Politics
1961
While he did have the chance to dress Jacklyn Smith in Kennedy-esque fashions for the 1981 television mini-series on the First Lady, Travilla's fashions are not known to have been worn by Jacqueline Kennedy. Still, she certainly had the designer’s admiration. "She's brought a new awareness to styles," he said. But she did see at least two gowns by the designer the night of her husband's Inauguration.
The first belonged to Mrs. Ermalee Udall, wife to the Secretary of the Interior, who chose a flowing gown of white chiffon over beige crepe, with a draped, cowl neckline that scoops low in the back, nearly twenty-six yards of material fall in soft gathers to form the floor-length skirt.
The second was the wife of California Chief Deputy Attorney General, Mrs. Richard Rogan. She chose a blue Italian silk satin gown designed with folds of manipulated fabric cascading from the waistline into an overskirt with a short train.
1962
Travilla was one of several designers, including Oleg Casini, who supplied fashions for wives at the Congressional Club Fashion show and Tea in June. Mrs. Gerald (Betty) Ford was chairman of the event.
1968
Since John Adam's residency, the White House has hosted
countless dignitaries, concerts, Easter Egg hunts, Christmas Tree lightings,
and millions of public tours. However, for almost 220 years, it has been
standing, and the Executive Mansion has seen but one fashion show.
Though not on par with Jackie Kennedy, First Lady Claudia "Lady Bird" Johnson did understand what she wore carried enormous political power. "Fashion starts at the White House," she observed to Washington Post Fashion Editor Nina Hyde. Although he’d decided not to seek a second elected term, Johnson enlisted Lady Bird to boost America's economy through domestic travel. With all fifty governors in D.C. for their mid-winter conference, White House officials thought having a fashion show featuring American designers for statesmen's wives was a good idea. A luncheon for Leap Day, February 29, 1968, was quickly put together.
On February 21, Mrs. Johnson's press secretary, Elizabeth
Carpenter, announced the event's theme, "How to Discover America in
Style,” and purpose, "encouraging Americans to spend their money at home
this year and making the United States more attractive to foreign
visitors." Other details included the number of outfits (eighty-five) and
that each governor's wife and attending designers would receive a unique signed
silk scarf designed by Frankie Welch of Alexandria, Virginia that featured a
free-form sketch of the continental United States with the words "Discover
America" in red, white, and blue.
The next week was chaotic, filled with RSVPs through phone
calls and telegrams with hundreds of memos and letters concerning logistics,
staff assembly, accommodations, and other issues poured forth from Johnson
Social Secretary Bess Abell's office. While stressful, things ran relatively
smoothly until the day of when Mother Nature settled bad weather over
Manhattan, canceling flights, and delaying trains. Those absent phoned with
their regrets. Thankfully, the California designers arrived with no issues. However,
the show's coordinator, Abell, was forced to creatively rearrange the line up to
accommodate the missing designers.
White House carpenters built a white U-shaped runway and large screen to project photographs of Mount Rushmore, the Grand Canyon, Disneyland, Niagara Falls, the Statue of Liberty, and other domestic destinations at one end of the State Dining Room. Ten round tables with white cloths were set up. On each, White House florists arranged a wicker basket overflowing with red and white sweet peas, miniature carnations, roses, and blue cornflowers. The White House chefs prepared a "Consommé White House" menu, including chicken curry, arbor rice, spring greens, and peppermint ice cream with chocolate sauce for dessert.
The lunch was briefly interrupted by President Johnson, who
greeted his guests as he entered the room and worked his way over to his wife,
where he stole a kiss. Mrs. Johnson's welcome speech included fashion
references to several of her predecessors, including Dolly Madison, Mrs.
Rutherford B Hayes, and Grace Coolidge. She admitted, "Since I have lived
here at the White House, I'm well aware of how fast a costume is out of
date." When asked to stay for the upcoming show, the President begged off
to retire upstairs for a nap.
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Fittings and alterations occurred in the Queen and Lincoln
Bedrooms, with hair and make-up in the Blue Room. The United States Marine Band
supplied the music. WWD reported that Travilla had arrived with four
choices for this "command performance." However, just two of
Travilla's contributions appeared in the show's third scene, "Late Day at
Home." Emcee Nancy White's handwritten notes described the first dress as
"Ruffles and pleats...a nostalgia of cream-colored crepe...bloused and
beautiful...see how well it moves” immediately followed by "White
jersey...in the marvelous mood of the thirties...cowl
collared...hip-belted...shirt sleeves."
