How to do Hollywood Glamour like Dorothy Dandridge

Old Hollywood Glamour: Dorothy Dandridge |Vintage Fashion

This week we explore the life of delicate beauty Dorothy Dandridge who not only displayed natural glamour, but helped to break down one of the many barriers for African- Americans in the film industry.

Dorothy Jean Dandridge (November 9th, 1922 – September 8th, 1965.)

Dandridge’s entertainment career started early with her singing and touring around the Southern United States with her sister under the name ‘The Wonder Sisters.’ As work dried up during the depression years, their mother Ruby Dandridge moved to Hollywood, California and found work in radio and film. The sisters were renamed in Hollywood as ‘The Dandridge Sisters’ and were given opportunities to perform in venues such as the Cotton Club and The Apollo.
Dorothy Dandridge’s first silver screen appearance was a minor role in the Teacher’s Beau (1935). In between 1937 and 1940 she appeared in three films, A Day at the Races (1937) Four Shall Die (1940) –which featured an all black cast and a Marx Brothers feature film.
While all of her early parts were stereotypically African- America roles, her singing ability and stage presence gained her popularity and led to her vocals from films often displayed on juke boxes. In 1954 history was made, as soon after Dandridge signed a six year contract deal with 20th Century Fox she played the leading role in American musical Carmen Jones. This saw her become the third African- American Actress to be nominated for the Academy Award but the first for Best Actress…

We adore Dorothy’s off the shoulder style from her evening looks to casual outfits; below we have created one of her casual looks for the modern woman below. Get the look by wearing tapered trousers or chino peg leg pants and a fitted t- shirt highlighted with a good ol’ vintage scarf for good measure, although the modern twist is the detail in the pants as it should do most of the work ( if you choose to tuck it in).
The Vintage Scarf company provided us with the scarf featured.

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