I was an uncommonly unattractive young man – Alfred Hitchcock

Tippi Hedren, Grace Kelly, Kim Novak, Eva Marie Saint – the filmmaker’s heroines, like the publications about them, are innumerable. Few words however, to outline the men who punctuate his films. Prey to vertigo, suicide, murder, Hitchcock’s men do not know what to make of themselves.

Worried or worrying,

fake three-buttons, school-less preppies in club ties and leather-buttoned blazers, the young men: John Dall’s grey-blue stripe, Ray Milland’s end-on-end, Anthony Perkins’ smile

eerie hyper-dandyism, windsor knot, a flannel(English flannel, from Welsh gwlanen, wool) - fabric whipped too soft to be true, the crooks: Peter Lorre’s thick corduroy, Robert Walker’s lobster tie, Cary Grant’s double-breasted pinstripe [cum glass of milk]

mother-of-pearl buttons, bead of sweat, tall figure, soft collar and utilitarian costume of the man on the run: James Stewart’s green V-neck, Gregory Peck’s unlined shirt, Laurence Olivier’s knit tietie made of wool, cashmere or silk threads which are twisted, Cary Grant’s frescothe merino wool yarn is twisted multiple times on itself and suit [again]

tweedwoolen fabric, more or less rustic, woven with multicolored, charcoal flannel, dry fabrics, real three-buttons, thickness without bulk of the man in the know – maturity: Paul Newman’s raglan, James Stewart’s sky-blue pyjama, Sean Connery’s herringboneV-shaped decorative pattern obtained by reproducing, after i, Cary Grant’s gun club [last one, pinky-swear].