This splendid advertising card was created to advertise the 1926 Fox picture Fig Leaves that was screened at the Capitol Theatre in the Haymarket, London in October 1926, along with a stage fashion show provided by the department store Stagg and Russell in Leicester Square.
Fig Leaves was a 1926 American silent rom-com directed by Howard Hawks, released by Fox Film Corporation, and starring George O’Brien and Olive Borden. The film had a fashion show sequence, filmed in Technicolor. The story concerned the troubles of Adam and Eve in Paradise and how they are persuaded to use fig leaves. This serves as prologue to a modern marital comedy. Adam (O’Brien) was a plumber, happily married to Eve (Borden, a housewife obsessed with clothes. She meets a fashion designer and secretly becomes a fashion model by day, knowing that her husband would disapprove.
The fashion element provided the designer Adrian with a grand opportunity to create some stunning outfits, namely for Olive Borden as Eve, one of which is depicted on the advertising card.
For the actual stage fashion parade at the Capitol Theatre, Stagg and Russell displayed some beautiful creations from Paris in a fashion parade, divided into morning, noon and night.
For morning there were breakfast and smoking negligees with long tight trousers and loose Chinese coats in decorative materials. One was in coral panne velvet with the coatee boasting a sweeping fringe of shaded ostrich plumes falling from each sleeve; Chinese embroidery enriched another pyjama suit of black velvet. There were several trim golf outfits in checks and plaids in pretty colourings.
For noon, there were lovely frocks and coats of chiffon and panne velvet. One two-piece suit in a deep Venetian-red had the coat of chiffon velvet with a long roll collar of grey fur and the frock beneath was of georgette and velvet. Then a jumper suit of mushroom chiffon velvet hemmed with fur was followed by a two-piece ensemble of the same material in the new shade of blue, half way between navy and royal.
For night, the evening dresses were lovely enough for the most formal functions. One was a cape of white chiffon velvet bordered with white fur and lined with gold tissue over a demure evening dress of white velvet opening on an underskirt of gold. Another gown in striking contrast was in black panne velvet with coat and slim black frock each embroidered up one side with a striking design in gold and brilliants.
Lastly, came The Eternal Eve – a picture frock in lilac taffeta with the skirt a mass of tiny frills reflecting a refreshing atmosphere of youth.
Take a look at some excerpts of the fashion show sequences from the film Fig Leaves here
Sources
Imbd.com
The Sketch 27/10/26
Advertising card for Fig Leaves