Deconstruction - Costume

Costume Deconstruction

In order to begin organising costume for our production, I have decided to look at the typical costumes of film noir characters and what they suggest.

Females

A key element of the film noir genre is the femme fatale, dangerous and seductive women who often enjoy creating danger for the protagonist. They wear heavy amounts of red and black, red symbolising passion and danger with black symbolising mystery and the unknown.

The dresses are seductive and often form fitting which means the character is able to tempt the protagonist into dangerous situations. They are sometimes shown wearing accessories such as floppy hats and long gloves, items seen as very glamorous during the 50s when the genre was at its peak. They are also often seen wearing large, gaudy items of jewellery embellished with diamonds and other jewels.

The hair is almost always tightly curled, and either long and flowing or in an elegant up-do. It's also common for femme fatales to don a veil or other hair piece if not already wearing a hat.

Bold, sultry make up is used to highlight areas of the face. As it's in black and white, the darker the colours used the more contrast there will be and therefore the more attention that is brought to the desired areas such as the eyes and the lips.

Males

An effective film noir look for men is very simple to achieve as the main features are simply an old fashioned fedora with a thick band around it paired with a trench coat. These items are used almost universally in film noir for men as, when worn in the right way, can perfectly depict either a detective or a gang member - the two most common protagonists of the genre. 

A smart shirt and tie will also be needed and will be easily accessible to us. Braces are also a common feature and could be shown if our character removes the coat at any point. 

The shirt and tie are appropriate for the character's line of work, and the fedora along with an oversized coat create mystery and to some extent conceal the character's identity, making them the perfect costume.

Overall, the male costume is far easier to achieve and for our production we will need to put a lot more effort into the femme fatale costume as it's more intricate and contains more key features.