MovieChat Forums > I Love Lucy (1951) Discussion > Favorite Outfits

Favorite Outfits

posted 6 years ago by [email protected] (1732)
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As has been previously discussed, Lucy often wore the same dresses, blouses and black
slacks. Vance (to her often great misfortune) also did, and even Arnaz.

Vance often wore that awful white house dress with the circles around the neck area, or
(worse), the dark one with the arrows (!) pointed around her neck!!!

Desi's "rehearsal" shirt (which looked more like a jacket) was cute. It was dark, with thin
pin stripes in the front. He wears it in seasons three and through many of the Hollywood
shows in season four.

One of the most common outfits Lucy wore was what appeared like (in black-and-white)
a gold skirt, with the brown blouse with gold trimming and the high neck. She wears
this in the opening club scene of "Lucy and Ethel Wear the Same Dress" and the opening
scene of "Ricky Needs an Agent." This outfit, designed by Elois Jensen, was quite
elegant, and she always wore it with high heels, never flats, yet it was worn in just plain,
ordinary daytime scenes. Interesting.

Any others that stand out?

[–] [email protected] (5534) 6 years ago

Lucy's beautiful clothes are always a favorite topic of mine. I'll have to think about it in more detail.

But what comes to mind right away is a favorite of mine. It's her various polka dotted housedresses. I love polka dots and those dresses were so cute and very becoming.

I also love the white dress with the flowers around the waist. It had three-quarter sleeves. And I love the dress, it was actually blue and red, that Lucy wore in the opening scene of "The Black Wig". She also wore the white dress in that episode.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

Agree, PJ....but HOW do you know the dress in the opening scene of "The Black Wig" (as well as the opening
scene of "The Million Dollar Idea") was really "blue and red???"

[–] [email protected] (5534) 6 years ago

....because I am psychic!! LOL

No actually I have a Lucy paper dolls book which I bought a long time age. It's one of my treasured Lucy keepsakes. The book has a lot of notes and comments by Elois Jensen and some of Lucy's more famous outfits. I never cut them out and played with them though! There are also some color pictures of her costumes, like the fire engine red "Marilyn Monroe" gown. Lucy wore it to impress the L.A. talent scout. But he never got to see it because Ricky read for him in his hotel room.

The "Black Wig" dress had a blue bodice and a blue and red striped skirt. The petticoat was red.

There was another beautiful dress that Lucy wore which I think we both commented on before. It was in "Sentimental Anniversary" and several other episodes. Sometimes Lucy wore it with the matching jacket. (Mr. and Mrs. TV Show). It's described in the notes as chocolate brown with a periwinkle blue bodice. The cut out is the same colors.

The colors of the clothes Elois Jensen designed had to be approved by Karl "Papa" Freund, Director of Photography. Miss Jensen said that Lucy looked great in black with her red hair and blue eyes. But that was usually nixed by Karl Freund. Black didn't photograph well in black and white and it threw "nasty shadows". So she usually had to go with
navy blue or dark grey.

Another of my favorite dresses was one she wore in six episodes, according to the book. It's a memorable outfit. She wore it when she dined at the Brown Derby and encountered Bill Holden. The bodice was powder blue and the skirt was a dark blue.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

Wow. I never knew Freund had to "approve" colors, although it makes sense when one thinks about the fact
that the "colors" of the sets were actually quite garish, but they had to be to be photographed well in black-and-white.
On Youtube, there's some genuine color "home movies" from one of the early shows. It shows Lucy and Desi
taking bows after the final scene. That first apartment appears to have almost purple walls and pink doors! Really
ugly in color, but they photograph well in black-and-white. This is part of why I HATE colorization! So much
care went into the photography and lighting. The black-and-white image really gives the show an elegant look.

What you wrote about Freund's dislike of pure black also interests me. Does this mean the tuxedos Desi wore
were really navy blue? And I always thought that chic, black "robe" and pants Lucy wears in "Fan Magazine
Interview" ("Oh, yes, I don't like to wear my GOOD things just puttering around the house") and in several of
the Hollywood shows was truly black! Maybe THAT was navy blue, too??? Hard to imagine.

Interesting side note: In "The Wizard of Oz", Judy Garland, of course, wears the gingham blue checked dress.
But when they shot the black-and-white opening/closing scenes, including "Over the Rainbow", that dress
looked too faded, so the gingham dress is really green and yellow checked!!! They just photographed stronger
in black-and-white.

