Hell must be filled with beautiful women and no mirrors.

Orry-kelly-costume-design

      So wrote Orry-Kelly, one of the great costume designers of Hollywood's golden era, and the man behind its leading female stars: Bette Davis, Ingrid Bergman, Ava Gardner, Marilyn Monroe.

As head of costumes for Warner Bros. in the 1930s and 1940s Kelly created defining looks for all of the studio's leading ladies, and put Humphrey Bogart in his iconic trench and fedora for 'The Maltese Falcon' (1941).

  According to Ulanda Blair -- the curator behind a new exhibition of his work at Melbourne'sAustralian Centre for the Moving Image on August 18 -- Kelly had a unique ability to balance historical accuracy with "playfulness, volume and spectacle ... his signature cheekiness." He became one of film's most influential designers by tailoring outfits to match each actor's temperament and physical quirks. But while his sketches might be wittily exaggerated, Kelly was meticulous about detail, often employing couture techniques, hand-painted materials, and intricate embroidery.

   The new show traces the Australian-born artist's history, from his background in painting, to a stint on Broadway designing for the likes of Katharine Hepburn, to his glory days in Hollywood. At Warner Bros., Kelly was known for molding two of the industry's most fashionable stars: Kay Francis and Dolores del Rio. Kelly treated both women like objects of art, draping them in liquid silver sheaths against Art Deco backgrounds to set off their black hair and pale skin. These stylized, high-contrast looks became archetypal images of 1930s style.

   Nevertheless, Kelly's most enduring work for Warner Bros. may be his creative partnership with Bette Davis. He dressed Davis for over thirty films, culminating in the great 'Now, Voyager' (1942), in which she plays an oppressed woman who gains independence.

   Kelly's gowns are key to this dramatic transformation, as Davis appears in a series of stunning, minimalist black outfits which showcase her new-found elegance and strength. A master of silhouette, Kelly preferred a lean, linear shape to the frills and puff-ball sleeves popular at MGM, and he knew how to give Davis' figure the illusion of length. When he finally left the entertainment company in 1944, Davis said it was "like losing my right arm."

   After freelancing with various studios, Kelly experienced a renaissance in the 1950s, winning three Academy Awards for best costume design for 'An American in Paris' (1951), 'Les Girls' (1957), and 'Some Like It Hot' (1959). In the latter, Marilyn Monroe's sheer gowns created a sensation, stitched out of soufflé and bugle beads to give the illusion of nudity.

   After seeing Monroe's designs, co-stars Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon requested their own Orry-Kelly creations for the film's drag scenes. Curtis and Lemmon's dresses will be shown at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, along with a parade of other seminal Hollywood costumes: Mitzi Gaynor's sequined bodysuit from 'Les Girls', the surreal eye-covered gown from 'The Dolly Sisters' (1945), and a dazzling burlesque number worn by Natalie Wood in 'Gypsy' (1962).

The Orry-Kelly exhibition coincides with the release of a new documentary on the designer, 'Women He's Undressed', by veteran Australian director Gillian Armstrong.

   The film details his early years in Hollywood with roommate and rumored lover Cary Grant, his struggles with alcoholism, and his lifelong perfectionism. Most of all, it argues for Kelly's status as a major artist, responsible for so many of the star images we know today. As costume historian Larry McQueen notes, the designer remains underrated because he "never really seemed to relish the limelight and certainly wasn't interested in playing the distinguished gentleman." But more than 50 years after his death, the legend of Orry-Kelly is ripe for rediscovery.

