Fashion on Film

Sky Movies and Instyle magazine recently conducted a reader’s poll asking: what is the best film costume of all time? The readers voted the emerald green dress worn by Keira Knightley in the 2007 film Atonement as the number one best film costume of all time. The rest of the list was as follows:

2. The white dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch.
3. The black Givenchy dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
4. The skin-tight black pants worn by Olivia Newtown-John in Grease.
5. Kate Winslet’s costumes in Titanic.
6. The tie and waistcoast worn by Diane Keaton in Annie Hall.
7. The satin corset worn by Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge.
8. The costume worn by Liza Minnelli in Cabaret.
9. The gown worn by Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age.
10. The costumes worn by Vivien Leigh in Gone With the Wind.

The list has sparked a lot of controversy. Many feel that the dress from Atonement only won because it is so fresh in the readers’ minds. Some feel that while it is stunning, and effective in its purpose, they question its ability to stand the test of time as well as some of the other items on the list.

The stunning costumes worn by Kirsten Dunst in Marie Antoinette, in my opinion, are noticeably absent. Worse still, the most prolific costume designer of the 20th century does not have a single entry in the top ten.

Costume designer Edith Head designed costumes during Hollywood’s golden age and beyond. Her career started in 1927 on the film Wings. Her last film, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, was released after her death and dedicated to her memory in 1982. She is best known for her work with Alfred Hitchcock, working in the costume and wardrobe departments for Notorious, Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, Vertigo, the Birds, Marnie, Torn Curtain, Topaz, and Family Plot. She won eight Academy Awards (although one technically should have been awarded to her and Hubert de Givenchy), more Oscars than any other woman. Her Oscar-winning designs can be seen in films such as The Heiress, All About Eve and Roman Holiday. Head became the favourite designer of many of Hollywood’s elite during the studio system, stars such as Ginger Rogers and Bette Davis. She is quoted as saying, “Your dresses should be tight enough to show you're a woman and loose enough to show you're a lady”.

Her designs for Hitchcock are as legendary as the films themselves, and it can be argued that she is just as responsible for the creation of ‘the Hitchcock Blondes’ as the famous director. One story goes that the yellow, full-skirted dress worn by Grace Kelly in Rear Window started the full-skirt trend in the 1950s. The dress was made because Kelly would have to do a lot of climbing and other skirts didn’t allow her to move freely. Whether this story is true or not, it attests to Head’s high profile in the fashion industry as well as her talent as a costume designer.

To me, the most amazing costume she ever designed is the grey suit worn by Kim Novak in Vertigo. Vertigo is the story of a police officer, John ‘Scottie’ Ferguson, who suffers from terrible acrophobia. An old college friend, Gavin Elster, asks him to look after his wife Madeleine, who he believes is possessed by the spirit of a woman who committed suicide years earlier. Because of his debilitating condition Scottie is unable to save Madeleine. Unbeknownst to Scottie, however, it is all a trick designed to make him implicit in the murder of Elster’s real wife. The film is about deception and doubling, and the power of an image to create desire. The costumes within the film play a vital role in telling that story.

The first time we see Madeleine in the iconic grey suit she is about to fall to her death. The second time, Scottie has remade Madeleine by transforming a young woman named Judy Barton. As Judy walks into her hotel room toward Scottie, the green light from the outdoor sign creates an ethereal glow, as though Scottie and the audience were in a dream. As Scottie and Judy kiss we are transported back to the day Madeleine died. When we return to the hotel room it seems as though Scottie has finally reclaimed the image of Madeleine that he has yearned for.

The power of clothes to transform a person’s personality are flawlessly executed in this scene. The costume becomes a visual representation of Judy’s willingness to become the ideal woman Scottie craves; not only that, it reflects Scottie’s fragile emotional state. For example, the cream shirt worn underneath the suit is slightly different to the original, a visual cue suggesting Scottie’s makeover of Judy is not as successful as Elster’s and is therefore doomed to fail. All of the costumes in the film are amazing but it’s the suit that encapsulates the film’s emotional core.

Film is a visual narrative form; meaning simply that it tells a story in pictures. The clothes characters wear become part of that story, reflecting the characters’ inner turmoil or psychological transformation. Costumes are also instrumental in placing characters in a historical context. Much like fashion in everyday life, film costumes are a form of art – art you can wear. And Edith Head was one of the greatest artists of our time.