Jude Law with co-stars Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

Vitals

Jude Law as Dickie Greenleaf, narcissistic profligate playboy

Italy, October 1958

Film: The Talented Mr. Ripley
Release Date: December 25, 1999
Director: Anthony Minghella
Costume Design: Ann Roth & Gary Jones

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

After exploring some of Alain Delon’s sharply tailored style in Plein soleil (Purple Noon) earlier this week, today’s post shifts attention to the 1999 adaptation of the same source material, Patricia Highsmith’s psychological thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley set on the sunny Italian coast.

The somewhat awkward triangle of carefree Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law), his girlfriend Marge (Gwyneth Paltrow), and interloping grifter Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) is made all the more uncomfortable with the presence of Dickie’s outspoken friend Freddie Miles (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who spends the better part of a morning at Mongibello openly mocking Tom. When Dickie doesn’t come to Tom’s defense and, in fact, seems to encourage the behavior, his time grows increasingly limited as his obsessive young houseguest seethes.

What’d He Wear?

Dickie Greenleaf’s luxurious yet laidback style sets an ideal example for warm weather casual wear. Scott Fraser Collection, a unique London menswear label that operates on the philosophy of retrospective modernism, has recently introduced two impressive knit shirts to its emerging Icons Series line that were directly inspired by Jude Law’s on-screen style in The Talented Mr. Ripley, specifically the Ripley Ischia Knit Shirt (based on Dickie’s yellow mesh shirt) and the Ripley Anzio Knit Shirt (based on Dickie’s white-and-slate shirt), both crafted in Milan from fine merino wool.

Not all of Dickie’s shirts are quite as complexly designed, however, and he joins his guests on this particular morning in a simple white short-sleeved polo shirt, woven in a light diamond-textured cotton with a wide double-layered collar and two-button top.

Dickie also presses into service the trusty comfort of his frequently worn light pink Bermuda shorts, which he’d also worn earlier at home with his white-and-slate panel-front shirt. Per the era’s fashions, these shorts rise high to Law’s natural waist line, where they are tightened into place with side adjuster tabs on each side of the waistband. These double forward-pleated shorts have side pockets, button-through back pockets, and are worn with the bottoms casually cuffed. (Despite how much Dickie seems to favor them, these didn’t fare too well in Bustle’s commemorative piece ranking all of Dickie’s shorts, published in time for the film’s 15th anniversary on Christmas 2014.)

Pink shorts for men are hardly as elusive as they may have been, thanks to brands like Nautica and even Amazon’s house brand Goodthreads, safe chino-cloth offerings for gents looking to test whether pink shorts are right for them but lacking the panache of Dickie’s mid-century shorts with their elegant long rise, pleats, and summer-weight fabric. Available in a variety of colors (though not pink), the Scott Fraser Collection includes Dickie-inspired high-waisted Riviera shorts, naval-detailed with double pleats, side adjusters, and a range of colors in summery cotton and linen fabrics.

As we can’t see Dickie’s feet during this sequence, we can only assume that he’s wearing his usual white canvas slip-on “half-sneakers”, laced through four sets of eyelets but with no back for a comfortable, casual pair of shoes to be worn without socks.

Of course, Dickie took the time to dress his hands with his signature array of jewelry, including the gold-ridged ring on his right middle finger and the gold pinky ring with its gleaming green stone that Dickie received as a gift from Marge and “had to promise⁠—capital P⁠—never to take it off”. He also wears his sleek steel watch with its silver dial and steel mesh bracelet with a single-prong buckle, which has never been positively identified to my knowledge but has been speculated to be a product by Bulova, Hamilton, Longines, Swanson, or Wittenauer.

Breakfast in style.

Jude Law as Dickie Greenleaf in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

How to Get the Look

While more confident than many in his complex knitwear, flashy jackets, and boldly patterned shorts, Dickie Greenleaf also dresses comfortably in relatively simple staples like a white polo and pink shorts, though the subtle details of each add a layer of luxury apropos his status and lifestyle and, like the movie and its characters, reveal that there’s plenty more to see when you examine more closely.

• White diamond-textured cotton short-sleeve polo shirt with two-button top
• Light pink double forward-pleated Bermuda shorts with side adjusters, side pockets, and button-through back pockets
• White canvas slip-on backless sneakers
• Steel wristwatch with silver dial on silver mesh bracelet
• Gold double-ridged ring, worn on right middle finger
• Gold signet pinky ring with green stone, worn on left pinky

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie and read Patricia Highsmith’s novel.

Elliott Gould as Ted Henderson in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969)

Vitals

Elliott Gould as Ted Henderson, married attorney with a wandering eye

Los Angeles, Summer 1969

Film: Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
Release Date: September 17, 1969
Director: Paul Mazursky
Costume Designer: Moss Mabry

Background

Every month, particularly when passing the time under lockdown this spring, I look forward to the Criterion Channel announcing its new releases which also making it a priority to watch any films leaving the service. When I saw that Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice would be leaving at the end of May 2020, I knew this was my opportunity to watch this influential film considered to be emblematic of the late ’60s zeitgeist. Groundbreaking for its time, Paul Mazurky’s sex comedy enjoyed a recent resurgence in interest as one of ten films Quentin Tarantino cited as a direct influence on his latest hit, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

The film presents what feels like a realistic depiction of how the burgeoning “free love” attitude was interpreted by a mature generation neither too young to openly embrace it nor too old to outright dismiss it, balancing both authentic affection and gentle parody for the Esalen-like philosophy that drove the open-minded couple Bob (Robert Culp) and Carol (Natalie Wood) to explore alternatives to their traditional marriage.

The other half of the film’s titular foursome are Ted (Elliott Gould) and Alice (Dyan Cannon), presenting a more conservative yin to Bob and Carol’s yang. Alice in particular is not enthused by her friends’ new attitude, but Ted admits some curiosity during a poolside chat with Bob about marital fidelity. Ted confides to an almost-effervescent Bob that he once kissed a secretary, Naomi, and he’s been feeling too guilty about that to even consider cheating on Alice down the road. Bob urges him to satisfy any future desire: “Well, look at you, man… you got the guilt anyway, don’t waste it!”

While the emphasis is meant to be on the context of their conversation, I was immediately intrigued by Ted’s summer-friendly leisurewear, which struck me as a cinematic example of the retro-driven offerings of Dandy Del Mar, a southern California-based outfitter that celebrates “reviving the art of leisure through timeless resortwear.”

I first came across Dandy Del Mar on Instagram (@eldandydelmar), where I was captivated by a festive parade of carefree carousing, cocktails, and Cadillacs. At the center of this laidback luxury was a mustached hero, straight out of the early ’70s golden age of leisure, constantly clad in comfortable terrycloth and never far from a beautiful woman or a refreshing drink.

Or, in many cases, both. (Source: @eldandydelmar)

Intrigued, I soon contacted the Dandy who was gracious enough to answer some of my questions:

The Dandy in burnt sienna Tropez Terry Cloth shirt and floral Gardenia-print “Cassis Square Cut” swim briefs. (Source: @eldandydelmar)

Where and when does the Dandy’s story begin?

The Dandy story begins with a desire to create a contemporary version of a lifestyle that seems to have been lost in time. Influenced by yesteryear’s style, colors, and patterns from the most popular destinations near the equator, the brand is the manifestation of years of travel and subconscious inspirations and musings channeled into Leisurewear.

Did any movies, shows, ads, or other media particularly inspire the pieces you offer?

We are absolutely influenced by all these things and much more. Specifically though, we love Alain Delon’s Plein soleil, Pierrot le fou, old alcohol and cigarette magazine ads, travel campaigns, books, and even architecture. Our brand floral print, the Gardenia, is actually a reworking of Spanish tile work that we saw on a trip to Spain so we try to stay as open-minded as possible to where our ideas and inspiration come from.

Dandy Del Mar seems to follow a fixed color set of blue, orange, and white. What drove these specific choices?

A lot of that came out of necessity. Being a young brand, we were pretty limited in the depth of the range we could offer starting out. We’ve always loved the Burnt Sienna color and feel it’s very wearable. In addition to that, there’s something so classic about white terrycloth. However, as we grow, we’ve been super excited about expanding the color range in the line.

The Dandy’s lineup includes classic terry robes in addition to its shirts and short sets. (Source: @eldandydelmar)

Is there a vision for expanding the brand, whether it’s new styles, colors, or pieces?

Absolutely! We have a lot of things currently in the works. New footwear styles, some linen pieces, and even women’s. Our goal is to become a resource for folks that are looking for “leisurewear”, which means broadening our line and what we offer. Something we’re really psyched about doing.

What is the Dandy lifestyle?

I would say the Dandy Lifestyle boils down to five key ingredients: sun, water, company, food, and drink. You get those in the right ratio and you’re well on your way to living the life of leisure.

Any tips for growing a Dandy-style mustache?

Still trying to figure out the science behind it but, so far, sipping tequila seems to show the most promising results.

What’d He Wear?

Ted enthusiastically jumps into the pool appropriately clad in his saturated dark blue swim trunks with substantial white vertical stripes. Unlike more modern trends in men’s swimwear, these trunks have a longer rise to Gould’s natural waist just above his navel, fitted through the hips with a short inseam that ends high on each thigh. Devoid of drawstrings, tabs, or any other visible waistband adjustment, the trunks fasten through just a single button on the center of the waist line.

For dryer chapters of the day spent reclining beside his pal in an Adirondack, Ted sports a burnt orange terrycloth cabana shirt, textured in a repeating zig-zag pattern like a large-scaled herringbone.

You can pay tribute to Ted’s poolside attire with Dandy Del Mar’s Tropez Terry Cloth Shirt in Burnt Sienna and the Mallorca Swim-Walk Short in Deep-Sea Stripe.
(Photo source: @eldandydelmar)

Perusing the Dandy Del Mar offerings, the Tropez Terry Cloth Shirt in burnt sienna French terry and the Mallorca Swim-Walk Short in “deep-sea” stripe polyester provide natty alternatives to Gould’s poolside garb.

Terrycloth was first mass-produced in England around 1850, when Christy standardized this water-absorbent piled fabric for bath towels. Towels and bathrobes remained the primary utility for terrycloth for the better part of a century, until the global embrace of leisure and decreased formality standards took terrycloth from bath to beach.

By the 1960s and ’70s, terry toweling shirts were an increasingly common item in a man’s holiday wardrobe, worn on screen by icons ranging from Alain Delon in Plein soleil (1960) to Sean Connery as James Bond in Diamonds are Forever (1971). Between he and Bob, Ted may be the more conservative of the two, but his choice in poolside leisurewear proves that he’s no slouch in keeping up with the latest fashion trends.

Though Gould insouciantly wears it open, almost like a robe, his orange terry shirt can be buttoned up a plain front with recessed metal sew-through buttons which match those that close each of the two flapped chest pockets. Seen most clearly when slung over a chair while Ted is in the pool talking to Bob, the shirt also has two open patch pockets on the hips.

In addition to his comfortable terry shirt, Ted amplifies his relaxation with a libation that appears to be a classic G&T.

Resting atop Ted’s head through his controversial conversation with Bob are a pair of dark tortoiseshell sunglasses with large round frames and elongated silver temple logos initially suggested the possibility of Persol, at the time an eyewear brand favored by “King of Cool” himself; indeed Steve McQueen can be seen wearing his own Persols while sporting an orange beach shirt of his own in similar repose in The Thomas Crown Affair (1968). However, the single pin rivet on each outer side of the frame

Ted also wears a ring on each hand, a plain gold wedding band (of course) on the third finger of his left hand and what appears to be a large gold class ring with a green stone on the third finger of his right hand.

Alice and Carol prepare the day’s grub while the gents gossip about their respective love lives.

Ted’s white slip-on shoes with their canvas uppers and rubber soles appear similar to the Vans that Robert Culp wears in other scenes not just in this movie but also the hit series I Spy, which had just completed its three-season run before Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice was produced.

How to Get the Look

Elliott Gould as Ted Henderson in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969)

From its burnt orange color to the exaggerated details and texture, Ted’s French terry cabana shirt in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice sets a Gould standard for leisurewear in the decadent decade to follow.

• Burnt orange herringbone-textured terrycloth short-sleeve cabana shirt with notched camp collar, button-flap chest pockets, and patch hip pockets
• Navy white-striped short-inseam swim trunks
• White canvas slip-on shoes
• Dark tortoise round-framed sunglasses
• Gold class ring with green stone
• Gold wedding band

While some may argue the merits of terrycloth clothing, I find it uniquely suitable for a day at the beach or pool, the perfect layer intersection of form and function that dries its wearer and regulates temperature, providing warmth after emerging from the water but still wearing cool enough to be comfortable on a hot summer afternoon.

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

If you’re interested in retro-minded summer comfort, whether relaxing on the Riviera or simply bringing the spirit of Saint-Tropez to your terrace, I recommend exploring the unique wares of Dandy Del Mar.

Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019)

Vitals

Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth, taciturn Hollywood stuntman and personal “gofer”

Los Angeles, February 1969

Film: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Release Date: July 26, 2019
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Costume Designer: Arianne Phillips

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

This summer’s Car Week posts are likely to be more embraced than usual as many are enthusiastically embracing the open road after months of global lockdown and road trips emerging as safer alternatives for summer travel.

My first official Car Week post of the year was an obvious one for me. I went into Once Upon a Time in Hollywood last year knowing I’d be entertained, but the absolute immersion into 1969 Southern California far exceeded my expectations. By the time we were joining Brad Pitt as he worked the gears of his sporty Karmann Ghia through the streets of L.A. to the shifting sounds of Billy Stewart’s “Summertime”, Joe Cocker’s “The Letter”, The Bob Seger System’s “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man”, and Aretha Franklin’s “The House That Jack Built”, I was hooked. It’s hardly two minutes of screen time, but the kinetic energy, superb soundtrack (how much did it cost to license music for this scene alone?), and electrifying sense of place made it one of the most memorable sequences I’d seen on the big screen in years and gave me a sense of the entertainment that was to follow.

