In the lead-up to the Kiama Icons and Artists’ Orry-Kelly-themed event scheduled for July 26, 2025, The Bugle is planning a series of articles to share the story of Orry-Kelly and his impact on the world. If you missed the first article, you can find it here.

There’s no mention of the first time Kiama costume designer Orry-Kelly met Bette Davis in his memoir Women I’ve Undressed, which makes it seem as if they’d known each other forever, a great indication of their relationship.

The first mention in his memoir is a throwaway sentence where Orry writes, “Warners wanted to get the clothes underway for her forthcoming picture The Rich Are Always With Us, which would also feature an up and coming actress called Bette Davis.”

The Rich Are Always With Us was one of Orry’s first jobs as a costume designer at Warner Brothers Studios, and it was only a year later that he became head of the wardrobe department. But it was the 1938 film Jezebel, which led to Davis’s first Oscar, that truly marked the start of their winning combination.

In Jezebel, Davis, as Julie Marsden, wears a striking red gown designed by Orry to a ball, shocking the other attendees in an era when women were expected to wear only white.

Since the film was shot in black and white, Orry had to create the gown in grey so that it would appear red on screen. This early example shows how Orry’s designs were to become pivotal plot points in major Hollywood films.

The two worked together on over 30 films, but the one most people, including Kelly, believe is their best work together is the 1942 classic Now, Voyager, in which Bette Davis plays a repressed woman who gains independence.

Bette Davis in Now, Voyager. Source: Women I've Undressed.

Lesley Chow writes in a CNN article, “Kelly’s gowns are key to this dramatic transformation, as Davis appears in a series of stunning, minimalist black outfits which showcase her newfound elegance and strength.”

“A master of silhouette, Kelly preferred a lean, linear shape to the frills and puff-ball sleeves popular at MGM, and he knew how to give Davis’s figure the illusion of length.”

Even though the film was a success, Kelly recalls how Davis was in a foul mood during the fittings for the film. But on the final day, she suddenly came out of it.

“When the fitting was over, she turned to me and said, Kelly, I’ve been a devil this last week, haven’t I? I’ve been almost out of my mind; my sister Barbara has been terribly ill,” writes Kelly.

“That’s the way Bette was with everyone. It made up for everything. It didn’t matter if I’d jumped in my sleep all week, or that I was hitting the bottle,I didn’t need an excuse for that. In the end, she was always so fair and considerate.”

In 1944, Kelly left Warner Brothers, but Bette Davis still tried to get the studio to hire him exclusively for her films. She had grown so attached to him.

Costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis, as reported in the Sydney Morning Herald, once said, “Personalities are created in the fitting room. Icons are created in the fitting room. That’s a relationship from the knickers outward. From the inside out, Orry-Kelly helped Bette Davis create her people.”

Another photo of Bette Davis in Now, Voyager. Source: Women I've Undressed.

Beyond their professional partnership, Kelly and Davis were also good friends and remained close even after he left the studio.

Kiama Historical Society president Sue Eggins, a researcher on Orry-Kelly’s life, says, “They had a very good relationship. He dressed her for 20 years, even after he left the studio, Warner Bros. Bette had it written into her contract.”

It seems as though they were almost two peas in a pod: Bette, a woman trying to make it in Hollywood, and Orry, a gay man navigating the same industry. They both had to be passionate, stubborn, and brave.

Orry says of Bette, “She was a loyal friend and a really nice person. Often I jumped in my sleep. And I saw little men jump on the set, and others drop their hammers from catwalks during a battle between Bette and her director. But she had a right. If it weren’t for her, this man who was once a dialogue director might have remained a dialogue director!”

For those eager to get involved or stay updated on the event, the Kiama Icons and Artists group is active on Facebook.