Robert J. Avrech: Emmy Award winning screenwriter. Religious Zionist. Republican. Movie fanatic. Gun owner. Helplessly and hopelessly in love with my wife since age nine.

“I had appalling taste before I met Oleg [Cassini]”, writes Gene Tierney in her 1979 autobiography Self Portrait. “In my early days in Hollywood, I tried to be economical. I worked with a dressmaker and designed my own clothes, much to my mother’s distress. I had a good deal of fun whipping up what I now realize were atrocities. One night when Oleg came to call I was wearing one of my own creations. I shudder to think of it: a navy blue and pink striped dress, with a navy wool cape lined in the same print. I had on a straw hat, floppy and pink, decorated with a pink rose. I wore pink suede gloves and matching bag, and navy shoes. Oleg strode in the door, took one look at this ice cream confection, and almost passed out. “I won’t take you out dressed like that!”, he bellowed. “First, take off the hat and cape and then go and get a navy bag. Forget the gloves, if you don’t have any navy ones.” Oleg winked at my mother, which made me furious, but I began to suspect that my clothes were getting to be a bit much.” Gene and Oleg Cassini remained friends even after their divorce, and Tierney continued to wear his designs for the rest of her life.