by XIN WEN

Have you started wondering what to wear this Halloween? For me last Halloween is still vivid--I saw several guys dressed like ‘The Joker’ from Batman: the Dark Knight. Surely movies are always our resources of inspiration; we are more heavily influenced by movies than we thought perhaps. Christopher Breward in Fashion said: “As many commentators have noted, cinema, especially the Hollywood version of the idiom, has featured as an important adjunct to advertising in promoting a simple and reassuring consumerist version of life.”

For this Halloween I recommend 90s style from Quentin Tarantino’s movies. For girls, I think Uma Thurman’s outfit in Pulp Fiction, 1994 is a simple, but wonderful choice. All you need is a crisp white shirt, a pair of black pants, rouge noir nail polish, and a black wig. In the film, Uma played an unsuccessful actress who did a pilot show and ended as a wife of a gang leader. The character made her debut with her extremely sexy red lips and her cool voice. She ordered a five-dollar milk shake and danced shimmy with her husband’s minion Vincent (John Travolta). Just when the audiences presaged and actually expected that she and Vincent would have a romantic night, she overdosed. Her white shirt was stained with her own slobber, and the simple, sexy style went to neverland.

For guys I highly recommend the classical appearance of Mr. Colors from Reservoir Dogs, 1992. Again, it is super simple: all you need is a black suit, a white shirt, a skinny black tie, and a pair of ray ban sun glasses. Sure you’ll be in need of more guys to help you achieve the stylish spectacle, since in Reservoir Dogs there are six of them.

Quentin himself admitted that he borrowed this gangster style from a look created by French director Jean Pierre Melville. This director inspired a few New Wave directors and was famous for his minimalist film noir crime dramas. However, the “borrowing” nature did not harm the charm of Mr. Colors. Quentin is a remix genius. (here is a video about his remix ability, <start from 7:20>) He combined songs, looks, styles, shots from so many movies and created his own legend. For example: though all the people recognize Bruce Lee from his yellow tight gym suit, if a woman wears it with a long knife in her hand, people would say that’s Uma Thurman from Kill Bill. This remix gift gave popular culture vitality; this remix gift made him a director who will never be neglected.

References:

http://entertainment.msn.com/beacon/editorial1.aspx?ptid=2038c9a7-3e3d-49fd-a6f4-78cfc10eeeb4

http://i-am-db-cooper.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-dress-like-the-guys-in-Reservoir-Dogs

pictures come from www.douban.com

Synopsis

Rear Window is a 1954 Hitchcock movie—one of his suspense classics. The storyline goes like this: Jeff (James Stewart) is a photographer who loves to take risks, but one of his legs was injured during work. As a result he had to sit in a wheelchair for a couple of months. However, his eager desire to know never ends: he started to observe his neighbors with his binoculars. Gradually a case of murder surfaced from the trivia details of everyday life viewed through the rear window—Jeff thought Mr. Thorwald across the yard killed his sick wife. Lisa (Grace Kelly) is Jeff’s girlfriend, who was into fashion and came to visit Jeff regularly. At first she didn’t believe Jeff’s suspicion but little by little she became increasingly involved: she even sneaked into Mr. Thorwald’s apartment to look for evidence…


Lisa’s outfits and the costume designer Edith Head

In the movie Rear Window Lisa wears six different outfits. For me the black top and white dress outfit was most unforgettable. In Sarah Street’s words:

‘Her outfit is a black, tight-fitting top with a full, white layered net skirt, and a white chiffon shawl worn with a pearl choker.’

Clearly the idea behind this outfit came from the famous ‘New Look’. (for New Look you can check out this post)

Apart from this outfit, the green suit and the white day dress with yellow flowers also fascinate many women. If you think Grace Kelly was behind all these beautiful costumes, you are definitely wrong: Edith Head—Hollywood’s most celebrated costume designer was the hero behind the breathtaking beauty of Lisa. In 1925, Edith Head became Paramount’s costume designer and in less than thirty years she won 8 academy awards for best costume design. If you have seen The Incredibles, you will be familiar with the appearance of Edith Head. Rumors said that the costume designer (Edna Mode) for the superman family in the cartoon was based on Edith Head.


From a feminism point of view

Although Lisa’s outfits were feminine, her image was very active and strong. She first provided the critical statement for the cracking of the murder case that ‘No woman would go on a trip and leave behind her purse and her wedding ring,’ and then she sneaked into Mr. Thorwald’s apartment to find further evidence.

Originally Jeff was not satisfied with Lisa’s obsession over fashion and her reluctance to take risks. However, Lisa was the one who acts. On the other hand, Jeff ‘looks but does not act, failing to take even one photograph that would surely help to corroborate his story. The plaster cast on his leg symbolizes Jeff’s crisis of masculinity and also conveys his weakness in identity.’ (<Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window>, Edited by John Belton-- ‘The Dresses Had Told Me’, <Fashion and Femininity in Rear Window> by Sarah Street, page 94)

In the end, Lisa wears a pink shirt and a pair of jeans with a very serious magazine in her hands. Many people stated that since this outfit was relatively masculine, Lisa finally became the kind of woman Jeff wanted her to be. However, my point is Lisa was more independent than Jeff assumed. In order to capture Jeff’s heart, or to entertain him, Lisa can be adventurous. However as soon as Jeff fell asleep, she picked up her Harper's Bazaar: perhaps it is always hard to change a real woman-- her true color insisted.

Photos come from www.douban.com

References: <Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window>, Edited by John Belton-- ‘The Dresses Had Told Me’, <Fashion and Femininity in Rear Window> by Sarah Street

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Head