Irene
Known For: Costume & Make-Up
Gender: Female
Date of Birth: December 8, 1901
Day of Death: November 15, 1962 (61 years old)
Place of Birth: Baker, Montana, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Irene Maud Lentz (December 8, 1901 – November 15, 1962) also known mononymously and professionally as Irene, was an American fashion designer and costume designer. Her work as a clothing designer in Los Angeles led to her career as a costume designer for films in the 1930s. Lentz also worked under the name Irene Gibbons. Lentz had been taught sewing as a child and, with a flair for style, she decided to open a small dress shop. The success of her designs in her tiny store eventually led to an offer from the Bullocks Wilshire luxury department store to design for their Ladies Custom Salon which catered to a wealthy clientele including a number of Hollywood stars. Lentz's designs at Bullocks gained her much attention in the film community and she was contracted by independent production companies to design the wardrobe for some of their productions. Billing herself simply as "Irene", her first work came in 1933 on the film Goldie Gets Along featuring her designs for star Lily Damita. However, her big break came when she was hired to create the gowns for Ginger Rogers for her 1937 film Shall We Dance with Fred Astaire. This was followed by more designs in another Ginger Rogers film as well as work for other independents such as Walter Wanger Productions, Hal Roach Studios as well as majors such as RKO, Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures. During the 1930s, Irene Lentz designed the film wardrobe for leading ladies such as Constance Bennett, Hedy Lamarr, Joan Bennett, Claudette Colbert, Carole Lombard, Ingrid Bergman, and Loretta Young among others. She "is generally regarded as the originator of the dressmaker suit" that was popular in the late 1930s. Through her work, Lentz met and married short story author and screenwriter Eliot Gibbons, brother of multi-Academy Award winning Cedric Gibbons, head of art direction at MGM Studios. Despite her success, working under the powerful set designer Cedric while being married to his brother Eliot was not easy. Irene confided to her close friend Doris Day that the marriage to Eliot was not a happy one. Generally regarded as the most important and influential production designer in the history of American films, Cedric Gibbons hired Lentz when gown designer Adrian left MGM in 1941 to open his own fashion house. By 1943 she was a leading costume supervisor at MGM, earning international recognition for her "soufflé creations" and is remembered for her avant-garde wardrobe for Lana Turner in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946). In 1950, Lentz left MGM to open her own fashion house. After Lentz was out of the film industry for nearly ten years, Doris Day requested her services for the production Midnight Lace (Universal, 1960). The following year she did the costume design for another Day film, Lover Come Back (1961), and during 1962 worked on her last production, A Gathering of Eagles (1963). Lentz was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White for B.F.'s Daughter (1948). She was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Color for Midnight Lace (1960).
1963
1961
1960
1950
1949
1948
1947
Costume Design
The Arnelo Affair
Costume Design
Living in a Big Way
Costume Supervisor
The Unfinished Dance
Costume Design
Desire Me
Costume Design
This Time for Keeps
Costume Design
Fiesta
Costume Design
Cass Timberlane
Costume Design
Merton of the Movies
Costume Design
High Barbaree
Costume Design
Undercover Maisie
Costume Supervisor
Green Dolphin Street
Costume Supervisor
Song of the Thin Man
Costume Supervisor
The Sea of Grass
Costume Supervisor
The Hucksters
Costume Supervisor
The Romance of Rosy Ridge
Costume Supervisor
Dark Delusion
Costume Supervisor
Song of Love
Costume Design
Cynthia
1946
Costume Supervisor
Up Goes Maisie
Costume Design
The Hoodlum Saint
Costume Supervisor
Love Laughs at Andy Hardy
Costume Design
Easy to Wed
Costume Design
Faithful in My Fashion
Costume Supervisor
Two Smart People
Costume Supervisor
Courage of Lassie
Costume Supervisor
The Secret Heart
Costume Supervisor
Till the Clouds Roll By
Costume Supervisor
Undercurrent
Costume Supervisor
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Costume Supervisor
Two Sisters from Boston
Costume Supervisor
The Harvey Girls
Costume Supervisor
Lady in the Lake
Costume Supervisor
The Yearling
Costume Supervisor
Bad Bascomb
1945
Actor Irene (uncredited)
The Great Morgan
Costume Supervisor
Week-End at the Waldorf
Costume Supervisor
Anchors Aweigh
Costume Design
Yolanda and the Thief
Costume Supervisor
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Costume Supervisor
Dangerous Partners
Costume Supervisor
She Went to the Races
Costume Design
Adventure
Costume Design
The Sailor Takes a Wife
Costume Design
Her Highness and the Bellboy
Costume Supervisor
The Valley of Decision
Costume Supervisor
The Clock
Costume Supervisor
Without Love
Costume Supervisor
National Velvet
Costume Supervisor
The Hidden Eye
Costume Supervisor
Ziegfeld Follies
Costume Design
Between Two Women
Costume Supervisor
Thrill of a Romance
Costume Design
Our Vines Have Tender Grapes
Costume Supervisor
Son of Lassie
Costume Designer
Twice Blessed
1944
Costume Supervisor
Kismet
Costume Supervisor
Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble
Costume Supervisor
Gentle Annie
Costume Supervisor
Nothing But Trouble
Costume Supervisor
See Here, Private Hargrove
Costume Supervisor
Bathing Beauty
Costume Design
Music for Millions
Costume Design
Gaslight
Costume Design
Broadway Rhythm
Costume Supervisor
Two Girls and a Sailor
Costume Supervisor
Meet Me in St. Louis
Costume Supervisor
The Thin Man Goes Home
Costume Supervisor
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
Costume Supervisor
Mrs. Parkington
Costume Supervisor
Meet the People
Costume Supervisor
The White Cliffs of Dover
Costume Supervisor
The Canterville Ghost
Costume Supervisor
Maisie Goes to Reno
Costume Supervisor
Rationing
1943
Costume Supervisor
Slightly Dangerous
Costume Supervisor
The Human Comedy
Costume Design
No Time for Love
Costume Supervisor
Girl Crazy
Costume Supervisor
Swing Shift Maisie
Costume Design
Lost Angel
Costume Supervisor
Madame Curie
Costume Supervisor
Cabin in the Sky
Costume Supervisor
Cry 'Havoc'
Costume Supervisor
Thousands Cheer
Costume Supervisor
Best Foot Forward
Costume Supervisor
Du Barry was a Lady
Costume Supervisor
Above Suspicion
Costume Supervisor
Swing Fever
Costume Supervisor
A Guy Named Joe
Costume Design
Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case
Costume Design
Madame Curie
1942
Costume Design
Tales of Manhattan
Costume Design
The Palm Beach Story
Costume Design
The Wife Takes a Flyer
Costume Design
Reunion in France
Costume Design
You Were Never Lovelier
Costume Design
They All Kissed the Bride
Costume Design
The Talk of the Town
Costume Design
Take a Letter, Darling
Costume Design
To Be or Not to Be
