Overview

A tribute to and examination of the contributions of costume designers to Hitchcock’s illustrious film career. With his keen artist’s eye, Alfred Hitchcock’s genius as a director lay in the visual universe he developed across a six-decade career. In the many unforgettable moments from his movies, it’s the costume that enhances the storytelling; Tippi Hedren cowering from a mass of angry birds in her torn green dress, Cary Grant in a glen-check suit as he escapes a crop duster, and Kim Novak emerging from green mist in her ghost-like gray suit. In Fashioning Hitchcock, Caroline Young details Hitchcock’s relationships with his costume designers to create an identifiable aesthetic through clothing. Using archival material, Young paints the full picture of the use of costume in Hitchcock’s movies, and his key relationships with designers, producers, and actors to delve into the visual language, the obsessions, and the quest for beauty that defined his six-decade career. While the legendary Edith Head designed twelve of his fifty-five films, Hitchcock also worked with some of the most celebrated of costume designers. But with his clear focus, from the beginning of his career Hitchcock worked hands-on to shape the style of his leading ladies, heroes and villains. For Hitchcock, clothes were a tool for suspense. In North by Northwest, Eva Marie Saint’s shawl catches on brambles as she tries to escape pursuers. Tippi Hedren’s taupe shoe slips from her pocket in Marnie in her efforts to sneak out of an office after robbing the safe. Young also touches on how Hitchcock set out to appeal to a female audience, revealing his leading ladies’ wants and desires as they navigated their place in the world. This is an essential addition to any Hitchcock fan’s bookshelf and insightful exploration of the role of costume design in filmmaking.

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Reviews

Caroline Young masterfully reveals the symbolic language of costume in Hitchcock's films, unearthing extraordinary details about the auteur's process and the designers who brought his vision to life. From Edith Head's visual genius to the power of a grey suit, Young shows how every costume choice deepened character and heightened suspense. A must-read for anyone fascinated by Hollywood's Golden Age. -- Jennifer O'Callaghan, author, ""Rear Window: The Making of a Hitchcock Masterpiece in the Hollywood Golden Age"" With a passion for fashion matched by rigorous research, Caroline Young follows Hitchcock into the fitting room and out to the soundstage to reveal how essential costuming is to the Hitchcock Touch. For fans and scholars of cinema and style, this book is a perfect fit. -- Joel Gunz, host, HitchCon International Alfred Hitchcock Conference and MacGuffin Film Club

Caroline Young masterfully reveals the symbolic language of costume in Hitchcock's films, unearthing extraordinary details about the auteur's process and the designers who brought his vision to life. From Edith Head's visual genius to the power of a grey suit, Young shows how every costume choice deepened character and heightened suspense. A must-read for anyone fascinated by Hollywood's Golden Age. -- Jennifer O'Callaghan, author, ""Rear Window: The Making of a Hitchcock Masterpiece in the Hollywood Golden Age""

Author Information

Caroline Young is an author from Edinburgh, Scotland, who specializes in film, fashion and popular culture. Her previous works include The It Girls: Glamor, Celebrity, and Scandal, Hitchcock’s Heroines, Living with Coco Chanel, Audrey in Paris, The Fabulous Frances Farquharson: The Colourful Life of an American in the Highlands, and Crazy Old Ladies: The Story of Hag Horror, which was nominated for both a Rondo Hatton Award 2023 and the 2022 Richard Wall Memorial Award.

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