“The whole sequence feels gloriously pointless,” wrote Sebatian Smee for the Washington Post, adding “but the pointlessness is exactly what makes it so wonderful,” and I know exactly what he means. All that really happens during this expository section of screen time is that both Cliff Booth and his famous friend Rick Dalton (Leonardo Di Caprio) have made it safely to their respective homes, where each will be relaxing with their respective libations and entertainment for the evening, eight whiskey sours and learning lines for Rick and beers and Mannix for Cliff. Yet, there’s something so valuable about Cliff’s neon-lit ride home, a narratively irrelevant but tonally essential vignette that transports the viewer back to Tinseltown in the age of Aquarius.

Take that, Matthew McConaughey’s Lincoln commercials!

What’d He Wear?

The 1967 movie The Born Losers introduced the world to Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin), a tough, reclusive half-Navajo veteran who would take on criminals and authority figures over a quartet of movies directed by Laughlin across the decade to follow.

As many of these traits inspired the character of Cliff Booth, it’s no coincidence that costume designer Arianne Phillips chose Billy Jack’s getup as the basis for how she would dress Cliff for his post-credits introduction at the storied Musso & Frank Grill on Hollywood Boulevard.

“[Cliff] wore vintage Levi’s jeans and a vintage Wrangler jacket with a zipper, for which we searched high and low. I really wanted one with a zipper, rather than a rivet—reminiscent of the [1971] movie Billy Jack, starring Tom Laughlin,” Phillips explained to Fawnia Soo Hoo for Fashionista prior to the film’s release.

Production photo from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood with Brad Pitt prominently wearing Cliff’s vintage Wrangler zip-up denim jacket. Less prominently seen in this particular photo are Leonardo DiCaprio’s trousers, which are also a vintage Wrangler product.

These taciturn tough guys’ looks are anchored by a distinctive Wrangler jacket, constructed of blue denim with a zip-up front and easily identified with Wrangler’s signature “W” top-stitch on both chest pockets. Unfortunately, this isn’t not something you’d find in Wrangler’s current jacket lineup as their entire lineup (as of June 2020)—even including retro-inspired jackets like the 124MJ and Retro Unlined jackets—close with rivet buttons rather than zippers. Even Phillips explained that she had to search “high and low” for Cliff’s jacket, so your best bet would be to search vintage vendors or pick up a tribute like this jacket from Stag Provisions, though it lacks the left breast pocket.

Both chest pockets on Cliff’s jacket have rounded flaps that close with a single copper snap, and the top of each pocket is aligned with a horizontal yoke across the chest. The small black “Wrangler” brand patch is stitched above the left pocket along this yoke seam. The jacket also has two lower pockets with narrowly welted and gently slanted openings at the top, rather than the more gaping hand pocket openings on modern trucker jackets by Levi’s and others.

The zipper zips up from the waist hem to as high as the horizontal yoke, where the jacket is open a few inches up to the neck, but this too can be closed via a single copper rivet button at the top. Flanking the zipper on each side is a single forward-facing vertical pleat that runs from yoke to the top of the waistband, similar to the double pleats on the Levi’s “Type 2” trucker jacket though sewn together with three tobacco-threaded circles on each side.

Fortunately for our stuntman, the jacket is also rigged with “action back” pleats behind each shoulder, extending partially down a seam that begins at the horizontal back yoke; this vertical seam runs down the entire side of the back, though the pleat stops where it is sewn shut just more than halfway down the jacket. Further toward the center, two vertical seams slant toward the center back for a “V” shaped effect.

Wrangler led the “big three” denim manufacturers by rigging its jackets with hand pockets, giving Cliff plenty of room to efficiently carry his car keys as well as a bone for his canine pal, liberated from Musso & Frank and wrapped in a white cloth napkin.

Though he wears a Wrangler jacket, Cliff illustrates the flexibility of his denim loyalty, wearing a pair of vintage Levi’s jeans. Despite the different companies, both jacket and jeans are a nearly matching blue denim.

Cliff’s jeans are likely the venerable Levi’s 501 Original Fit, modernized in 1947. The middle back loop’s position perfectly centered on the seat seam suggests that this pair was manufactured after 1964, though I’m having difficulty narrowing the date beyond that. Close-ups seem to reveal a mix of the older lemon yellow thread—particularly on the distinctive arcuate stitching over the back pockets—as well as the copper orange thread that the outfitter used increasingly beginning in the mid-1960s, eventually phasing out the lemon yellow thread on 501s by 1979, according to Mads Jakobsen for Heddels.

If I had to guess, I would suggest that this is a period-correct pair of 501s from the late 1960s, but I welcome clarification or correction from any who may know better.

A laconic Cliff allows himself a chortle or two as he struts behind Rick, who’s currently talking himself off a ledge as he recognizes his potential as a Hollywood homeowner living next to Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate.

Proud of his job to “help carry the load” for Rick Dalton, Cliff wears a large brass oval belt buckle embossed with “STUNTMEN’S ASSOCIATION MEMBER” across the top and bottle, surrounding an old-fashioned movie camera in the center. The belt itself is a well-worn strip of medium brown leather, similar to saddle tan… an appropriate choice given our heroes’ history on the fictional Western series Bounty Law.

Cliff’s tobacco brown suede moccasin-style boots were among the most talked-about parts of his costume when Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was released last summer. Even before the movie was in theaters, I read Yang-Yi Goh had identified them as Minnetonka boots in a GQ article, and the renewed interest resulted in Minnetonka re-releasing the screen-seen soft-sole version of these distinctive fringed boots with their two large silver conchos attached to lace-up flaps on the outsides.

Pitt wore these soft-sole boots on screen, and these light boots reportedly offer the extreme comfort of a slipper with many commenting (but few complaining) that they lack the support of their hard-soled brethren. I personally own a pair of these hard-sole Minnetonka boots, which trade a degree of comfort and authenticity for added warmth and protection. Both are currently available as of June 2020:

• Minnetonka men’s two-button softsole boot (Minnetonka, $64.95)
• Minnetonka men’s two-button hardsole boot (Minnetonka or Amazon, $69.95)

Introduced in 1968, Minnetonka’s suede moccasin boots would have still been fresh to the menswear market by the time Cliff stepped out of Rick Dalton’s Cadillac in the Musso & Frank parking lot in February 1969.

After Cliff’s day of Bloody Marys and confidence-boosting, he returns home to his trailer behind the Van Nuys Drive-In theater on the outskirts of Panorama City, his arrival scored by Robert Goulet crooning “Macarthur Park” on TV, though the more on-brand Mannix is on by the time he sits down to eat his dinner of Kraft “blue box” mac and cheese, straight from the pot and washed down with a beer. He’s removed his jacket for the first time, revealing a plain black cotton crew-neck T-shirt with a breast pocket and short “muscle” sleeves.

Saturday night at the Booth estate.

“So you’re feelin’ better now? Gimme my glasses back!” Cliff demands of Rick, who finds himself re-energized after realizing he’s living next door to Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate. The glasses in question are Cliff’s own gold-framed aviator sunglasses, styled with a double brow bar over the bridge and tinted with brown lenses.

Given Brad Pitt’s longstanding preferences for Oliver Peoples sunglasses, it’s possible that these on-screen aviators are an OP product, though they may also be a true vintage pair. Other alternatives across all budgets include the classic Ray-Ban RB3025 Aviator (available via Amazon or Ray-Ban) or the budget-friendly J+S Premium Classic Aviator (available via Amazon).

“Alright, what’s the matter, partner?”
Seeing his friend in distress, Cliff swiftly volunteers his own sunglasses into service to protect Rick’s parking lot breakdown from becoming the subject of the latest Hollywood gossip.

Cliff’s laidback California vibe is echoed by his sole “jewelry”, a brown leather bracelet worn on his right wrist. The bracelet’s fit is adjusted through a thin brown leather cord that runs the length of one side of the bracelet, including over the split opening where it is fastened onto a white pearlesque button. Decorated on one end with a blue bead and on the other longer, dangling end with a green bead, the cord is threaded onto the rest of the bracelet with four red-sewn sections on each side of the button. (Such a specific piece would be difficult to pin down with 100% accuracy, but this is also a character piece that gives its wearer a chance to establish their own unique identity so you can scour the booths of handmade jewelry crafters at an art show or select something that speaks to you from an assortment of more mass-produced jewelry like this.)

On his left wrist, Cliff wears a unique watch-and-strap rig that has been positively identified as a Citizen 8110 Bullhead, so named for the placement of its dual pusher buttons at the top of the case à la bullhorns.

Cliff tears into the packet of processed orange cheese sauce mix that makes Kraft’s macaroni and cheese such a delight.

Cliff’s Citizen has a gold-finished nickel 38mm case with black fixed bezel and gold dial with three black sub-dials, secured to his wrist via a 1 5/8″-wide brown leather cuff bracelet custom-made for Pitt by Red Monkey Designs, the same L.A.-based leather specialist who made watch straps that the actor wore in The Mexican and Ocean’s Thirteen. While vintage, Cliff’s watch is a few years too young to have realistically been on his wrist in 1969 as Citizen wouldn’t introduce its 8110 model until the 1970s in response to Seiko’s earlier bullhead watch.

Nearly 50 years after Citizen debuted the 8110, the Japanese watchmaker continues to manufacture bullhead watches like the Citizen Promaster Tsuno quartz chronograph, including this steel (with a tan dial and black sub-dials) model and this gold (with all-black dial) model.

What to Imbibe

Cliff’s day begins—as so many great days do—with a Bloody Mary, served up by the bartender at Musso & Frank Grill on Hollywood Boulevard, where he and Rick are awaiting the arrival of gregarious talent agent Marvin Schwarz (Al Pacino).

Like most legendary alcoholic concoctions, there are conflicting stories regarding the origins of the venerated Bloody Mary, though it’s clear the drink emerged sometime during the interwar period and was firmly in print by 1939 when “This New York” gossip columnist Lucius Beebe attributed it as the “latest pick-me-up” favored by comedian George Jessel, a regular at New York’s 21 Club, which has often been cited as the birthplace of the Bloody Mary. Beebe’s description of the drink was simple—”half tomato juice, half vodka”—but it laid the groundwork for a popular and versatile drink that remains a popular hair of the dog nearly a century later.

While garnishments and additions to the Bloody Mary can include bacon, shrimp, cayenne pepper, and cheese, among a multitude of other savory delights, the most traditional accoutrement is celery, as evident by the massive stalk that Cliff takes a vodka-soaked bite from during their meeting with Marvin. Cliff is also sure to douse the drink in plenty of Tabasco, the peppery Louisiana hot sauce often mentioned as a preferred ingredient for the drink.

Starting the day right at Musso & Frank with a spicy Bloody Mary for Cliff and one of eight Whiskey Sours for Rick.

While Cliff’s loyal pit bull Brandy settles in for a misophonia-triggering dinner of the fictional Wolf’s Tooth dog food, Cliff cracks a can of the equally fictional Old Chattanooga Tennessee Lager, a beer that was invented specifically for our protagonists to enjoy in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

What does Cliff Booth keep in his fridge? Eggs, barbecue sauce, beer, and Cheez Whiz.

The Gun

Setting the scene at Cliff Booth’s trailer is a Colt Single Action Army revolver, casually resting on a side table in what would prove to be an aversion of the Chekhov’s Gun principle as not only is the firearm insignificant, but we never even see it again. (Instead, it’s Chekhov’s Dog to which we should be paying attention…)

Likely a prop revolver kept from the production of Bounty Law, Cliff’s case-hardened Peacemaker is likely an authentic Colt, based on the markings on the hard black grips and the inscription on the barrel that reads “COLT SINGLE ACTION ARMY .45.” Of the Single Action Army’s standard barrel lengths, Cliff’s Peacemaker appears to be an “Artillery” model with a 5.5″-long barrel.

While we don’t see it later, Cliff’s Peacemaker establishes him as the kind of guy who just leaves a revolver unattended on his end table while he’s out for most of the day.

Introduced in 1873 and designated the New Model Army Metallic Cartridge Revolving Pistol, the instantly recognizable Peacemaker would become forever entangled in the mythology of the old West, thanks in part to its ubiquity in Western cinema and television. Part of the reason for its ubiquity was their ability to fire the “5-in-1” blank cartridge favored in early Westerns, a round that could be fired from any revolver or rifle chambered in .38-40 Winchester, .44-40 Winchester, or .45 Long Colt.

The Car

It would take one hell of a machine to draw attention away from stars like Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, but Cliff Booth’s gently aging light blue Volkswagen Karmann Ghia arguably steals the show for two minutes of glory as Cliff motors from Benedict Canyon to Panorama City.

Cliff Booth’s Karmann Ghia commercial likely added this nimble German-engineered, Italian-designed sports car into the consideration sets of many modern collectors.

The Karmann Ghia story began with a collection of minds and companies in the early 1950s as VW execs sought to capitalize on the growing popularity of their rear-engine Type 1, best known to the world as the Beetle or VW Bug, by adding a stylish halo model to Volkswagen’s lineup that would resonate during this age of postwar prosperity. At the same time, German coachbuilder Karmann (led by Wilhelm Karmann) and Italian automaker Carrozzeria Ghia (led by Luigi Segre) were also seeking to expand their output and build their respective reputations.

Ghia designers Mario Boano, Sergio Coggiola, and Giovanni Savonuzzi spent five months in 1953 working on a sleek prototype, using a covertly secured Beetle as its basis and incorporating design elements from Virgil Exner’s Chrysler d’Elegance “dream car” concept. Rather than taking offense, Exner was reportedly flattered and pleased to see that parts from one of his designs would eventually enter mass production. (In appreciation, Segre would send “Ex” the first Karmann Ghia to be imported into the state of Michigan, according to Daryl Scott at Throwin’ Wrenches.) After Ghia’s design was enthusiastically received by Karmann, and—in turn—Volkswagen, the car was unveiled to the world at the Paris and Frankfurt auto shows.

The Karmann Ghia was correctly touted as “the most beautiful Volkswagen ever made” in this 1962 advertisement, consistent with DDB’s barebones, straightforward advertising for VW during this era including the iconic “Lemon” ad for the Type 1 Beetle.

