Medford mail tribune., April 23, 1961, Image 52

Oleg Gassini
( Continued from page 5)
The greatest disaster of his movie career
came when he had the chance to create a
dance dress for Rita Hayworth in "Tales of
Manhattan." He designed a white chiffon
dress with two bands of chiffon crossing
over the bodice, one purple, the other light
blue. When Rita got in front of the camera,
the purple was so dark .that it vanished,
making her look as though she had lost
half her bosom. It, and Cassini, were
promptly thrown out of the picture.
Born in Paris, Oleg Cassini was educated
in naly; ms moiner is rtussian remgee
Countess Marguerite Cassini, who had a
design studio in Florence when her sons
were going to school, and his brother is
Igor Cassini, who writes a syndicated newspaper-society
column.
Oleg studied law, was an ardent amateur
'painter, and as a young boy paid for trips
ho Paris by making sketches of the collec
tions for his mother.
He Becomes a Hollywood Designer
In 1936, fascism drove them to take refuge
in America. For two years, he had a design
Lstudio in New York, doing custom work for
khe society women he had met abroad. Then,
n 1938, he went to Hollywood, where he
worked for both Paramount and 20th Cen-
fury-Fox, and married the lovely Gene
iTierney. Although they have been divorced
110 years, and their 12-year-old daughter
Tina, now lives with her father, he continues
fo design clothes for his ex-wife, now re
named, and they are good friends.
Their marriage foundered on their long
reparation during the war (he was in the
cavalry, going in a private, rising to cap
tain), his impatience with Hollywood when
he came out of the Army ("They gave me
horse opera named 'Green Grass of
Wyoming' as my first job. I told them I'd
pent four and a half years with horses, and
u didn't know why I had to come back and
design blankets for horses in the movies"),
his desire to move back to New York, and
Gene's determination to stay in Hollywood
lor the sake of her career.
In June, 1950, he opened his own business
n New York, which included both custom-
made clothes for individual customers and
commercial line of ready-made Oleg
ICassini clothes which are sold in stores all
ver the United States starting at $90. He
iiad immediate success.
"To be really elegant, you need monastic
lignity,". Cassini advises women. "I think
f there is one piece of advice I would read
ly give to women in general, it's be simple;
ake off accessories and bows instead of
lidding them. ; ,
'The second is to study yourself, know
vhat is right and what is wrong for your
particular type. Then, when buying clothes,
lise a selective attitude. Don't let sales
people bully you into taking something
Bvhich isn't right. In this way, you will find
yourself achieving what should be every
.woman's goal, a style of her own which
pays no attention to fad."
Jacqueline Kennedy usually wore clothes
made by French designers, notably Given
chy and Balenciaga, before she selected
Cassini to do her wardrobe. Her decision
to buy American clothes was in line with
the whole "buy American" trend on the
New Frontier. ;
Won't Follow Paris Fashions
Cassini had never made clothes for her
before, and only occasionally for Mrs.
Joseph Kennedy and the Kennedy sisters.
He had known Jacqueline socially and un
derstood the kind of life she lives, but that
is hot what admirers of Cassini find sig
nificant in her final decision. He has been
one of the few American designers who have
refused to follow the trend of hurrying to -Paris
for the openings there, and letting
. them supply inspiration for their clothes. "I
go to Europe for the skiing," he says, "not
to copy somebody else's ideas.
"We have allowed the French couture to
take the leadership too long," he says. "We
haven't tried to be original in spirit; we
have simply picked their brains, adapting
their ideas, sometimes copying their indi
vidual dresses with hardly any changes,.
"That is why many deeply fashion
conscious women go to the "great dress
makers of Paris and buy their clothes.
These originals are beautiful, always ex
quisitely fitted. But for the woman who
can't afford the originals, the French copies,
the ones they are sending to us for the mass
market, are cheap, badly, made, shoddy
merchandise. A woman who wants her
money's worth is much better off buying
well-made American clothes."
Cassini adds: "I do not propose to tell
Mrs. Kennedy what to wear; and I do not
believe she plans to tell me what to de
sign. Our relationship will be one in which
I propose and she disposes. Thus it is neces
sary for me to' be familiar with both the
woman and the world in which she moves."
Jacqueline Shines at Inaugural
One of the major impacts he made on fash
ion was when he designed Mrs. Kennedy's
fawn beige costume for Inauguration Day.
While nearly every other woman on televi
sion was bundled in fur, Mrs. Kennedy's coat,
with its discreet flare, its sable muff, and its
daringly modest circlet of sable at the throat,
was sensational. It was also the result
of Cassini's long experience in designing for
the camera, the cruel camera which seems
to add about 10 pounds to a woman's weight
unless she is dressed properly for it. The
women who wore luxurious minks and
chinchillas looked bulky. The First Lady
was slim, lovely, everything pointing to
ward her beautiful face.
The fur industry may hate Cassini for
what he did, but he is prepared for the
bitterness of competitors who have tasted
deep of the sour grapes. Says he:
"It's easy to be very considerate and kind
when you are a success. The trick is to be
arrogant when things are going badly."
Family Weekly, April 23, J961
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