Costume & Clothes Motif
Margo’s lack of interest in appearances can also be noted in the way that costume is used in the film. When Davis was preparing for the part, Mankiewicz gave her a hook to hang the character on – Marg “ is the kind of dame who would treat her mink coat like a poncho”. And this informs the wonderful gesture she makes when leaving for the airport, as she grabs her mink coat from the floor. In the cocktail party scene, Margo wears the film’s most memorable dress, a dress that famously slipped off Davis’s shoulders due to a mistake in the tailoring process but which Davis was able to make work for her – with the off-shoulder effect being both sexy and ever so slightly disheveled, especially as it slips slightly askew as the evening progresses.
It has been pointed out that Eve and Margo’s attitude to what they wear lies at the heart of their characters and their characters’ awareness of their place in the world. In the scene in the dressing room, with her lost diamond earring and crooked seams, we are made aware of Margo’s casual attitude to the luxurious trappings of success. She is happy to appear to the world stripped of all adornment: Makeup, hair, clothes and jewelry. At this point before Eve has begun to weave her evil magic, Margo is someone who is sure of her place in the world, possibly even a tad complacent—with the exception of Bill. But despite her insecurity about her age and about the attraction she holds for Bull, she is not prepared to pretend to Bill that she is anything she is other than what and who she is – “a junkyard”.
In contrast, Eve is manufactured character, and her clothes are very much a part of this process of self-fashioning – what she wears is orchestrated with care and attention to detail. Think about the absurdly dowdy raincoat and hat that she wears every night when waiting for Margo – carefully designed to generate the greatest pathos, to suggest complete self-effacement (humility). This outfit is a disguise, designed to draw attention to the humble persona Eve has created for her initial introduction to Margo’s world. It works, as Margo confesses to Bill, to make her feel protective towards Eve. Margo describes Eve as “ a lamb loose in our big stone jungle” but, after discovering Eve’s fangs, realizes she has always been a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Eve’s desire to be Margo rather than to be Margo’s friend is gradually revealed through her wearing of Margo’s clothes. In a moment brimming with significance, Margo catches her with her Aged in Wood costume, imagining the effect she would – or in fact will – have, wearing Margo’s costume while playing Margo’s part. As even remakes herself as Margo, she also remakes Margo’s cast off clothes to fit her as if they were her own. When Eve comes into Margo’s bedroom wearing a smart suit that Margo has passed on to her, she insists the Margo’s’ acknowledge the way she has transformed the suit – with “a little taking in her and letting out there” – and that she has transformed herself. She needs the success of this makeover confirmed by the woman whose life has become a prototype for her own.
Eve moves further into Margo’s territory when she tries to seduce Bill after her triumphant debut. This is a curious echo of the first scene in the dressing room where Margo has stripped herself free of the character she has been playing. Now, it is Eve who has just come off stage but she is still wearing Margo’s costume and her wig; it is as if she is hoping that Bill will accept her as a replacement Margo. It is only after Bill has rejected her as an inauthentic version of Margo that she strips off the wig and tries to destroy it in fury.
When Eve appears at the Cub Room and delivers her ultimatum to Karen, she is no longer trying to emulate Margo but, instead, wears a dress the emphasizes the youth that will make her the perfect Cora. The funeral costume she wears on the day of the New Haven premiere is more difficult to decipher, but possibly refers to the fact that she has been playing the role of war widow, a pretense that Addison is about to uncover. The floating gown she wears to accept the Sarah Siddons Award accentuates her youth and makes her stand out amongst the elderly gentlemen who surround her, but the cloak that she wears over her shoulders brings to in the image of a prizefighter or alternatively, royalty. This cloak is the last thing we see, worn by Phoebe, and endlessly reflected. (1)
Margo’s lack of interest in appearances can also be noted in the way that costume is used in the film. When Davis was preparing for the part, Mankiewicz gave her a hook to hang the character on – Marg “ is the kind of dame who would treat her mink coat like a poncho”. And this informs the wonderful gesture she makes when leaving for the airport, as she grabs her mink coat from the floor. In the cocktail party scene, Margo wears the film’s most memorable dress, a dress that famously slipped off Davis’s shoulders due to a mistake in the tailoring process but which Davis was able to make work for her – with the off-shoulder effect being both sexy and ever so slightly disheveled, especially as it slips slightly askew as the evening progresses.
It has been pointed out that Eve and Margo’s attitude to what they wear lies at the heart of their characters and their characters’ awareness of their place in the world. In the scene in the dressing room, with her lost diamond earring and crooked seams, we are made aware of Margo’s casual attitude to the luxurious trappings of success. She is happy to appear to the world stripped of all adornment: Makeup, hair, clothes and jewelry. At this point before Eve has begun to weave her evil magic, Margo is someone who is sure of her place in the world, possibly even a tad complacent—with the exception of Bill. But despite her insecurity about her age and about the attraction she holds for Bull, she is not prepared to pretend to Bill that she is anything she is other than what and who she is – “a junkyard”.
In contrast, Eve is manufactured character, and her clothes are very much a part of this process of self-fashioning – what she wears is orchestrated with care and attention to detail. Think about the absurdly dowdy raincoat and hat that she wears every night when waiting for Margo – carefully designed to generate the greatest pathos, to suggest complete self-effacement (humility). This outfit is a disguise, designed to draw attention to the humble persona Eve has created for her initial introduction to Margo’s world. It works, as Margo confesses to Bill, to make her feel protective towards Eve. Margo describes Eve as “ a lamb loose in our big stone jungle” but, after discovering Eve’s fangs, realizes she has always been a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Eve’s desire to be Margo rather than to be Margo’s friend is gradually revealed through her wearing of Margo’s clothes. In a moment brimming with significance, Margo catches her with her Aged in Wood costume, imagining the effect she would – or in fact will – have, wearing Margo’s costume while playing Margo’s part. As even remakes herself as Margo, she also remakes Margo’s cast off clothes to fit her as if they were her own. When Eve comes into Margo’s bedroom wearing a smart suit that Margo has passed on to her, she insists the Margo’s’ acknowledge the way she has transformed the suit – with “a little taking in her and letting out there” – and that she has transformed herself. She needs the success of this makeover confirmed by the woman whose life has become a prototype for her own.
Eve moves further into Margo’s territory when she tries to seduce Bill after her triumphant debut. This is a curious echo of the first scene in the dressing room where Margo has stripped herself free of the character she has been playing. Now, it is Eve who has just come off stage but she is still wearing Margo’s costume and her wig; it is as if she is hoping that Bill will accept her as a replacement Margo. It is only after Bill has rejected her as an inauthentic version of Margo that she strips off the wig and tries to destroy it in fury.
When Eve appears at the Cub Room and delivers her ultimatum to Karen, she is no longer trying to emulate Margo but, instead, wears a dress the emphasizes the youth that will make her the perfect Cora. The funeral costume she wears on the day of the New Haven premiere is more difficult to decipher, but possibly refers to the fact that she has been playing the role of war widow, a pretense that Addison is about to uncover. The floating gown she wears to accept the Sarah Siddons Award accentuates her youth and makes her stand out amongst the elderly gentlemen who surround her, but the cloak that she wears over her shoulders brings to in the image of a prizefighter or alternatively, royalty. This cloak is the last thing we see, worn by Phoebe, and endlessly reflected. (1)