VW was wise to have turned to an Italian designer, as Chevrolet had already gotten a head start on Italian-influenced sports cars with its Corvette, which debuted in 1953, with the Ford Thunderbird soon to follow for the 1955 model year. Following on the heels of those American auto giants, Volkswagen rolled the first Karmann Ghia off the Osnabrück production line in August 1955. Aware of its somewhat underpowered engine carried over from the Type 1, Volkswagen wisely marketed its new Type 14 as a stylish 2+2 rather than a performance-oriented sports car.

“The Karmann-Ghia’s improved aerodynamics added about 8 mph to the Beetle’s 68-mph top speed, while 120 to 200 extra pounds (again, sources vary) weighed down on the VW’s already limp acceleration,” wrote John F. Katz for Autoweek in 2006. “But then Volkswagen never promoted the Ghia as a sports car so much as a blend of exclusive style and VW economy. That the Ghia was very nearly identical to the Beetle mechanically was cited as an advantage.”

The formula of sleek European design in an affordable, reliable package appealed to North American consumers, and Karmann Ghia sales exceeded expectations with more than 10,000 in its first year, resulting in doubling production until the Type 14 became the most imported car into the United States. Aware of the winner on their hands, VW continued to put efforts into the Karmann Ghia, introducing a convertible for the 1958 model year and a restyled exterior for 1961, overseen by designer Sergio Sartorelli who had also developed Volkswagen’s Type 34 for the European market.

Exterior design on the Karmann Ghia remained relatively unchanged throughout the 1960s while Volkswagen engineers worked on enhancing performance through slightly larger and more powerful engines, though total output never exceeded 60 horsepower as the 1971 models with their 1600 cc engines were rated. Although the Karmann Ghia remained a popular model into the 1970s with sales peaking in 1970, Volkswagen chose to end manufacture after the 1974 model year, effectively replacing the Beetle-based Karmann-Ghia with the Golf-based Volkswagen Sirocco.

The exterior styling of Cliff Booth’s Karmann Ghia has led viewers to deduce that it’s certainly a 1960s model, with most sources citing 1964 as the likely model year, though an IMCDB contributor suggests 1969 as the car appears to be painted in “chrome blue”, cited to have been only offered in ’69. That said, it’s unlikely that Cliff’s Type 14 would be in its somewhat worn condition if it were only a few months—rather than a few years—old, and I’m inclined to follow the seeming consensus that we’re seeing Pitt behind the wheel of a 1964 model.

1964 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia (Type 14)

Body Style: 2+2 convertible

Layout: rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive (RR)

Engine: 1192 cc (1.2 L) Volkswagen OHV flat-4 with Solex 1-barrel carburetor

Power: 40 bhp (29.4 kW; 40 PS) @ 3900 RPM

Torque: 64 lb·ft (87 N·m) @ 2400 RPM

Transmission: 4-speed manual

Wheelbase: 94.5 inches (2400 mm)

Length: 163 inches (4140 mm)

Width: 64.4 inches (1636 mm)

Height: 52.4 inches (1331 mm)

The above specs apply to the stock 1964 model, though it’s been reported that the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood team swapped out the Karmann Ghia’s 1200 cc Volkswagen engine for a more nimble Subaru motor better inclined to performing on screen as desired.

My friend (and Karmann Ghia owner) Eric Tidd noted that Cliff has a sheet from a Deist catalog on his refrigerator, suggesting that he may be picking up his own racing parts for the car that add additional horsepower. After all, if Cliff’s character was inspired by experienced stuntman and director Hal Needham, his car is going to need to be able to show off.

“The one thing that I love about driving a Ghia is its indestructibility,” Eric recalled fondly in a recent conversation. “You can really dog it, just like Cliff does in that driving montage. They don’t have a lot of horsepower, but I could always lay a drag in mine and drive it like a bat out of hell… I loved the way it shifted and handled and could out-drive my friends in much faster cars.”

Brad Pitt behind the wheel of Cliff Booth’s camera-rigged Karmann Ghia during production of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. (Photo source: P&P / MEGA)

If you’re looking for your own Cliff Booth-style Karmann Ghia convertible, affordable options seem to abound due to the more than 80,000 convertibles produced over the car’s timeline, generally well-maintained more than a half-century later, such as this ’64 convertible repainted in turquoise blue selling for $12,500 via ClassicCars.com.

“There is something about a Ghia that absolutely gets under your skin once you’ve owned one,” explained Eric, who had purchased his 1972 Karmann Ghia for $500 when he was 16 in 1984. “It makes sense that Cliff would drive a ‘poor man’s Porsche’ as many refer to it, given his stuntman’s salary. Cliff’s is a little beat up for being five years old and has a hell of an oil leak. I think I was the only one in the theater laughing when he first backs out of Rick’s driveway, and you can see the oil stains where his car was parked. Looked just like my spot in the driveway from my teenage years.”

“Bottom line is, the Ghia is a beautiful car,” he concluded. “Simple and easy to work on… once running well, they will last forever, and I have yet to drive mine anywhere without someone waving, smiling, or yelling ‘I love your car!’ as I drive by.”

To read more about the Karmann Ghia, I suggest the pages I sourced from:

• “1956-74 Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia” by Dan Jedlicka (Road Tests and Classic Cars)
• “1963 Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia: Slower, but Prettier Than Any Porsche” by John F. Katz (Autoweek, September 2006)
• “Origins of the Karmann Ghia” (Karmann Ghia Connection)
• “Rob’s Car Movie Review: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” by Rob Finkelman (Street Muscle Magazine, January 2020)
• “The Ugly Underside of Brad Pitt’s Cool Car in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” by Sebastian Smee (The Washington Post, August 2019)
• “Volkswagen Karmann Ghia” (Wikipedia)
• “Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia” by the auto editors of Consumer Guide (How Stuff Works, December 2007)..

How to Get the Look

Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019)
Photo credit: Andrew Cooper//SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT/Columbia Pictures

Cliff Booth takes a lesson in rugged everyday style from Billy Jack, hitting the streets of L.A. in an unglamorous Wrangler zip-up jacket and vintage Levi’s with a plain black T, made additionally distinctive with his own signature style pieces of concho-detailed moccasin boots and bullhead watch.

• Black cotton crew-neck short-sleeve T-shirt with chest pocket
• Blue denim Wrangler zip-front jacket with single rivet button at top, snap-flapped chest pockets (with “W” top-stitching), slanted welt hip pockets, pleated front, back shoulder pleats, adjustable waist tabs, and single-snap cuffs
• Blue denim Levi’s 501 Original Fit jeans
• Saddle tan leather belt with large brass “Stuntmen’s Association Member” buckle
• Tobacco brown suede Minnetonka moccasin-style boots with two metal conchos on side-laced flaps and soft padded soles
• Brown leather beaded bracelet
• Gold-framed aviator-style sunglasses with double brow bar and brown tinted lenses
• Citizen 8110 Bullhead gold-finished nickel watch with 38mm “bullhead” case, gold dial with three black sub-dials, and custom brown leather cuff strap

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

Look, I had never had much experience to speak of, so I can’t say I really know how you feel.

Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum in the Magnum P.I. pilot episode, “Don’t Eat the Snow in Hawaii”

Vitals

Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, private investigator and former Navy SEAL

Hawaii, Spring 1980 to Summer 1981

Series: Magnum, P.I.
Episodes:
– “Don’t Eat the Snow in Hawaii, Part 1″ (Episode 1.01, dir. Roger Young, aired 12/11/1980)
– “No Need to Know” (Episode 1.05, dir. Lawrence Doheny, aired 1/8/1981)
– “Don’t Say Goodbye” (Episode 1.15, dir. Winrich Kolbe, aired 3/28/1981)
Creator: Donald P. Bellisario & Glen Larson
Costume Designer: Charles Waldo (credited with first season only)
Costume Supervisor: James Gilmore

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Let’s continue #CarWeek with one of the most famous and popular cars in TV history, the bright red Ferrari 308 GTS driven by Thomas Magnum (Tom Selleck) as a semi-permanent “guest” on author Robin Masters’ Hawaiian estate.

Today is a particularly suitable occasion to write about this set of wheels as we first meet Magnum⁠—and the Ferrari⁠—while our protagonist is clad in a Lacoste tennis shirt, innovated by French tennis icon and Renaissance man René Lacoste, who was born 116 years ago on July 2, 1904. Despite dominating the tennis game in the 1920s with seven Grand Slam singles titles and two back-to-back Davis Cup titles, Lacoste’s name is best known to some for the comfortable shirts he had revolutionized for the court.

René Lacoste, French tennis champion and innovator of the classic pique polo shirt.

Prior to the development of the Lacoste shirt, tennis players were required to wear long-sleeved white shirts, ties, and trousers, which Lacoste felt too restrictive for play. Inspired by observing the Marquis of Cholmondeley sporting a polo shirt on the tennis court, Lacoste had a run of wool and cotton pullover shirts made for him that he debuted at the 1926 U.S. Open in New York City.

Over the next few years, Lacoste’s nickname in America (“the Alligator”) was translated by the French as “the Crocodile”, which he embraced as his own personal symbol so his friend, ice hockey player Robert George, designed a green crocodile that would be embroidered on Lacoste’s blazers and shirts on the court.

Together with André Gillier, Lacoste officially founded La Société Chemise Lacoste in 1933, the year after he retired, manufacturing and marketing the comfortable tennis shirts bearing his name and reptilian symbol. The brand continued to grow, aided by a partnership with Izod for marketing in the United States that lasted from the early 1950s until the 1993 when the partnership ended; by this time, Lacoste had been so firmly entrenched in American culture that the company could successfully take control of its own brand.

What’d He Wear?

Thomas Magnum’s tropical-printed Aloha shirts have become a pop culture staple, but the first shirt that Tom Selleck wears on screen is actually a navy blue pique polo, easily identified as a Lacoste product by the familiar green crocodile embroidered over the left breast. In fact, it’s a shot of Magnum in this shirt as he peels away in Robin Masters’ Ferrari that would be used to introduce Selleck in the opening credits across Magnum, P.I.‘s eight-season run.

… but I’m getting ahead of myself, as Magnum isn’t wearing any shirt at all when we first meet him, emerging from the waves onto Robin Masters’ estate clad only in his blue polyester swim trunks.

Detailed with green, white, and yellow side striping, these short-inseam trunks would be worn in several other first season episodes. The trunks have a simple elastic waistband, likely with an inner drawstring to tighten the fit, and a small pocket on the right side, covered with a flap closing through a single white button.

Clad in his swim trunks, Magnum works the first of several locks as part of his job testing the security of Robin’s Nest. The rope around his waistband is connected to his waterproof bag of additional gear.

Tied around Magnum’s waist is a waterproof bag filled with clothing and equipment for the next legs of his mission, first picking a gate lock before evading “the lads” and picking his way into the cockpit of a sleek red Ferrari 308GTS:

Don’t look at the dogs, work the lock… you looked at the dogs!

Magnum pulls from the bag this navy Lacoste shirt, which he’s already wearing by the time he gets to the Ferrari. The short-sleeved pullover shirt is detailed with Lacoste’s signature cotton petit piqué body, ribbed collar and cuffs, and two mother-of-pearl buttons on the placket.

A note on nomenclature: the term “polo shirt” originally referred to the woven shirts with button-down collars innovated by Brooks Brothers at the turn-of-the-century, but the colloquial appellation seemingly shifted as polo players embraced the less restrictive type of shirt pioneered by Lacoste. Encouraged by marketing shortcuts and the popularity of Polo Ralph Lauren’s line, this trend has resulted in many except the strictist purists considering the terms “polo shirt”, “golf shirt”, and “tennis shirt” to be relatively synonymous when referring to these types of collared pullover shirts.

“As happens with many menswear icons derived from sports clothes, the practicality of the design soon saw the polo shirt being worn away from the tennis court or field of play,” Josh Sims described in Icon’s of Men’s Style. As discussed earlier, Lacoste shirts had been around since the 1930s and grew in popularity over the decades to follow, firmly established as a prepdom staple by 1980 when it was referenced in the tongue-in-cheek The Official Preppy Handbook to the extent that the book’s editor, Lisa Birnbach, recalled that she spent much of the decade autographing Lacoste shirts. (“Don’t Eat the Snow in Hawaii” was filmed in February and March of 1980, according to Magnum Mania!, predating the shirt’s inclusion in Birnbach’s volume by several months.)

Forty years after Magnum, P.I. debuted, Lacoste’s brand has evolved in a series of mergers and acquisitions but its growing product line keeps René’s original “12-12” polo shirt intact (via Lacoste and Amazon), available in an array of 36 colors as of June 2020, including navy blue as worn by Magnum.

Upon reaching his destination, Magnum senses the decorum of Hickam AFB and promptly pulls on a pair of blue Levi’s jeans—his khaki web belt already rigged through the belt loops—over his swim trunks.

Even when stepping out of a Ferrari in paradise, Thomas Magnum puts his pants on one leg at a time, just like the rest of us.

Magnum’s preference for Levi’s denim is thus established early in the series, and these particular jeans have the unique “orange tab” on the back pocket, which Levi Strauss & Co. used to denote non-basic items such as bellbottoms and boot-cuts or unorthodox denim washes and stitching variations from the 1960s through 1999. In addition to these orange tab Levi’s, Selleck would also wear traditional Levi’s 501 “red tab” jeans and four-pocket naval-style dungarees over the course of the show.

Magnum’s everyday belt is made of khaki cotton webbing, similar to the durable belts he would have worn with his khaki service and working uniforms in the Navy. During the first season, his belt closed with a plain gold-toned brass slider buckle as found across government-issued and commercially available versions of these web belts from companies like Rothco, though he would adopt a more personalized belt from the second season forward with USN Surface Warfare insignia and “MAGNUM” embossed on the buckle.

Apropos his laidback, beachside lifestyle, Magnum’s everyday footwear rotates between classic boat shoes, athletic trainers, and canvas deck sneakers. With this outfit, he seems to prefer the latter, wearing two-eyelet deck sneakers with creamy off-white canvas uppers, white rubber outsoles, and side-lacing that resembles Sperry’s classic boat shoe while lacking the traditional Top-Sider’s more structured, moc-toe profile.

This shot was featured in “No Need to Know” (Episode 1.05), though Magnum wore tan trousers in this episode and was already wearing his team ring on his left hand, as he would in all but the first episode of the first season. Thus, I suspect this particular shot was recycled from footage filmed during the production of the pilot episode and re-inserted during the car chase in “No Need to Know”.

