Adrian created this incredibly detailed gown for Greta Garbo to wear as Christina, Queen of Sweden, in the 1933 film Queen Christina. Adrian was head costume designer at MGM from 1928-1941, and is generally considered one of Hollywood’s greatest costume designers. Adrian dressed many stars including Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, and Katharine Hepburn. He dressed Greta Garbo for the majority of her short but illustrious career. 

During the studio era, when each studio had its own extensive on-site costume house, a garment would go back into stock and be re-worked and reused in other films. Sometimes a star could rent a costume from the warehouse for use in their own personal life. In this instance it appears that it was rented out to someone by the name of Mrs. Wilson Jones. She appeared alongside MGM Star Edmund Lowe, who is likely the one who had the connections to borrow the costumes. Lowe and Jones appeared as a King and Queen at the famous Hollywood hot spot The Coconut Grove in Hollywood, at a charity event by The Twenty Little Working Girls. A photo of them attending the gala appeared in the January 1935 edition of Hollywood magazine Photoplay.

Often garments with heavy beading do not hold up as well over long periods, but this gown is still in remarkable condition over eighty years later. It has been on display several times at Hollywood film exhibits. The photo above shows it displayed at the Oklahoma City Museum’s Sketch to Screen Exhibit. It was also a part of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s excellent exhibit Hollywood Costume, which later transferred to Los Angeles. The exhibit featured additional costumes from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences collection.

Have you seen any other rented costumes? Tell us in the comments!