#FashionSpotlight #SilentEdition Clare West

By 1916, West was officially considered a studio designer at Triangle Pictures having dressed and designed every cast member and extra for 1915's "Tolerance." She would go on to having a 10 film deal with Cecil deMille who advised that he "want[ed] clothes that will make people gasp when they see them." And West didn't disappoint. She would go on to do "The Ten Commandments" (1923) and doing extensive research to create three thousand costumes made by over a hundred seamstresses. But West had left Famous Players-Lasky for First National Pictures. There she exclusively costumed the sisters Talmadge. For the next two years she designed for Buster Keaton's "The Navigator" (1924) to "The Merry Widow" (1925) where she made 34 costumes for Mae Murray. She went onto open a dress salon in Los Angeles in 1925. Then in 1930, West was employed as a department store dress designer and in 1940, a designer for Patricia Perkins Inc. She would pass away of a heart attack in 1961.

Nita Naldi publicity shot for "Blood and Sand" (1922)

Gloria Swanson in "Male and Female" (1919)

Norma Talmadge