Years later, when a journalist asked Travilla where he kept his Academy Award. He replied, "Beneath his framed White House invitation.”
1968
According to Women’s Wear Daily, Republican National Convention Presidential Candidate Nelson Rockefeller's daughter-in-law wore a black version of the blue pleated and ruffled costume Lana Turner wore in The Big Cube.
1969
When they honored the Apollo 11 astronauts with a State Dinner by President Nixon and Governor Reagan in the Ballroom of Los Angeles’ Century Plaza Hotel, Travilla was represented. Silent film actress Anita Louise, who donned his white Grecian pleated party pajamas and the wife of former child actor Jackie Coogan, wore a pink plisse gown with a ruffled hem and a wide belt at the natural waistline. Both the wife of Arkansas Governor Rockefeller and Hollywood director Norman Taurog chose Travilla’s puff sleeve white organza gown with a brown eyelet bodice, worn by Diahann Carroll as Julia.
1971
When Carolyn O'Callaghan's husband was elected Governor of
Nevada in 1971, she became responsible for finding a gown for the State
Inaugural Ball. In a story for the Reno Gazette, Travilla remembers the
First Lady-Elect contacting him with the pair and meeting in Las Vegas.
"After we met that first day, I did the rest by mail. I mailed her the
sketch, and she loved it. I mailed her the fabric, and she approved it, and my
assistants went ahead and carried it all through.” All within four weeks. “She
told me she wanted to feel elegant, not silly or funny. She wanted to look
right."
The Gazette revealed, "The long-sleeved ivory brocade gown was decorated with embroidered flowers of bronze. A grand sweep of skirt gathered tightly under a small, fitted bodice with a U-shaped neckline of a giant wide ruffle. The gown has a matching waist-length capelet. “The total feel is romance," Travilla said in a telephone interview. "It will give her a courtly look. That kind of affair should never be designed tongue in cheek. It's a serious affair." He added, "She's a stunning woman, tall with red hair. She'll carry the gown beautifully. She should be very, very elegant." Two decades later, Mrs. O'Callaghan recalled it wasn't the gown that was the sensation of the night but her hair. "The hair design was more memorable than the dress..."
Travilla's creation is archived in the Marjorie Russell Clothing and Textile Research Center in Carson City, Nevada.
Pageants
1958 Cotton Queen
From 1939 to 1993, the Maid of Cotton beauty pageant was
sponsored by the National Cotton Council, Memphis Cotton Carnival, and the
Cotton Exchanges of Memphis, New York, and New Orleans. Held annually in
Memphis, Tennessee, its objective was to promote the use of cotton on a world
scale. The requirement that the contestant's wardrobe must be 100% cotton, made
finding an evening gown quite difficult as most were made of silk or satin. Most
girls would have their dresses made of cotton fabric.
Which is what what Mr. and Mrs. Eb. B. Kelly did for their daughter Nan, 1958’s South Plains Maid of Cotton. A sophomore pre-med major at Texas Tech, Nan traveled to Memphis for the national competition and wore Travilla during the evening wear presentation—a slim strapless gown of cotton ottoman pique with a cotton organdy bow accent. While the gown displayed her 5'8" 113-pound frame and 38-23-36 measurements, Miss Jean Carter from Atlanta, Georgia, took the title and crown.
1963 Miss Los Angeles International Show
Travilla created an outfit for Queen Marcia Madery of French Bianchini fabric woven of wool and metal for the event's Fashioned for the Future theme. Held at the Pan-Pacific Auditorium in November. A slim reversible coat closing to the shoulder and falling in graceful side fullness. Underneath, she wears a classic full-length petal tunic that converts to a cocktail dress by unsnapping the sleeves. A chiffon and elastic underskirt allows for lowering the hemline to the floor and reversing the jacket to its shimmering ivory silk to complete the transition.
Miss Wool
Travilla designed something a little more eccentric for 1969’s Miss Wool Texas, Jan Green, who wore a sleeveless gown decorated with the swirling circular repeated Wool Logo in thousands of black and white sequins.
1970 Miss Wool
The third week in June, Travilla flew into San Angelo, Texas, for a week as a judge in the Miss Wool Pageant. Twenty young ladies from across the country would compete for a $2000 scholarship, a new car, a new wool wardrobe, and a year's travel promoting the Wool Industry. Travilla, who replaced Bernard Zientz of Gimbel’s stores, was joined by Seventeen Magazine Editor Rosemary McMurtry and actor Glen Ford at the judges' table.
