“The Fashion Show”

(S4;E20 ~ February 28, 1955) Directed by William Asher. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed December 23, 1954 at Ren-Mar Studios.

Rating: 55.2/70

Synopsis ~ When Ricky gives Lucy permission to by an original Don Loper dress, she naturally overspends. She comes up with a plan to get Ricky’s sympathy and the dress for free!

This was the last episode to be filmed in 1954 before the holiday hiatus. The cast and crew returned the first week in February 1955 to film “The Hedda Hopper Story” (S4;E20). 

Don Loper (1906–72) was an American fashion designer as well a screenwriter, choreographer, producer, actor, and assistant to MGM musicals producer Arthur Freed. He began his career as a dancer and was teamed with Ginger Rogers in Lady in the Dark (1944). Loper is also known for introducing Judy Garland to her future husband, director Vincente Minnelli, who directed Lucille Ball in Ziegfeld Follies (1945) and The Long, Long Trailer (1953). According to Sheila MacRae, Loper was possibly the first openly gay man to ever appear on TV as himself, and not pretend to be straight. Despite this, he was married and divorced three times before 1938.

Sheila MacRae (aka Mrs. Gordon MacRae) is probably best remembered as the third actress to play Alice Kramden on “The Honeymooners.” Her husband was the handsome leading man of the Rodgers and Hammerstein film musicals Oklahoma! (1955) and Carousel (1956). Lucy had the episode written in order to cheer up Sheila MacRae, who was depressed from a recent miscarriage. MacRae later said that two of the wives were drunk the night of filming!  She declined to specify which two. Your guess? 

To avoid talking about Lucy buying a designer dress, Ricky buries his head in Daily Variety. The headline indicates that 1955 will be a good year for the motion picture industry compared to the previous year. 

Fred and Ethel are planning a trip to Pomona and want Lucy to come along. Fred wants to sell the apartment building in New York and buy an orange grove.

ETHEL: “You don’t known anything about raising oranges.”
FRED: “So what? The oranges know what to do. (Seeing a badly sunburned Lucy) If the orange crop fails, I can always raise tomatoes.”

Dropping numerous hints about her celebrity husband, Loper invites Lucy to be part of the fashion show. He asks Lucy to wear a tweed suit because Mrs. Alan Ladd (nee Sue Carol) wants to wear dress similar to the one Lucy bought. During the fashion show viewers never see Mrs. Alan Ladd. Lucy replaces vacationing Mrs. Joel McCrea (nee Frances Dee), because, according to Sheila MacRae, she is in Europe. Although she organizes the charity fashion show, MacRae does not participate in it.

The money from the fashion show is going to SHARE, Inc., a non-profit philanthropic organization founded in 1953 by women dedicated to raising funds for the children with special needs.

Ethel states that she’s more comfortable in Gimbel’s basement. Gimbel Brothers was a department store which opened in 1887 and went out of business in 1987. Their flagship store held a long-standing rivalry with neighbor Macy’s, highlighted in the film Miracle on 34th Street (1947). Macy’s was prominently featured in “Lucy Meets Orson Welles” (S6;E3). Gimbel’s NYC flagship store had three basement levels where customers could find deep discounts thereby creating the first ‘bargain basement.’ The term has since entered popular culture.

Ethel mentions that Jane Sebastian will be jealous of Lucy’s Don Loper dress. In real-life, Jane Sebastian was a good friend of Vivian Vance, who was godmother to Jane’s (then) ten year-old son, John Sebastian, who founded the band Loving Spoonful in the mid 1960s.

Amzie Strickland (Amzie, the saleswoman) had appeared in three films with Lucille Ball between 1945 and 1950. She also played a salesgirl in a 1966 episode of "The Lucy Show.” A popular radio actress, she was heard on more than 3,000 programs.

When a badly burned Lucy still insists on doing the fashion show, Ethel says:

ETHEL: “What are you going to wear? A coat of Unguentine?” 

Unguentine is a commercially available topical skin ointment that helps alleviate minor burns and irritations. It was originally introduced in 1893. Lucille Ball’s sunglasses shadow was likely inspired by their ad. 

We get to see six outfits worn by Hollywood wives in the fashion show. All were part of Don Loper’s 1955 collection called Facade.

