Julie Andrews as Jerusha Bromley in 'Hawaii' Designed by Dorothy Jeakins

Red wool period gown constructed of fully boned and fitted bodice, full-length sleeves, floor length skirt., beige silk netting trim the neck and cuff, hand-embroidered patchwork trim at neck and cuff. (WESTERN COSTUME LABEL which reads [JULIE ANDREWS 1270-1]).

Julie Andrews was the biggest movie star of the time and there was some concern that the public- that had fallen in love with the world’s most famous “nannie” in “Mary Poppins” and the “Sound of Music”- would be accepted in a dramatic/ non singing role of the arranged wife of a strict and rigid missionary. But, it is probably one of her best performances, in one of the best and most successful epics of her career. The film was the highest grossing film of 1966.

“Hawaii,” based on the James Michener novel, was a beautiful, bittersweet story set between 1920 and 1941 of two cultures that collide as zealous missionaries try to bring religion to the Hawaiian “heathens” but, instead bring disease and destruction to the paradise islands.

Three time Oscar winner and twelve time nominee costume designer, Dorothy Jeakins, deliberately created period costumes for the missionaries that were in contract to the costumes she designed for the Hawaiian locals, both in style and appropriateness. She was an unusual type of designer because she was a free-lance designer and never worked with a studio for more than one movie at a time. Her design for this costume reflects a hand-made garment that would be appropriate for the character. She received an Oscar nomination for Best Costumes-Color in 1966.
The costume was later worn by Karen Black in “The Day of the Locust.”