Tippi Hedren Marnie - Her Stunning 1960s Fashion
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Tippi Hedren Marnie, the movie synopsis, and all of Tippi Hedren’s stunning 1960s fashion designed by Edith Head.
This post is all about Tippi Hedren Marnie, the storyline and her 1960s fashion
Marnie movie synopsis
Marnie 1964, is a psychological thriller starring the gorgeous Tippi Hedren and the equally gorgeous Sean Connery.
Tippi Hedren plays Margaret “Marnie” Edgar, a compulsive thief with a mysterious background.
Sean Connery plays Mark Rutland, the charming employer who falls in love with her.
When he catches her stealing, he gives her the choice of marrying him or being turned over to the Police.
The storyline is based on the novel Marnie by Winston Graham.
What was Marnie's trauma?
Spoiler alert!
Marnie's trauma came from her childhood.
Her mother had been a prostitute when she was a young girl.
One of her mother's clients tries to comfort her during a storm, and she doesn't like his touch.
When her mother gets angry, things turn violent and Marnie ends up killing the man with a fire poker.
She doesn't remember this traumatic event, but still recoils from the touch of a man without knowing why.
Marnie and Hitchcock's Method
Alfred Hitchcock was a master director.
The audience was his focus, and he would use everything in his power as director to engage the audience.
He would use experimental camera techniques, and of course, color and fashion to portray emotions or a certain feeling.
He was also known for often using a MacGuffin technique to move the plots of his films along.
In Marnie, Hitchcock used extreme closeups for the romance scenes between Marnie and Mark.
He used the color red to show when Marnie was trigger to having a reaction to an item that reminded her of her past.
And of course, he used fashion and color throughout the film to help portray Marnie's character and to set a mood to the film.
Tippi Hedren Marnie Fashion
Edith Head was once again the costume designer for the film.
She also dressed Tippi Hedren in her first Hitchcock film, The Birds.
Similar to the famous suit that she wore in The Birds, Tippi Hedren wears green often throughout Marnie.
According to Edith Head: The Fifty-year career of Hollywood’s Greatest Costume Designer Hitchcock had mapped out all the colors for Tippi Hedren’s wardrobe ahead of shooting the film.
He also wanted there to be a contrast in the clothes that she wore before getting married (muted, trying to blend in) versus after she gets married (no need to blend in anymore).
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Tippi Hedren Marnie 1960s Fashion - Green Suit
Marnie opens up with a man Strutt, angrily saying he’s been robbed by his employee.
We see Sean Connery’s character Mark Rutland who is a business associate there listening to the drama and remarking that he remembered her as being “the brunette with the legs.”
Hitchcock then switches to a view of Tippi Hedren’s legs as she walks in a green skirt suit carrying her luggage after having just pulled off another ‘job.’ (she actually does have nice legs)
Tippi Hedren’s character Marnie wears a green skirt suit accessorized with white gloves and a green scarf.
Pale pink, almond shaped nails also go well with the her green suit.
Margaret Edgar “Marnie” switches her social security card after robbing her employer.
We love the green 1960s style suit that Tippi Hedren wears in this scene, accessorized with a green scarf around the neck.
Simple and classy.
Tippi Hedren Marnie 1960s Fashion - Pants and Sweater
After changing her social security card and bleaching her hair from a dark brunette to a light blonde, Marnie then drives out to a stable to ride her beloved horse “Forio.”
Tippi Hedren’s character Marnie wears tan high-waisted slacks, a matching sweater, brown gloves and a brown belt to go horse-back riding.
Isn’t this a classy outfit that would look just as stylish today?
Tippi Hedren Marnie 1960s Fashion - Green Suit
After riding her horse, Marnie then goes to visit her mother.
Her mother is babysitting a little girl and painstakingly brushes her hair, making Marnie jealous of her.
In an attempt to win her affection, she gives her mother a new fur cuff, presumably from some of the money she just stole.
There are red flowers in a vase that set her off emotionally, and this is the first scene that we begin to see that she has some psychological issues.
While taking a nap, she also begins to have a nightmare where she hears knocking and her mother gets her out of bed.
Tippi Hedren’s character Marnie is again wearing a green suit, this one a darker green to visit her mother.
Check out the yellow fridge and old tv in the background!
Again, we see Tippi Hedren in green, darker this time, but still very flattering.
Tippi Hedren Marnie 1960s Fashion - Trench Coat
In the next scene, with her hair dyed a darker shade, we see Marnie crossing the street with a newspaper under her arm to search for another job.
She sees an advertisement for a bookkeeping position at Rutland & Co.
Tippi Hedren’s character Marnie is wearing a tan trenchcoat over what seems to be another skirt suit, accessorized by a brown and white scarf and brown gloves.
