The Sensuality of Noir

This year I've been immersed in costume designing  a TNT series called "Mob City", which centers around Los Angeles in 1947. The series is based on the book "LA Noir" by John Buntin, and  details the true accounts of police and gangster corruption in Los Angeles from the 1920's-1960's. The pilot script was written and directed by Frank Darabont.

The beautiful clothing style of the 1940's era have always fascinated me.  Fabric was rationed during the war, so people learned to make do with less. Creative details using minimal fabric brought forth some beautiful designs.  Over the years, I  have collected several pieces .

The film noir look of the 1940's was not driven by the latest fashion trends, (unless the scripted character called for it, and that was usually reserved for a femme fatale or a murderous gangster). For the most part noir films were shot in black and white.  However there were a precious  few  shot in color  which have been given the name "sunshine noir".  These stories typically revolve around the average working stiff  who is often driven to corruption by a femme fatale.   Details such as the texture of the fabric, the shadow of a hat, or the slit on the skirt are featured in those films. The overall look is very simple, and even at times quite bleak.

For the captivating pilot script of "Mob City",  I spent one hundred days and nights captivated in the world of  noir.  Long before my official prep time, I began my research and savored this extra time.  The more I read and researched,  the more I was drawn in. The sensuality of the clothes and style began to flow through my veins, and I became addicted .

Since we have not yet aired, I can't reveal any of my designs . But I can show some of my inspiration. Shooting a noir look in color is challenging, as a single wrong hue can throw off the entire look. As a native to Los Angeles I decided to use the iconic Malibu tile as my color board. The beautiful hand painted cuerda seca tiles were frequently used in Spanish style homes throughout the city during the early 20th century.

    A selection of Malibu tile

                                             Examples of modern "Sunshine Noir" films

                   Chinatown with Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway

                                  Body Heat with Kathleen Turner

The  design of evening dresses from the 1930's and 1940's  are mysterious and alluring, yet not overly revealing. Noir has a smokey sensuality to it and the clothes highlight that. The slim cut dresses ( bumps and lumps  smoothed out by the proper under garments) glide over the body.  When a woman walks  around in one of these dresses, the fabric moves around her with a graceful fluidity.

While filming our nightclub scenes for Mob City, the men on the set kept commenting how beautiful all the women looked.  Today many of the club dresses are cheap short tight knits that reveal every body flaw a woman can have from back fat and bellies to chubby thighs and knees.  These kind of stretch dresses do nothing to compliment a figure. The dresses of the 1940's were designed to compliment the body.

Then "Femme Fatale*  Veronica Lake     Now- We have looks from The Kardashians and Snooki

Jessica Rabbit -the ultimate femme fatale

*A femme fatale ( /ˌfɛm fəˈtæl/ or /ˌfɛm fəˈtɑːl/; French: [fam fatal]) is a mysterious and seductive woman^[1] whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art. Her ability to entrance and hypnotize her victim with a spell was in the earliest stories seen as being literally supernatural; hence, the femme fatale today is still often described as having a power akin to an enchantress, seductress, vampire, witch, or demon.

 My next Blog: More on the style of Noir