As with the pilot episode, “No Need to Know” (Episode 1.05) begins with Magnum wearing this navy Lacoste polo as he breaks into the Robin’s Nest, returning early after being “off on one of his cases” and out of Higgins’ hair for a week, thus frustrating the irascible majordomo upon his arrival. Though the upgraded security personnel literally rub Magnum the wrong way, he’s only slightly more charmed by the two lovely flight attendants who are evidently among the unseen Robin Masters’ latest houseguests.

With his expansive and colorful wardrobe, Magnum rarely repeats a shirt within a single episode but “No Need to Know” is an exception as Magnum again dons his navy Lacoste polo for the episode’s climactic finale, having emerged from his unsuccessful underwater recon just in time to encounter Mandy (Robin Dearden), the flight attendant who reveals herself to be an IRA assassin targeting fellow houseguest Brigadier Ffolkes (Richard Johnson).

In addition to the polo, he pulls on a pair of plain tan cotton trousers with an elastic waistband, side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms, worn over his black swimming shorts and with his same off-white deck shoes.

Magnum’s navy blue short-sleeved polo shirt and tan trousers proves its timelessness as a comfortable tropical ensemble as James Bond (Daniel Craig) would take the same sartorial approach a quarter century later for a dressed-down day in the Bahamas in Casino Royale (2006).

The third and final episode to feature this shirt, “Don’t Say Goodbye” (Episode 1.15), again features Magnum dressing in this shirt after a swim, this time interrupted by Higgins (John Hillerman), who is indignant that the private investigator hasn’t been paying his phone bill as it forces Higgins to relay messages from “virtually every scoundrel on this island, including tasteless, provocative messages from your floozy girlfriend,” who turns out to be prospective client Agatha Kimball (Mercedes McCambridge).

Magnum wears a pair of dark green swim trunks with an elastic waistband and button-closed pocket on the right thigh though, this time, he doesn’t pull on any pants over them as he doesn’t leave the house.

Magnum’s navy Lacoste polo made its final appearance in “Never Say Goodbye” (Episode 1.15).

Like his brothers in arms T.C. (Roger E. Mosley) and Rick (Larry Manetti), Magnum proudly wears a large gold signet ring with a gold French Croix de Lorraine (“Cross of Lorraine”) embossed on the large oval, black enamel-filled face. Replicas abound, such as this relatively well-reviewed piece offered on Amazon.

Also known as a double cross or patriarchal cross, the Cross of Lorraine became a symbol of resistance during wartime France, and the experts at Magnum Mania! have suggested that this as a reasonable connection for why Magnum’s team chose this symbol for their own memento. The symbol has no known association with the U.S. Navy or Marine Corps, the branches for which Magnum, Rick, and T.C. served, though it has been the insignia of the U.S. Army Reserve 79th Infantry Division since the division’s defense of France during World War I.

In the pilot episode, Magnum wears his team ring on the third finger of his right hand, but then inexplicably wears it on the same finger of his left hand for the rest of the first season. At the start of the second season, Magnum again wears the ring on his right ring finger as he would continue to do for the duration of the series.

Magnum’s Croix de Lorraine team ring gets significant screen-time in the pilot episode, such as when our hero cracks open a much-needed beer.

For the first three seasons of Magnum, P.I., Magnum wears a stainless steel Chronosport Sea Quartz 30 dive watch on a perforated black leather strap, revealed in flashbacks to have been the same timepiece he sported during his Navy service in the Vietnam War. (According to a Redditor’s research, this has some historical integrity as some Navy SEAL teams evidently did wear Chronosports during their service in the early ’70s!)

Magnum’s Chronosport has a black dial printed only with “Quartz” (the full “Sea Quartz 30” designation would be added in 1982), detailed with luminescent hour markers including numerals for 12, 6, and 9 o’clock as well as a black day-date window at 3:00. Per its diving functionality, the watch has a slim black tick-marked rotating bezel.

By the fifth episode of the first season, Magnum was wearing his team ring on his left hand with his Chronosport dive watch strapped to the same wrist.

It wouldn’t be until the series’ fourth season that Magnum would swap out the Chronosport for his recognizable Rolex GMT Master with the red-and-blue Pepsi bezel, an in-universe inheritance from his father, as well as Selleck’s own POW/MIA bracelet recognizing Kenneth Ray Lancaster.

The Car

Any discussion of Thomas Magnum’s enviable world would be incomplete without reference to the bright cherry red Ferraris that powered him around O’ahu on his cases. As the Ferrari was always one of three vehicles in the automotive stable of Magnum’s enigmatic host and benefactor, Robin Masters, ROBIN-1 may be the most significant example of a character’s iconic car that wasn’t even owned by its primary driver!

The opening sequence of the first episode, and every set of opening titles to follow, magnify this connection between car and character as we see Magnum smirk, shift into gear, and peel away in a controlled slide behind the wheel of the first ROBIN-1, a 1979 Ferrari 308 GTS.

Speeding ahead in Robin Masters’ Ferrari, Magnum cuts off Higgins’ Audi in “No Need to Know” (Episode 1.05).

Had Tom Selleck been a little shorter, the Ferrari may have never been introduced to Magnum’s world as the producers originally had their eyes set on a Porsche. However, Porsche reportedly refused to make the modifications necessary to comfortably fit the 6’4″ actor while Ferrari was all too pleased to chop away at the 308 GTS to make room for Magnum. (Even still, Magnum Mania! points out that you rarely see Magnum driving the Ferrari with the top closed, and Selleck’s head almost always sticks out above the top of the windshield!)

Magnum, P.I. neatly chronicles the evolution of the 308 GTS series, its 1980-1988 production timeline overlapping with much of the Ferrari 308’s own history from its debut at the 1975 Paris Motor Show through the final model year in 1985. In addition to Robin’s ’79 Ferrari 308GTS in the first season, the series would feature a 1981 Ferrari 308GTSi for the second through sixth seasons and a 1984 Ferrari 308GTSi quattrovavole for the final two seasons, all of which would undergo varying abuse from fender benders to car bombs as chronicled by Magnum Mania!

Leonardo Fioravanti at Pininfarina designed the low, sleek 308, introduced by Ferrari to replace the mid-engine Dino series that had been in production since 1967. The first 308 models were strictly close-topped “Berlinetta” GTB models until the targa-topped GTS model was unveiled at the 1977 Frankfurt Motor Show. By that time, Ferrari had already begun phasing out the 308’s ambitious fiberglass bodywork, and less than a thousand “vetroresina” fiberglass-bodied 308s left the Maranello factory before converting to heavier all-steel bodywork in June 1977.

For its first five years of production, the Ferrari 308 was powered by a 3.0-liter Tipo V8 rated at 252 bhp for the European models, though emissions control devices downrated American models to 237 bhp.

1979 Ferrari 308GTS

Body Style: 2-door Targa top sports car

Layout: mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive (MR)

Engine: 2927 cc (2.9 L) Ferrari Dino “Tipo F106 AB” V8 with Weber 40DCNF 2-barrel DOHC

Power: 237 bhp (177 kW; 240 PS) @ 6600 RPM

Torque: 181 lb·ft (245 N·m) @ 5000 RPM

Transmission: 5-speed manual

Wheelbase: 92.1 inches (2340 mm)

Length: 172.4 inches (4380 mm)

Width: 67.7 inches (1720 mm)

Height: 44.1 inches (1120 mm)

The development of Bosch K-Jetronic mechanical fuel injection saw the evolution to the 308 GTBi and 308 GTSi for the 1980 model year, further dropping the power output to 211 bhp in Europe and 202 bhp on American models. Robin adopted a 1981 model for his fleet in the second season, replacing it after it was bombed in “Did You See the Sunrise? Part 1” (Episode 3.01).

It wasn’t until the seventh season, debuting in the fall of 1986 more than a year after the final Ferrari 308 rolled off the production line, that Robin upgraded to the latest and last generation. While cosmetically similar and powered by the same 2927 cc Tipo V8, this heavier 308 quattrovavole introduced at the 1982 Paris Motor Show benefitted from four valves per cylinder that boosted power back to 230 bhp on American models, still less powerful but ultimately faster than the first generation of 308s.

Good news for Magnum, P.I. fans: Andrew Newton wrote for Hagerty last October that these models are “increasingly affordable”, a relative term for sure given the demand for these instantly recognizable cars but pleasantly welcome news for collectors looking for an iconic ride for hitting the open road.

The Ferrari in the pilot episode (and the opening credits sequence) was fitted with license plates #56E-478 before the iconic ROBIN-1 vanity plates would be adopted.

The Ferrari 308’s starring role on Magnum, P.I. arguably led to the car’s greater exposure in other media, including Dean Martin’s own ’79 308 GTS in The Cannonball Run (1981) and Christie Brinkley’s ’81 308 GTSi, from which she distracts a dizzy-eyed Chevy Chase in National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983). Perhaps worth noting is that Chase’s hapless family man Clark Griswold cycles through a few Lacoste polo shirts of his own in Vacation, illustrating that you don’t have to be a tropical-dwelling private investigator with a Ferrari to dress like one!

How to Get the Look

Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum on Magnum P.I. (Episode 1.05: “Never Say Goodbye”)

Thomas Magnum is introduced to audiences wearing neither the bright Aloha shirts or Detroit Tigers cap that would become associated with the character, instead sporting a navy Lacoste tennis shirt with his swim trunks and jeans, illustrating the timeless versatility of this preppy staple which Magnum repurposes as a warm, dry layer after a day in the water.

• Navy cotton petit piqué Lacoste polo shirt with two-button placket
  • Available via Lacoste and Amazon
• Light blue denim Levi’s vintage “orange tag” jeans
  • Alternative Levi’s 501 “red tag” in medium stonewash available via Amazon
• Khaki web belt with gold-toned slider belt buckle
  • Available via Amazon
• Off-white canvas two-eyelet, side-laced deck sneakers with white rubber outsoles
• Chronosport Sea Quartz 30 stainless steel dive watch with black rotating bezel, black dial (with luminescent hour markers and 3:00 day-date window), on perforated black strap
• Gold Croix de Lorraine team ring
  • Replicas available via Amazon

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the entire series.

I also highly suggest exploring the extensively researched Magnum Mania! site for fans of the series. For obvious reasons, I recommend the site’s comprehensive Magnum Gear page that includes brief descriptions and links about the clothing and accessories worn by not just Magnum but also Rick, T.C., and Higgins.

The Quote

Funny the things a grown man will do for a living.

Burt Reynolds as the Trans Am-driving “Bandit” in Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

Vitals

Burt Reynolds as Bo “the Bandit” Darville, daredevil driver

Texarkana to Atlanta, Summer 1976

Film: Smokey and the Bandit
Release Date: May 27, 1977
Director: Hal Needham

Background

♫ You’ve heard about the legend of Jesse James and John Henry just to mention some names,

Well, there’s a truck-drivin’ legend in the South today, a man called Bandit from Atlanta, GA… ♫

After seven years of biannual Car Week features, how did it take me this long get around to what might be the most famous “car movie” of all? On a day commemorating the anniversary of American independence, it feels appropriate to celebrate Burt Reynolds bedecked in red, white, and blue (or at least red and blue) as he speeds across half the country in a muscle car, all in the name of beer… or as the Bandit himself declares:

For the money, for the glory, and for the fun… but mostly for the money.

Happy birthday, America… from Burt Reynolds and BAMF Style.

I’m sure my initial resistance to chronicling the Bandit’s road trip regalia was its relative inaccessibility, as it’s hard to wear a red rayon shirt, tight jeans, and cowboy hat and boots—let alone the mustache—without looking like costume. Of course, it’s a costume that Burt Reynolds inhabits like few others could, perhaps rooted in less authenticity than the Snowman’s trucker uniform of plaid shirt, puffer vest, and CAT hat but consistent with Reynolds’ swaggering screen persona.

Reynolds stars as the eponymous Bandit, a charming anti-authoritarian rogue who swaps out his usual truck for a speedy Trans Am as he and his fellow trucker pal Cledus “Snowman” Snow (Jerry Reed) dodge the police across five states in their mission to haul 400 cases of Coors from Texas to Atlanta in under 28 hours for a $80,000 payday. Their expedition is further complicated when the Bandit picks up a runaway bride, Carrie (Sally Field)—soon to be redubbed “Frog” for the benefit of our heroes’ CB radios—and invites the dogged pursuit of Carrie’s prospective father-in-law, the excessively proud Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason), who calls Bandit “the goddamndest pursuee I ever pursued!”

Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham during production of Smokey and the Bandit. The friendship and professional association between the actor and stuntman would inspire the Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth characters and dynamic in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019).

Smokey and the Bandit became the second-highest grossing film in North America in 1977, second only to Star Wars… an impressive performance for a mostly improvised movie that had been outlined on legal pads by a stuntman who was also making his directorial debut.

Indeed, Hal Needham—a Korean War veteran and experienced stuntman—had a particular talent for delivering what audiences would want to see, ignoring the influence of critics or studio heads, ultimately delivering a movie that would gross over $300 million, earn an Academy Award nomination for editors Walter Hannemann and Angelo Ross, and would become a favorite of many… including Alfred Hitchcock.

What’d He Wear?

That day on the Atlanta set of Smokey and the Bandit, Burt Reynolds stretched his lanky legs out in his shag-carpeted trailer and took a little break. In his snug-fitting, bell-bottomed jeans and polished boots, a perfectly creased Stetson resting at his elbow and a massive belt buckle gleaming at his trim waistline, he seemed every bit the movie star.

His tousled bangs and rolled-up shirt sleeves said he was just one of the guys.

So began Burt Reynolds’ obituary by Jennifer Brett for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, capturing the charismatic star’s seemingly contradictory ability to balance his down-to-earth, everyman appeal with a self-deprecating awareness of his own megastardom. Reynolds’ popularity derived not from the quality of his movies—and he would no doubt be the first to admit that few of his output in the 25-year span between Deliverance (1972) and Boogie Nights (1997) could be argued as “great” cinema—but instead from his laidback charm; watching a Burt Reynolds movie often meant an hour and a half with an unpretentious hero who needed not a tailored tuxedo and well-made martini to be happy, just a cowboy hat and a hammock… and that’s exactly how we’re introduced to the Bandit.