Tippi Hedren Marnie 1960s Fashion - Gray Suit
Marnie sits in the office and waits for an interview at Rutland & Co.
That’s right, Rutland as in Mark Rutland, Sean Connery’s character who had seen her in her last office and was there when her employer just found out he’d been robbed.
He recognizes her after a few minutes and has his associate hire her even though she doesn’t have all the proper references.
She applies as “Mary Grey” a widow looking for hard work to keep herself busy.
Tippi Hedren’s character Marnie is wearing a tan suit over a white blouse and accessorized with white gloves. Notice the muted brown color of her clothes as part of Hitchcock’s attempt to make her character “blend in.”
We’ll see this same suit again later on in the movie.
Tippi Hedren Marnie 1960s Fashion - Blouses and Sweaters
Now that she has the new job, we cycle through several work outfits, always some sort of blouse and skirt, always in muted, neutral colors.
Again, she’s trying not to attract attention as she both doesn’t like attention from men, plus she’s on the run from robbing previous employers.
It doesn’t take Marnie long to notice where the money is kept in a safe, and where the combination is to the safe.
It also doesn’t take Mark Rutland (Sean Connery) long to ask her to work overtime and then strike up a romance.
While working in his office a thunderstorm starts outside and freaks her out…again we get a glimpse of some of her underlying psychological issues.
Tippi Hedren Marnie 1960s Fashion - Sweater and Trench coat
While driving her home after the thunderstorm, Mark finds out that Marnie is partial to horses and takes her to the race track.
While there she mentions that she wants to see a certain horse that she saw train as a 2 year old.
But then she gets triggered again by the jockey wearing red and wants to leave right away.
Tippi Hedren’s character Marnie wears a brown sweater when she tops off with her trench coat when they leave…again, more muted tones for her character.
Tippi Hedren Marnie 1960s Fashion - Suit
Tippi Hedren’s character Marnie wears her gray suit again, this time out to visit Mark’s father and and sister-in-law.
He introduces her to his family as Mary Grey.
Things are staring to get serious between her and Mark and she doesn’t like it.
It sets her off to steal again.
Tippi Hedren Marnie 1960s Fashion - Green Coat
Marnie waits in the women’s bathroom until everyone leaves the office then sneaks out into the office.
She uses the key she took from her co-workers purse to open the drawer that has the safe combination.
It’s fast work to open the safe and fill up her purse with money from the safe.
On the way out of the office, she gets startled by the maid coming in to clean and has to take off her shoes in order to sneak past.
Tippi Hedren’s character Marnie is wearing a green coat over a brown skirt with brown gloves and tan pumps to rob the safe.
Tippi Hedren Marnie 1960s Fashion - Riding Outfit
With her hair back to blonde, Marnie once again goes out to her stable to ride her horse.
She stops abruptly when she sees Mark Rutland step out in front of her.
He successfully tracked her down, having remembered she saw that horse at the race-track train as a two year old, he searched for stables near the area and after some time happened on the one where she kept her horse.
Tippi Hedren’s character Marnie is wearing a yellow sweater and tan slacks for her afternoon horseback riding.
Tippi Hedren Marnie 1960s Fashion - Green Suit
Back at her hotel room, Marnie angrily packs her things as Mark quizzes her down.
Once he had found out that she was gone, he had known instantly she had stolen money.
He had to replace the money she had taken so nobody from the office knew.
He then tells her that he knows about her previous employer and that she’ll have to choose between marrying him or going to jail.
He sarcastically asks if she was stealing the money to help a sick mother, but she tells him that she has nobody, that her parents died when she was young.
He now also knows her real name - Margaret “Marnie” Edgar. No more Mary Grey.
Tippi Hedren’s character Marnie is again wearing the muted green suit we saw at the beginning of the film.
Tippi Hedren Marnie 1960s Fashion - Gray Suit
Choosing to marry him rather than to go to jail, Marnie and Mark are married within the week at a small ceremony at his house.
Tippi Hedren’s character Marnie is wearing a tan suit with fur accents for her wedding dress and a matching hat.
As they drive off to catch a boat for their honeymoon, Mark’s cousin, the family banker, goes on a rant to Mark’s sister-in-law Lil about how much money Mark went through in a week.
This makes Lil suspicious and she digs through Mark’s desk at home, finding a note about “paying off Strutt.”
Tippi Hedren Marnie 1960s Fashion - Nightgown
Marnie and Mark go on a South seas cruise for their honeymoon.
Marnie doesn’t want anything to do with Mark and tells him she doesn’t like men to touch her. He wants her to see a psychiatrist but she refuses.
Tippi Hedren’s character Marnie is wearing a green nightgown with matching heeled slippers.
