Sandra Dee – Take three

This is a 1964 Lydia Lane article. Enjoy!

“Just today, I’ve had seven wardrobe changes!” Sandra Dee’s eyes sparkled as she showed me some of the clothes Jean Louis had designed for “I’d Rather Be Rich.” “I play a girl who can afford anything,” Sandra said, “and even the lounging robes are dreamy.” Sandra was a teen model in New York and has been as i conscious a long time.

“There Is a big difference between being a clothes horse and having personal style,” she told me, “and if you follow fashion blindly, you’ll lever make a best-dressed list. What you wear has to have an individual stamp. something new comes in some people find it hard to accept it, but if you don’t try. high fashion, you won’t know what you can and cannot wear,” she explained. Now that Sandra is likely to be photographed whenever she goes out, she is doubly careful that her clothes are becoming.

“I have a trial run when I am in doubt about a dress, because 1 know if I go somewhere and it turns out to be a mistake, my evening is ruined. It is amazing how some little change can make the difference, and it is these things I like to find out about my clothes with friends or just Bobby.” Sandra’s husband is singer Bobby Darin.

Another fashion lesson that Sandra has learned is that you cannot be assured that the dress will be right because it is expensive. “You can’t judge the person by his income any more than you can judge the worth of a dress by its price,” she said. “When a girl can afford to pay a lot for a dress, she sometimes makes this mistake. Fortunately, my mother has impeccable taste and was helpful in teaching me not to be impressed by the wrong things.” Sandra puts every costume to a double test. “What does it do for me?” “Is it feminine?” “I love Louis and I think you can be sexy in men’s shirts when they are tight, but when you wear pants you should be careful not to look masculine.” The talk turned to being a wife and mother. “I don’t know why almost every girl tries to look older,” Sandra commented. “I didn’t listen to anybody and I suppose no one will listen to me, but if there are any kids reading this, believe me when I say the day will come when you will wish you had not been so impatient. There is plenty of time to be grownup, and you’re in the teens for only six years. Don’t try too hard to be sophisticated.

It takes time to be mature, and you only look silly when you, rush into it before you are ready.”

Sandra Dee – Take two

This is a 1959 Lydia Lane article. Enjoy!

“This girl is going places, and I want you to meet her,” a studio executive told me about Sandra Dee. She was 15 and had just come to Hollywood from New York, where she’d been a successful junior-model. Now she is 17 and is starred in Warner Bros.’ ‘A Summer Place. “Your career has certainly been a happy one,” I told her. “I enjoyed your performance in ‘A Reluctant Debutante’ so much.” “I like the role I play in ‘A Summer Place,’ too,” she replied. “I get into serious trouble in it. It’s a very dramatic role.” As she sat at her dressing table I felt she had the poise and assurance of someone much older. When I mentioned this she said: “I’ve never teen around many young people. And I’ve never been held back in anything I wanted to do. Who can say if I’ll regret growing up fast. But I wouldn’t change places with anyone. “An actress portrays many people. She explores their emotions, and because of this she naturally matures faster. I think a girl’s attitude and not her age should determine what privileges she should have. When a teen-age girl feels she is ready to get acquainted with boys and is held back, it often causes friction in her home.”

Sandra has become a champagne blond since the last time I saw her. I told her that her blond hair and dark brown eyes make an interesting contrast. “It photographs well. That’s my excuse for doing it,” she laughed. “I have it bleached at the studio where they take good care of it. I couldn’t afford to have it done myself. I’ve been told it’s too dangerous to dye your own hair unless you’re trained. Actually, a teen-ager shouldn’t change the color of hers. There’s plenty of time for it later if it has to be done.” We talked about teen-age problems and she said: “I learned the hard way what what improper diet can do. “It ruins your skin, hair, nails everything. I had a nice figure when I started modeling, but I wanted to be as skinny as the high-fashion models so I decided to reduce. I was the real smart kid who would do it all on her own. I had it all figured out. I just wouldn’t eat. Sometimes I went without breakfast and lunch. In the beginning it took discipline, but I soon lost my appetite. When I was as thin as I wanted to be, I decided to celebrate with borsch soup, sour cream and a big dinner, but my stomach had shrunk so I got sick from the first few sips. It’s horrible feeling hungry, wanting to eat and not being able to digest it.

“We were so lucky to find a good doctor. He said that I could have killed myself and that I had to learn to eat all over again. He had my mother prepare beef broth and give me just a few spoons at a time. I had to eat six times a day mostly meat and in two weeks 1 felt much better. But I was so anemic that it took a whole year before I got my energy back. “Teen-agers need balanced meals. A diet suitable for an adult can do serious harm to anyone still growing and trying to build a body.” As we were “chatting in Sandra’s dressing room, she slipped her feet out of her shoes, which had extremely pointed toes and heels. “Don’t those pumps kill your feet?” I asked. “Yes.” she admitted, “but I love the way they look.” Then she added. “But they give me ingrown toenails. On hot days my feet swell so that I don’t dare take my shoes off. I wouldn’t be able to get my feet back into them.

I never realized how much feet have to do with the way I feel. When my feet hurt, I feel terrible all over.” “And we talk about the ancient Chinese binding feet,” I commented. I asked Sandra if it was difficult for a teen-ager to handle stardom. “I thought success would never change me, but I told Bud Westmore (the studio make-up man) to take me over his knee and spank me if he ever saw me acting up. Then one day I lost my temper I have a terrible one and he called me into his office. Without saying a word he spanked me. I was more embarrassed than hurt, because I realized I’d been temperamental and inconsiderate. Now I’m controlling my temper much better. When I find I’m getting angry, I don’t say or do anything. If 1 take the time to find why I’m upset, it no longer seems important.”

Sandra Dee

This is a 1957 Lydia Lane article where actress Sandra Dee talks about clothes and eating habits. Enjoy!

Sandra Dee is one of the most talented teenagers in Hollywood with a con-‘ tract shared by two studios. I met her for the first time the other day at MGM where she has a featured role’ In “Until They Sail.” She has come dressed for a dancing workout in a fresh blouse and shorts. “Looking neat is the first consideration of a teen-ager,” she remarked when I complimented her on her appearance. “I have been modeling since I was 12 years old and I am glad that I learned how to take care of myself. When you form a habit of good grooming, you never feel you are doing anything extra when an important occasion arises. “I am careful about my appearance and when I take off a dress I look to see if it needs cleaning. I hate to see anyone wear something that is not clean.

“I wash my hair three times a week,” she continued. “I got Into the habit when I was modeling. Another thing I learned from this type of work is to be conscious of my posture. I think you look so much better in your clothes when you stand up straight.” We chatted about how impatient all teen-agers are to grow up and Sandra admitted that a young girl looks really quite foolish in too much make-up and clothes that are too tight for her. “They get plenty of advice, but they don’t listen,” I commented, “I know. My father warned me that I wasn’t eating right but I had never been sick a day in my life and I didn’t pay any attention to him, I would rush out of the house without breakfast, grab a piece of fruit or a hard boiled egg for lunch. This is a foolish way to eat, and I paid for it,” Sandra admitted. “I lost my strength and became so anemic that I had to go to the doctor every day for injections. It is bad enough for a grown person not to eat right but when you are building your body It Is very necessary to have full meals instead of snacks.

“My skin got dry, nails broke and even my hair was different when I was in bad health. I still don’t have as much energy as I used to have,” Sandra confided, “but one thing I’ve learned. I’ll never again take good health for granted and I’ll never neglect to eat properly.”