[–] [email protected] (5534) 6 years ago

Good question about Ricky's tuxedos. I never thought about that. The book doesn't mention his clothes. Maybe the colors restrictions were only about Lucy's outfits.

So much of colorization makes old shows look like cartoons. I suppose all the bright colors looked nice for a studio audience. But when they try to replicate them for a colorized episode, they are just too intrusive and jarring.

Actually I like some shows better in black and white and when they went to color they were hard to look at. The Andy Griffith show is one example. In b&w it has a timeless, nostalgic look. When the show went to color there were GREEN walls everywhere, in the courthouse, the Taylor home, etc. I can't even watch those episodes.

Interesting that Dorothy's dress was green and yellow in the opening and closing scenes! And I thought I knew all the trivia that there was to know about the film! I have a book about the making of The Wizard of Oz and they even had some problems with the color scenes. I guess all the bugs were not yet ironed out of the Technicolor process.

For instance, Dorothy's white blouse was actually a pale pink because white photographed too harsh. And they had a terrible time getting the right color of paint for the yellow brick road. It was coming out all sort of weird shades in color.

Getting back to ILL, those dresses that Ethel wore with the circles and arrows. Now every time I see her wear them I think about you! "GB must cringe when he sees this scene!" lol

Another of Lucy's casual outfits that I like is the pants and sweater set. I always thought it was black, but it is navy blue. It's the one with the v-striped top. It's accented with tiny white beads. According to the book, it was worn in eight episodes including "Lucy Has Her Eyes Examined", "Lucy's Club Dance", "California Here We Come" and "Bull Fight Dance".

[–] [email protected] (5534) 6 years ago

I do believe that Lucy's housecoat in "Fan Magazine Interview" WAS black. According to the book, Elois Jensen called the material "black point d'esprit". Somehow she managed to sneak that by Karl Friend. lol Maybe because it was a shimmery, almost translucent material that it photographed well.

What I find interesting is that Lucy never wore those outfits after they moved to Connecticut. She seemed to take up the role of a real country housewife and just wore pants a lot. Her other outfits, like the above mentioned one and some of her other dresses seemed so "New York City" and too sophisticated for the country.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

Lucy also put on weight by those last 13 country episodes. Nothing terrible, but she is definitely thicker
around the waist. But she was in a living hell by that point. ILL was the number one show on TV,
but Ball was too exhausted to produce another full season, which is why they went to the hour long
shows, which were, what, two for the fall; two for spring, until 1960.

In the Tallulah Bankhead show, Lucy is wearing the same "chocolate brown" dress at dinner that she
wore for "Sentimental Anniversary", and several others (as you've already pointed out).

If memory serves, that's about the only time Lucy wore a dress from the actual 30-minute series
during the "Lucy/Desi Comedy Hour." I'm guessing, as I don't enjoy those episodes really. I do
like two of them: The Bankhead hour, and also the Danny Thomas one, because Thomas and Marjorie
Lord are playing ordinary characters, and not themselves. Lucy has some brilliant moments in
the latter offering.

Back to "true colors:" In the first two years of "Bewitched" (filmed in black-and-white) the front hall
wallpaper is supposed to be SILVER. But, in reality, it was blood red. I've seen some (real) color
pictures from the first season and the red is plain and clear. It's very harsh and garish, but in
black-and-white, it looks silver. I guess real silver would've looked too light? In any case, when
they colorized BW, they stuck to silver.

[–] [email protected] (5534) 6 years ago

J forgot that Lucy put on a few pounds in the last season. Of course her clothes could have been "let out" in the waist. But still, most of her New York outfits seemed out of place for country living, like building a barbecue, riding a runaway lawn mower, taking care of baby chicks!

Yes I do remember that she wore the anniversary dress in the Tallulah Bankhead episode. I've seen all the Comedy Hour episodes and that one was my favorites. Miss Bankhead was a very worthy opponent for Lucy Ricardo. They were hilarious together.

According to the paper doll book, Lucy wore the anniversary dress in her personal life too. She must have liked it a lot

Another reason that Lucy didn't wear her New York wardrobe in Connecticut is that she had a different designer. Elois Jensen was let go after season five supposedly for asking for a raise. According to one book, Lucy wasn't even informed about it.

