Orry-Kelly was known for his ability to "design for distraction" to compensate for difficult figure shapes. When Orry-Kelly was first assigned to films with Kay Francis they would dissect her parts. She would be dressed in opposition to the role, with the traditional femme fatale or manipulative character in frills and the honest heroine in a tailored, classic suit. Orry-Kelly would apply this aesthetic in the creation of gowns for a number of Bette Davis's characters as well. Orry-Kelly also had the job of creating clothes for the cross-dressing characters played by Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in "Some Like It Hot". His skill is shown by the fact that while "Some Like It Hot" was in production, Curtis and Lemmon would go into the ladies' room after eating lunch without being spotted as men. He wrote that when he finished draping Dolores del Río in white jersey, "she became a Greek goddess ... she was incredibly beautiful". The elegant clothes he designed for Bergman's character in "Casablanca" have been described as "pitch perfect".