[Prof. Masiello]

Why do you think the costume designer decided that Miss Crane’s bra and slip were white in the first scene but black in the later scenes?

(These are not just random costume changes.)

Please post your reply…

PS There will be more Psycho discussions once I know you have seen the film.

[,]

I think the colors are being used to show purity and being bad. White if often seen as angelic and pure, in this case we see her in a white bra in the opening of the film, The color black implying being “bad” which she is seen in a black bra after having stolen the money.

[Jennifer Apuango]

I think the costume designer decided that Miss Crane bra were white at the first scene to show the good side, honesty, and with perfection. Then later in the scene, she was wearing a black bra which means evil and bad since she stoled the money and it looked like she was escaping.

[Prof. Masiello]

That is correct, Zeest.

I wonder if the effect is subconscious on a viewer because most people probably do not pay much attention to such a detail on a conscious level.

[Prof. Masiello]

Yes, Jennifer, the colors are symbolic as you wrote.

I wonder if the effect is subconscious on a viewer because most people probably do not pay much attention to such a detail on a conscious level.

Now that I asked the question, students are thinking about it.

[Christopher Lobato]

To not reiterate what my classmates have said, I agree with their analysis. The white bra and slip are used in the scene to show Miss Crane’s pure and honest intentions and her well-intentioned relationship with Sam. I also think that the black bra, while suggesting her misdeed, also foreshadows her murder since we do see it again as Norman Bates watches Crane through the hole in the wall, and black is often associated with death.

[afrina nishat]

I also agree with my classmates because the costume designer wants to show the audiences Miss Crane’s honesty, beauty with white color bra and as well as her dishonesty, awkward side by the color of black bra. Its a art of a designer which is very wonderful.

[Jabir Alam]

I think colors often describes someone’s personality. The white bra and slip were used to show the intentions of miss crane how innocent she was in first scene white color also represents love, reverence, purity, simplicity, cleanliness, peace, humility, precision.
Later black bra was used to show her evil intentions by stealing the money and running away with it

[Prof. Masiello]

Christopher,

Thanks for your well-expressed comments.

[Prof. Masiello]

Yes, Afrina,

Costuming a film character is another way filmmakers help express their stories in ways unlike story writers —
using visual art. We saw this in the 1962 Lolita with Mrs. Haze’s leopard-print clothing.

[Anderson Uribe]

Miss Crane’s bra and slip are white when she is presumed to be ethical and moral. They are black after she steals the money and is shown to be neither. It was a missed opportunity to not have her take off her black undergarments when she flushed away her money calculations, since at this moment her ethical and moral compass start realigning.

[Ajay]

I think the costume designer decided that Miss Crane’s bra and slip were white in the first scene but black in the later scenes because Hitchcock picked that white bra at the beginning to signify her innocence. Later on, after she steals the money, we see Marion in a black bra, signifying her darker side. In the opening scene, Marion Crane is wearing a white bra because Sir Alfred Hitchcock wanted to show her as being “angelic”. After she has taken the money, the following scene has her in a black bra because now she has done something wrong and evil. Similarly, before she steals the money, she has a white purse. After she’s stolen the money, her purse is black.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 1 month ago by Ajay.

[Prof. Masiello]

Ajay,

I have to look at the purse again!

I would not use “Sir” for Alfred Hitchcock. Many people get knighted by the Queen of England, but it sounds pretentious to use the word.

I also would not call her angelic. She is a good person, but having sex without the benefit of marriage does not sound like what an angel would do. (Maybe I am old-fashioned.)

[Prof. Masiello]

I just checked, and you are absolutely correct about the purse color! I have seen this movie probably close to 100 times and never noticed her purse color. Extra credit for you, Ajay!

Come to think of it, she probably likes to match her purses with her “unmentionables.”

[Prof. Masiello]

An interesting thought, Anderson.

Another missed opportunity is the car colors. She goes from a dark car to a lighter one, where it should have been the reverse to carry on the color scheme. (And the great irony of her car switch is it seems she is trying to elude the police officer, yet he sees her switch to the other car!)