I do not know any intimate details of Slim’s marriages so I cannot share any information on whether Slim wore “the pants in the family” OR NOT, but I do know this……
There has never been a woman who wore a pair of pants like Slim Keith wore a pair of pants.
She was born Mary Ray Gross on July 15th, 1917 in Salinas, California.
I think about Slim Keith whenever I am out shopping for pants or slacks and for about 45 minutes on Friday night, I conjured up “Slim” and she and myself were soon culling through the racks at my local mall.
I was in my element.
However, Slim who was one of the pioneers of American sportswear was sickened by all the man made fabrics we were finding during our quest. But I quickly reminded her not to get her knickers in such a knot because some fabrics like rayon are all about nature…..rayon is derived from the bark in trees from our many endangered forests…..so not to worry.
She liked that a lot being a lithe northern California beauty.
We chatted about how she was the muse for Lauren Bacall.
“While married to director Howard Hawks, she “discovered” a young Lauren Bacall on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar and had her cast in Hawks’s To Have and Have Not.
“For [Hawks], I was a fabulous armpiece, the ultimate decoration, the embodiment of the Hawks woman. It wasn’t about the woman herself, it was about a look. Howard liked a no-nonsense femininity. His woman could be chic, she could be sexy, but you’d better believe she could also make a ham and hoe a row of beans,” writes Keith, and Bacall’s character vamps and flirts with Bogart in the film wearing Keith’s clothes and speaking Keith’s lines, including the one which lives in infamy and silver-screen dreams: “You know how to whistle, don’t you?” (Why Slim Keith Infamous All-American Socialite, Is Our Summer Style Spirit Animal: by Alessandra Codina: Vogue July 17 2014.)
Being the perfect socialite, Slim asked me what I do when I am not shopping for the perfect pair of slacks.
“I blog”: I replied.
She seemed perplexed.
“You know how Ernest Hemingway wrote”: I said.
“Oh, yes. My darling, Ernie.”
Hawks was unable to remain faithful, and shortly after the birth of their daughter, Kitty Hawks, she moved to Havana to stay with Ernest Hemingway, where she met her second husband, Leland Hayward.
They stayed together for 12 years.
Leland was the love of her life.
Her last husband was British banker Kenneth Keith and that marriage ended in 1972.
Having no luck, finding a pair of slacks, Slim and I decided to have a coffee at Starbucks.
I was in so much awe as I sipped my Caramel Ribbon Crunch Crème Frappuccino, I could hardly put sentences together but I did manage to say: “tell me about you and Mr. Gable, please!”
“Well when Clark went off to Europe, I decided to go to the ship to see him off and later I received a postcard that read, ”You were wonderful.” ”Wonderful doing what?” demanded my jealous fiancé, Leland. ”I was just wonderful being wonderful,” I laughed.
The mall was about to close and I needed to pick up a few things at Dollarama.
Slim who was known for being at all the right places at the right time decided to accompany me.
After finding all the items I needed, I searched for Slim. She was standing in the aisle where the “party favors” are stocked and was picking up a whistle.
She looked at me in disbelief.
“You mean I never had to know how to put my lips together and… blow.”
“No, you can buy whistles here by the dozen”: I knowingly, replied.
And with those words, just like that, Slim Keith (1917-1990) disappeared into thin air.
Of course, the legend will live on forever.
You can read more about Slim Keith in her 1990 autobiography, Slim: Memories of a Rich and Imperfect Life.
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