Prologue: The Out-of-Work Bum

Seems like a legend and an out-of-work bum look a lot alike, Daddy.

Little Enos Burdette (Paul Williams) is hardly impressed by the supposed icon reclining on a zebra-print hammock at the Georgia “Truck Road-eo” state finals, awaiting an absent line of fans eagerly seeking photos at $1.25 75 cents a pop.

Guess which one is Big Enos and which one is Little Enos?

The Bandit wears his usual skin-tight blue jeans with his personalized belt and the large turquoise-ornamented belt buckle that matches his complement of turquoise-and-silver jewelry. His state of respite also introduces us to his chosen footwear, a pair of black leather cowboy boots with raised heels and square toes, the latter embellished with studs.

Reynolds was an avid boot wearer in real life who owned dozens of cowboy boots and zip-up ankle boots from bootmakers including Di Fabrizio, Manuel, Tony Lama, Ammons, Code West, and Rocketbuster Boots, as seen in the Julien’s Live catalog from a 2019 auction of items from the actor’s estate.

Eyes shaded by the cowboy hat integral to his image, the Bandit wears a light blue chambray cotton work shirt with a large point collar, front placket unbuttoned over the chest, and two flapped chest pockets. In fact, the shirt is a dead ringer for what Reynolds wore across the second half of White Lightning (1973), right down to the copper orange thread on the seams and buttonholes and the narrow, gently scalloped, single-button flaps over the pockets.

The Bandit flashes his turquoise ring and watch as he adjusts his hat to steal an amused peek at the Burdettes.

Eastbound and Down

Once the bet begins and the timer starts ticking on Bandit’s bet, he changes into a flashier shirt more befitting the man who claims showing off to be his primary skill. He isn’t dressed in feathers—after all, this isn’t a minister’s funeral—but he does look distinctive in a cherry red rayon shirt, fit to flatter the lean star.

The shirt is uniquely detailed with a large rolling one-piece collar best described as a disco-era evolution of the elegantly sporty “Lido collar” as the shirt tapers to the top of the collar on each side, cut away where the top button would be on a traditional men’s shirt and thus clearly meant to be worn without fastening at the neck.

At the start of their 28-hour journey, Bandit helps dress the drowsy Snowman, choosing a considerably more subdued shirt for his pal.

I’ve read that Niver Western Wear of Fort Worth, Texas, provided much of the Western-themed attire in Smokey and the Bandit, including Jackie Gleason’s sheriff’s uniforms with their 64-inch waistbands, but I haven’t found a confirmed maker for Reynolds’ red shirt. I can confirm that, within a decade of the movie’s release, Reynolds was one of many famous customers at Anto Beverly Hills, and it’s possible that this storied shirtmaker to the stars had even dressed the Bandit back in 1976. Whether they made the Bandit’s original screen-worn shirt or not, the Julien’s Live auction catalog includes a selection of four shirts that Anto made for the star in 1999, detailed almost identically to the Smokey and the Bandit shirt (see lot 785 here.)

The Bandit’s shirt also has epaulettes (shoulder straps), commonly appointed to men’s sportswear in the ’70s in deference to the sweeping safari craze, as well as button cuffs that he wears unfastened and rolled up each forearm throughout the duration of Smokey and the Bandit. The shirt also has two patch pockets on the chest with pointed bottoms and rounded flaps that each close through a single red pearlesque plastic sew-through button that matches those up the plain, placket-less front.

At the end of their journey, the Bandit, Snowman, and Fred have acquired a new traveling companion in Frog, who enthusiastically agrees to take on the Burdettes’ “double or nothing” bet to bring back clam chowder from Boston in Big Enos’ Cadillac within the next 18 hours.

Perhaps my least favorite aspect of the Bandit’s distinctive wardrobe is his choice of jeans. Rather than opting for the classic all-American denim offerings of Levi’s, Lee (as he wore in White Lightning), and Wrangler, Reynolds takes the tragically trendy route of sporting a pair of blue denim bell-bottoms, so tight through the hips that they almost leave as little to the imagination as the star’s infamous Cosmopolitan spread earlier in the decade.

This revealing effect is amplified by the lack of visible pockets on the jeans, detailed only with a seam across the top of the seat. Befitting their name, the Bandit’s jean legs flare out dramatically below the knees.

Each clad in their respective bellbottoms, the Bandit and Snowman try to gain access to the Coors storage facility.

The lack of pockets on Reynolds’ jeans place quite a burden on his shirt pockets, leaving questions about where the Bandit keeps essential items for a road trip such as wallet or keys. Almost by magic, pockets appear on Reynolds’ jeans for a brief scene when he and Frog are back on the road following a rest stop that sees even more intimacy than their attempt to switch seats mid-drive. (This could leave one to theorize that Bandit had changed into new jeans after taking off his old ones during his carnal break with Frog… though he’s back in his pocketless bell-bottoms by the time they reach Atlanta!)

Of course, even the addition of pockets don’t make these jeans any more typical, as they appear to be patch pockets on the front with slanted side openings and a smaller inset pocket on top of this with a small, rivet-button flap. Jeans like this may have been fashionable among men in the ’70s, but the last place I remember seeing this style was worn by girls in my 8th grade class.

Resting her head on the Bandit’s hand (which is gripping the gearshift), Frog recalls her one-time romance with an acid rock singer. In a car with a manual transmission, this would be a very uncomfortable position for both parties, but the gearshift clearly indicates an automatic transmission.

“I think I’m in love with your belt buckle!” Frog exclaims when Bandit tries to slide under her to retake control of the Trans Am, verbally illustrating the intimacy of their attempt. Worn on a black edge-stitched leather belt personalized with “BANDIT” stenciled across a copper-colored patch on the back, this large silver ovular buckle is textured with black-oxidized tooling and detailed with a turquoise nugget mounted in the center.

You can try the look for yourself with low-cost turquoise belt buckles like this, but I highly recommend anyone committing to the look peruse the stunning array of authentic Southwestern turquoise belt buckles offered from merchants like Eagle Rock Trading Post and Alltribes, featuring primarily items produced by Navajo, Zuni, Hopi, and other Pueblo Native American artists.

An additional costume-related continuity error inside the Trans Am curiously focuses on the Bandit’s boots. Our protagonist’s black studded-toe cowboy boots are established during his on-screen introduction, and long shots of him outside the car during the Texas-to-Atlanta journey depict the same unique boots.

Yet, there are at least two close-up shots of the Bandit’s feet as he drives, rapidly braking or accelerating as needed, that clearly show a pair of more practical russet brown cowboy boots with a worn leather patina, lower flat heels, and less ornamental steel toecaps.

The song may advise Bandit to “keep your foot hard on the pedal, son never mind them brakes,” but that just wouldn’t be a practical way to cross the country.

“Why do you wear that cowboy hat?” Frog asks, adding before he has time to answer: “I know, because you think it looks dazzling on you.”

The Bandit’s signature cattleman’s hat in khaki beaver felt has been referred to as a Stetson, though I believe that’s more colloquial shortcut than a confirmed ID; instead, I believe the hatmaker was Manny Gammage, whose custom company Texas Hatters dressed the heads of celebrities from Willie Nelson, Ray Charles, and Dolly Parton to members of the British royal family, according to the Austin Statesman. Texas Hatters continues to offer the “Bandit”, inspired by the hat created for Reynolds.

The hat is finished with an oxidized sterling silver metal band, marked at regular intervals around the band.

“Don’t you ever take that hat off for anything?” Frog later asks. “Sure! I take it off for one thing… and one thing only,” the Bandit responds, prompting Frog to join him in proceeding to do that very thing.

Frog and the Bandit consider how to spend a few minutes of respite in the woods before she decides: “Take your hat off.”

The Bandit likes his jewelry and accessories with a Southwestern flair, wearing a wide double-banded silver ring with an elongated oval turquoise stone on the third finger of his left hand, neatly coordinating with both belt buckle and the Bandit’s watch band.

The Bandit’s watch has been tentatively identified as a stainless steel Timex diver from the era with a slim black rotating bezel. The “tuxedo”-style dial has a white ring around the edges with silver non-numeric hour markers, a black center circle, white hands, and a white date window at 3:00. The watch is mounted in an oxidized silver Navajo cuff with two pear-shaped turquoise stones mounted on each side of the watch in twist wire-accented bezels that match the twist wire detailing along the inside of the cuff’s chiseled edges.

The Bandit enlists the help of fellow truckers who’ve “got them ears on”, soliciting a smokey report and finding solace in their “rocking chair” to evade the Alabama Highway Patrol.

This distinctive watch cuff has been faithfully reproduced by Native American artists and is available for sale via AllTribes and Under One Nation Tribe Trading Post.

The Sequel

While Smokey and the Bandit was second only to Star Wars as far as 1977 North American box office gross, it did not have the same luck in replicating a formula for a successful trilogy; while Smokey and the Bandit II may be watchable at best (and is certainly no Empire Strikes Back), the same can not be said for the third installment, which was made without Needham’s essential involvement, relegated Reynolds to a cameo appearance, and was re-cut prior to its release to put a newly mustached Jerry Reed in the cockpit of the Bandit’s Trans Am when Jackie Gleason’s dual role (to be promoted as “Smokey IS the Bandit”) fell flat with test audiences.

The less said about Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 the better, and I’d be inclined to avoid discussion of both sequels as well if not for the flashy red jacket that Reynolds wears for his return in Smokey and the Bandit II.

Burt Reynolds, clad in the Bandit’s personalized jacket for Smokey and the Bandit II (1980)

By this film, Reynolds had been launched beyond superstardom; it was as though a new level of Hollywood royalty was invented in the late ’70s solely for Reynolds. This trait was passed on to his characters, including the already cocky Bandit, whose self-branding developed from a comparatively subtle belt in the first film to a personalized nylon jacket as he squires a quarantined elephant from Miami to Dallas for the GOP national convention.

Once he’s back in a Trans Am and not performing in floral-detailed Western wear, the rest of the Bandit’s gear is consistent with what we saw in the first film: his favorite hat, a Western-styled shirt (now a sky blue chambray snap-down), and tight blue jeans with that turquoise-detailed belt buckle. An extremely visible addition to his wardrobe that bright red nylon jacket, emblazoned on the raglan sleeves with “TRANS AM” over the right and “BANDIT” over the left, both embroidered in light yellow on black vertical strips that run down to a black ring around each upper arm that is echoed by the black ribbing over the cuffs.

The racer-style jacket zips up the front to a standing collar and has a hand pocket on each side. On the right breast of the jacket is the distinctive “Screaming Chicken” logo that Pontiac had introduced for the Firebird in 1973 and which decorated the hood of the Bandit’s trio of Trans Ams in all three films… though relegated to a much smaller decal on the grille by the time Jerry Reed took the wheel in 1983.

The jacket echoes a similar silver jacket that Reynolds’ stuntman character had worn in Hooper (1978), which also found him sporting a cowboy hat in the cockpit of an airborne Firebird.

Made by Watkins, the original screen-worn jacket was auctioned by Julien’s Live in December 2014, sold to the winning bidder for more than $35,000. Plenty of replicas abound in varying quality and faithfulness, including a jacket by FaddyRox available via Amazon in faux leather and real leather.

What to Imbibe

“The problem is that, Coors beer… you take that east of Texas and that’s uh, that’s bootleggin’,” the Bandit responds to his challenge from Big and Little Enos, later asking “why do you want that beer so bad?”

“Because he’s thirsty… dummy!” responds Little Enos.

“In the 1970s, you couldn’t buy Coors beer east of the Mississippi. It didn’t have preservatives, so it had to be kept cold all the way from the brewery to the customer. It cost too much to ship it refrigerated across the continent, so the company sold it only in the West, and people were smuggling it in their suitcases, which was technically bootlegging,” explained Burt Reynolds and Jon Winokur in Reynolds’ 2015 memoir But Enough About Me.

Evidently, the mystique and demand growing around this additive-free beer that could only be sold in the west made a bootlegger out of almost everyone, from Dwight Eisenhower and Gerald Ford to Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox, all of whom found innovative ways to bring the brew back east as detailed in a 1974 article in Time magazine.

Reynolds elaborates in his memoir that there likely wouldn’t have been a Smokey and the Bandit without Coors beer and their own personal experiences with people coveting the brew:

When Hal and I were getting ready to shoot Gator (1976) in Georgia, the traffic captain put a bunch of Coors on the truck in t L.A. and took it down there. He gave Hal a couple of cases for his condo. Hal put a few bottles in the refrigerator, but the next time he looked, they were gone. He put a few more in and they disappeared, too. He figured it was an inside job and he was right. It was the maid. He caught her red-handed with two bottles in her cart. He asked her why she was stealing Coors beer and she said, “You can’t get it around here and my husband loves it.”

In Hal’s mind, smuggling Coors became the MacGuffin for a movie, the thread that would tie the action together. He loved that it wasn’t about killing or hurting people, but that it was still illegal.

“Redneck heaven,” the Bandit quips at the sight of 400 cases of Coors.

Looking for a spicy complement to your refreshing Coors? Try a hand at the Diablo Sandwich that Sheriff Justice orders (albeit with a Dr Pepper) at an Arkansas barbecue joint. According to the Smokey and the Bandit Wikipedia page, there are multiple options for what this delicacy could entail. Consensus seems to agree on some variation of a sloppy joe served on a hamburger bun but made spicier with the addition of hot sauce. The base protein is typically suggested to be seasoned ground beef with alternatives including pulled pork and Pittsburg Hot Links; in the case of the latter, the hamburger bun would be swapped out for Texas toast. For added flavor, typically canned corn and potentially diced tomato and, depending on preferred spice, either jalapeño peppers or sour cream.

The Car

“New car, gotta have a new car to block for the truck, you know,” the Bandit explains when requesting his expenses from Big and Little Enos. “Speedy car,” Bandit clarifies, then after seeing that Little Enos isn’t peeling off enough hundreds, “speedier than that.”