Jack Jones hosted the event, with folk singer Nancy Ames co-hosting and commentating on the contestants' fashion show. Travilla designed her beige full-length gown with long sleeves, a high collar neckline, and a matching cape.
When Jones introduced the designer from the stage, Travilla, wearing a white tuxedo jacket, acknowledged the applause but remained silent before sitting back down. After an hour of competition, including a fashion show by the contestants hosted by Ames, Gail "Gus" Heinzmann of Illinois was crowned Miss Wool. Travilla was accompanied by his daughter Nia, who was mentioned in the long list of dignitaries and celebrities attending the pageant.
1971 Cherry Blossom Queen
Washington D.C.'s famed cherry blossom trees were a gift to
the United States from Japan in 1912. Planted around the Tidal Basin and the
Potomac Park area of the capital, they are a significant tourism draw to the
city when in bloom. A week-long Cherry Blossom Festival (now four weeks) is
held to promote the annual Spring event. A Cherry Blossom Queen is chosen from
the 55 Princesses gathered from all 50 states and U.S. territories, culminating
in her crowning after a float and band-filled parade.
In honor of First Lady Pat Nixon being a native Californian,
Travilla was selected as the 1971 Festival Fashion Show designer. The event
would feature ninety pieces from both his Spring/Summer collection and film and
television costumes. On March 30, he stood before an audience of two thousand
gathered in the cavernous Shoreham Hotel Regency Room, including First Lady Mrs.
Nixon, Second Lady Mrs. Agnew, Cabinet member wives, ambassadors, VIPS, and
more. The stage was minimally decorated with four artificial cherry trees in
full blossom.
The event began with the Princesses' presentation. The young
ladies were escorted by senators, congressmen, and other notables. Special
guest Japanese Ambassador Nobuhiko Ushiba escorted Japan's Princess Kayoko
Ismura, the first princess to visit from the Island nation.
Travilla was also responsible for creating the coronation
gown for the Cherry Blossom Queen, chosen by a random spin from a "Wheel
of Fortune." Therefore, it had to be spectacular but generic enough to fit any one of the contestants. He told one journalist, "I just made
the prettiest dress I could." The finished creation was organza with a
bateau neck, slim-fitted front, pleated fullness, and an adjustable back panel.
Covered in a hand-painted embroidered ribbon in cherry red tones that cost sixty dollars a yard, the completed gown was worth $1000.
The first spin stopped on one of four black markers used to
separate the state names. The second spin landed on Ohio, making Miss Christina
Ann Schuler that year’s Cherry Blossom Queen. Her crowning occurred at the
Sylvan Theater after a two-hour parade featuring fifty-three princesses, fifty marching
bands, forty-seven drill teams, and twenty-floor floats. But not one damn cherry blossom.
Donated in 1957, Mikimoto created the Queen's headpiece. Set
with 1585 pearls above an ermine band, it was worth $100,000 and weighed two
pounds. Japanese Ambassador Nobukuko Ushiba was photographed, placing it upon
her head.
Travilla's show opened with Hollywood fashions from film and television. The gowns included a white satin dress Marilyn Monroe wore to the 1953 film premiere of Call Me Madam, a classic shirtwaist for Joanne Woodward in From the Terrace, and a Loretta Young entrance gown.
When Sharon Tate's white sequined dress from Valley of the Dolls came down the runway, it elicited gasps from the audience and from the designer.the comment, "She was someone I loved very much." The segment finished with a “lilac suit and lavender chiffon gown for Diahann Carroll's television series Julia.”
Also, for Carroll's upcoming television special, “a bugle-beaded tuxedo jacket over a bare-bodice white slink of a gown.” seen left in the above photograph.
The show's regular fashions included a Grecian-style pleated cold-shoulder dress and a rich blue sunburst-pleated halter gown with a cutout on the bodice. Also shown were a fabric-fringe shirtwaist dress with American Indian influences, a soft floral midi-shirt dress, and a four-tiered white lace dress with a wide belt. He also featured many pieces from the new Villa Travilla collection.
Sally Goldwater
Sally Goldwater was the sister-in-law of Arizona Republican Barry Goldwater, a five-term senator and unsuccessful presidential candidate. Sally's husband, Robert (Bob), was chairman of the board for Goldwater's, the family-owned Arizona-based chain of department stores carrying Travilla's collections since the late 1950s. Travilla had become good friends with the family during his many appearances but closest to Sally, a former merchandise editor for Harper's Bazaar who relocated to Los Angeles as a fashion editor before marriage.
