Claudette Colbert Wearing the Starfish Brooch

This photograph, taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt in 1938, shows the Actress Claudette Colbert coyly sitting with one arm stretched across her body and her head resting on the other as she smiles up at the camera. She is wearing a short-sleeve dress, accessorized with a bracelet, ring, and, most strikingly, a large brooch pinned to the collar. The brooch is Colbert’s famous starfish by the Parisian house of Rene Boivin. This photograph is one of just two know images of her wearing the brooch, which the MFA acquired in 2019. Close examination of Colbert’s wardrobe and jewelry reveals that she tended to be conservative in her fashion choices. This extraordinary brooch was a departure that perhaps nodded to her success during the 1930s – she won the Academy Award for best actress for her role as Elie Andrews in It Happened One Night in 1935 and was the highest paid actor in Hollywood. Born in Germany, Eisenstaedt fled Europe during WWII and after settling in New York became known for his work with Life Magazine. The photograph was taken by Eisenstaedt for PIX, a publishing organization that he founded in 1935 and worked for until about 1958.