Dress Like an L.A. Noir Star: Katherine Waterston, Faye Dunaway, Pam Grier, Jessica Rabbit, and More
Get the disarmingly seductive, sun-tinged looks of Hollywood’s best femme fatales.
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In honor of “Sunshine Noir,” the film series devoted to more recent California-set takes on the genre, from The Long Goodbye to Repo Man to To Live and Die in L.A. (screening at BAM tomorrow through December 9), we’re inspired by the most devastating actresses in the realm, from standard-setting chic Faye Dunaway opposite Jack Nicholson in Chinatown to the beguiling performance by Katherine Waterston alongside Joaquin Phoenix in a preview screening of **Paul Thomas Anderson’**s psychedelic thriller Inherent Vice.
Classic film noir conjures brooding dark-shadowed seduction, phantom gunsmoke on desolate streets, certain danger lurking around every dimly lit corner. But the genre found a second neon-tinged life on the looping roads, seedy streets, and harbored within the deep canyons of Los Angeles in more recent decades. Brought into broad daylight, the most doomed stories of betrayal and double-crossing lose the Maltese falcons and instead take on a disarmingly dappled effect—and so, of course, do the costumes of the actresses who star in them. Headed to the theater or simply wanting to channel their femme fatale style? Here, eight of our favorite standouts, and how to get the looks.
Photo: (clockwise from top left) Courtesy of Madewell; Photo: Courtesy of Ghoulardi Film Company; Courtesy of Nordstrom; Courtesy of Net-a-porter1/8Katherine Waterston in Inherent Vice
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin
Costume designer: Mark Bridges
Even though Inherent Vice isn’t officially out in theaters till December, people are already talking about Katherine Waterston’s scene-stealing performance as Shasta, the erstwhile ex-girlfriend of beach-dwelling hippie stoner P.I. Larry “Doc” Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix). In Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s seventies-set far-out hallucinogenic noir, nothing, of course, is what it seems, least of all Shasta, whose suntanned skin, citrus-hued sundresses, and California-girl convertible (accompanied by the hypnotic beat of Can’s fittingly named “Vitamin C”), all of which serve to hook Doc deeper and deeper into a bewilderingly trippy universe and darkening plot. Surely the mere sight of her must send his paranoia racing—but radiating within the ever-shifting kaleidoscopic story are simpler, first-love memories of the two of them racing barefoot through rainy L.A. streets in stripes and plaid.
Madewell Rivet Thread flannel tiltcatch shirt in hanna plaid, $165; madewell.com; Sisley Paris Radiant Glow Express Mask, $128; nordstrom.com; Rag Bone Mila cut-off denim shorts, $165; net-a-porter.com
Photo: (clockwise from top left) Photo: Photofest; Courtesy of modaoperandi.com; Courtesy of lagarconne.come; Courtesy of Hermes; Courtesy of Gucci2/8Faye Dunaway in Chinatown
Directed by Roman Polanski
Starring Jack Nicholson, John Huston
Costume designer: Anthea Sylbert
Against a backdrop of layered corruption of the water wars of the thirties, Faye Dunaway is the well-heeled wife of a prominent Los Angeles engineer, whose coolly glamorous surface hides a multitude of deep secrets. Her ensembles range from masculine and militaristic—when she first meets private investigator Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson), she’s dressed in a sharply tailored day suit and fedora, with her thirties-era finger waves—to elegantly alluring: lean silhouettes, jabot blouses, plunging V-necks. Head-to-toe white hasn t been so deceptively seductive since.
Rosie Assoulin cotton-poplin shirt, $745; modaoperandi.com; Proenza Schouler tall equestrian boot, $1,295; lagarconne.com; Hermès Toccata handkerchief, $130; hermes.com; Gucci black leather skinny belt with spur buckle, $265; gucci.com
Photo: (clockwise from top left) Photo: Everett Collection; Courtesy of intermixonline.com; Courtesy of johnlewis.com; Courtesy of Gucci; Courtesy of blair.com3/8Pam Grier in Jackie Brown
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Starring Samuel L. Jackson
Costume designer: Mary Claire Hannan
In Quentin Tarantino’s take on an Elmore Leonard novel, it’s clear that even in the most benign flight attendant uniform, Jackie Brown (played by Pam Grier) is anything but ordinary—and certainly anything but what she seems to be at the outset. No wonder she requests that her bail bondsman deliver her to a dark bar—with presence like hers, there’s no shelter in the city lights. Tough, shrewd, and sexy, she inhabits a number of calculated costume changes, from slinky red dress to the purchase of a tailored suit that plays a pivotal role in plotting her escape.
Jennifer Zeuner flat hoop earrings, $110; intermixonline.com; Gucci techno canvas duffle carry-on bag, $1,350; gucci.com; Nars Satin Lip Pencil, $28; johnlewis.com; Kangol cap, $45; blair.com
Photo: (clockwise from top left) Courtesy of southwesternjewelry.net; Courtesy of harrods.com; Photo: Photofest; Courtesy of luisaviaroma.com; Courtesy of Net-a-porter4/8Patricia Arquette in True Romance
Directed by Tony Scott
Starring Christian Slater, Dennis Hopper
Costume designer: Susan Becker
As call girl Alabama, Patricia Arquette charmingly plays the part in disheveled faux leopard print and red lipstick; what else for an impromptu first “date” with Christian Slater as Clarence, a night that begins with a kung fu triple feature and is sealed with matching tattoos? In a cast of memorably dressed and familiar characters (played by Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, James Gandolfini, Val Kilmer), it’s the cameo role of Brad Pitt as the abject stoner Floyd, forever rooted to his sofa and pipe, that provides comic relief—and a note of SoCal authenticity. And as the young lovers Clarence and Alabama make their way to L.A., could Alabama’s costume changes, from shoulder-baring tops to Western prints, bright sunglasses, and rock ’n’ roll boots, point to either of the film’s alternately fateful endings?
Anthony Skeets pretty clip earrings, $225; southwesternjewelry.net; Ralph Lauren Blue Label Glorieta leather western shirt, $1,930; harrods.com; Moschino 105mm cow-print nappa leather pumps, $696; luisaviaroma.com; Michael Kors fluted denim skirt, $750; net-a-porter.com
Photo: (Clockwise from top left) Photo: Photofest; Courtesy of johnlewis.com; Courtesy of Net-a-porter; Courtesy of asos.com; Courtesy of Selfridges.com5/8Melanie Griffith in Body Double
Directed by Brian De Palma
Starring Craig Wasson, Gregg Henry
Costume designer: Gloria Gresham
“You can’t believe everything you see,” went the tagline to this De Palma thriller, not even the most overtly suggestive outfits. Craig Wasson is an out-of-work actor who lands a housesitting gig high in the Hollywood Hills, equipped with a telescope and, so, naturally, like any voyeuristic guy having a _Rear Window–_esque moment, he trains the lens on his neighbors. And naturally, like any film noir, what appears to be a harmless striptease turns out to be . . . well, something far less harmless. Adding to the mystery and danger are Melanie Griffith’s leather-clad and lingerie looks.
Dior Diorblush, $47; johnlewis.com; I.D. Sarrieri tuberose criminelle chantilly lace and tulle bodysuit, $645; net-a-porter.com; Buffalo patent heeled pointed pumps, $161; asos.com; Wolford pure 50 black tights, $45; selfridges.com
