William Travilla

1960's white pleated dress by the great designer and Hollywood costumer, William Travilla, who designed some of the most iconic pieces in film history. This fully lined poly chiffon ...

This is a late 1960s or early 1970s couture sequinned maxi gown by William Travilla whose name is synonymous with Marilyn Monroe for whom he worked as a costume designer from 1952. ...

A fabulous black silk dress by William Travilla. It has a rounded neckline with an attached gathered elbow length caplet edged in black silk satin. ...

A one of a kind evening gown, perfect for a summer wedding, and special enough to even be worn by the mother of the groom or bride. Custom design by TRAVILLA the famous Hollywood costume designer, who also did clothes for Saks Fifth Avenue for celebrities and the rich and famous in Hollywood. This was ordered at the Beverly Hills store and never worn by our Palm Springs California client. The most beautiful color of a light taupe crepe silk and nude color lace that is completely beat it by hand.. Rare to find a evening dress of this quality in size 16. The dress has enough hem to make the deess longer by at least 3”. It is not even pressed with any crease. to show if it is lengthened. A stand out dress that looks as expensive as it was (over $2500). William TRAVILLA Bio: The man who draped a fringed Idaho potato sack on Marilyn Monroe for a famous snapshot - proving that she looked good in anything - was born on Catalina Island off the California coast on March 22 1920. He studied at the Chouinard School of Art in L.A., showing a precocious talent for drawing fashion design from an early age. By the time he was sixteen, he made money by selling sketches of costume designs for showgirls he had studied at burlesque houses. Found unfit for wartime duties due to flat feet, William Travilla made his way to Hollywood and signed his first contract as costume designer at Columbia in 1941. However, during his two-year tenure he received rather few assignments and left disillusioned. Little work came his way during the next few years, until, in 1946, he was spotted in a nightclub (selling travel sketches of the South Pacific) by the actress Ann Sheridan, who became an instant admirer of his work. Sheridan persuaded Travilla to become her personal costume designer at Warner Brothers. This didn't quite come to pass, though he did design her gowns for Nora Prentiss (1947). More importantly, he notched up his first major success by winning the Academy Award for the lavish and colourful costumes of Adventures of Don Juan (1948) in conjunction with Leah Rhodes and Marjorie Best. After his three year contract was up, Travilla went on to 20th Century Fox, for what would become the most productive period of his career in the film business. At the same time, he set up his own high end fashion salon, Travilla Inc., in Los Angeles, creating several collections of elegant, award-winning designs. Travilla dressed many established stars, from Marlene Dietrich and Joan Crawford, to Loretta Young. However, he is chiefly remembered for the iconic gowns...

1980s William Travilla Strapless Corset-Bodice Gown in Silver Lame w/ Foulard: Boned strapless bodice is ruched to the hip with a swag caught up at a ...