So since there was a new designer, Edward Stevenson, Lucy probably couldn't continue to wear the clothes designed by Elois Jensen. In the closing credits there was "Miss Ball's wardrobe designed by..." so maybe it would have looked odd if she was wearing someone else's designs and Edward Stevenson's name was listed in the credits.
I wonder if there were any legal issues involved like you can't cite one person as your designer while wearing someone else's designs?

Anyway, I always thought Elois Jensen's clothes were a lot more flattering. I think she would have given Lucy a cute country wardrobe in season six.

One person we haven't mentioned at all is Fred Mertz. When he was working around the apartment he often wore overalls and other work clothes. But Fred did have a number of sharp looking suits and ties. He really dressed well when he wanted to. It's another reason I wonder "just how cheap was Fred?" His suits did not look cheap! For someone who was such a penny pincher, he had nice clothes.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

Yes, according to Elois Jensen, she called Lucy to ask why she was fired and, according to Jensen,
Lucy stated she didn't know and started crying. Ball really handed over control to Jess O and Desi.
As controlling a personality as she could be (both Marc Daniels and Bill Asher left, as Lucy's
controlling ways exhausted them. James V. Kern left mid-season six, and Arnaz begged Asher
to come back), she really trusted these two men.

I've never really thought about it, but, yes, Lucy's pre/post Elois Jensen wardrobe isn't nearly as
lovely or memorable. The Arnaz's were supposed to be ultra tight with a buck, so Jensen might've
been greedy. To me, she would've been worth it.

One of the big complaints on the imdb board was with season three's "Changing the Boys'
Wardrobe." While I concede it's not a great offering, I take issue with it being "unbelievable"
that Ricky and Fred would be dressed like slobs and not want to change to walk down to the
corner movie house. The argument was Ricky never dressed that sloppily again. How do WE
know??? Not every moment of their lives was contained in episodes, and Ricky stated he was
"working around the house all day." The paint spatters clearly show he was probably painting.
As for Fred, there are a number of episodes where he's a slob (Ethel tells him to change in
"Redecorating the Mertz's Apartment"). To me, "Boys' Wardrobe" is a light, fun episode that
works.

[–] [email protected] (5534) 6 years ago

I suppose we'll never get the whole story of Elois Jensen's firing. I also think she would have been worth paying.

In the paper doll book she says that when she joined ILL in the third season, she had to literally create an entire wardrobe department from scratch. Up to then Lucy was wearing off the rack clothes. The show did not have a big budget initially. She created a whole department.

Asking for a raise after three years was not unusual. It happens all the time on TV shows. If a show is a big hit, the actors renegotiate their contracts after a few years for bigger bucks. Why not the people who work behind the scenes?

When I mentioned Fed's wardrobe, I was thinking about 'Changing the Boys Wardrobe' and the IMDB discussion. I do remember how you said that we don't see every minute of their lives. So true.
In the redecorating episode, Fred was dressed VERY casually while reading the paper. Ethel told him to go "put on a tie" because the Ricardos were coming over. Fred came out in his old clothes but wearing a tie. Funny sight gag.

In my favorite "Fan Magazine Interview" he came in dressed in old work clothes to fix the sink. The next day when the photographer was present, he arrived at the Ricardo kitchen dressed to the nines.
"If I knew I was going to have my picture taken, I would have dressed up a little."

Ricky dressed up when he went to the club. I wondered why he didn't take off his jacket and tie when he got home. But in a thirty minute show there's no time for a wardrobe change in mid scene. However in "Men are Messy", he did throw his clothes around and got comfortable on the sofa.

ILL took some real life events and exaggerated them for the comedic effect. Before going to the movies a wife would have probably just asked her husband to put on some clean slacks and maybe a sport shirt. Ricky really didn't need to be in a suit and tie to go to a neighborhood theater.

[–] [email protected] (5534) 6 years ago

It wasn't the greatest episode, but there were some funny moments. The big payoff was at the end. Ethel furious with Lucy for her scheme to pay the boys back. They dressed like slobs and got their pictures taken!

However, I never understood cleaning old clothes with gasoline. Who does that? And why? I've accidentally gotten gasoline on my gloves while pumping gas in the winter. It is so hard to get that smell out of them! And that's just a tiny bit.

