Everyone is ‘rediscovering’ Florence Price. Leave it to the L.A. Phil to reveal her essence.
March 27, 2014 6:02 PM
April 10, 2012 6:09 PM
Florence Price, the only girl to break away from William Morris & Morris & Co. during the studio era of the ’20s and ’30s, was the first of the new rich to emerge from what amounted to an exclusive club of girls who had been trained in the ways of the haute couture fashion capital. Price was one of the best known stars of the decade and her clothes were noted for both freshness and exclusivity. Even then, it was obvious that the young star was a natural beauty.
She was a petite 6 feet 2 inches tall and was a true beauty with the kind of delicate features that made her popular as a pin-up in the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s. Her name was also highly associated with the new look of the ’20s and ’30s, and is remembered for her signature style of red lips, brown eyes and a dark brown bob with a hint of a pencil fringe.
Price had been involved in a romantic relationship with James Gordon Bennett (the inventor of radio, who also designed the first working television camera) when she was about 17. Despite the fact that she had no designs her parents forbade her from leaving the house. Nevertheless, she worked in a men’s clothes shop in Paris and made a name for herself there. In the process, Florence Price earned the nickname “Florette” for her ability to wear anything and everything, from a pair of jeans to a muumuu and a corset to a pair of gingham aprons. By the way, she was still wearing corsets in the mid-’80s, although when I was in Tokyo in the ’80s, I was surprised to see her there, dressed in a leopard-print gown, and wearing a corset.
Price became fascinated with film production after seeing
