If you’ve happened to glance at the screen for a few seconds while What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? was on, you’ve probably already become totally captivated–maybe even enraptured–by the fashion in this classic movie. It’s garishly good. And if the recent runways have anything to say–what with Prada’s nightmare-ish babydoll dresses–What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is ripe with fashion inspiration.
Shop the Baby Jane Look
In the film, Jane looses her grasp on reality, and so too do we when it comes to the idea of clothing versus costume. Bright eyed Bette Davis and Joan Crawford star alongside each other in the 1962 film depicting an aging former child star tormenting her paraplegic sister and former movie star, in an old Hollywood mansion.
Jane wears caked white makeup, drawn-on skinny eyebrows, and overdrawn red lips. Her hair is done up in saccharine golden ringlets, parted to the sides as pigtails. In one scene, she wears a deceptively simple nightgown with a little ruffled collar, in another, she dons a white lace dress, again with a collar, cinched at the waist with a black belt to match a doll. Her necklaces drip, doubled up almost down to her hips, as she grimaces and screams. She is a broken doll, woman undone–and the best part about it is that she doesn’t care.
This film–and its fashion–is all camp. Bette Davis and Joan Crawford’s notorious Hollywood rivalry seemed to fuel the insane vibes of the costumes all the more. Costume designer Norma Koch actually won an Oscar for the frighteningly good fashion in the film.
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