You know it was a good era for fashion and costume design when the Queen of Mars was the ultimate style inspiration. I’ve been down the rabbit hole again, digging through 1920s and 30s showbiz imagery, and I couldn’t help noticing how everyone looks like they’ve been raiding the Martian queen’s closet. Her outfits were everywhere– at the Ziegfeld follies, the Russian ballet, early science-fiction films, even making an appearance on Hollywood’s first Cleopatra. The bigger, bolder (and glitzier), the better. I find it all makes for some pretty fabulous holiday outfit inspiration, so here are my top 20 style moments inspired by the Queen of Mars…
Pearl Girls in Ballet of Jewels from the movie “The Midnight Sun” (1926)
From an early 20th century Swedish play, “Ein Traumspiel” von August Strindberg.
From La Revue des Folies Bergere, 1924. Costumes designed by Erte.
Film still from “Bright Lights”, Robert Z. Leonard, 1925
Portrait of Pixie Herbert in a bat costume, ca. 1923
Another costume by Erté, the Russian costume designer often referred to as the father of Art Deco, who had a huge influence on fashion, Hollywood, dance and art and made costumes for Radio City Music Hall, the Paris Opera.
Russian avant garde theatre actress, Ioulia Solntseva in “Aelita: Queen of Mars” (1924) – Costume designer : Aleksandra Ekster.
Marion Martin (a.k.a Hollywood’s blonde menace), 1928, costume by Erte.
Costume design by Adrian for The Great Ziegfeld directed by Robert Z. Leonard, 1936
‘Water’ played by L. M. Koreneva, from Stanislavski’s production of Maeterlinck’s ‘The Bluebird’ , Moscow Art Theatre , 1908
Alla Nazimova in Oscar Wilde’s Salomé (1923) costumes, designed by Natacha Rambova
Theda Bara as Cleopatra. The film is now considered lost, with only fragments surviving. Theda was cinema’s first sex symbol as well as America’s First Goth.
Brigitte Helm gets direction from director Fritz Lang on the set of Metropolis (1927)
Silent film actress, Barbara La Marr, left and Betty Blythe, right, an American actress best known for her dramatic roles in exotic silent films such as The Queen of Sheba (1921).
English actress, Jessie Matthews and an even more awesome headdress – c. 1930s
Costume design by Adrian for The Great Ziegfeld directed by Robert Z. Leonard, 1936
Ziegfeld Follies dancer circa 1920’s
The Avengers – 1924, Lady Victory defeats the robot menace from Mars.
“Martha Pierre as Candlelight” better known as “The Candelabra Girl ” in the 1920 Ziegfeld Follies. Photo by Alfred Cheney