I also don't understand about the used clothing store. I've given away old clothes to places like the Salvation Army and it's anonymous. Why would the store owner want Lucy's name? How would he even know who her husband was? Or did he go through every Ricardo in the phone book? LOL

If I was Lucy, I would have given a fake name if he had asked. I would not have wanted the shop owner calling the house! Anyway Lucy and Ethel should have just donated the old clothes without using their names. Drop them in a used clothes bin.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

Yes, as we've both stated, it's not a super great episode.

Since you have genuine color pictures of Jensen's wardrobe, I've always wondered what
the real colors were in that outfit of gold (?) skirt and (in my mind) chocolate brown
blouse with the gold (trim). Is it really comprised of brown and gold? It's a beautiful
outfit, and Lucy wore it several times (again, the opening scene of "Lucy and Ethel
Wear the Same Dress", and the opening scene of "Ricky Needs an Agent", among others).

[–] [email protected] (5534) 6 years ago

That outfit is actually red and blue! The top is red and trimmed in light blue. The skirt is a pale blue. The sash around her middle looks to be a pale lavender. She wore that in eight episodes including "Baby Pictures", "Ethel's Birthday" and "Ricky Sells the Car". It's another one of my favorite outfits too.

Interesting though that you would mention brown. Lucy did have several outfits in those colors.
She had a brown checked jumper with dark brown piping. She wore it in "Lucy Writes a Novel", "The Black Wig", "the Business Manager" and "Ethel's Home Town." It could be worn with different colored blouses and tops to give it a different look.

Lucille Ball favored dresses like that with blouses that zipped up the back so she wouldn't muss up her hair and make-up for quick costume changes.

She also had another brown top and skirt with dark brown vertical stripes. Lucy wore that while in jail in "Tennessee Bound", "Ricky's European Booking" and memorably at Sir Clive's estate in "The Fox Hunt."

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

At the risk of insulting Ms. Jensen's memory, I actually prefer MY version of gold
skirt with the chocolate brown blouse with gold trim, rather than red blouse with
blue (!) trim and powder blue skirt. It sounds a bit garish, but again, they knew
in black-and-white, WE would have to decide the colors.

Sorry, I like mine the best!! Lol!

[–] [email protected] (5534) 6 years ago

Well gold and brown does sound good too! It is a rich combination of colors. Actually the picture of the outfit in the book is nice. I think those colors would have looked good on Lucy.

But of course with black and white, we have to use our imaginations. I tend to "see" certain outfits in the colors which I prefer.

For one thing, I've always wondered about the dresses Lucy was shown at the Don Loper salon. Amzie Strickland, playing the saleslady, comes out with one dress and tells Lucy that the color would be "stunning with your hair."

I tend to think of it as light blue. That's just how I see it in my mind.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

How did YOU see the gold skirt with chocolate brown blouse and gold trim?
(sorry, lol...) I mean, before you KNEW the real colors.

Here are some more outfits I "colorized" to my mind:

The plain housedress Lucy wore from season one, even to the early shows of
season four: It's got short sleeves, and three medium-sized buttons up
the front. Lucy wears it (covered with a white skirt) in the opening scene
of "Men are Messy"; in the kitchen scene while doing dishes and trying to
get Fred and Ethel to let them have the new apartment for the same rent;
and with the scarf on her head, while cleaning sliver in the kitchen scene
of "The Business Manager" ("it looks like I'm wearing a black beanie").

It's a simple dress, but basic and attractive, and Lucy wore it quite often.
Anyway, I see it as powder blue. Don't know why.

The dress Lucy wears that looks gray and has a lace collar (can't think of any
episodes specifically, but I believe she wears it for the first time in the closing
scene of "The Fur Coat", when Ricky tells her 'happy anniversary' - even though
it's NOT their anniversary!). Anyway, I see that as, well...gray.

The dress Lucy wears in the opening scene of "Charm School" (with the big
bow at the neck) I see as RED. Again, not sure why.

[–] [email protected] (5534) 6 years ago

I always imagined that outfit to have a black or navy top and a neutral colored skirt. ( I know, I have no imagination!)

I've read how the color red looks like black when filmed in black and white. In Jezebel there is the famous scene of Bette Davis's character of Julie wearing a red gown when all the debutantes were supposed to wear white. The gown looks black. Bette Davis said that red would have looked too shocking if it was filmed in color.

