1940s Character Designs for 'The Lady in White' (Major Project)

What has been a challenge with this project is understanding the fasion from the 1940s and shopping for the right look before sketching out the characters in their outfits. I intended to choose outfits that were significantly 'noir-esque' when it came to semiotics and associating certain looks with these films.

Styling the female character required a fair bit of research when considering her slightly provokative nature when wanting to win over the attention of the engauged man. The frock used in the sketch was chosen to elaborate her chest area to suit her presentable but flirtatious attributes. Her design is intended to reflect the vulnerablilty seen in Dorothy from David Lynch's 'Blue Velvet' (1986) whose character is broken and corrupt from the abuse she endures in the film. I want to sustain a similar representation of a broken character that tries to fix herself by telling the truth in the letter and leaving him behind.

Reference images for female character design

The male character, though dressed in a rather generic suit, the trousers cut from the 1940s fashion tended to be designed as slightly oversized around the ankles. Of course what's missing from the sketch is his bowler hat, which again is almost essential when it comes to the crime/noir mise-en-scene conventions.