Vitals

Cary Grant as T.R. Devlin, American government agent

Rio de Janeiro, Spring 1946

Film: Notorious
Release Date: September 6, 1946
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Costume Design: Edith Head (gowns only)

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Released 80 years ago this September, Notorious marked the second of four screen collaborations between Alfred Hitchcock and Cary Grant—who was born 122 years ago today on January 18, 1904. Written by Ben Hecht, Notorious is vintage Hitch at full boil, blending noir-tinged espionage with a romance daring enough to taunt the censors, all delivered with the Master of Suspense’s unmistakable mix of wit, menace, and nerve-shredding tension.

Notorious reaches a boiling point during a party hosted by the urbane yet dangerous Alex Sebastian (Claude Rains) and his new wife Alicia (Ingrid Bergman)—in fact a honeyspot spy recruited by American agent T.R. Devlin (Grant) to seduce her way into Sebastian’s circle of German emigrés hiding in post-World War II Brazil.

Aware that Sebastian’s secrets may center around a specific bottle of wine shelved in the cellar of his “jolly little cottage” in Rio, Alicia slyly lifts the key from her husband’s chain, revealed during cinematographer Ted Tetzlaff’s now-famous tracking shot that begins high with the full scope of the party, slowly zooming in on the Unica key flashing between Alicia’s fidgeting fingers as she anxiously awaits Devlin’s arrival.

 

---

What’d He Wear?

“We expect to see him in a tuxedo,” writes Richard Torresgrossa in Cary Grant: A Celebration of Style, adding that “it’s a CG trademark, like Superman’s cape.” T.R. Devlin doesn’t need to be faster than a speeding bullet… just a janitor, cleaning up the ore that spilled from one of the broken wine bottles in Sebastian’s cellar before his nibs himself descends onto the scene.

Devlin strolls into the party wearing a three-piece dinner suit made from worsted barathea wool in either black or midnight-blue. It was tailored to align with postwar fashion trends that emphasized bolder silhouettes, including wider shoulders, full chest, and suppressed waist, slightly flaring back out around the jacket’s ventless skirt and down through wide trousers for an athletic silhouette—which also flattered Grant by balancing his disproportionally larger head and neck, which the actor was self-conscious about.

The single-breasted dinner jacket has broad, sharp satin silk-faced peak lapels, straight jetted hip pockets, and a welted breast pocket, which Devlin dresses with an elegantly simple white display kerchief. The sleeves are finished with four black plastic buttons, matching the single button over Grant’s waist.

The “black tie” dress code is named such for the black silk bow ties that are requisite for semi-formal evening attire. Devlin’s bow tie is crafted from a black satin to match the jacket facings and trouser galon, in a smaller butterfly (thistle) shape.

Devlin wears a white cotton dress shirt with the classic textured marcella (piqué) collar, front bib, and cuffs. The spread collar occasionally struggles to restrain itself within the waistcoat and jacket, which could look imperfect in some exaggerated examples (Al Pacino attending Lee Strasberg’s 75th birthday party in 1976 comes to mind) but is more easily forgiven with Grant. Two small square studs gleam from the front bib, matching the larger square cuff links fastening his double (French) cuffs.

Devlin’s single-breasted waistcoat would have been made from worsted barathea to match his dinner jacket and trousers. The low V-shaped neckline closely follows the lines of his buttoned dinner jacket to keep it barely perceptible, by design. Most evening waistcoats cut expressly for black tie during this era were made with a few small buttons densely spaced in the front above the notched bottom. The lapels would either be peaked like his jacket or an elegantly traditional shawl collar.

The tops of his forward-pleated trousers are effectively covered by his buttoned jacket and waistcoat, but they’re almost certainly rigged with either side adjusters or hardware to be held up by suspenders (braces). Side pockets are accessible behind the seams, which are trimmed in satin with double galon down each leg to the plain-hemmed bottoms.

Devlin’s well-shined black leather plain-toe oxford shoes have been the conventional footwear with black tie for over a century, appropriately worn here with black dress socks.

Devlin enters the party carrying a Chesterfield coat, which a butler helps him put on over his tuxedo before leaving. The dark wool is almost certainly a somber shade along the charcoal-to-black spectrum (or possibly navy), cut in the traditional configuration of a 6×2-button front, peak lapels, and a single vent. The coat is otherwise styled with a welted breast pocket, straight flapped pockets positioned low on each hip, and three decorative buttons on each cuff.

The parallels between Cary Grant’s effortlessly stylish spy and the James Bond films that would follow decades later make Devlin’s dinner suit a natural fit for Matt Spaiser’s comprehensive Bond Suits blog, which describes Grant’s screen-worn ensemble as “a textbook example of classic black tie”.

---

What to Imbibe

“Let’s hope the liquor doesn’t run out and start him down the cellar for more,” Devlin observes as he and Alicia discuss their plan to search Sebastian’s wines for clues… though that doesn’t stop them from each taking a coupe of champagne from the serving table.

Among the sweet Quarts de Chaume white wines and Napoleón brandy listed in his cellar, Sebastian’s inventory includes bottles of Piper-Heidsieck champagne of 1926, 1930, 1938, and 1940 vintages. (You’re in luck if you still want to drink like a postwar spy; this Cuvée Brut is still widely available today!)

Of course, the most notorious wine bottles in this scene are those dressed in labels for the fictional “Francois Penot & Cie” vineyard, specifically a 1934 Grands Vins de Bourgogne Pommard. It’s within these bottles that Sebastian is storing the illicit uranium ore, as Devlin discovers when he accidentally sends one tumbling to the ground.

---

How to Get the Look

Unlike Derek Flint’s distinctively creative approach to black tie in Our Man Flint featured in my latest post, T.R. Devlin roots his dark three-piece dinner suit solely in tasteful tradition—never straying from the “rules” of black tie, but wearing it in such a manner that visually distinguishes him from every other tuxedo-clad man at the party… and not just because he’s Cary Grant. (Though that helps.)

• Black worsted barathea wool dinner suit:
  • Single-button dinner jacket with satin-faced peak lapels, welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, 4-button cuffs, and ventless back
  • Single-breasted formal waistcoat
  • Forward-pleated trousers with self-suspended waistband, side pockets, satin double side galon, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• White cotton evening shirt with marcella/piqué spread collar, front bib, and double/French cuffs
  • Square shirt studs
  • Square cuff links
• Black silk butterfly/thistle-shaped bow tie
• Black leather plain-toe oxford shoes
• Black dress socks
• White pocket square
• Dark wool Chesterfield coat with peak lapels, 6×2-button double-breasted configuration, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and single vent

---

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

---

The Quote

I knew her before you, loved her before you, only I’m not as lucky as you.