Hitchcock heroine style: from the silver screen to everyday fashion

Nov 8 2007 by Laura Davis, Liverpool Daily Post

Laura Davis updates Hitchcock’s famous look for the modern woman

ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S atmospheric movies are as well remembered for their beautiful heroines as for the dastardly villains and handsome heroes that pursued them.

Grace Kelly (Rear Window), Kim Novak (Vertigo) and Tippi Hedren (The Birds) all share a timeless elegance that often seems to have been left behind with the age of Technicolour.

Left: Amethyst Germaine dress, £129, black wool Selina coat, £169, from Hobbs, fake pearl earrings, £2, by Tu, at Sainsbury's. Right: Kiera spot jacket, £125, Kiera spot skirt, £70, from Phase Eight; diamante earrings, £3, by Tu, at Sainsburys.

This winter, however, the 1950s silhouette is back with cinched-in waists, cute little skirt suits and swing coats.

But this isn’t about playing dressing-up – modernise the look with shorter hemlines and hair colour in warmer tones than the ice blondes of the Master of Suspense’s imagination.

Left: Amethyst Germaine dress, £129, from Hobbs; Ingrid sparkle bag, £149, from LK Bennett; fake pearl earrings, £2, by Tu, at Sainsbury's. Right: Blue easy dress, £135, from Whistles; black Sienna heels, £110, from LK Bennett; diamante earrings, £3, by Tu, at Sainsbury's.

* THE wood-panelled grand boardroom of Martins Bank Building, on Water Street, is the backdrop for this week’s fashion shoot.

Designed by Herbert J Rowse, who was also behind the George’s Dock ventilation shaft, India Building and the Philharmonic Hall, it is a fine example of American-inspired Classicism.

Left: Silk bow jumper, £75, tailored bow skirt, £89.95, from Whistles; fake pearl earrings, £3, by Tu, at Sainsbury's. Right: Sylvia Donegal tweed dress, £119, from Hobbs; fake pearl earrings, £2, by Tu, at Sainsbury's.

Notes

Location: Martins Bank Building, Water Street, Liverpool

Model: Rebecca Davies of Impact Models, www.impactmodelsagency.co.uk

Stylist: Laura Davis

Photographer: Tracey O’Neill

Hair: Elaine Skidmore at Voodou, 11 Stanley Street, Liverpool, tel: 0870 8705666

Make-up: Lottie Davies, of MAC, Metquarter, Whitechapel, Liverpool

Stockists: Hobbs. LK Bennett Phase Eight and Whistles, all in Metquarter

lauradavis@dailypost.co.uk