Rita Hayworth

When Rita Hayworth teased off her elbow-length gloves by the fingertips with unprecedented erotic abandon, wearing a strapless dress split to the thigh, the dyed redhead with pin-waved locks pre-dated cartoon sex-bot Jessica Rabbit by decades – although no doubt inspired director Robert Zemeckis’s animated femme fatale. This, the most iconic scene from 1946 film Gilda, witnessed Hayworth’s hourglass figure and otherworldly glamour hypnotise a generation.

The satin bustier dress worn by Hayworth for her title role in the movie was designed by Columbia Pictures’ costumier Jean Louis, who is credited for contributing to the creation of the opulent sparkle of Hollywood’s golden age. Despite pictures still being produced in black and white, Louis’ costumes excited audiences with fluid cuts, rich textures, shimmering satins and glittering sequins. It’s no overstatement to say he elevated cinema’s demigods with a liberal dusting of Tinseltown pizzazz.

Very much a creation of the Hollywood studios, Hayworth’s on-screen image didn’t quite marry up with her much more modest real-life taste – to the regret of the many men salivating over it. Rather than male fantasy made flesh, Hayworth’s personal style – all comfortable shoes and high-waisted slacks – shattered the myth born from her film roles.

To coincide with the re-release of Gilda this summer, London’s Evening Standard spoke to one journalist who interviewed Hayworth at the time of the original 1946 release of the film, suffice to say that his illusion of the siren was shattered.

“The film had given us this image of a tall slender goddess with flowing locks and a fantastic shape…There must have been 100 critics panting to meet her when the Wardour Street functionaries led her to the River Room at the Savoy and announced ‘Miss Hayworth is now available for introductions’. No one moved from the bar where they had been kept waiting for more than an hour by the hair-cropped and flat-heeled actress, clad in a sexless New Look fitted jacket and calf-length skirt…The embarrassment of Columbia Studio executives was total.” (Former Telegraph film critic Frederic Mullally to The London Evening Standard.)

Portraits of Rita Hayworth from Gilda and other films are currently on show at The National Portrait Gallery's Glamour of The Gods exhibition, which runs until 23rd October 2011.

Text by Laura Havlin