Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1531371
THE ADAM THE ADAM & EVE BALL & EVE BALL I C O N S Elizabeth Taylor and Mike Todd at the 1957 Costumers Ball. 52 SPRING 2025 In the heyday of Hollywood, Local 705 held an annual star- studded event called The Costumers 'Adam & Eve' Ball. From 1948 to 1965, VIPs from across the industry would be invited to this celebration, and many popular actors attended. Often held on the rooftop of the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Motion Picture Costumers used this event to raise money for the Costumers Welfare Fund. The highlight of the ball was a contest for the studio workrooms to create dolls dressed as characters of the year's films. Each studio workroom would replicate a costume they had created that year on a beautiful 18-inch doll that would be displayed at the ball and judged by celebrity panelists or newspaper fashion editors. Many of the actors were photographed with their doll over the years. Initially, the dolls were raffled off to raise money for the Fund, but starting in 1957, the dolls were sent on a nationwide tour of several major cities to be admired across America. The 1957 ball featured Elizabeth Taylor who starred in the Mike Todd-produced Raintree County, and Todd was presented the Best Producer/Director 'Fig Leaf' Award on behalf of MGM for that film, which also won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design by Walter Plunkett.