Hours later, the Bandit is proudly deplaning his speedy new car, a 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, from the back of his truck onto Snowman’s driveway. (What happened to the ramp he drove down? Movie magic allowed it to disappear without Bandit or Snowman reloading it into the truck or even discarding it before both men tear out of the driveway.)

Outfitted in Pontiac’s ominously eye-catching black-and-gold color scheme and Screaming Eagle hood decal, rigged with a Pace CB radio, and dressed with our hero’s vanity BAN-ONE Georgia license plates, the Bandit’s Trans Am sped up that street in Jonesboro, Georgia, and into the top echelon of the most iconic movie cars of all time, alongside James Bond’s weaponized Aston Martin DB5, Marty McFly’s time-traveling DeLorean, Herbie the Love Bug, Steve McQueen’s Bullitt Mustang, and the Batmobile.

Frog picks up the Bandit in his own Trans Am outside the “choke and puke” where Sheriff Justice is wolfing down his diablo sandwich.

“Among muscle cars born of the muscle age, only Trans Am would continue in uninterrupted production,” wrote the auto editors of Consumer Guide for Kings of the Street. Indeed, by the mid-1970s, the American street kings and pony cars that had once reigned supreme with names like Charger, Challenger, Chevelle, Cougar, and ‘Cuda had all but disappeared or been so defanged by emissions regulations that whatever marques remained tended to be clunky, downsized eyesores with little to show of their high-horsepower heritage.

Only General Motors seemed to scoff in the face of these new regulations, with the 1976 Cadillac expanding its luxurious “land yacht” lineup to almost exaggerated dimensions, powered by the obscenely large-block 500 cubic-inch V8; on the performance side of the house, pony car cousins Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird continued to rule the roads.

“Why Pontiac chose to keep the Trans Am around in the face of the retreating competition is of little interest here, other than to note the irony that of all the machines of the species there is little debating the fact that the best of the lot was preserved,” Don Sherman wrote for Car & Driver in 1977, adding the parenthetical, “(Automotive Darwinism is alive and well)!”

A 50th anniversary Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. Note the difference in the 1976 grille from the 1977 facade in the below screenshot from Smokey and the Bandit. (Source: Pontiac Trans Am Forum)

Had Hal Needham conceptualized Smokey and the Bandit five years earlier than he did, he would have had a wider array of American muscle to choose for the Bandit’s journey, but process of elimination in the era of emissions standards essentially left only the Camaro and the Firebird, the latter having an edge at the time for its Trans Am performance package that offered greater power and speed (the Camaro’s legendary Z28 wouldn’t be reintroduced until 1977 when Chevy saw the Smokey effect driving Trans Am sales.) While these may have contributed to Needham’s enthusiasm for featuring the car so prominently, Burt Reynolds’ memoir suggests that the reasoning may have been more derived from aesthetics:

Hal saw a picture in a magazine of a 1976 Pontiac Trans Am, the model with the T-top and the gold Thunder Chicken decal on the hood. He thought I’d look cool in one, and that it might make a good product placement, so we went to Pontiac and they gave us four Trans Ams for me and two LeManses for Jackie’s cruiser. We wrecked ’em all. When a car couldn’t run anymore, we kept it handy to scavenge parts. For the last scene we filmed, the one Trans Am we had left wouldn’t start and we had to push it into the shot.

The timing was fortuitous as 1976 was a banner year for the Firebird. As it was Pontiac’s 50th anniversary, the company introduced its elaborate black-and-gold color scheme (Y82) designed by John Schinella, revealed at the Chicago Auto Show that February. According to Scott Oldham for Hagerty, Pontiac had also planned that all of these black-and-gold Limited Edition Firebirds produced in 1976 would be rigged with the newly introduced open T-top roof by Hurst, though only 643 of the 2,590 Limited Edition cars produced had them. The “Screaming Chicken” hood decal, added in 1973, provided an additional touch of iconic menace.

The four Trans Ams that Pontiac provided for the production were a mix of new 1977 cars and 1976 cars converted to resemble the newer ’77 by swapping out the front with its dual round headlights for four square headlights and replacing the cubic inch measurement on the hood scoop with “6.6 LITRE” decals. We also know that both manual and automatic transmission cars were used, with some driving scenes indicating that Reynolds was controlling a manual gearbox while interior shots clearly display the three-speed Hydramatic automatic transmission and no clutch pedal. Since at least one ’77 Trans Am was used for the production, and Bandit is clearly meant to be driving a ’77, we’ll focus on that as the official BAN-ONE Pontiac, powered by with the Pontiac 400 T/A 6.6 V8 which was only mated to the four-speed manual transmission; the Hydramatic Trans Ams were powered by the somewhat more anemic Oldsmobile 403 V8 rated at 185 horsepower.

1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am

Body Style: 2-door T-top fastback

Layout: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive (RWD)

Engine: 400 cu. in. (6.6 L) Pontiac 400 T/A 6.6 (W72) with single Rochester Quadrajet 4-barrel carburetor

Power: 200 bhp (149 kW; 203 PS) @ 3600 RPM

Torque: 325 lb·ft (441 N·m) @ 2400 RPM

Transmission: 4-speed manual

Wheelbase: 108.1 inches (2746 mm)

Length: 196.8 inches (4999 mm)

Width: 73 inches (1854 mm)

Height: 49.6 inches (1260 mm)

Burt Reynolds wasn’t the only star showing audiences how well a Pontiac could perform on screen as James Garner had been executing J-turns in a gold Firebird Esprit on The Rockford Files since 1974, upgrading to the latest model at the start of each season. However, it was Smokey and the Bandit that catapulted its popularity, and the now-demanded Firebird Trans Am saw a sales increase from 68,745 in 1977 to 93,341 in 1978, outselling its Camaro counterpart for the first time in the decade that both models had co-existed. Trans Am sales hit an all-time high in 1979 with more than 117,000 sold, nearly double the amount from two years earlier as Pontiac continued to ride the Smokey high.

With some hyperbolic exaggeration of the Smokey impact on sales, Reynolds’ memoir reflects on how the grateful company promised to gift him a new Trans Am each year, including a 1977 Special Edition that he sold for $450,000 in a 2014 auction, as he was assured by then-president Alex Mair:

After Smokey came out, Trans Am sales went up 700 percent, and the president of Pontiac promised me a new one every year for life. A few years later a car didn’t come. I didn’t want to complain, but I thought something might have happened in delivery, so I called Pontiac and spoke to a very businesslike lady.

“Excuse me,” I said, “this is Burt Reynolds. I guess there’s been a mix-up. The Trans Am didn’t arrive. Maybe it went to the wrong place.”

“No,” she said, “we didn’t send one.”

“Well,” I said, “I don’t mean to be pushy, bu the president of the company said I’d get one every year.”

“We have a new president now,” she said. “It was our former president who made the promise, the one who likes your movies.”

Frog flips a highway patrolman the bird from the passenger seat of what she had earlier “that faktaka car”. Burt Reynolds no doubt felt he was on the receiving end of a similar gesture after that fateful call with the executive from Pontiac.

The Bandit’s influence finally met its match in 1980 when increased emissions regulations forced Pontiac to drop any of its high displacement engines, including both 400 and 403 cubic-inch V8 options, leaving a Chevrolet 305 V8 and a problematic turbocharged 301 V8 that was hampered by its aging Rochester Quadrajet carburetor as the two available engines for the Trans Am. Reynolds drove a turbocharged 1980 Trans Am in Smokey and the Bandit II, but the cars still required nitrous oxide tanks to perform as needed on screen.

The second generation of Firebirds and Camaros hobbled through the end of the 1981 model year, when GM realized it would need a significant redesign to keep its sporty pony cars competitive in a marketplace besot by gas crises where consumers valued fuel efficiency over raw power and iconic design. Aerodynamics were prioritized for the Firebird across the last two decades of its production timeline, during which the Firebird would remain visible in pop culture thanks to KITT on Knight Rider, even when engine output reached all-time lows with four-cylinder base models beginning with the launch of the third generation in 1982.

Unfortunately, the Trans Am was an early casualty of Pontiac’s financial struggles in the 2000s and 2002 marked the final year of the Firebird.

The Bandit jumps his Trans Am over Flint River to evade police. Like many other Smokey and the Bandit locations, this scene was filmed in Georgia despite being set in Arkansas.

Interestingly, the Bandit abandons the Trans Am when making his final getaway from his police pursuers with Frog and Snowman. After they are chased in the Road-eo fairgrounds, Big Enos tosses over the keys to one of his Cadillacs, a red 1974 Fleetwood Eldorado convertible, leaving the rotund gambler with “an even dozen”.

This generation of the Eldorado boasted Cadillac’s mammoth 500 cubic-inch (8.2-liter) V8 engine, offering 210 horsepower that propelled the nearly 5,200 pound car to 60 mph in less than 11 seconds… but also offered a typical fuel economy of less than 11 miles per gallon. Our trio would have likely needed to refuel at least nine times during their impossible task of bringing the Burdettes authentic New England clam chowder from Boston within the next 18 hours.

From their perch in Big Enos Burdette’s Cadillac, the Bandit, Frog, and Snowman observe the blustering Buford T. Justice in what’s left of his police cruiser.

How to Get the Look

Burt Reynolds as the Trans Am-driving “Bandit” in Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

A superstar at the time Smokey and the Bandit was released, Burt Reynolds took the wheel of that iconic black Trans Am dressed not in the more authentic everyday workwear seen in his earlier movies like White Lightning but instead a “Hollywoodized” approach to Western-adjacent styles, echoing patriotic themes with his bright red shirt and tight blue jeans with an added cowboy flair by way of hat, boots, and buckle.

• Red rayon long-sleeved shirt with long-pointed Lido collar, shoulder straps/epaulettes, plain front, two button-flapped chest pockets, and button cuffs
• Blue denim “fashion” jeans with belt loops, no pockets, and flared bellbottoms
• Black edge-stitched leather personalized belt
  • Large oval silver belt buckle with center-mounted turquoise nugget
• Black leather cowboy boots with studded squared toes and raised heels
• Khaki beaver felt cattleman-style cowboy hat with oxidized silver band
• Turquoise-mounted silver double ring
• Vintage stainless Timex Date dive watch with “tuxedo” dial on turquoise-on-silver Navajo cuff

Just to remember to take your hat off before you… you know…

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

Let’s haul ass.

Sean Connery as James Bond in You Only Live Twice (1967)

Vitals

Sean Connery as James Bond, British government agent presumed dead

Tokyo, Summer 1966

Film: You Only Live Twice
Release Date: June 13, 1967
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Wardrobe Master: Eileen Sullivan
Tailor: Anthony Sinclair

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond.

Sean Connery’s fifth film as James Bond was the first of the franchise to considerably depart from Ian Fleming’s source novel, though it retains the title, the basic plot line and characters, and the Japanese setting. In fact, while most Bond films are continent-hopping travelogues, Japan hosts the majority of the action in You Only Live Twice aside from the pre-credits sequence, set in Hong Kong where Bond is ostensibly murdered.

Of course, it’s hardly a spoiler to reveal that the assassination is a ruse to fool Bond’s enemies into thinking he is out of the picture while the agent himself lives to die another day… in fact, you could say he lived twice! Presumed dead by his enemies after his burial at sea, Bond is free to be sent to Japan to investigate a mysterious spacecraft that has seemingly landed in the Sea of Japan. Bond soon makes contact with his lovely ally Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi), who drives him around Tokyo in a sporty Toyota 2000GT that had been customized by the production to accommodate Sean Connery’s height.

I had long wanted to cover this sequence as I love Bond’s tailoring, Aki’s Toyota, and the trio of drinks he imbibes with varying degrees of satisfaction, but it felt particularly appropriate to write about for a #CarWeek post this 00-7th of July given James Bond’s safe pro-masking message…

The face mask may just be a disguise, but extra points for covering both nose and mouth, Mr. Bond.

Despite his suspicions after the murder of his contact, Dikko Henderson (Charles Gray, before he was Blofeld), Bond again hops a ride with Aki, admittedly under the more desperate circumstances of escaping the gunfire encountered while following up on a lead at the corporate headquarters of Osato Chemicals. She easily lures him into an abandoned subway station, where he falls through a trap door and literally drops in to the office of the chief of the Japanese Secret Service. Upon Bond’s arrival, the debonair Tiger Tanaka (Tetsurō Tamba) cheekily comments:

I am a trifle disappointed at the ease with which I could pull you in. The one thing my honorable mother taught me long ago was never to get into a car with a strange girl, but you—I’m afraid—will get into anything with any girl!

What’d He Wear?

James Bond arrives in Tokyo wearing a gray business suit explored in comprehensive detail by Matt Spaiser for Bond Suits, required reading for 007 fans and sartorial enthusiasts in general. As with all of his suits as James Bond dating back to Dr. No through Diamonds are Forever, Connery’s suits in You Only Live Twice were tailored by the prolific Anthony Sinclair of Mayfair, creator of what would become known as the subtle and elegant “Conduit Cut”, described in detail by Bond Suits.

Sean Connery shares a word on set with director Lewis Gilbert. Note the “ANTHONY SINCLAIR” label on the inside of Connery’s suit jacket.
Photo sourced from thunderballs.org.

The suiting is a black-and-gray herringbone wool, woven in a fine gauge that looks looks like a gray self-stripe cloth for an effective and appropriate business suit, though it could be unseasonably warm-wearing for a summer evening in Tokyo where the average temperature is at least 80°F on a given day in July. (Bond’s dark blue mohair/wool suit the following day would be a more seasonally appropriate choice.)

The well-suited Bond patiently awaits both cocktail and information from his new contact Dikko Henderson… and would soon be doubly disappointed.

Connery’s single-breasted suit jacket has a lower two-button stance that neatly harmonizes with the trousers by fastening at the natural waist line. Tailored with soft shoulders and roped sleeveheads, the jacket has a single vent and four-button cuffs.

In addition to the welted breast pocket without a pocket square, the jacket has straight flapped hip pockets, though the flaps are occasionally tucked into the pockets for a minimalist effect that shows only the pocket jetting; Bond evidently keeps a safecracking device in the left hip pocket which, despite its clunky size, magically fails to disrupt the lines of his jacket until he needs it in Osato’s office.

Was Bond really carrying this around in his pocket all night, just waiting for the opportunity to crack a safe?

