Uncertain Tippy: Hitchcock's Subconscious Influence

Tippy dress from Anthro paired for styling purposes with:

Moth cropped bow cardi from Anthro

Marc by Marc Jacobs mary jane pumps

Kate Spade tote

I am so grateful to Laura of Anthro Closet Chaos for putting out an APB on this Anna Sui Hitchcock-inspired dress called the Tippy. I never saw it in my local stores so by the time it went on sale, I was clueless about sizing. But I wanted it desperately! And I tracked down a size 6 thanks to reader, Melanie. Thank you both!

I have been a major fan of Alfred Hitchcock's work since I was a child, sneaking late night episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents on Nick at Nite (back when they played television classics from the 50s and 60s). My brother and I consumed and obsessed over the popular canon of his cinematic creations as teenagers. And I studied the psychoanalytic theories that influenced the director as a graduate student. A few years ago I was gifted a Hitchcock box set from my parents. It allowed me to see a bunch of works with which I was previously unfamiliar. And although I grew to adore some of the lesser known movies, I still love the cult classics.

In fact, I worry that my love for Hitchcock and his masterpiece of special effects, The Birds has colored how I see this dress. Such an influence could be more powerful than sale goggles. It's silly and short-sighted to buy something based on the intellectual and pop cultural associations it evokes for me. Sure, I've mused before that materiality is more meaningful than the mere acquisition of stuff. But I am not so certain that this dress is the right fit for me, despite its evocations. So opinions and yays or nays are welcome! This was a pricier piece than I usually buy (even on sale), during a period of relative fiscal austerity. Help me answer: Do I like this dress only because I like thinking about the film?

Hitchcock's The Birds is a remarkably misogynist take on the shifting norms of gender and courtship at the mid-century. Anxieties over the meaning of masculinity, if and when a woman aggressively pursues a suitor (in the context of heterosexual relationships) permeate the script, which was based on a novella by Daphne du Maurier. Ultimately our beautiful, confident, modern heroine (played by Tippy Hedron, after which this dress was named) is reduced and quite literally henpecked to near oblivion. By the film's end, the audience is left to presume that the "natural" order of things (in the gendered world, where femininity caves into submission and masculinity enjoys supremacy) has prevailed. The woman has been "put in her place" by nature's revolt against human progress. It is disturbing and powerful to witness. To read about Hitchcock's films and gender, check out The Women Who Knew Too Much: Hitchcock and Feminist Theory.

I fell in love with this dress because I was already in love with the film. Then I saw it looking amazing on some of my favorite bloggers! Help me decide what to do. And be sure to check out how those bloggers wear it! See Laura wear the Tippy here. See Becca here. And see Anjali here.

Movie March: Stylish Films Make Me Yearn for a More Stylish Life

March weather might offer the hypothetical promise of sunny and warm afternoons, but more often, March delivers the leftover bitter cold of February. For some, this is a problem. For me it means more time to wear my favorite winter coats, thick tights, and warm scarves. It also offers a few more weeks to nest and take in some movies.

Films are often a fantastic source of style inspiration. The streamlined sheath dresses and slick updos of Tippi Hedren in Alfred Hitchcock's classic, The Birds makes me long for platinum blonde hair, the perfect frame shaped handbag, and a mint green dress suit. I often gravitate toward pieces that allow me to recreate or at least pay homage to some of my favorite iconic looks from classic films. But these looks don't always come from the most critically acclaimed, intellectual films. Often they come from the films I adored as a child.

When I was very young, my favorite of the Disney films was Alice in Wonderland. I adored Alice's timeless outfit of the blue fit and flare, peter-pan collared dress with a crisp white apron, tights, and black mary janes. The search for the perfect fit and flare, peter pan collared dress still consumes me, but in the meanwhile, I found this blue A.P.C. pleated number.

In the late 1980s, I became obsessed with the movie, Troop Beverly Hills. In a pivotal scene, Jenny Lewis and her troop gal pals staged a fashion show where they modernized their uniform to great effect. This was only after Shelly Long's character (the troop leader) had her uniform completely redesigned as you can see in the screen cap sequence below:

I think part of why I became consumed by this Marc by Marc Jacobs Geo Gems Shantung dress was that it reminded me of a modernized girl scout uniform.

In the 90s my favorite films also included some of my favorite stylish looks. Specifically: Cameron Crowe's movie, Singles, about twenty-somethings and the grunge scene in Seattle and Amy Heckerling's modernization of the Shakespearean classic, Emma, with Clueless. Those will be tackled in my next Movie March update! Thank you for reading!