Hookers On Film

10 magazine always surprises me with funny and very thoughtful articles.

In their issue #24 journalist Tony Marcus (A Whore's Life, pages 66-67) questioned the way we all "picture" a hooker, "what visually signifies a whore" in our images' code. Prostitutes are always recognizable, they dress in a very distinctive way. As Sheila Cousins (Graham Greene and Ronald Matthews) in her book "To Beg I Am Ashamed: The Autobiography of a London Prostitute" puts it, a hooker dresses the way she does because men need "their article labeled if they are to have the courage to ask its price".

Unfortunately, men are in general very predictable in their tastes so we all know what a man wants to see; legs and tits. Therefore, showing such attributes can be the perfect way to attract male attention (remember those Venetian courtesans in the XVI century?).

Fortunately, prostitutes use a wide range of attire possibilities, god bless them, as they are more free to mix stuff than anyone else. Hookers wear the most outrageous and avant garde pieces of clothing, they put together patterns, colors, shapes, fabrics and lengths in the most playful way.

As each decade brings its own fashion, that means a "street-fashion" is brought as well.
During the 50's for instance, a London prostitute would dress in a very specific way: "Their three-inch patent shoes, their shiny stockings, their ankle bracelets, their tier of fox fur round the shoulders, come close to being an uniform". (extract from "To Beg I Am Ashamed ...")

Films about or with prostitutes are plentiful.
Guy Dammann at The Guardian wrote a post about this too saying that prostitution is an unusually prominent theme in the history of film; because the majority of films use sex to control the emotional dynamic of the action, characters for whom sex has no further mystery are accorded a kind of magical power, a position of authority from which they can reveal to the other characters truths, about themselves or the world.

Fashion-wise, it's always interesting to me to see the different ways that costume designers use to dress these characters, and yet the common codes they all share.
Some instances:



True Romance (1993).-
This is one of my favourite movies about a hooker and I still wonder why it didn't get any nomination for the wardrobe of Patricia Arquette. Best dressed hooker ever.
The blue sun glasses that she wears during the film are still in our hipster collective-memory.

<<< Whore (1991)

Taxi Driver (1976)

Irma La Douce (1963)


Vivre Sa Vie (1962)
So French and cute.


Princesses (2005)
The harsh reality


Pretty Woman (1990)
those boots....


L.A. Confidential (1997)
The high class hooker



Scarlet Street (1945)
Her plastic raincoat is unforgettable


Midnight Cowboy (1969) - Mighty Aphrodite (1995)
The NY hookers


Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
The most stylish and famous hooker on film, Holly Golightly.