Like the other trousers tailored by Anthony Sinclair for Connery’s Bond, these double forward-pleated suit trousers almost certainly have the three-button “DAKS top” side adjusters on each side of the waistband as well as straight side pockets and legs that taper down to the bottoms finished with turn-ups (cuffs).

In keeping with Japanese customs, Bond removes his shoes outside Dikko Henderson’s rooms, entering the room in his dark navy ribbed dress socks. The subsequent events land 007 in a very uncharacteristic pair of two-toned shoes which we’ll explore shortly, but the slip-ons he left outside appear to be the same black grain leather plain-toe Venetian loafers he would wear with his blue suit the following day. Perhaps Aki kindly recovered the shoes from outside Henderson’s door?

Sean Connery continues wearing shirts with distinctive “cocktail cuffs”, a stylish if somewhat affected alternative to the double cuff that also provides an additional layer around the wrist but closes with buttons rather than cuff links. The shirts Turnbull & Asser made for Connery’s Bond have elegantly rounded turnback cuffs, worn rolled back over each wrist and fastened with two buttons.

Unlike the blue shirts he often wore with his gray suits in Dr. No, From Russia With Love, and Thunderball, Connery complements his herringbone suit in You Only Live Twice with a pale ecru poplin shirt, a shade warmer than white, detailed with spread collar and front placket. He does, however, press back into the service the navy grenadine silk tie, also from T&A, which had been a Connery Bond staple dating back to Dr. No.

After Dikko is murdered, Bond charges through the wall in pursuit of his assassin, eventually overtaking and killing the man. Realizing that danger may remain behind him and with no surviving leads, Bond takes a chance by adopting the henchman’s coat, hat, protective face mask, and shoes—the latter for both his disguise and since his quick escape left him in stockinged feet—and hops into the back seat of the Dodge sedan.

Though the all-black fedora and trench coat aren’t from Bond’s own wardrobe, they’re traditional and tasteful enough that they nicely complement his herringbone suit and add a noirish aura to 007’s shadowy escape.

You Only Live Twice proves to be surprisingly relevant for 2020.

The olive gabardine coat is styled like a classic double-breasted trench coat with its ten-button front, hook-and-eye neck latch, and waist belt accented with D-rings. Befitting the garment’s weather-resilient serviceability, this trench coat also has the prescribed storm (gun) flap on the right side and straight umbrella-style yoke across the back, and there is a hand pocket with a large slanted welt opening on each side. The raglan sleeves begin at the neck under each epaulette (shoulder strap), ending with a belted strap around each cuff.

The coat’s red-on-black plaid lining may help ID its manufacturer, as the colorway and plaid pattern don’t appear to be consistent with those used by contemporary rainwear stalwarts Aquascutum, Burberry, or London Fog.

Fortified by his unfortunate foray into Siamese vodka, Bond gets down to cracking some safes.

And now… those shoes. While two-toned shoes certainly have a deserved place in the wardrobes of flashier dressers, Sean Connery’s Bond invariably partnered his tastefully tailored English suits with subtle and often elegant black dress shoes of both the laced and loafer varieties. Having been separated from his shoes in hot pursuit of Henderson’s killer, Bond quickly improvises and slips into the sporty shoes of the man he just killed. (John McClane wishes it was that easy!)

These spectator-adjacent slip-on shoes have white leather vamp and quarters, connected by black triangular elastic gussets on each side of the instep, with hard leather soles. The heels and V-shaped toe caps are black leather, the toes lacking the inward-facing center point of a traditional wingtip, instead a thin black leather stripe extends up most of the vamp from the center of the toe piece, ending over the instep.

Bond drops in to meet Tiger Tanaka.

Under Bond’s left shirt cuff, we get a glimpse of his watch, which appears to be the dress watch identified by Dell Deaton as a Gruen Precision 510 rather than any of the Rolex Submariner divers that Bond prominently wore across Connery’s first four Bond movies. According to Dell’s evidence presented on his blog, James Bond Watches, this thin 17-jewel Gruen has a 34mm gold-filled case and was worn by Connery on a 16mm-wide black textured fabric strap.

We may not get a much clearer look at Bond’s watch with this outfit than this, but it’s enough to see that it’s not a Rolex Submariner!

Sean Connery loosened his tie for a drink with Jimmy Greaves, Yul Brynner, and Bobby Moore when they visited Pinewood Studios in late 1966. Photo sourced from thunderballs.org.

What (and What Not) to Imbibe

James Bond’s first night in Japan is a tale of three drinks, all providing varying degrees of satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) to our sophisticated agent and his very particular tastes. While all of us have differing standards and palettes, I thought it would be fun to consider a tongue-in-cheek breakdown of the libations flavoring 007’s arrival.

Drink #1: Vodka Martini

Of course! Anyone even vaguely familiar with James Bond is aware of the agent’s preference for vodka martinis, “shaken… not stirred.”

Evidently, there was a breakdown in MI6’s internal communications as the gregarious Dikko Henderson was misinformed when preparing a martini for his new friend. Russian vodka? Check. Dry vermouth? Check.

After a strong start, Dikko finishes miserably by stirring the drink and pouring it into a Collins glass, adding insult to injury when he confirms with Bond: “Oh, that’s stirred, not shaken… that was right, wasn’t it?” The disarming Dikko charms Bond into polite compliance. “Perfect… cheers,” Bond toasts.

Final Grade: C. At least Dikko used Russian vodka… and I’d be intrigued to know more about the “certain other things” that are provided with said vodka by that mysterious doorman at the Soviet embassy.

Service with a smirk.

Mixology-minded critics often take expert with Mr. Bond’s signature martini order, and their rationale was succinctly summarized by Jed Bartlet (Martin Sheen) in an episode of The West Wing: “Shaken, not stirred, will get you cold water with a dash of gin and dry vermouth. The reason you stir it with a special spoon is so not to chip the ice. James is ordering a weak martini and being snooty about it.” The late Dikko would have no doubt found President Bartlet to be a welcome drinking companion.

Drink #2: Siamese Vodka

If Bond thought having to guzzle Henderson’s “stirred, not shaken” vodka martini was torture, his bad night just got plenty worse when he attempts to recover himself following a brutal fight with a swallow of vodka… only to learn that it’s Siamese vodka!

What kind of monster is this Osato that he even keeps this rotgut in his office bar? If we didn’t know he was a villain before, it’s all but assured now.

Final Grade: F. Bond probably wishes he had lost the fight… his grimace suggests that the victor’s spoils were considerably spoiled.

While its contents may be lacking, Osato deserves some credit for having a wickedly interesting office bar complete with leather, assymetrical shelving, and mirror.

I knew I couldn’t be the first to question whether or not Bond’s aversion to Thai vodka was grounded in any reality, and a quick search led me to this question posed on the Straight Dope message board in 2013, where the prevailing opinion seems to be that, while the country’s whiskey, rum, and moonshine (lao khao) are well-known, there has not been a major concentrated effort for any Thai companies to attempt mass production of local vodka. I’ve rationalized Bond’s comment in my mind to suggest that he grabbed a bottle expecting vodka and took an unexpected swig of lao khao.

Drink #3: Sake

The third time was the charm, once Bond was safely ensconced in Tiger Tanaka’s headquarters and offered sake, the national beverage of Japan. Bond enthusiastically accepts the sake, and indicates his approval via admiration for it being served at the correct temperature of 98.4°F. This knowledge—which some may interpret as reverse snobbery—endears him to Tiger, who comments that Bond is “exceptionally cultivated… for a European.”

Though the Japanese name for sake, nihonshu, translates to “Japanese wine”, the process to create this fermented wine beverage is closer to brewing beer. I’ve also read that the correct temperature for serving is slightly higher than Bond comments, ranging between 100°F and 104°F.

Final Grade: A. Bond approves and appreciates being served a regionally appropriate libation.

Finally, Bond is served a drink he can enjoy!

The Gun

Once again, Bond is armed with his signature Walther PPK. The PPK does not make an appearance in the source novel by Ian Fleming, which keeps its specific firearms references unique to a police corporal’s Nambu Type 14 pistol and a “small automatic” carried by SPECTRE operative Kono.

Bond’s notoriety had evidently included his sidearm of choice by the events of You Only Live Twice as Osato identifies the agent by the recognizable profile of his Walther PPK as seen by his office X-ray device. He draws and fires it multiple times over the first two days in Japan, first to allay his suspicions of Dikko Henderson and again when doing battle with Osato’s henchmen first outside the corporate headquarters and again at the docks.

Though Bond is only being cautious by keeping his PPK drawn on Dikko while establishing his identity, he could have been a little more disciplined about where he placed his trigger finger… not that poor Dikko has much time left at this point anyway.

The Walther PPK was introduced in 1930 as a smaller evolution of the Walther PP introduced the year earlier by German weapons manufacturer Carl Walther GmbH. Like its predecessor, the PPK was primarily chambered in .32 ACP (7.65x17mm Browning SR) or .380 ACP (9×17 mm Short), though it took one less round of each for a total magazine capacity of seven and six, respectively. James Bond’s PPK was established in the books and the first films to be the .32-caliber PPK.

The Car

Although You Only Live Twice is considered quintessential classic 007 for its oft-referenced (and parodied) elements, this fifth installment in EON Productions’ official series also breaks from the established Bond formula in several ways: we never see James Bond in a tuxedo, all action is set primarily in one country, and—most relevant to this particular section—it marks the first time we never see Bond operating a car on screen.

When not operating Little Nellie to navigate Japanese airspace, Bond rides shotgun in Aki’s sleek white 1967 Toyota 2000GT sports car, converted into a convertible to accommodate Sean Connery’s height.

Aki spirits Bond away from the gunfight at the Osato building in her custom Toyota 2000GT roadster.

The Toyota 2000GT demonstrated the talents and capabilities of the Japanese automotive industry to the rest of the world. The concept began in the mid-1960s when Yamaha, its A550X design ultimately rejected by Nissan, took its prototype to Toyota, who accepted but on the condition that it be redesigned internally with Yamaha to build. Forging ahead with the direction “Do whatever necessary to not only produce the Toyota 2000GT, but make it one of the—or perhaps even the—greatest car in the world” as outlined in the official design brief, Toyota industrial designer Satoru Nozaki took cues from successful European sports cars like the Jaguar E-Type, Lotus Elan, and Porsche with his sleek, smooth, and low grand tourer. Perhaps in anticipation of the international demand, the 2000GT was designed with retracting headlights to meet California’s headlight height regulations.

After an enthusiastic reception when unveiled at the 1965 Tokyo Motor Show, the Toyota 2000GT entered its limited production run of only 351 total cars manufactured under contract by Yamaha between 1967 and 1970.

During this brief but iconic production timeline, the aluminum-bodied 2000GT would undergo few cosmetic or mechanical changes. The standard engine was a longitudinally mounted 1988 cc straight-six similar to what was offered in the Toyota Crown sedan, mated to a five-speed all-synchromesh manual transmission (though an automatic transmission would become an option for the last few 2000GTs.) Yamaha coupled three 2-barrel Mikuni-Solex carburetors to a new DOHC head, boosting power output to 148 horsepower for a more performance-oriented engine that launched the car from 0 to 60 mph in less than ten seconds and an ultimate top speed nearing 140 mph.

In addition to the 233 cars made under the MF-10 chassis code described above, Toyota produced a run of 109 MF-10L cars with left-side steering for the North American market. A much rarer variant with only nine produced was the MF-12L, built with the larger 2253 cc (2.3 L) two-valve Toyota 2M-B SOHC engine that offered higher torque but a lower power output.

Though initial sales were low, the Toyota 2000GT was enthusiastically received by the global automotive community and remains a much-sought collector’s car, for its prominent role in the James Bond series as well as its attractive styling, pleasant ride experience and reliability, and significance as arguably the first true Japanese supercar.

Akiko Wakabayashi models one of the Toyota 2000GT modified roadsters she drove in You Only Live Twice.

1967 Toyota 2000GT

Body Style: 2-door convertible (customized from fastback coupe)

Layout: front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive (FMR)

Engine: 1988 cc (2.0 L) Toyota 3M DOHC I6 with three Mikuni-Solex 40 PHH 2-barrel carburetors

Power: 148 bhp (110 kW; 150 PS) @ 6600 RPM

Torque: 129 lb·ft (175 N·m) @ 5000 RPM

Transmission: 5-speed manual

Wheelbase: 91.3 inches (2320 mm)

Length: 164.4 inches (4175 mm)

Width: 63 inches (1600 mm)

Height: 45.7 inches (1160 mm)

Toyota wisely jumped at the opportunity to provide two 2000GT cars to be featured in You Only Live Twice, undoubtedly aware of the positive visibility that would come from starring in a James Bond movie… though some buyers may have been disappointed to learn that Aki’s convertible seen so prominently on screen didn’t really exist.

The strapping Sean Connery’s 6’2″ height meant some adjustments would need to be made for the star to comfortably fit in the 2000GT’s cockpit, even if he wouldn’t be behind the wheel. To retain the smooth fastback lines of the original design, a targa top semi-convertible approach was considered until it was realized that Connery’s head sticking through this roof would look more asinine than aspirational. The entire roof was eventually lopped off, creating an effective roadster with a faux tonneau cover where the convertible roof would be stowed (had it existed.)

Whether or not the experience is remembered fondly by Connery, another James Bond has voiced his enthusiasm for the 2000GT; in fact, Daniel Craig stated in the Top Gear “50 Years of Bond Cars” special in 2012 that the You Only Live Twice Toyota remains his favorite car from the Bond canon.

Bond lives up to Tiger Tanaka’s observation that not only will he “get into anything with any girl”, he will also follow her out of said thing and allow himself to be easily duped into falling through a trapdoor.

You can read more about the Toyota 2000GT in these pieces I sourced for the above information:

• “A Brief History of the Toyota 2000GT – Everything You Need to Know” by Jon Branch (Silodrome)
• “Toyota 2000GT” (Wikipedia)
• “Toyota 2000GT Roadster – You Only Live Twice” (Supercar Nostalgia)

Sean Connery as James Bond in You Only Live Twice (1967) wearing a tasteful gray herringbone suit and, um, improvised footwear solutions.

