Some of Rita Hayworth's looks

Rita's looks set a standard of beauty during the 1940's. This page's purpose is to celebrate some of those styles that made men drool and sent every woman clamoring to achieve the latest Hayworth look.

a candid shot of Rita in 1956- © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS

I begin with the real Rita. The other looks on this page are studio created styles. Above is a candid shot of Rita, complete with natural hair color, which she often reverted to during long breaks from filmmaking. This picture was taken in London in 1956. It's one of my favorite photos of her.

Rita's lovely Latin look and her All-American Sweetheart Style

Rita had a face that could go from exotic temptress to All-American sweetheart and back with ease. Left: Rita's original screen look, the Latin bombshell, as used when she was still known as Rita Cansino, working at Fox. By the early 40's, Rita had a new studio, Columbia Pictures, and a new look. Right: Rita's All-American sweetheart look, which helped make her one of the GI's favorite pin-up girls.

Gilda's cool sophistication

The quintessential Rita Hayworth look. This most duplicated, mocked and emulated Hayworth style began with the movie Gilda. Rita exuded sophistication and glamour in the film and set the standard for what a sexy femme fatale of 40's films should be.

the glamorous look of a goddess and the sinister blonde look

Left: Rita was Hollywood's "love goddess", so it's little wonder she played a goddess in the film Down to Earth (pictured at left). Right: A publicity shot for The Lady from Shanghai, in which Rita's look was dramatically changed with a pair of scissors and some hair dye. Many fans didn't approve of the haircut, and it appears Rita didn't care for it much either because she let her hair grow out immediately and never went blonde again.
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