Introduction

In 1914, a young Gloria Swanson dressed up in her most fashionable ensemble to visit Essanay studios in Chicago. In her autobiography, Swanson recalled it was “one of the new Staten Island outfits [she] was dying to wear. It was a black-and-white checkered skirt with a slit in the front from an Irene Castle pattern and a black cutaway jacket with a green waistcoat. I wore a perky little Knox felt hat with it.”1 Her memory of this day was probably sparked by the photograph of the graphic ensemble that is tipped into one of the innumerable scrapbooks documenting her career (Figure 1.1). Swanson wrote in cursive above the picture: “Simple Sixteen and oh so chic.” Although she did not go to the studios to look for work, the casting director asked her to return the next day to play a role in a moving picture. Swanson told her aunt that she was certain her suit’s provenance – modeled after the clothing of famed dancer and fashion icon Irene Castle – was the real reason for his interest. The next day the casting director telephoned and requested that she wear the same outfit, proving her right.2