Inside Carole Lombard’s Stunning Style with Lots of Photos

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All about Carole Lombard style, including Carole Lombard 1930s glam, casual style, and suit style.

This post is all about Carole Lombard’s stunning style

Carole Lombard is known for her glamorous, classic 1930s styles in luxurious materials.

Think long, sexy evening gowns with a bias cut, sparkles, low back gowns, dripped in furs and jewels.

For more on 1930s glam:
1930s Glamour – The Glam Style of Hollywood’s Golden Age
Flappers to Vintage Glam – 1920s and 1930s Fashion

However, her personal style was much more casual and she even wore slack often, which wasn’t yet common for women in the 1930s.

It was due to stars like her, Lauren Bacall, Marlene Dietrich, and Katharine Hepburn that helped make pants more acceptable for women.

However, it was until the 1940s when women had to enter the workforce due to WWII that pants became more acceptable for women to wear.

For more on 1940s women’s pants:
How to Wear Trousers Old Hollywood Glam Style | 1940s Womens Pants

What was Carole Lombard known for?

Carole Lombard was a famous actress in Old Hollywood, popular in the 1930s and the early 1940s until her tragic death.

She was known for her movies, especially her role in screwball comedies in the 1930s and early 1940s.

To add to her fame, she was married to two legendary Old Hollywood stars, first to William Powell, then to Clark Gable.

She was also highly regarded as a style icon.

She was still married to Clark Gable when she died tragically at the young age of 33 in a freak accident plane crash.

On a return trip from helping the war effort via a war bond tour her plane crashed into the mountains.

Apparently some beacons had been turned off in the mountains due to the threat of bomber planes in WWII.

Talk about a crazy accident!

Why Was clark gable buried alongside Carole Lombard?

Rumor has it that Clark Gable never completely got over Carole’s death and wanted to be buried next to her.

They are both buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA.

Travis Banton: the creative genius behind Carole Lombard’s style

You can’t write about Carole Lombard’s style without also mentioning costume designer Travis Banton.

Travis Banton, who worked with Paramount pictures, was the genius behind some of Carole Lombard’s most iconic looks (and 1930s glam in general.)

He designed form fitting gowns, often with the sexy bias cut for Old Hollywood starlets like Carole Lombard and Marlene Dietrich.

He designed Carole Lombard’s dresses for her movies My Man Godfrey opposite William Powell, the screwball comedy Nothing Sacred, and Made for Each Other.

Carole Lombard style: Full-on 1930s glam

Perhaps Carole Lombard’s most recognizable style is her glam 1930s fashion.

The image of her with her short blond waves and wearing a slinky dress in a feminine bias cut feels very “Carole Lombard.”

Carole Lombard style: casual

Perhaps not as well known is Carole Lombard’s casual style.

Her off-duty timeless style often consisted of 1930s style high-waisted, wide legged slacks, which she still managed to make look glamorous!

(I think it’s the blonde waves and makeup that dress everything up?)

Carole Lombard style: swimsuits

Carole Lombard was also great at wearing the sexy 1930s swimsuits.

Don’t you love how classy these one-piece swimsuits look?

Most of the styles are one-piece, as the two-piece swimsuit didn’t start gaining popularity until the 1940s, and it wasn’t until the 1950s that bikinis were widely accepted.

To ogle more 1930s swimsuits:
1930s Swimsuits: Vintage Swimwear & Bathing Styles

Carole Lombard style: Suits

Another iconic Carole Lombard style, was her skirt suits.

She even wore a suit for her wedding to Clark Gable.

Women’s suits in the 1930s and 1940s were considered quite formal and dressed up, and it was quite common for women to get married in them.

Other Old Hollywood Glam stars that got married in suits include Lauren Bacall and Ava Gardner.

For more on 1930s and 1940s wedding dresses:
11 Dazzling 1940s Vintage Style Wedding Dresses
1930s Wedding Dresses – Vintage Bridal Style in Photos

This post was all about Carole Lombard style

What is your favorite Carole Lombard style?

Do you prefer her slinky 1930s evening gowns? Her casual style, or her more formal suit style?

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