Yesterday HE reader Markus Ponto claimed that James Stewart‘s suit in Vertigo “was NEVER brown….it was always brownish violet or brownish purple.” This shot was directly scanned from a 1958 dye transfer print with zero color correction. You can’t really savor the true color of any fabric unless you see it in sunlight, but I can discern no eggplant/aubergine tint of any kind.

The brown suit that launched a thousand ships.

Ponto allowed that while Stewart’s suit is not brown, his hat is. Got that, film students? Celebrated wardrobe person Edith Head, who always knew exactly what she wanted, decided that Stewart’s hat should very faintly clash with the suit. Costumer: “But Miss Head, I can make an aubergine-tinted brown hat as well…really, it’s not a problem.” Head: “You’re not listening, Paul. I want audiences to feel off-balance while watching this film, and one of the ways I’ve decided to implement this feeling is to make sure that the brown hat slightly disagrees with the suit.”