Marlene Dietrich: How to conquer Hollywood in suits and costumes

With broad shoulders: How Marlene Dietrich conquered Hollywood in trousers

The background, the interviewees and their outfits – everything about this TV interview in the Rosengarten looks sophisticated. Talk host Oprah Winfrey chats with singer Adele. She speaks of her grief as a child after her father left the family, of her pangs of conscience after her own divorce, of fears, even panic attacks. Winfrey is the sympathetic listener and yet remains the tough journalist and businesswoman who encourages stars to striptease their souls like no other media great.

At no time do you doubt the strength and self-confidence of the two extremely successful women, even during this emotional conversation. And that is not least due to their wardrobe: Both wear light-colored blazers with matching, softly flowing Marlene pants - the perfect look to appear feminine, but not weak and vulnerable.

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Susan Sontag: Dietrich mastered dealing with glamorous artificiality and exaggeration

“The most beautiful thing about manly men is something feminine. The most beautiful thing about feminine women is something masculine.” This straightforwardly formulated and amazingly clear realization goes back to a woman who felt attracted to both men and women from an early age: Susan Sontag. The American essayist, author and filmmaker became famous in 1964 with her essay "Notes on camp". The expression "camp", which also stands for kitsch in English, was a code word for emphatically over-the-top behavior and the ironic handling of it, especially in homosexual circles.

In addition to theatricality, passion and playfulness were also important to Sontag. Two who, in her view, were perfectly adept at dealing with glamorous artificiality and exaggeration were director Josef von Sternberg and his muse Marlene Dietrich, whose films Sontag attested to "outrageous aestheticism."

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Dietrich's penchant for suits and costumes made him the most photographed woman in the world at times

This is particularly evident in "The Scarlet Empress" from 1934. Sternberg staged Marlene Dietrich as Catherine the Great in opulent costumes and in front of a bombastic backdrop. The film, which cineastes today celebrate as avant-garde, turned out to be a flop in the cinema. After all, the industry journal "Variety" raved that the leading actress had never looked more beautiful. Among all the lavish clothes she wears in the film, one of her outfits stands out: a white hussar uniform that emphasized her figure and long legs in a way that was almost unheard of at the time. More than any robe. "Something male" was the secret of success that secured Marlene Dietrich the status of a screen goddess for years.

Her penchant for tailored suits and suits, flat shoes and white shirts with silk ties has made the actress - who would have turned 120 on December 27 - at times the most photographed woman in the world. With her flair for extravagant elegance, which also influenced Hollywood's costume designers, she not only invented the art and cult figure Marlene, but also power dressing, which is currently back in fashion in women's fashion. In contrast to the classic trouser suit, it relies on bright colors, distinctive details and extra emphasized shoulder areas.

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Historian: Pants "signaled her independence as an actress and woman"

What moved the movie star to conquer Hollywood in pants, moves fashion designers and those interested in fashion today: breaking with traditional roles and questioning gender assignments. The trousers "signaled her independence as an actress and woman," writes the historian Gabriele Katz in her recently published biography "Marlene Dietrich - The Clothes of Her Life" (Verlag Langen Müller, 320 pages, 24 euros), which provides exciting insights into the dressing room and Movie diva trunk granted.

When Marlene Dietrich debuted in Hollywood in the early 1930s, the Paramount studio featured Marlene Dietrich in a tailcoat and top hat in a commercial - a look that Katz felt was doubly scandalous because it added a "homoerotic touch" and at the same time created direct competition with male colleagues. Even if Marlene Dietrich cultivated an emphatically ladylike style in Dior costumes after the Second World War, she always resorted to tails, at least at her concerts, until her official departure from the stage in 1973.

Marlene Dietrich: a modern, emancipated and self-confident woman

"This masculine attitude enhanced her charm," Sternberg once said. In fact, Marlene Dietrich never appeared disguised in her suits, she wore them as a matter of course and thus underlined her image of a modern, emancipated and self-confident woman. The actress with the porcelain complexion and statuesque figure, despite her 1.68 meter height, was extremely careful about her external impact: “I dress for my image. Not for myself, not for the public, not for fashion, not for men,” Katz quotes the native of Berlin and is certain that she is “an influencer par excellence” when it comes to image cultivation.

As such, she would probably be the darling of the fashion industry, especially since power dressing is back in fashion for the spring and summer season. In addition to Dries van Noten, Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood and Miuccia Prada, the Berlin fashion designer Marcell Pustul also relies on shoulder pads and strict cuts with his Marcell Berlin label. Pants suits with a wide silhouette are characteristic of his collection, which is also celebrated in the USA. “Suits give you confidence and shrug your shoulders. They symbolize power,” says the designer himself about his designs.