Fatal Visions

THE MOVIE: “Single White Female.”

THE SETUP: Allie Jones (Bridget Fonda, pictured), a chic New York software designer, gets more than she bargained for in her new roommate--weird, dumpy Hedy Carlson (Jennifer Jason Leigh).

FASHION PLOT POINT: After she moves in, Hedy gradually duplicates Allie’s superb wardrobe garment by garment, starting with a pair of black leggings, until the two are identically tailored. But this is hardly your ordinary Mademoiselle make-over. When murders are committed, the twins potentially present a police detective’s nightmare.

THE DESIGNER: Milena Canonero, who won Academy Awards for her costumes in “Barry Lyndon” and “Chariots of Fire” and started a stampede for safari with “Out of Africa.” Canonero was in charge of all the visuals for “Single White Female” creating, for the first time, the production design, even envisioning the short, feathery haircut Fonda’s character wears and Leigh’s filches.

THE LOOK: Totally New York, relying on black, navy, brown and unfussy belted jackets over skirts and slacks. Only minimal drop earrings are allowed.

HEMLINE WATCH: Mid-thigh, and not budging.

HAIRDO DEJA VU: Fonda’s cut evokes an updated version of the shag worn by her aunt Jane in the ’71 suspense film, “Klute.”

DESIGNER QUOTE: “I wasn’t trying to do the fashion of today or what may go on this winter or next summer. I was trying to do something in tune with the movie.”

FASHION SYMBOLISM: “People sometimes dress without knowing why,” says Canonero, who applies her fashion expertise on many levels. The belts around Allie’s jackets imply she is “trying to hold herself together,” while her bare legs hint vulnerability. The silver trench coat Hedy wears the night she terrorizes Allie’s boyfriend, Sam (Steven Weber), suggests the blade of a knife. The black suede pump she hurls at him bears a blade like a pointed steel heel.

THE SOURCES: Canonero designed the clothes, save for a black Jean-Paul Gaultier halter dress. Hedy’s nightgowns came from Palace Costumes and Repeat Performance in Los Angeles.