From Poster Artist to Actress The Ubiquitious Dolly Tree London and Regional Shows Oh Yes it is Pantomime Frolics, Frocks and Film Cabaret Couture Silent Film Chapter 6 Anything Goes in Paris Chapter 7 The Bright Lights of Broadway Chapter 8 The Fox Film Studio Chapter 9 The Dream Factory of MGM Dolly Tree’s Appointment at MGM The Logistics of Film Costuming at MGM ... Dolly Tree Herself Dolly Tree’s Hollywood Styling Dolly Tree’s General Style Observations Chapter 10 1930s Glamour at MGM Chapter 11 The MGM Stars Virginia Bruce Madge Evans Judy Garland Jean Harlow Ruth Hussey Rita Johnson Myrna Loy Maureen O’Sullivan Florence Rice Rosalind Russell Lana Turner Chapter 12 Post MGM and Demise Photographic Credits Footnotes
Book Highlights • • • • • • • • • •
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The first biography of the British costume designer Dolly Tree. Based on extensive research in London, Paris and New York over 30 years. Includes over 100 colour and over 500 black and white photographs. Reproductions of some of her early artwork and costume designs. Photographs of her creations as seen on the stage, in cabaret and on film. The life of a very creative woman who forged a career in a man’s world in the frenetic Jazz Age of the 1920s and 1930s. Insight and detail of nightlife and the entertainment world in London, Paris, New York and Hollywood in the golden age of stage and screen. Begins with her career as an illustrator and an actress for British Silent film (alongside her mother Madge Tree) . Explores her innovative style and working techniques as a costume designer and explains why she thought ‘simplicity was the best thing’. Charts her work for the British stage in the 1920s where she provided designs for a minimum of sixty-two productions. Of these at least one third were staged in a London theatre, eighteen were pantomimes staged in London and other major cities and twenty-four were regional shows. Given this staggering achievement, it is no wonder that she was described as ‘the ubiquitous Dolly Tree.’ Takes a look at the cabaret scene in London in the 1920s and illustrates Dolly Tree’s dominance. Describes how she dressed the groundbreaking British Silent film Woman to Woman (1923) working with Michael Balcon, Graham Cutts and Alfred Hitchcock and her association and appearance in Hitchcock’s The Lodger (1926). She was the first English person and the first woman to design for the Folies Bergere. In late 1922 a newspaper feature flashed across America entitled, ‘The Last Word in Daring Gowns’ and saying that Miss Dolly Tree, an Englishwoman, had ‘successfully invaded Paris, the fortress of fashion, and created the costumes for the Folies Bergére itself. An Anglo-Saxon, not a Frenchman is thus responsible for the most spectacular gowns in the naughtiest revue in the world.’ Explores her work in Paris and the rest of Europe. Highlights how she became sole designer for Jean Peron Couture in 1923, with retail outlets in London and Paris and ‘created gowns for practically every prominent European artist.’ She created the quintessential 1890s look for Mae West in Diamond Lil in New York, 1928, which was later immortalised on the screen. Examines her first Hollywood job at Fox studios (1930-31) and shows how she became head of the costume despartment. At MGM she dressed innumerable Hollywood stars like Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, Judy Garland, Maureen O’Sullivan, Rosalind Russell and Carole Lombard. Shows how Gilbert Adrian, met Dolly Tree in Paris in 1922, a friendship that would later enable her to join MGM in 1933 working alongside him. Provides an overview of the MGM costume department and working methods in the 1930s. Refutes the misinformation about Dolly Tree’s role and status at MGM. A chapter illustrates her ‘Hollywood Style’ both in words and pictures. A chronological chapter focuses on the major films that she dressed, her personal life and other activities in the studio. Finally, there is a chapter devoted to some of the key stars she dressed, particularly Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow and Judy Garland. Shows how she left MGM in 1941 to enter a new career in the wholesale dress manufacture business via the Goodman Company and their range called Freshy Playclothes. Also describes her attempts to re-enter the Hollywood costume design arena. Discusses her two marriages to naval officer Thomas Kimes and playboy Don Earl Whiteford. Unearths her complex personality, attempting to explain why she has been ignored, why she shunned publicity and why she faltered in later life. Finally, describes her slide into alcholism and her incarceration in a Psychiatric Hospital until her death in 1962. Like the recent celebration of Hollywood designer Orry Kelly, who has been reclaimed as a great Australian national figure, it is time that Dolly Tree was reclaimed by Great Britain on the same basis.
Sample spreads from the HArdback
The book and ordering Dolly Tree: A Dream of Beauty will be published 26th September 2017 in hardback and paperback. Both versions contain over 600 photographs and is A4 - it is a big coffee table book. The Hardback has 400 pages all in full colour -- it is the deluxe package with an RRP of £75. The paperback has 340 pages and is in black and white with 11 colour sections containing 44 pages and an RRP of £30. An ebook may be released in 2018. Since the book is print on demand please allow between 7-14 days for printing and then delivery.
