Saturday, November 20, 2021

Cinema Wedding Gowns: Born to Kill (1947)

I figured for Noirvember we needed a Noir wedding gown ;)


This lavish home wedding hides a secret - the groom (Lawrence Tierney) is in love with the wealthy bride's (Audrey Long) penniless sister (Claire Trevor). 


The dominate feature of this gown is its half circles that appear to be thick piping. They are everywhere on the dress. Above you see a fully lined, fitted bodice with small buttons up the front and diaphanous sleeves with the padded shoulder so typical of the 1940s. The large rounded neckline is edges with the piping loops. A simple strand of pearls graces the throat. The veil, which looks a little like a nurse cap, is also trimmed that way, with the center loop being pointed. 


In this shot we see how the tulle of the veil is attached to the headpiece. Note the loops adorning the wrist. 


A giant sash is draped around the waist of the floor-length gown. Here you can see the sleeves are gathered and puffed to the elbow - with the loop trim inside - where they become fitted to the wrist. The veil appears to be at least floor-length. 


The sash is completely trimmed with the loops. As you can see, the bow is extremely large and ends hang far down the back of the dress. You can see the loops in the sheer sleeves well in these shots.


Here is Clair Trevor as the bride's sister and Maid-of-Honor. Like the bridal gown, it too has a large rounded neckline, padded shoulders, and long sleeves, but here the similarities end. There is pleating at the neckline for a perfect fit. The bodice is decorated with sequins or beads. Her elbow-length veil sits atop a crown-shaped hat, also sparling. 


The sleeves are looser at the top and fitted at the wrist. The full tulle skirt ends at the calf. A glittering necklace and large round earrings complete the look. I wonder what color it was?

4 comments:

  1. Love this! One of my favorite film noir titles. Thanks for the close-up look at the gown, really enjoyed it.

    Best wishes,
    Laura

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  2. The bridal ensemble gives Georgia an appropriate demure look, while Helen's matron-of-honor look veers too closely to her wish to be the bride.

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