Sadly Over-hyped

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This amusing concoction is worth the money because of two dyed blonds and one extravagant, divine musical number. The bleached Bette Davis as a fashion designer smitten with the antics of professional crook William Powell, who appears too well dressed and polite to be totally believable in the job. Bette actually manages to look great as an ornamental sidekick to Powell, but underneath the determined designer girl we can detect the power house that will culminate in her unsurpassed rendition of Queen Elizabeth with Errol Fllynn years later.The second bleached blonde is Verree Teasdale who plays a fake Russian grand-duchess from Newark, NJ, who not only manages a phony accent and some extraordinary clothes and jewels for every scene, but has also managed to convince "Baroque" the king of Parisian fashion that she is the real thing and worth marrying, this feat alone deserves an Oscar, at the very least.Drag-Queens beware: This is an undiscovered treasure performance,that can give enough material for a national tour show, including her musical name itself which is a cocktail of sound effects: How many Es can you squeeze in one word? Her off-key, fluffy delivery of the lyric to the song "Spin a Little Web of Dreams" has all the components for a drag anthem, in any language, and huge cross over potential as impromptu cabaret number. The 'Broadway Follies" sequence itself, directed by Busby Berkeley, is the other real reason to watch this film. For one thing, this scene has illustrated the cover of that most necessary book on film : "Holywood Babylon" and although there is absolutely nothing Babylonian about it, except perhaps the excess of ostrich feathers, there is a horde of platinum blonds festooned with endless variations on the 'white ostrich feathers fan motif' moving and dancing in hypnotic coordination. Some are actually part of the harps that others play, they curve at the harp's end like the wooden sculptures of sail vessels for a fetish-furniture look that is perfection. The scene includes an overhead shot that demonstrates the complex flower patterns that can be achieved with all this female trouble.There is also a fashion show. This one obviously influenced Cukor's in "The Women" when all those nice ladies go to 'Fraks', but is actually much better. For one thing we see a painting before the model comes out wearing an adaptation of the design. The first one is Cardinal Richelieu, followed by a model wearing an evening gown inspired on his cape, but the others are more generic of different periods, the adaptations are all very 30's and all considerably better than that weird stuff out of Halloween that comes out in "The Women" as supposedly 'haute couture'. In the movie itself, Bette had discovered that Baroque was buying old books on fashion to inspire his designs, so we know it was her idea to develop that into a fashion- show-extravaganza, and she watches it approvingly from what looks like an opera box, opera glasses in hand. That shot catches her in a more regal pose than the grand-duchess could muster through the film in its entirety, and the impact of that image puts all those ostrich-fan bearers in perspective too: this woman is no one's ornament and she sure could be a queen anytime she wanted to.This movie is a most for Bette Davis fans, musical comedy lovers and all those interested in the historical development of camp. Highly recommended!

A previous reviewer called this film "dated". I'm always rather amused by such a comment. Of course it's dated--the film was made in 1933! That's precisely what makes it so charming. It's a slice of Americana, circa 1933, that you are unlikely to find in any other way. The music, the fashions, the decor, even Busby Berkely's over-the-top, wonderful production number all add up to a fantastic glimpse of our past. The art deco sets alone are worth the price of admission (which on TCM is free!). Throw in some marvelously talented actors who may not have been doing their best work--but they were entertaining just the same--and you have a simply marvelous little piece of cinematic magic. And that tune--"Spin a Little Web of Dreams"--I can't get it out of my head!

Warner Bros. had a major actress within their midst with the addition of Bette Davis. However, they didn't know what to do with her during her early years there so they tried to primp her "feminine" image by putting her in a movie about fashion thieves in a type of plot that seemed made to order during the Thirties.Seeing how dolled up she looks here (with that platinum, shoulder length wig, caked on make-up and and those screaming dresses), it now becomes unthinkable to even imagine her having been picked up by MGM (where Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, and Adrian dresses ruled supreme) because she would have been completely miscast in every ultra-melodramatic movie given to her there. Not that Davis wouldn't do her own share of melodramas, but for the attention they gave to the creation of iconic screen goddesses dressed in impeccable gowns and inaccessible, airbrushed looks as they left the real, heavy acting to a side, it would have been a matter of time before Davis would have been devoured by that studio or even relegated to second-fiddle.It's why she fared better in the grittier dramas that Warner Bros. pushed out, but this particular movie wasn't where her talents became the main focus -- she gets very little to do even in key scenes. She is teamed well with William Powell, however, and I wonder why wouldn't they be matched up again in another movie but that's a secondary issue. FASHIONS is, however, quite an entertaining movie with a lightweight plot and performances in the good sport vein, with Veree Teasdale a secondary standout as a Hoboken native who poses as a Russian countess and rival to William Powell. Also of note is the fashion show done in the style of the times, and the musical number with Busby Berkeley's blonde beauties who look exactly alike and are dressed in lush ostrich feathers.The good thing about FASHIONS is that it comes right before her loan-out to RKO and her career-turning OF HUMAN BONDAGE. When seeing how little quality time she has on camera in this movie, one can only think this is the same woman who at twenty-five would explode out of her mold and rip up the screen as Mildred Rogers.

Despite its garish title, "Fashions of 1934" is actually a pretty decent movie, certainly better than the bad reputation it's stuck with. Armed with a snappy script and fast paced direction, the actors in "Fashions" shine, showing off their abilities, whether they be comedic, dramatic or both. William Powell makes a good old rascal, the decent "un decent" man that was a virtual staple at Warner Bros. (the studio who produced this film) at the time. Bette Davis, all glammed up in red lipstick and classy dresses, shows off a rare ability for humor, fitting right in to the film's light hearted tone. As Powell's sidekick, Frank McHugh almost steals the show, mastering and even rising above the script's punchlines by exaggerated facial expressions and crude but effective slapstick. "Fashions of 1934" isn't a comedy classic nor does it aim to be one. It simply wants to entertain the audience with good humor, effective acting and direction that moves things along at a quick pace. By all accounts, it has succeeded.