Friday, January 9, 2009

Television Elegance

In 1956, Westinghouse made a splash with its commercials on CBS, commissioning no fewer than 28 ensembles for spokeswoman Betty Furness. The tab for such extravagance? A jaw-dropping $3,ooo.oo!

Here Betty models a very up-to-date racing stripe sheath.

She's insouciant in a flowered crinoline...

Sophisticated in a ribbon-decorated frock with strappy sandals...

And even more so in a dress I would think more apt for cocktails than prime-time commercials.

Even she, though, looks a tad uncertain about an afternoon number that features stripes made of polka dots. Somehow that's just not right.

This boat-necked number is a definite improvement. Isn't she beaming?

Betty had a good run showing off all things Westinghouse, from 1948 to 1960. Here she is a few years earlier than above, in wardrobe that clearly doesn't run to four figures. You can catch still more of her Fashions of 1956 here.

5 comments:

  1. Is this a collection of paper dolls, or did Betty get her smile out of a glass?

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  2. Muscato!

    You've resurrected Telegance!!

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  3. Now, now, RJ - no-Betty dissing in these parts - not Furness, nor White, nor Comden, nor even Ford.

    That said, her posing does lack a certain variety...

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  4. Quite ironically for a Westinghouse spokeswoman, Miss Furness metamorphosed, many moons ago, when I was still an unjaded man about town in New York, into a consumer affairs reporter for NBC's nightly news program, Live at Five, the one still anchored by Chuck Scarborough and Sue Simmons.

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