Bill frequently traveled to Arizona for fashion shows,
cocktail parties at the Goldwater estate, and designing theatrical costumes for
Goldwater, an aspiring actress. After Sally's successful appearance as Sylvia
in a local theatrical production of The Women, she became very involved
with the Phoenix Little Theater Company. At first, she volunteered, then became
a board member, President and starred in several productions.
The first was as "Amanda" in Noel Coward's Private Lives. Although playing for only a week to benefit the company, Sally took no chances. According to Women's Wear Daily, Goldwater flew to Los Angeles to discuss her needs with Travilla, who supplied his friend with four outfits. The Arizona Republic published two sketches; one featured a knee-length shirt with a matching jacket and overcoat. The second was a pantsuit with flared hems and balloon sleeves of striped fabric with rhinestones and cuffed sleeves and collar. She also wore a white peau de soie evening gown, and a white chiffon peignoir with ostrich trim.
Sally's co-star,
Judith Winn, "would have two suits and an evening gown by the
designer." The Republic's critic William Doudna stated,
"Travilla's costuming needs a woman's pen for description. To a man, it
is, to say the least, exhilarating.
Goldwater then played a Pregnancy Policewoman in the 1966 ABC
series Stage 67, filmed in Phoenix. She was responsible for finding
suitable locations and assembling one thousand extras. "I managed to get
myself a speaking part." She admitted, "I really am a ham."
Though no designer is listed for the production, it wouldn’t be surprising if
Sally had Travilla design her futuristic costume of long sleeves, long pants,
men's shoes, and a cap with bright trim at the collar, belt, pants legs, and
hat.
The Little Theater's next fundraising production was The
Little Hut, which debuted on April 12, 1967. The Republic sent a
female critic, Bina Breitner, who stated, "The best was Mrs. Goldwater's
clothes. She had a different evening dress or lounging habit for each scene,
one more elegant than the next. Diamonds, brocade, you name it, she wore
it." Nary a description to be found.
Visiting Los Angeles that November, Goldwater told L.A.
Times' Reva Burger that she considered Travilla's fashion an essential part
of her performance when the script doesn't call for a wardrobe change; she has
at least one added. "I knew from the beginning I had to have fabulous
clothes to care for my acting. If I look pretty enough, people won't notice my
words." In Hut, she had the
line, "At least I had the good sense to bring my luggage with me."
added so her character, who was supposed to appear in tattered rags, was
allowed four wardrobe changes. However, Goldwater confessed, "Since I
never learned the lines to that play, the clothes were really quite
helpful." She maintained her 36-25-36 figure to wear Travilla's clothes
offstage as well. Breitner noted the black crepe halter neck Goldwater wore for
the interview at Perino's.
That summer, next was Dear Liar, in which Goldwater
portrayed Mrs. Patrick Campbell opposite William Whitman as George Bernard
Shaw. After Phoenix, the show continued to Santa Barbara and Newport Beach,
where journalist Margaret Harford found Travilla's beautiful gowns for Mrs.
Goldwater "a dividend for the women in the audience."
In 1969, she starred in Light Up the Sky, wearing a
long-sleeved, high-collared brocade gown of pink and silver for the Scottsdale
Community Players and audiences in Oakland, California.
By November of 1970, according to columnist Dorothy Manners,
Sally was in Los Angeles to begin divorce proceedings and was "finding
designer William Travilla an interesting escort." Manners spotted the pair
"at a quiet table for two at the new Marina Don the Beachcomber looking
more at each other than of the Balboa Bay through the window." Manners had
a mistaken romance for a real friendship. When Sally passed away in September of
1972, she was still Mrs. Goldwater and was genuinely missed by the Arizona theatrical
community, Travilla and Bill Sarris.
Debutants
1958
The 71st Idlewild Ball in Dallas, where debutante Loretta Ann Denard (L) wore a “romantic Directoire gown, a Travilla design…of peau de dole with a high waistline and sweeping full skirt. Attached to the back decolletage was a voluminous overskirt that formed a train. Enhancing the gown were tiny jeweled flowers of imported lace…”
1961
Mother of Dallas Society deb Janet Wayne Spencer (L) chose a deep royal blue duchesse satin dress with emerald green panels from the top of the bodice in the back to the hemline.
Mid-60s Unknown Deb(s)
Mid-1960s Unknown event Royal Court
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