Dolly Tree was slim and of medium height, with dark bobbed hair, rose and white complexion, large grey-blue eyes edged with the blackest lashes, a smile that lit her whole face, a soft clear voice and that indefinable something in her whole appearance that is best labelled ‘Parisienne’.  According to the designer and producer Alec Shanks, she was a typical stylish twenties beauty 'a chic, bobbed ex 'flapper', cigarette holder and all.'

She was a cheery, simple girl with a huge sense of humour but unquestionably reserved, Dolly Tree did not like talking about herself but her work was her great hobby and delight. She was quietly industrious and devoted to her job. However, she was also clearly one of those elegant, bright young things, who despite a fondness for work, was also a devotee of nocturnal frolics. Once, she was spotted at the opening of a new club called the Quadrant, where the black American singing duo Layton and Johnston made their debut. “If a man had just finished dressing one big show and was plunging straightaway into another he would either be burning the midnight oil in his studio or going to bed at 10 o’clock. Dolly Tree however was playing quite hard when I met her.” She also travelled extensively and was regarded as a cosmopolitan soul equally at home in continental capitals or smoky London and she once had some thrilling adventures in the Parisian underworld when she went there to get local colour for some apache costumes.

Seemingly her cheerfulness and social bouyancy masked a nervous disposition. When she was young and selling artwork she said she was nervous and that it was torture for her to show people her work and later she was terrified of showing her sketches to the producer CB Cochran. These extremes in temperament are made even more curious when we know that she even crossed the Altantic on her own to make a new life in New York. It was almost as if there were two divergent and opposing sides to her character. This may provide a key to why she faltered in later life.

Dolly Tree’s working schedule was intense. For each stage project she would first consult with the producer and choreographer receiving a brief about the show and their expectations and thoughts about various scenes and costume ideas. She would read the script and devise ideas for the more elaborate tableaux and doing research where necessary, especially for historical themes and establishing colour schemes with the scenic artists and lighting men. She would then begin sketching. Once finished she would allocate work to specific costumiers and couturiers who were carefully chosen for their specific ability and discuss with them her requirements, select fabrics, trimmings and accessories or advise which materials would suit.  There was always a distinction made between "gowns" - modern contemporary dresses and "costumes" -  everything else that was fancy and extravagant. There would then be a round of fittings to ensure that each outfit was correct and met with her approval and finally a dress rehearsal.

Dolly Tree talked about how she started to design costumes for a show  “I try to get a mental picture of the whole finished effect and then I arrange my colours, rather like playing with toy soldiers. I have all my unmixed colours on a big palette and manipulate them till I get just what what I am aiming at. Then I start drawing...Give me a blank sheet of paper, a peaceful hour to think out designs - and I’m perfectly happy. Don’t ask me how I turn out my work; I couldn’t tell you. Just by sticking at it I suppose; and sometimes it’s a case of burning the midnight oil! For a cannot draw a stroke or plan a single gown till I know the colour of the scenery, the main idea of the scene and what the producer wants. Sometimes I don’t get this information till fairly late and then it’s a case of tucking up one’s sleeve and sitting at it till the whole thing is through.” Interestingly, sometimes she started drawing the dress designs for the finale first and then worked through the other scenes and important tableaux.

Dolly Tree was left handed and drew with a very fluid and graceful hand. Her sketches often expressed movement and buoyancy, displaying a natural rhythm with her figures in a variety of active rather than passive, static poses or a forced artificial representation of the female form. Dolly Tree’s style expressed female freedom and aspiration through movement and agility. Interestingly, this expressive style was in sharp contrast to many contemporary male designers particularly Erte who favoured more stylised visions and rendered female figures as inanimate, decorative objects.

Dolly Tree completed her sketches with great care and they were outlined for prominence and clarity.  She ensured that the minutest of detail was executed meticulously such as tinting any bare skin, painting the hair in whatever colour, length and style was suitable, colouring the eyes, adding mascara and eye lashes and sometimes even eye shadow, tinting the cheeks for a rosy complexion and frequently adding that all important black beauty spot and lipstick. Like every other designer she must have viewed her drawings as working documents but the more finished and polished accents of her work would indicate that she took great pride in making sure her drawings were completed to perfection. As such she was clearly an accomplished artist and her work illustrates considerable draughtsmanship.

Dolly Tree’s sketches often reflected a witty sense of humour and were sometimes provocative due to their brevity, but most of all they testify to a fertile imagination, especially for her more bizarre and exotic ideas. Generally not overly fond of fussy detail, Dolly Tree veered more to simple but effective designs that utilised colour, line and shape  producing a much greater visual impact on the stage, rather than unnecessary and cluttered decoration. Dolly Tree said succintly “simplicity is the best thing.”  This modern approach was more akin to the emerging fashion statements from say Chanel which epitomised the general post war mood in fashion for simplicity and functional dress as opposed to the more elaborate styles of previous decades.

The art of using simple colour combinations was also a facet of Dolly Tree’s desire for harmony. She disliked a crude medley of colours that bewildered an audience and spoilt the beauty of any stage scene. She observed “consider the beauty of a single perfect figure against a plain background. This is not everyone’s point of view I know; so many people want to provide a whole brass band where one good violin would produce a much lovier effect! In an excess of colour and crowding of figures much beauty is swamped...I have been told sometimes ‘oh it’s no use giving them things that are so quiet. You’ve got to give ‘em something with a good kick in it.’ To which in my own mind I always want to answer: ‘yes but in trying to give them so many ‘good kicks’ they are likely to become stunned.”  Significantly, Alec Shanks, remembered that Dolly Tree was called “the two colour lady”  for her bold use of colour.

Throughout her working career as a designer Dolly Tree maintained an innovative style that had a major influence on contemporary culture and fashion. Overall, Dolly Tree’s philosophy reflected the Parisienne outlook of simplicity with the emphasis on unusual detail. She was particularly fond of backless and halter neck styles and was a pioneering figure in the use of the off-shoulder and strapless gown. Dolly Tree was using these styles at an early point in her career. Some of her early sketches illustrated backless, halter neck and strapless garments which were also featured in some of her earliest known costume designs for London and Paris in the early 20s. One interesting garment was for the chorus in the first edition of the cabaret show Dolly's Revels at the Piccadilly Hotel in 1924. The combination garment of black silk formed an abbreviated skirt with a strapless bodice which was also backless, the feature being a huge pink satin bow. The design is staggering for its brevity and audaciousness and can be interpreted as a clear prelude to the styles of the 60s including the mini skirt. Two other designs from the mid to late 20s have been documented that also feature strapless styles: the first a huge pink frock with a lace effect bodice and the second a very simple yet elegant blue creation with form fitting bodice, silver detail and a big picture hat. Of course her wardrobe for Diamond Lil in 1928 included strapless gowns that immortalised the quintessential Mae West  look. Later when she joined MGM in 1933 she frequently experimented with a range of off the shoulder and strapless gowns.  By utilising the concept of the bodice rather than the wrapped effect for strapless gowns Dolly Tree was one of the earliest innovators of this style.