Brenda Marshall (aka Mrs. William Holden) was born in the Philippines as Ardis Ankerson. This was her 20th and final screen appearance. Her husband was the show’s first celebrity guest star in “Hollywood at Last” (S4;E16). Marshall wears “Heathcliff,” a beige street suit of cashmere wool with taffeta. The jacket is lined in brown silk to match the blouse.

Jeanne Martin (aka Mrs. Dean Martin) was not a performer. Her husband later guest-starred as himself in 1966 episode of “The Lucy Show.” Martin wears “Baldini,” a dancing costume with re-embroidered lace and an Italian satin coat.

Frances E. Neal (aka Mrs. Van Heflin) began her career on Broadway and made her screen debut with a small role in Citizen Kane (1941). This was her last screen appearance after just five films. Her husband won an Oscar in 1943 for Johnny Eager. Neal wears “Parma,” a dancing costume with sequined re-embroidered lace. Mindful that the show is in black and white, Loper says that the coat is violet satin lined with fuchsia and purple stripes.

Marilyn Johnson (aka Mrs. Forrest Tucker) made her final of 25 screen appearances with this episode. Her husband is probably best remembered as Sergeant O’Rourke on the classic TV sitcom “F Troop” (1965). Johnson died in 1960 at the young age of 37. She wears “Sonata,” a ballgown in a color Loper calls ‘pink mink.’ The dress has Chantilly lace re-embroidered with sequins.

Mona Carlson (aka Mrs. Richard Carlson) was born Mona Mayfield in Texas in 1918. She was not an actress and this was her only screen appearance. Carlson wears “Royal Scandal,” a Kelly green dress made of French peau de soie with pink roses on the back.

Lucy Ricardo (aka Mrs. Ricky Ricardo) wears “French Dandy,” a suit made of imported Irish tweed. featuring a three-quarter length jacket fitted at the waist with a peplum and a very narrow skirt.

The music underscoring the fashion show is "Embraceable You,” written by George Gershwin in 1928 for an un-produced operetta. It was eventually included in Girl Crazy and is now part of the 1992 Broadway musical Crazy for You. The lyrics are not heard in this episode. 

Oops! During the fashion show sequence Bennett Green, Desi’s stand-in and frequent extra on the series, appears in two different places at the same time: he is in front at the right of the stairs where the clothes are modeled, and he is also sitting behind Ethel at the back of the room!  Busy Bennett! 

Sitting next to Green is

Vivian Vance’s camera and lighting stand-in

Renita Reachi. She was a costumer for “The Lucy Show” from 1966 to 1968 and was a costumer and/or made crowd appearances on “Here’s Lucy” and the Lucille Ball films Yours, Mine and Ours (1968) and Mame (1974).  

FAST FORWARD FASHION!

In “Lucy Gets a Paris Gown” (S5;E20), Lucy wants a Jacques Marcel dress but Ricky produces a note from from his wallet, dated the day “The Fashion Show” was first aired. It reads: 

“If Ricky buys me a Don Loper original, I will never ask him for another expensive dress as long as I live. Signed, Lucy Ricardo.” 

Lucy rips it up claiming that it is obviously a forgery. Nowhere in “The Fashion Show” is the note referred to.

The episode resulted in Lucy wearing one of the most memorable fashion designs of the entire series – perhaps in television history. Designer Edwards Stevenson was charged with creating the fashion faux pas! 

In another possible callback to this episode, during “In Palm Springs” (S4;E26) Lucy sunbathes dressed in a long robe and hat to avoid getting sunburn. She quips “I paid for the sun. It’s my business whether I use it or not!”

Once a salesgirl, always a salesgirl!  Amzie Strickland also helps beautify women, this time in the hat department of Stacey’s, on “The Lucy Show.” 

Lucy Carmichael did an impromptu fashion show in a restaurant to get close to Danny Kaye while Lucy Carter did the same thing to help out her daughter Kim, who got her first job at a fashion boutique. 

Ashton Drake created a doll based on this episode, complete with her sun-burned face! The doll also played sound bytes from the episode! 

This episode was colorized and broadcast on CBS on December 22, 2017, teamed with “The ‘I Love Lucy’ Christmas Show.”  The episode was edited  resulting in the total absence of Mrs. Dean Martin from the fashion show.  

Tom Ford is a fashion designer who launched his eponymous luxury brand in 2006, having previously served as the Creative Director at luxury fashion houses Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent.

Reality TV in an alternate Lucyverse! 

Oscar-nominated films in an alternate Lucyverse!