In Rear Window, Lisa Freemont wears a lot of nice clothes. Jeffries, comparatively, spends most of the movie in some color variation of the same pajamas; his housebound situation contextually creates no need for anything else. Stella undergoes a few dress changes, but they are always the same shape: nice but never fancy house dresses that fit with the style of the times while allowing movement to take on physical domestic duties. Due to her work’s needs, she never wears jewelry, and aways appears with unchanging short hair. In other words, perfect for a home nurse taking on housework. Lisa, not yet with that domestic burden, comparatively wears six significantly different outfits in style and accessories. As I will argue, these style changes coincide with her character’s evolving motivation, reflecting character dynamism that Stella does not. Though her character retains a keen sense for glamorous fashion throughout, her outfits become increasingly “practical” for solving a case, reflecting her growing involvement through visuals alone. For length purposes, this post will focus on her initial outfit, her third green-and-white outfit, and her floral dress which at first seems to break the pattern of steady progression, but instead reflects a choice to increase tension rather than signal character reversion. Her outfits always mean something, and this mostly tracks her development.
In Lisa’s introduction, we see her in close-up, only zooming out to reveal her full outfit once Jeffries asks jokingly: “Who are you?” (Rear Window, 00:16:40). Who she is, we see, is a woman with elaborate black sandal heels, a flattering but not “vulgar” V-neck black top, complete with a voluminous white skirt- the biggest her skirt size will ever get. She also enters in a white shawl, the thinness of which makes it impractical for anything other than decoration, showing us that this is not a woman who works with her hands even tangentially like Stella. Her traditional 1950s glamourous wave hairstyle and her pearl matching jewelry conveys both elegance and money-someone dressing to be looked at, not to do.
In contrast, her first outfit after fully committing to the case signals the change in its increasingly practicality, albeit remaining glamourous than Stella’s. Her waves have now been pinned into an elegant but practical bun; Jeffries even calls attention to the change by asking about the change (01:06:21). She still wears all her pearl jewelry- with even her bracelets now having some sort of locks attached that perhaps signals her dedication to the case- but her blouse and pencil skirt are now more like Stella’s form fitting but loose enough style. Her shoes are also still high heels, but without the elaborate intricacies of her first pair. In this scene, the simplicity makes her look like a very glamorous office worker, which makes sense, as this is her first outfit when dressing to work on the case. Aside from her last outfit with pants, this would probably be the most practical outfit for the infiltrating work she does in the following scene- less to grab onto or catch in something.
And so, Lisa’s next floral, flowing dress with hair down and stylized once more when infiltrating the apartment seems to contradict her previous growth. Practically, her outfit has more to grab onto if caught running away- which happens exactly. But when Thorwald discovers and attacks Lisa, her loosened blonde hair flashing across the screen even in the dark emphasizes the threat more than a tight bun would allowing (1:41:00). Similarly, Lisa’s digging up of the flower bed in her floral-patterned dress- her only pattern ever worn- to find body sublimely creates linkage and emphasizes the danger she faces that explodes when caught by the murderer. After all, Lisa’s solo infiltration of the murderer’s apartment is the bravest action in the film; her character has not regressed for that reason. This outfit, however, misdirects the viewer in thinking she might, and the impracticalness and subtle cues ratchet more tension in her bravery than otherwise than her pre- or proceeding outfit would.
As such, it seems by the end that those clothing choices will not be made again. We last see a de-accessorized Lisa in sensible loafers and pants, presumably ready for adventure. But her hair is still down and glamorous- thus signaling evolution rather than rebirth. Even so, her changing outfits reflect a dynamism in her character’s focus, and the one time that pattern breaks occurs when the film wants to heighten tension rather than signal regression.
Work Cited:
Rear Window. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, performances by Jimmy Stewart, Grace Kelly. Thelma Ritter, and Wendell Corey, Paramount Pictures, 1954.
I think you do an interesting job here of analyzing Lisa’s outfits in Rear Window. I really like how you bring attention to her jewelry having locks on it. I think it is also interesting to look at her outfits changing as a way for her to prove to Jefferies that she is more than she seems to be. The black dress she wears when the audience first meets Lisa is the most elegant outfit we see her in. At this point, she is trying to show Jefferies how glamorous she is. This outfit contrasted with the last one we see her in where she is reading “Beyond the High Himalayas” until she notices that Jefferies is asleep and then switches to a fashion magazine shows that maybe her own personal style has not changed be she is forcefully changing it for Jefferies.
I really loved this discussion of costume in Rear Window, specifically how you track the evolving complexity of Lisa’s outfits. The particularly enjoyed your thought on how her floral outfit connects her to the murder. In that first scene, I noticed that Lisa is decked out in accessories – gloves, a shawl, earrings. I also noticed that she begins to take off these items while she sets up the dinner for Jeffries, signaling the beginning of her transformation to something more muted. What does it mean that she takes off these accessories around hum? Furthermore, do you see her transformation as becoming less feminine, moving from poofy skirts to pants? Is she sacrificing a part of herself for Jeffries’ happiness, or simply evolving for herself?