While the American public was reeling from the Great Depression, the silver screen became a welcome site of escapism. There, film icons like Bette Davis, Jean Harlow, and Joan Crawford dazzled in glamorous gowns and tailored skirt suits. The silhouette was long and lean, in part thanks to the popularization of Madeleine Vionnet's bias cut, a technique that allows fabric to drape over the body.
