Ra Hould: Clothing


Figure 1.--Ra Hould is shown here in a studio publicity shot. I don't think it is from a film, although I am not sure. He looks to be wearing his own clothes.

I am not sure what kind of clothes Ra wore when not in movie costumes. As he came from New Zealand he presumably wore British style clothing, such as short pants and kneesocks. This probably changed once he got to America. He would have been about 12 years old in 1936. That was when his first films were made. Most American boys in the mid 1930s began wearing long pants at that age although some wore knickers. Short pants were much less common. Of course like some child stars he may have worn shorts longer to extend his child acting years. Ra is shown here in a studio publicity shot. I don't think it is from a film, although I am not sure. A HBC reader tells us that it is definitely not from a movie. Ra looks to be wearing his own clothes.

Ra's Clothing

I am not sure what kind of clothes Ra wore when not in movie costumes. we do have a number of studio portraits for publicity purposes. We are not entirely sure to what extent this reflects his own clothing that he wore when not at the studio. Ra is not wearing costumes for many of his publicity photographs such as the one here with Santa Clause (figure 1). What we do not know id if the studio probided the clothes he wore for these publicity stills or if he just wore the clothes that he an his parents selected. Also we are not sure to what extent these clothes represent clothes that he pivcked out or that his parents selected. Of course boys at the time had less to say about the clothes they wore than modern children, but even so boys by the time they were 12 and 13 yeatrs old begab to have some input in their clothes.

New Zealand

As he came from New Zealand he presumably wore British style clothing, such as short pants and kneesocks. We note many school images of boys wearing short pants and kneesocks, even in highschool. We are less sure to what extent teenagers wore short pants suits out of school.

America

Ra's clothing probably changed once he got to America. He would have been about 12 years old in 1936. That was when his first films were made. Most American boys in the mid 1930s began wearing long pants at that age although some wore knickers. Short pants were much less common. Of course like some child stars he may have worn shorts longer to extend his child acting years. Ra is shown here in a studio publicity shot. I don't think it is from a film, although I am not sure. A HBC reader tells us that it is definitely not from a movie. Ra looks to be wearing his own clothes.

Costumes

The available stills of Ra are not alwats easy to tell if they are costumes from his films or his own clothing. This is in pat because his films were for the most part shot in contemprary settings. We knote few films with historical settings. Thus while we are not sure about some of the available photographs, we are relatively sure that the portraits of him wearing sailor suits were part of his various film costumes.







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Created: April 16, 2004
Last updated: 11:09 PM 7/29/2004