There was a time when wearing a hat was de rigueur. Fine millinery was considered a sign of good taste, good breeding, and good fashion.
Hollywood actresses were rarely seen in public without hat, gloves and a designer outfit. Those were the days when Hollywood insisted on projecting style and glamour. Of course, with the destruction of the studio system by the federal government and the advent of television, stars abandoned style and rapidly devolved into vulgar celebrity.
Here’s a reminder of classic Hollywood glamour featuring stars in their hats.
In 1951, Bennet’s marriage to producer Walter Wanger was on the rocks. Wanger’s distinguished career was in decline and he was drowning in debt. Bennett and Wanger were in danger of losing their lovely Holmby Hills home. The financial burden of their family fell entirely on Joan’s slim shoulders. Unhappy, worried about her movie career as TV colonized movie audiences, Joan was approaching that age where female stars are forced into character roles. Under these trying circumstances Joan drifted into an affair with her agent Jennings Lang. Suspicious, Wanger followed his wife and her agent to a motel parking lot where, in a fit of jealousy, Wanger shot Lang in the crotch—twice.
Joan said: “Oh for Chrissake’s Walter, he’s only an agent!”
Lang survived. Wanger served time. But Joan’s marriage fell apart and her career never quite recovered from the scandal.
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