Glamour Puss Par Excellence


Marlene Dietrich was distinctive on so many levels; her voice, her cheekbones, her legs (insured for thousands of dollars in the forties) and bisexual or no, her ability to pulverise both sexes with her jaw- dropping glamour. No-one – with the possible exception of Katie Hepburn - could make a trouser suit look like the chic -est garment to come out of Paris. Like other glamour ladies she ended her days bed bound in Paris where she died aged 91 in 1992.


I remember her best during the fifties and seventies when she took her show all over the world and well into her middle age would sing in a statuesque pose, in a flesh coloured dress that looked as if she had been poured into it. Sadly one night she toppled off the stage which was the beginning of her decline. She was before her time, singing ‘Where have all the Flowers gone.’ about the gradual pollution of the planet.


She made many films – possibly the most famous was ‘Blue Angel’ where she sang
‘Oh see what the boys in the backroom will have and tell them I’m having the same.’
which was my party piece as a young girl. When she was in London in the fifties one of my modelling friends was lucky enough to have dinner with her. She was impressed with Marlene’s movements – when it was time to leave the restaurant she scooped up her cigarettes and lighter into her handbag with one clean movement. Her legs were encased in pale, pale silk stocking - the exact shade of her very high -heeled shoes which made her legs seem to go on for ever. I followed this ruse and swear it’s why I landed a contract with Plaza nylons.