--- title: The Woman in Plaid: A Pseudo-Noir Microfiction description: "Her footsteps muffled by her plaid booties. Tailing her was like tailing a ghost. But no ghost ever filled out a skirt like that." canonical: https://time.com/3880766/the-woman-in-plaid-a-pseudo-noir-microfiction/ author: Ben Cosgrove article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-24T19:52:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:03:37.309Z og:title: The Woman in Plaid: A Pseudo-Noir Microfiction og:description: "Her footsteps muffled by her plaid booties. Tailing her was like tailing a ghost. But no ghost ever filled out a skirt like that." og:url: https://time.com/3880766/the-woman-in-plaid-a-pseudo-noir-microfiction/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb037384947110a3f/69884c7e2dce012c489e350a/140924-plaid-noir.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: Plaid Skirt, Plaid Shoes, 1946 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Woman in Plaid: A Pseudo-Noir Microfiction twitter:description: "Her footsteps muffled by her plaid booties. Tailing her was like tailing a ghost. But no ghost ever filled out a skirt like that." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb037384947110a3f/69884c7e2dce012c489e350a/140924-plaid-noir.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Woman in Plaid: Photo-Inspired, Pseudo-Noir Flash Fiction > Sponsored content. 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Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=53a753ae-6d2c-4d41-9578-97c27f099886&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/subscribe?i=53a753ae-6d2c-4d41-9578-97c27f099886&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What should I watch or read, according to TIME? Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Twice a week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Aug 24, 2014 7:52 PM UTC  A woman in a plaid skirt and matching shoes, shadowed by a stranger, New York City, 1946. A woman in a plaid skirt and matching shoes, shadowed by a stranger, New York City, 1946. Nina Leen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Aug 24, 2014 7:52 PM UTC This first installment in a new series of poems, short (often _very_ short) stories and other creative writings inspired by LIFE photographs is based on a 1946 Nina Leen picture. Originally shot for a fashion article on “novel shoes which match other parts of an outfit”—houndstooth, plaid, etc.—the photograph never ran in LIFE magazine. But its use of shadow and light, its hint of menace and its air of mystery inevitably sparked thoughts of private eyes, femmes fatales, [sordid trysts](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036775/)—and led to this brief, admittedly tongue-in-cheek tribute to Chandler, [Cain](http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/3474/the-art-of-fiction-no-69-james-m-cain), Hammett and other noir and hardboiled greats. --- --- > “” --- --- _Ben Cosgrove is the Editor of LIFE.com_ ---  A woman in a plaid skirt and matching shoes, shadowed by a stranger, New York City, 1946. 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