Special offer From 1st August 2017 I will be offering a pre-publication offer of £60 for anyone who orders the hardback directly from me. If you would like to take advantage of this offer you will need to email me and I can send you full details of how to order via an invoice. Email: gazchappers@btinternet.com Payment can be made either by sending me a cheque or via paypal. There will be an additional charge for UK postage and for overseas orders although not the full cost (it is a big book to post & the deliver). For UK orders choose from First Class Post (£8) or special delivery via DPD (£6). A quote can be provided for multiple copies. For deliveries to USA the best option is Fedex and this will cost £15 (airmail costs £28). Conversion to US$ will be based on exchange rate at the time and will be confirmed by email.
About the author Gary Chapman has always been fascinated by the 1920s and the Jazz Age, and his degree in archaeology left him with a passion for uncovering the truth about his subjects. After living and working for many years in London, he now lives in Stroud, Gloucestershire. He is fortunate in being able to pursue his various passions – publishing, marketing books, writing, the Jazz Age and cake decorating. He has had a fascination for Dolly Tree for decades and regards this book as a labour of love and the definitive testimony to her unique brilliance. His other books include: The Dolly Sisters: Icons of the Jazz Age, The Dolly Sisters in Pictures and London’s Hollywood.
A costume design by Dolly Tree not seen in the book from a European show mid-late 1920s
PRESS RELEASE Dolly Tree
A Dream of Beauty by Gary Chapman
Publication: 26th September 2017 Hardback, £75, A4, ISBN 978-1-909230-25-5 Paperback, £30, A4, ISBN 978-1-909230-24-8 Ebook (epub) £25, ISBN 978-1-909230-26-2 (date tbc) Ebook (mobi) £25, ISBN 978-1-909230-27-9 (date tbc)
A long lost artistic genius of the Jazz Age, Dolly Tree was famous on both sides of the Atlantic, for her extravagant creations that appeared in stage shows, cabaret, couture and film in the glamorous 1920s and 1930s. It is now time for her to be reclaimed as one of the great British dressdesigners of the 20th century. Dolly Tree (1899-1962) was an illustrator and costume designer during the 1920s and 1930s and was a prime example of the New Woman. Her artistic flair touched so many stage and screen personalities that even if you have never heard of her before you will be familiar with her elegant creations for such movie stars as Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, Judy Garland, Maureen O’Sullivan, Rosalind Russell and many other MGM players. She was unique in the breadth and scale of her productivity by working in London, Paris, New York and Hollywood and having several distinctive careers designing for the legitimate stage, cabaret, couture and film. Very few of her contemporaries could match her myriad achievements. Dolly Tree’s creativity had a profound impact on fashion and her modern approach to dress designing with its chic air of simplicity has given her creations a timeless quality that can still be glimpsed at in modern couture. • • • • • • • • • • •
The first biography of the British costume designer Dolly Tree. Based on extensive research in London, Paris and New York over 30 years. Includes over 100 colour and over 500 black and white photographs. Reproductions of some of her early artwork and costume designs. Photographs of her creations as seen on the stage, in cabaret and on film. The life of a very creative woman who forged a career in a man’s world in the frenetic Jazz Age of the 1920s and 1930s. Insight and detail of nightlife and the entertainment world in London, Paris, New York and Hollywood in the golden age of stage and screen. The first English person and the first woman to design for the Folies Bergere. She created the quintessential 1890s look for Mae West in Diamond Lil which was later immortalised on the screen. She dressed innumerable Holywood stars like Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, Judy Garland, Maureen O’Sullivan, Rosalind Russell and Carole Lombard. Like the recent celebration of Hollywood designer Orry Kelly, who has been reclaimed as a great Australian national figure, it is time that Dolly Tree was reclaimed by Great Britain on the same basis.
Gary Chapman has always been fascinated by the 1920s and the Jazz Age, and his degree in archaeology left
him with a passion for uncovering the truth about his subjects. After living and working for many years in London, Gary now lives in Stroud, Gloucestershire. He is fortunate in being able to pursue his various passions – publishing, marketing books, writing, the Jazz Age and making cakes. Gary Chapman, Edditt Publishing, 01453 751817 / 07713348628 email: edditt@btinternet.com / www.eddittpublishing.com
Some of Dolly Tree’s creations From left to right, top to bottom : a sketch from 1918; design for Queen of Secretaries from the Folies Bergere (1921); Dorothy Dickson in The Cabaret Girl (1922); a postcard design from 1918; a scene from Round in 50 at the London Hippodrome (1922); Betty Compson in the 1923 British film Woman to Woman; a sketch for Jean Harlow in her last film Saratoga (1937); Dolly Tree and an actress looking at sketches in the MGM costume department (late 1930s) and Myrna Loy in Evelyn Prentice (1934).
Gary Chapman, Edditt Publishing, 01453 751817 / 07713348628 email: edditt@btinternet.com / www.eddittpublishing.com