Evening star., 1938-02-20
Lovely or Not
Legs Are Just
An Expense
Hosiery Bill Is an
Important Item
In Hollywood.
ss7y 30
By Sheilah Graham.
HOLLYWOOD.
WoAAN's legsrto the average

l. WOAAN'S egsrto the average
! n male are something to be
~ admired If they are pretty;
4 4 frowned upon ifshomsly. But
to the motion picture industry, female
legs-divine or otherwise-are an ex-
pensive item in an expensive business.
An approximate $250.000 a year IS
spent on beautifying and dressing
movie legs.
In the new Irving Berlin picture,
"Alexander's Ragtime Band" there
are two big chorus numbers in which
the stocking bill alone for each spec
tacle will amount to between $4,000
and $4,000. The average pair of hose
costs $3.50 a pair and each girl wears
out around seven pair during the sew
eral days it takes to film number.
For special dance numbers, the price
jumps from 81 to SIS per pair.
Sonia Henie demolished $500 worth
of waist-high stockings for Happy
Landing" For the waltz number OF
'"The Big Broadcast Of 1885," the hos
iery bill was over $2,500. About 800
pairs were used-the lions share-l25
pairs, price 81 l,000-going to Martha
Raye. -.
"Rosalie'' employed 500 chorus girls
who managed to get through six pajr
of stockings apiece. The average life
of film dancing hose Is three wearings.
For trick dancing-once or twice. Flea
nor Powell's strenuous tap-dancing
routines are particularly hard on her
stockings. Her habit of constantly
pulling them up doesn't help either
Her studio is reconciled to her con-
sumption of two or three pairs-some-
times as many as Ska day. And they
cost SIS q pair.
The stocking bill for Marie Antoi-
nette" will put M. G. M. back $60, 900
the 1000 extras get 10000 pairs Of
white and fiesh-colored hose-each
costing So.
The shapely limbs of Ginger Rogers
wear out Is pairs of stockings per pic
ture-each costing from $3.50 to SIS
Greta Garbo burns them up at the
rate of IS a pair. In Hitting q New
High" Lily Pons set her studio back
81. 400 for l20 pairs at $40 a pair.
The largest LEG" item In Hollywood
Is for tights. Each pair must be made
specially for the wearer. dyed the right
color. fashioned of silk. and must fit
like the skin itself. In length, they
reach the thighs and are sewn to the
panties Of the dancers. Cost Of tights,
for the "Goldwyn Follies," $12,5oo, at
about $25 pair.
Alice Faye wore three pairs Of
tights for In Old Chicago"-price
$500 each. For her recent Universal
Aim, that studio shot the works with
q super-colossal pair containing IL
inlaid diamonds-cost, $2,500.
Screen dancerse provide their own
socks and rehearsal shorts, but the
studio pays for dancing shoes, For
the big musical numbers, which re-
quire two to three weeks Of rehearsal,
chorines wear out two pairs apiece
which means total Of $500 for each
ensemble. Two hundred and sixteen
pairs of shoes, at $40 = pair, figured in
"The Big Broadcast Of 1888" numbers.
Footwear for the i've principals aver
aged $40 q pair.
Tap-dancing shoes usually last
throughout the picture, but spares
must be on hand always. Eleanor
Powell owns IS to 100 pairs Of tan
shoes, housed in a special trunk. In
cidentally, her mother, who wears the
same size, breaks them in for her.
= Fred Astaire buys his picture shoes
from England. They cost around $50
. pair and come in three fashions
elastic style. tying high up on the in
step: chocolate brown buckskin with
light-colcred laces and monklike shoes,
minus buckles. Fred uses up IL pairs
. year.
Ballet shoes last two or three days,
but sometimes three pairs are worn
out in one day. Slippers for ballet
dancing cost s. . pair-plus the charge
for dyeing and repairs.
(copyrisht. 1888. Ay the North American
Nevsua pex Aldsnce, Ine,)