'VERTIGO' OBSESSION
Fashion fetish: How a structured wardrobe ties together the threads of suspense and obsession at the heart of Hitchcock’s classic S.F. film
An immaculately coiffed blonde stares at a portrait in San Francisco’s Legion of Honor, holding a small pink bouquet like the one clutched by the woman in the painting. From the shadows, a man watches her. She wears a wool suit in a light shade of gray — the same hue as the San Francisco fog. It’s the kind of structured suit that indicates a woman’s breeding and impeccable taste in postwar America.
Christian Dior, Balmain and Yves Saint Laurent were masters of these kinds of ultra-refined pieces, and American versions graced department stores from Macy’s to San Francisco’s I. Magnin. Later, the suit, much like this
ghost of a woman, becomes an obsession for the man watching from the shadows. What, and who, it represents become intertwined with one of the most significant clothing items in film history since Dorothy’s ruby slippers.
The film is “Vertigo,” Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 suspense masterpiece. San Francisco and fashion are both center stage in this story of dual identity, obsession and a terrible fear of heights. As James Stewart, playing detective John “Scottie” Ferguson, pursues the glacial, elegant Kim Novak across Northern California, San Francisco at its most midcentury beautiful becomes the third lead in the film.
That gray suit is one of a number of costumes designed by Edith Head for Novak meant to convey her character’s moneyed status and duality, and to hint at the central mystery that makes the story one of Hitchcock’s best.
“How can you say it’s not the definitive San Francisco movie of all time?” asked film author and San Francisco’s “Master of Noir” Eddie Muller. “Hitchcock did such a fabulous job of exploring the geography of the city, not just in postcard ways but in ways integral to the story. It’s a perfect blending of location and psychology.”
It’s also a blending of psychology and fashion, another Hitchcock signature. His collaboration with eight-time Academy Award-winning costume designer Head was central to the creation of the iconic “Hitchcock blonde” that Novak, Grace Kelly and Tippi Hendren came to embody.
“The costumes reflect the setting of the film,” said Amber Butchart, author of the book “Fashion in Film.” “Hitchcock was very particular about the costumes he used in his films. He often made notes in the script (about) particular items, particular colors.”
Color was a key element in “Vertigo,” said Butchart. “This film was about a mix of muted colors like the gray of the suit.” Another standout for Novak that hinted at the character’s inner life was a structured black dress worn under a high-contrast white coat, an obvious light/dark metaphor. Details like that in the costuming, Butchard said, are pure Edith Head.
“Hitchcock worked with Head on a number of films to cultivate his blondes,” Butchart said, adding that it was Head’s devotion to creating costumes that were right for the character, as opposed to over-the-top design statements, that made her one of the greats.
“As an actress, you might want something more dramatic or glamorous (in a film). Hitchcock was adamant about what he wanted; Kim (Novak) said she never worked with a director who cared so much about costumes.”
Initially, Novak was not a fan of the gray suit, according to Butchart and Muller. She complained that the stiff, architectural tailoring was rigid and hard to move in. Eventually, that quality helped her find the character.
“Those elements of restraint very much play into this idea of his icy blonde character,” Butchart said. “There’s something almost fetishistic about it. They’re not clothes that are easy to move about in; they have a kind of performative femininity about them.”
The impact of the film goes beyond Hollywood and San Francisco. The fashion industry has looked to Hitchcock, and “Vertigo” specifically, several times for editorial photo shoots and in
‘Vertigo’ Runs March 24-27 at the Castro Threatre, 429 Castro St., S.F. http://www.castrotheatre.com.
collections by designers such as John Galliano, English fashion house Temperley, and the late British designer Alexander McQueen, who explored Hitchcock in 1995 and again in a 2005 fall collection that used the swirling motif of the “Vertigo” poster on the invitations.
But did women in San Francisco in the 1950s really dress like Novak’s character? Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco costume and textiles curator Jill D’Alessandro pointed to suits and dresses in the collection donated by noted S.F. fashion figures including Jeanne Magnin and Eleanor de Guigné.
“This was a time period where San Francisco was extremely stylish,” she said. “This was also the height of I. Magnin having a couture department. You could practically outfit the movie from our collection.”
The local love for “Vertigo” was cemented in the 1980s when it was released on videocassette, according to Castro Theatre impresario Marc Huestis. Screenings in the Bay Area, like a recent showing at Oakland’s Paramount Theatre, are popular.
“It’s always fun to watch with San Francisco audiences,” Huestis says. “It’s so iconic how chic all those locations are. It’s kind of a pilgrimage now to see each one of them.”
So whatever happened to the gray suit? Last fall, it was among the lots at a Hollywood memorabilia auction at Bonhams in Los Angeles. The seller had picked up the item at a vintage clothes store not knowing the suit’s provenance: Only later did a tag inside indicate its place in film history. Selling price: $28,750.
“I think when people think of that movie, the image of her in that suit is what flashes through their minds,” said Catherine Williamson, director of fine books & manuscripts and entertainment memorabilia at Bonhams. “Edith Head is so good in ‘Vertigo.’ The clothes are chic, timeless. You remember them, but they don’t overwhelm the actress of character.”