Lucy does wear some grey outfits. I like the dress she wears in "Ricky Loses His Temper", "Home Movies", "Bonus Bucks" and "Lucy Writes a Novel." It's a dark grey linen. The embroidery, trim and the two bows are pink.

Lucy also wears a grey bejeweled sweater when she "tells the truth" and has those knives thrown at her! That time she wore it with capri slacks. In "Lucy Tells the Truth" she wears the same sweater with a long skirt when the burglars carry her down to the basement.

That first dress you mentioned, I usually picture it as green. Just another one of those, "I don't know why" moments. I tend to think that redheads look good in green.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

That busy dress from "Home movies", "Ricky Loses His Temper",
"Bonus Bucks", etc. I always see that as BLUE, with maybe multi-
colored embroidery and WHITE bows (good grief, our imaginations).

As for the sweater (which I love, and feel is so flattering to Lucy)
that she wears in "Lucy Tells the Truth" and in the kidnapping scene
with the burglars, I always see that as baby or powder blue! It's
very pretty.

What color, do you think, is the cashmere sweater Lucy gives to
Caroline in "The Club Election?" I always think pink, with a pink
matching bag.

Oh! Another: The dress Lucy wears when she and Ethel get into that
club lunch fight in "No Children Allowed:" To me....deep purple!

[–] [email protected] (5534) 6 years ago

Well, those bows do appear to be white when filmed in black and white even though they were pink.

I also "think pink" regarding Lucy's cashmere sweater and matching bag. But who knows? Maybe it was light blue.
Just a personal note about cashmere. I always wanted a cashmere sweater. I ordered one out of a catalog a few years ago. But after wearing it one time, I found out that I must be allergic to cashmere. I scratched myself silly. I tried wearing it again and I itched and scratched. I gave it to my niece.
The dress in "No Children Allowed"? Deep purple or maybe navy. Definitely a dark color.

The beautiful dress that Lucy wore when she danced with Van Johnson, I always pictured it as white or cream colored. But it's pink.

Another outfit of Lucy's which I love is one that she only wore two times, both times in Hollywood. It's the long white housecoat with sprigs of holly in red and green. The trim is red and it was worn with matching red pants. So pretty. I wonder why Lucy never wore it again.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

Yeah, that dress IS very pretty, although I thought it was green
pants she was wearing.

Do you know what happened to these clothes? Surely, Ball
owned them, but they were VERY 1950's outfits, so Lucy
would've looked silly in them post ILL. Wonder if personal
collectors got them after some auction, or something.

[–] [email protected] (5534) 6 years ago

I DO wonder what happened to these clothes too!

I mentioned that Lucy wore the anniversary dress in her personal life and she also wore the black housecoat too. I wonder if she kept them and passed them on to her children. Hope they have them. They are pieces of history.

I did see a few of Lucy's dresses on display years ago when I visited Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. It was a big Lucy museum filled with memorabilia from her shows.

Behind glass a mannequin had on one of her iconic polka dot dresses. I was really struck by how tall and slender Lucille Ball must have been to fit into that dress!
The other dress was one of the costumes Lucy wore when she "got into the act" at the Tropicana. I believe it was the outfit from the "Cuban Pete/Sally Sweet" number.

In the paper doll book they mention one item which is one of the few remaining items known to exist.

It was part of one of Lucy's dressy pantsuit outfits that she wore in a half dozen episodes including "Baby Pictures", "Too Many Crooks" and "Home Movies". Lucy wore it with a fancy (pink) blouse with French cuffs.
The black and rhinestone cufflinks are supposedly still in existence. But the book doesn't say who has them! (wish I did!)

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

I remember reading years ago that when Lucy (first) got new furniture (the home show, season two), they simply tossed out the old stuff, as it had been used repeatedly throughout those first 40 or so eps (35 for season one; and at least five into season two). The couch itself looked old, and Ricky had sat on eggs in it in the final scene of "men are Messy").

At any rate, Vivian Vance asked to keep the "wing back" chair that sat beside it. Viv apparently had it painted white and reupholstered in yellow for her Connecticut home.

[–] smidget28 (781) 6 years ago

When they return from Hollywood, and everyone is starstruck by Ricky, except Lucy at first, she has an interview with a woman played by a famous comedic actress, and the dress during that interview is one of my favorite things she ever wears. I always wondered what colors it is.

I also love the dress she and Ethel pull apart on each other in the friendship song.