Check out the 60’s style green and brown interior decor of the boat!
Tippi Hedren Marnie 1960s Fashion - White Dress
Mark reads various books so that he has something to talk with Marnie about during their trip.
Tippi Hedren’s character Marnie goes through several outfits in quick succession.
A white dress accessorized with pearls, a yellow sweater with a matching yellow headband, and then another evening gown, black this time.
Now, her fashion has changed from trying to blend in to becoming a socialite.
Notice the heavier hand with jewelry, like the pearls.
Tippi Hedren Marnie 1960s Fashion - White Robe
Back at the house after returning from their cruise, Mark leaves on an errand and Marnie sneaks into the office to call her mother.
Yes, her mother in Baltimore that she told Mark was dead.
She tells her that she couldn’t call earlier because she was sick, but that she would send money soon.
Mark’s sister-in-law knows something is up and overhears her conversation.
Tippi Hedren’s character Marnie wears a fancy white robe belted at the waist to call her mother.
Tippi Hedren Marnie 1960s Fashion - Yellow Dress
That evening Mark returns with a horse trailer in-tow.
He brought Marnie her horse Forio.
Marnie is delighted and gives Mark her first real smile since they’ve been married.
As Marnie rides off on her horse in her yellow dress, Lil, Mark’s sister-in-law reports to him that she heard Marnie talking to her mother, that she told her she would send her money.
Mark then hires a private detective to track down the mother that Marnie had pretended was dead.
Tippi Hedren’s character Marnie is wearing a cheerful yellow dress, the color intentionally chosen by Edith Head to reflect her mood as being one of her happiest moments in the movie.
Tippi Hedren Marnie 1960s Fashion - White Evening Gown
Mark’s father throws a dinner party which will be followed by a fox hunt the next day to introduce Marnie to society.
Mark’s sister-in-law sneakily invites Strutt to attend, not knowing that it was Marnie’s previous employer that she stole from.
Marnie wears a white grecian-style evening gown, with simple pearl earrings and her hair in an elaborate updo.
Mark makes her play a bluff and pretend to not recognize Strutt.
TiTippi Hedren Marnie 1960s Fashion - Slacks and Turtleneck sweater
Mark catches Marnie trying to make a run for it after the ordeal of the party and meeting her former employer Strutt.
He angrily unpacks her suitcase that she had begun packing and explains his plan for getting Strutt to drop the charges.
It’s then that Marnie confesses that she had done more jobs, making a total of 6 employers she had robbed in a number of states.
Tippi Hedren’s character Marnie wears a black turtleneck sweater and some gray slacks for her attempted getaway - a rare pants outfit for her in this movie.
Tippi Hedren Marnie 1960s Fashion - Riding Costume
Marnie goes riding in her father-in-laws hunt while Mark tries to reason with Strutt to drop the charges against Marnie.
During the hunt, Marnie gets triggered by the dogs attacking the foxes and sends her horse running.
Her hors falls and gets injured trying to jump over a wall.
Marnie is forced to shoot her horse to end its suffering with a neighbor’s gun.
Now, being set off by the traumatic event of having to shoot her beloved horse, she takes Mark’s office keys from his desk and heads for the office.
Back at the office she remembers the combination and easily opens the safe.
But, once she gets the safe open she’s unable to make herself take the money.
Something has changed. She can no longer steal.
Mark finds her there and tells her he’s taking her to see her mother.
By this time, Mark has found out about her past from the private detective he hired earlier.
Conveniently, there is a storm when they reach Marnie’s mother’s house, enough that it begins to trigger Marnie’s old fear of storms.
Mark encourages her to remember what happened.
Marnie begins to remember the trauma that set off her psychological issues.
Her mother had been a prostitute and had men from the navy as “customers” regularly.
During one of the evenings, a man came over and knocked at the door to get in when it was storming.
Marnie got scared of the storm and began to cry, making the man come out of the bedroom and begin to creepily comfort her.
Marnie doesn’t like it, her mother then comes out of the bedroom and gets furious at him for being near her daughter.
They begin to fight and Marnie’s mother hits him with the poker stick from the fire place.
Marnie, trying to help her mother, picks up the poker stick and finishes the job, killing the man.
Marnie’s mother took the blame for the manslaughter during the trial, but Marnie had forgotten the traumatic event.
Very quickly, all her psychological issues are now explained…her fear of storms, blood, men, etc.
Afterwards the storm has cleared up and Marnie tells Mark she wants to go home with him.
They are finally happy at last, with a rather abrupt ending, typical of Hitchcock.
Originally published June 2021, Updated Feb 2024
This post was all about Tippi Hedren Marnie and her Stunning 1960s Fashion
What did you think of Tippi Hedren’s fashion in Marnie?
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