Kerry becomes 1st top U.S. diplomat to visit Somalia

John Kerry

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry made an unannounced trip to Somalia Tuesday in a show of solidarity with a government trying to defeat al-Qaeda-allied militants and end decades of war in the African country. He is the first top U.S.diplomat ever to visit Somalia.
Kerry arrived at Mogadishu's airport shortly before noon local time, greeted by Somalia's president and prime minister on the tarmac. He immediately entered a series of planned meetings that include both of them along with regional leaders and civil society groups.
"I'm glad to be here," Kerry said.
"This is a great moment for us. Thank you for the time to be with us," President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said as they sat down together.
The trip was made under tight security conditions. Somalia's government only found out a day ago that Kerry would join the State Department's top Africa official, Linda Greenfield-Thomas, on the voyage. And the fact that he was only dipping his toe in Somalia, and not venturing past the airport, highlighted just how dangerous and unstable the country remains.
"The next time I come, we have to be able to just walk downtown," Kerry told Somalia's president. Mohamud replied, downtown "is very different now."
     
Top of the agenda is the fight against al-Shabab. African forces and U.S. drone strikes have crippled the organization's leadership in recent years and left the extremists without much of the territory they once controlled or the cash flows needed to reverse their losses.
But as al-Shabab has decentralized, the militants in some ways have become even more dangerous, expanding their activities in Kenya and other neighboring countries. Last month's massacre at Kenya's Garissa University College killed 148 people, mostly students, and underscored the group's capacity to carry out relatively unsophisticated but extremely deadly terrorist attacks far from its bases of operations.
Kerry's trip is designed "to reinforce the United States' commitment to supporting Somalia's ongoing transition to a peaceful democracy," spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement.
"He will discuss security cooperation and Somalia's progress towards meeting its reform and development benchmarks," she said. "He will also meet with civil society leaders to discuss the importance of a vibrant NGO sector and thank African Union troops for their role in stabilizing Somalia."
Somalia has been without a truly functioning, nationwide government for two-and-a-half decades. After warlords ousted dictator Siad Barre from power in 1991, they quickly turned on one another and plunged the country into anarchy. Militias, Islamist extremist groups and Somalia's nominally national military all vied for power before the tide turned against al-Shabab earlier this decade. Piracy also has been a major problem.
Yet even as a relative calm has settled over parts of the country, including Mogadishu, Somalia remains fraught with a painful history for the United States.
American troops were sent there in 1992 on a peacekeeping mission to help stave off a national famine. They left two years later in humiliation after the "Black Hawk Down" debacle when Somali militiamen shot down two U.S. helicopters. Eighteen servicemen were killed in the crash and subsequent rescue attempt, the indelible memory being the images of American bodies dragged through Somalia's streets.
The Obama administration is banking on Mohamud's government to turn a new page toward democracy and economic development. The U.S. has provided hundreds of millions in military support to build up and professionalize the army, and is working with Mohamud to try to usher in a broader, more representative government over the next 18 months.
If that effort is successful and stability expands, officials say the U.S. could re-establish an American embassy in the capital before President Barack Obama leaves office. For now, the president has nominated a career diplomat, Katherine Dhanani, to serve as the first U.S. ambassador to the country since 1991, with the idea that she would operate out of Nairobi and make regular trips into Somalia.
Britain, Italy and several other countries already have embassies in Mogadishu.
Kerry's brief foray comes a day after extensive counterterrorism and refugee talks with Kenya's government, much of it deeply tied to the situation north of the border. For the Kenyans, stability in Somalia can't come soon enough. They are scrambling to combat al-Shabab and even have threatened to begin emptying the sprawling Dadaab refugee camp, the world's largest with some 350,000 Somali inhabitants.
Kerry said he received assurances from President Uhuru Kenyatta that no unilateral action would take place to close Dadaab as the U.S. and others try to make Somalia safe enough to accommodate large-scale refugee returns.
Their discussions came as the region's refugee crisis becomes increasingly complex, with war in nearby Yemen creating conditions so dire that some people are even fleeing to Somalia.
Aid agencies are undertaking contingency planning for a prolonged conflict in Yemen that could prompt 100,000 people to escape across the Gulf of Aden to Somalia and 30,000 to Djibouti this year. It's unclear how Somalia, in particular, would be able to handle such an influx given its persistently high levels of violence.