Vintage Hollywood baggage

You can tell alot about a person from their baggage … er … luggage. For instance a lady with too many suitcases must have too many clothes and therefore too much ego. Right? That sounds like an old Chinese proverb. Maybe the lady has so much luggage because she’s simply indecisive or maybe she’s moving to a new city or maybe she owns a fashion boutique. Maybe the cases are empty and she just wants you to think she has lots of outfits or maybe she intends to go on a buying spree and fill them with the new trends. Who knows? We can however, guess more about the person from the style of luggage they carry, than from the content. Louis Vuitton luggage is a dead give away and we automatically consider all who carry it to have class. Many Hollywood stars chose Louis Vuitton and they carried it well. It meant they had taste and ,of course money. Sometimes though a star could be just a little over the top and strike terribly glamorous poses with their luggage. This photo of Marlene Dietrich sitting on her luggage has more an air of Mafia than mystique. Carole Lombard and Audrey Hepburn add a touch of elegance and decorum. While Audrey’s pooch adds a touch of irreverence. Well one does have to own one’s own baggage. Gene Tierney in her striped gloves uses hers to best advantage as a sort of podium on which to pose while pondering her next move. Gable and Colbert decide to keep it light so that they can hitch a ride in the movie ‘It Happened One Night’ , and Pickford and Fairbanks return to their home ‘Pickfair’ from a long sojourn over seas with enough luggage to fill the whole train. The porters seem a little daunted but Jerry Lewis saves the day. Essentially baggage is more than just empty cases filled with stuff. Whatever goes inside is a reflection of self. We can only imagine the glamorous outfits inside the cases of vintage stars but does what’s on the outside always reflect that which is within? Pickford and Fairbanks luggage here looks pretty rough around the edges. They actually divorced not long after this was taken and their mansion sold. Nothing last’s forever but in the beginning there is always the hope that it will. The photo of Lizabeth Scott here on the porch with her only suitcase speaks volumes. No girl that could afford such gorgeous designer clothes would travel with a single piece of non descript luggage. Think again. Her character in this film has nowhere to go and is waiting outside a boarding house desperate and alone despite her designer duds. Is she waiting to enter or waiting to leave? She certainly looks determined. If , like me, you have carried your old baggage from last year into this one. Maybe it’s time to get rid of some of it and be pro active. Go forth, sashay into the world and be not afraid. Even if you don’t fit into the mainstream be proud of who you are and be grateful for what you have. We’ve all got baggage.