In this article , we will look at the clothing worn by those who occupied the noir universes. While I am not the most fashion conscious person around, I think that it is important to understand the what, how and why the men and women who lived in the film noir universes dressed the way they did.
It was the 40s.
Hats were in. Formal Homburgs or straw hats like the Fedora, the Pork Pie(Straw or velvet, Panama or Boater hats were in vogue and Film Noir men wore them.
It was wartime. Men often wore uniforms as a symbol of their patriotism. Many film noir male protagonists were portrayed as men returning from combat, bearing all the baggage one associates with those who had survived debilitating situations.
Most of the time, the men wear suits. The suits were often crafted in wool or wool rayon.
Women wore dresses that resembled uniforms. However, the women in Film Noir while seen wearing such dresses wore clothes to suit the nocturnal themes of the movies they belonged to. Read Roger Ebert’s summation of women’s clothing below to elaborate on this.
In Summary, They dressed well…
It is hard to believe, but there was a time in America when many people payed more attention to what they wore.
Anyone who has gone on a date at a upscale restaurant has had this experience. You and your date are all dressed up and seated at the table. Suddenly you notice that there is a guy across you, probably wearing a tie and wearing a pair of jeans, just to meet the minimum requirements of the establishment.
It must be said that we Americans, are not as fashion conscious as the rest of the world at least for the last few decades. This is not a judgement and is an observation.
What did Film Noir characters wear wear? Once again, Ebert sums it up well, for the most part.
“For women: low necklines, floppy hats, mascara, lipstick, dressing rooms, boudoirs, calling the doorman by his first name, high heels, red dresses, elbow length gloves, mixing drinks,”
“For men: fedoras, suits and ties, shabby residential hotels with a neon sign blinking through the window, buying yourself a drink out of the office bottle, cars with running boards, all-night diners, protecting kids who shouldn’t be playing with the big guys, being on first-name terms with homicide cops, knowing a lot of people whose descriptions end in “ies,” such as bookies, newsies, junkies, alkys, jockeys and cabbies.”
On the left is Joan Bennet in Woman in the Window.
I am not sure how Ebert detected the red dresses in noir films, considering that most were in black and white. While Ebert’s statement may be true for most Femme Fatals (I’ll cover the Femme Fatal in detail in another article in this series.) there are quite a few women who broke this rule. The first was Barbara Stanwyck.
Below are three scenes from “Double Jeopardy” While she is first seen in a bath towel (not shown)], she is able to woo her patsy wearing business clothes and looking elegant.
Joan Crawford is all elegance, in Mildred Pierce
Jeans were not mainstream. In fact, I cannot think of a single noir movie where anyone, either men or women wore jeans. It is hard to assume that Jeans were not part of traditional American clothing.
Polos were not common, but did show up occasionally.
On the left, Bogart sports a polo in “In a Lonely Place”.
…All the time.
This is a scene from the noir movie, ‘House by the Lake’. Can you guess what the man in the photo does for a living?
He is a reclusive author who stays home and writes books. Imagine getting dressed like that, when you are home?
This scene is from the movie, Prowler. Here Van Heflin plays an evil cop. In this scene he is off-duty and visiting the home of a married woman, in the hopes of seducing her. He is certainly dressed for the occasion.
There are always exceptions. This is Orson Welles from the movie, Compulsion. Guess he fell asleep with his clothes on the previous night and came to court to present his case the following day.
Below are scenes from the Big Sleep featuring Bacall and Bogart.
Here are other posts in this series.
References:
1940s Fashion: Women’s and Men’s Clothing Worn, 1940–1950
A Guide to Film Noir Genre by Roger Ebert
Bay Area Bloke 