How to Get the Look

Sean Connery’s 007 arrives in Japan dressed tastefully and professionally in his herringbone suit and characteristic “cocktail cuff” shirt and grenadine tie, though the warm-wearing herringbone wool may have been best reserved for a cooler climate than Tokyo in July.

• Black-and-gray herringbone wool “Conduit Cut” tailored business suit:
  • Single-breasted 2-button jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, spaced 4-button cuffs, and long single vent
  • Double forward-pleated trousers with 3-button “Daks top” side adjusters, side pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• Pale ecru poplin dress shirt with spread collar, front placket, and 2-button turnback/”cocktail” cuffs
• Navy blue grenadine silk tie
• Black grain leather plain-toe Venetian loafers
• Dark navy ribbed dress socks
• Gruen Precision 510 dress watch with 34mm yellow gold case on black textured strap

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

Lucy, Desi, and Liz.
Elizabeth Taylor dropped by the MGM lot for a photo op with the two stars of The Long, Long Trailer. Arnaz had reportedly bet MGM that The Long, Long Trailer (1954) would make more than its then-highest grossing comedy, Father of the Bride, starring Taylor. Arnaz won the $25,000 bet.

Vitals

Desi Arnaz as Nicky Collini, civil engineer

Northern California, Late Summer 1953

Film: The Long, Long Trailer
Release Date: February 18, 1954
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Costume Designer: Helen Rose

Background

As this year’s summer travel season in the U.S. looks to be more centered around road trips in response to the coronavirus pandemic, RV rentals and purchases have been surging at an unprecedented rate that recalls the heyday of “the great American road trip” as depicted in The Long, Long Trailer. Adapted from Clinton Twiss’ novel of the same name, this Lucy and Desi vehicle zaps into the wanderlust zeitgeist that captured the imagination of Americans during the fabulous fifties as everyone from Harry Truman to Jack Kerouac hit the newly expanded network of highways and byways as they explored the continental United States.

Were I transported back to the 1950s with the mission of taking in the country from the road, I’d likely be piloting a ’57 Chevy Nomad with a Super Turbo Fire V8 across Route 66 from Missouri to California, though it’s solely this latter state that hosts newlyweds Nicky and Tacy Collini as they plot their new nomadic life in a homey silver-and-yellow Redman New Moon hauled up the coast by a cream-colored Mercury convertible.

Tacy and Nicky plan the next leg of the road trip that threatens both their marriage and their lives.

As they were currently starring in the landmark TV series I Love Lucy, The Long, Long Trailer sought to capitalize on real-life married couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’s fame by thinly disguising their I Love Lucy personas Lucy and Ricky as “Tacy” and “Nicky”, photographed in a vivid Anscocolor that featured not only the lush California landscapes but also Lucy’s famous red hair!

What’d He Wear?

Clad in his U.S. Army service khaki uniform, Staff Sergeant Desi Arnaz offers Lucille Ball a hot dog at the Santa Anita race track, June 1945.

Though he isn’t piloting a B-17 Flying Fortress or B-29 Superfortress through the skies, Nicky Collini is dressed for the task of helming his large craft through uncharted territory. His brown leather flight jacket evokes the adventurous American aviators who took to the skies in their goatskin A-2 jackets, in turn establishing a lasting trend in American menswear associating leather jackets with resilience, adventure, and a pioneering spirit.

Other movies of the era like Picnic depict former servicemen pulling their military-issued flight and field jackets from the back of their closets as these G.I. fashions became increasingly normalized as everyday work-wear. Within a decade of VE Day and VJ Day, seeing a leather flight jacket was almost as commonplace as their tamer windbreaker cousins, indicating a presumed toughness without its wearer resorting to the larcenous behavior of those wild ones in their motorcycle jackets.

Desi Arnaz himself had served during World War II, classified for limited service in the U.S. Army due to a knee injury he received prior to reporting. His duties including directing USO programming at the Birmingham General Army Hospital in the San Fernando Valley, and he was honorably discharged as a staff sergeant in November 1945.

I don’t believe The Long, Long Trailer implies whether Nicky was a veteran or not, though one of his staples during the Collini honeymoon road trip is a zip-up blouson made of heavy duty brown leather and styled consistently with the U.S. Army Air Forces’ famous A-2 flight jacket with its shirt-style collar, epaulettes (shoulder straps), knit cuffs and hem, and two patch hip pockets with pointed flaps that each close with a covered snap.

Nicky and Tacy share some bad news in a small-town cafe, evoking the many roadside diners that proliferated during the 1950s with the age of “the great American road trip.”

The morning after their wedding, Tacy wakes up under the drowsy influence of sleeping pills as the result of a neighborly misunderstanding with fellow “trailerites” at the Breezeaway Trailer Park near Monterey. With growing cynicism about the commercialism around trailer parks, Nicky and Tacy commit to the ultimate social isolation as they resolve to spend the next night together somewhere in a secluded forest away from electricity, plumbing, and—most importantly—nosy neighbors. The inexperienced couple gets stuck in the mud on an old logging road, resulting in an even more miserable evening than the last as the sloped trailer ruins Tacy’s attempt to cook dinner while Nicky’s futile attempts to jack the trailer upright land him swamped in the mud.

Tacy: Oh, Nicky, it’s starting to rain!
Nicky: Naturally!

While he drenches and dirties his clothes, his rugged leather jacket was built to withstand hearty duties and survives to be worn for much of the rest of their journey. Unfortunately, his off-white “newsboy”-style flat cap with its eight-panel top was likely ruined in the attempt and isn’t seen again.

Tacy starts preparing dinner in the darkened, sloping trailer, while Nicky prepares to head outside and straighten it out.

During this rainy, muddy scene, Nicky wears his white checked shirt patterned with an all-over gray mini-grid check. This long-sleeved shirt is styled in a manner typical for the era’s sport shirts with a large loop collar and two chest pockets that each close with a non-buttoning flap. The shirt fastens up a plain front and closes over the wrists with button cuffs that he wears undone and neatly rolled up each arm past the elbow.

Though the shirt was likely quite muddied after Nicky falls, it evidently gets thoroughly washed in time for the climactic mountain climb.

With few exceptions, Nicky takes to the road in a pair of Levi’s 501® Original Fit blue jeans, which would have been made at the time from dark indigo 10 oz. selvedge denim from Cone® Mills of North Carolina, which remain a Levi’s brand partner after more than 100 years.

Levi’s was still primarily a western and west coast fashion at the time The Long, Long Trailer was released, though the company introduced its zip-fly 501® Z that same year in the hope of expanding its consumer base, particularly in response to renewed competition from Lee and Wrangler. Though there have been subtle evolutions and variances with rivets, fits, tabs, and tags, the Levi’s 501 has remained essentially the same with its belt loops and five-pocket layout since the end of World War II.

Nicky clearly wears Levi’s jeans, as evident by the double-needle Arcuate stitching on the back pockets and the signature red “LEVI” tab along the seatward seam of the right pocket.

Nicky adheres to one of the more commonly accepted rules of menswear by matching the leather of his belt and shoes, in this case a thick black leather belt with a steel-toned single-prong belt buckle with mitred corners and a pair of black leather cap-toe boots with inside zippers and raised “Cuban heels.”

Tacy gives Nicky’s foot a helping hand.

Even suburbia isn’t safe for the motoring Collinis! An attempt to visit Tacy’s genteel Aunt Anastasia in the fictional Golden State burg of “Bridgewood” begins disastrously when Nicky’s attempt to back the 39-foot New Moon into Anastasia’s driveway brings her whole ornate car port crashing to the ground.

The morning he and Tacy finally leave, Nicky appears to be wearing a white cotton long-sleeved polo shirt with a large collar, three-button placket, and flapped breast pocket. Per the refined family surroundings, Nicky foregoes his usual jeans for the road and wears a pair of light gray worsted double reverse-pleated trousers with a fashionably long rise, a wide self-suspended waistband with a double-button front closure, side pockets, and turn-ups (cuffs).

While driving through the forests among these snow-topped mountains of northern California, Nicky wears a bright red shirt that leaps off the screen. This was likely the same long-sleeved camp shirt that Desi Arnaz wore for publicity photos to promote the movie.

The two are granted this eventual brief reprieve of a few idyllic weeks on the road, scored by the 1920s standard “Breezin’ Along With the Breeze” which serves as the film’s leitmotif, until Nicky realizes that the weight of Tacy’s respective hobbies like rock collecting and fruit canning will result in having to jettison almost all of this heavy cargo before they can complete the following day’s “run” over an 8,000-foot mountain to their permanent Colorado home.

Of course, anyone who’s seen even one episode of I Love Lucy should know it wouldn’t be within Lucy’s character to so easily part with something of such sentimental value and she seeks a way to secretly store her mementos of the road before the final and most treacherous leg of their journey.

Tacy and Nicky breeze along with the breeze.

On the eve of their perilous drive up the mountain, Nicky wears a red-on-gray plaid short-sleeved sport shirt with another wide loop camp collar and two patch pockets. The fabric on the pockets and their non-buttoning flaps are angled to be deliberately non-matching against the body of the shirt.

Nicky looks over Tacy’s doomed contraband.

Nicky wears a gold rectangular wristwatch with a light silver square dial on a beige leather strap as well as a plain gold wedding band that was likely Desi Arnaz’s own real-life wedding ring.

The Car

#CarWeek officially ended on Monday, but it wouldn’t be right to omit discussion of either vehicle in The Long, Long Trailer, be it Nicky’s new 1953 Mercury Monterey or the trailer itself, a 36-foot long 1953 Redman New Moon.

Built by the Redman Trailer Company of Alma, Michigan, this silver-and-yellow mobile home carried a price tag of $5,345 at the time, equivalent to just over $51,000 today. To haul the rig, Nicky is forced to upgrade from his 1939 Ford and its 85-horsepower flathead V8 to the latest ride from the Ford Motor Company, a cream-colored Mercury Monterey.

Nicky responsibly fills the parking meter not just for his Mercury but also the half-dozen spots occupied by his New Moon trailer.

While the Mercury was outfitted with the latest evolution of the Ford flathead V8, a 256 cubic-inch mill offering 125 horsepower and 218 lb·ft of torque, it still wasn’t enough to pull the New Moon up the mountain, so the production repainted and rebadged an otherwise similar-looking 1953 Lincoln Capri for these scenes. Powered by a 341 cubic-inch Lincoln Y-block V8 new and improved for ’53 and rated at 205 horsepower, the Capri deftly hauled the trailer as needed as seen in a previous post.

Given that both the Lincoln and Mercury were contemporary Ford stablemates, it’s a mystery why Lucy and Desi weren’t assigned a Lincoln by whoever inked that product placement deal, especially as the Lincoln was the more upmarket offering against the sportier Merc.

1953 Mercury Monterey

Lucy and Desi wave from their Mercury, hitched to the Redman New Moon trailer in promotional photos for The Long, Long Trailer

Body Style: 2-door convertible

Layout: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive (RWD)

Engine: 256 cu. in. (4.2 L) Ford flathead V8 with Holley 4-bbl carburetor

Power: 125 hp (93.2 kW; 127 PS) @ 3800 RPM

Torque: 218 lb·ft (296 N·m) @ 1700 RPM

Transmission: 3-speed Borg Warner “Merc-O-Matic” automatic

Wheelbase: 118 inches (2997 mm)

Length: 202.2 inches (5136 mm)

Width: 73.5 inches (1867 mm)

Height: 62.2 inches (1580 mm)

The year after The Long, Long Trailer was released, Phil Karlson’s brisk Columbia noir 5 Against the House also featured both a Lincoln Capri and a Redman New Moon trailer, albeit a shorter trailer and it’s never pulled by the Capri but instead an older Ford sedan.

How to Get the Look

Desi Arnaz as Nicky Collini in The Long, Long Trailer (1954)

Nearly 70 years since he guided his long, long trailer through the mountains of California, Desi Arnaz’s Nicky Collini showed a prescient knack for timeless casual attire with his rugged and age-proof road-wear of leather flight jacket, sport shirts, and dark Levi’s jeans.

• Brown leather zip-up flight jacket with shirt-style collar, patch hip pockets with hidden-snap flaps, and knit cuffs and hem
• Checked ’50s-style sport shirt with wide loop collar, plain front, and two flapped chest pockets
• Dark blue selvedge denim Levi’s 501® jeans with belt loops, button fly, five-pocket layout, and self-cuffed bottoms
• Thick black leather belt with steel-toned, mitred-corner single-prong belt buckle
• Black leather cap-toe “Cuban heel” boots
• Silver necklace with large St. Christopher medallion
• Gold wedding ring
• Gold rectangular watch with light silver square dial on beige leather strap

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie, a nostalgic favorite of mine that I used to watch over and over on VHS with my grandma.

One of my best decisions while under lockdown this spring was purchasing a subscription to ROUTE, “the magazine that celebrates road travel, vintage Americana, and Route 66.” I highly recommend that anyone intrigued or interested in any of these topics secure their own subscription!

Frank Sinatra and Tom Selleck during production of “Laura” (Episode 7.18 of Magnum, P.I.)

Vitals

Frank Sinatra as Michael Doheny, experienced and tough retired New York police sergeant

Hawaii, Spring 1987

Series: Magnum, P.I.
Episode: “Laura” (Episode 7.18)
Air Date: February 25, 1987
Director: Alan J. Levi
Creator: Donald P. Bellisario & Glen Larson
Costume Supervisors: James Gilmore & Charlene Tuch

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Twenty years after he played Tony Rome, Frank Sinatra returned to the world of private eyes in warm locales with his final major acting role, a special appearance in “Laura”, a seventh season episode of Magnum, P.I. The Voice was already over 70 when the episode was produced, but he’s still as charismatic, wiry, and tough as his reputation had preceded him for the better part of a century. On this summertime #SinatraSaturday, let’s take a deeper look at Frank’s final screen role.

“Laura” begins with a brief yuletide prologue New York City, where NYPD detective sergeant Michael Doheny’s retirement dinner is juxtaposed with an ominous scene of an 8-year-old girl playing in the hallway of her apartment building and encountering a sinister pair of red Adidas sneakers. Three months later, we’re back in the series’ familiar environs of sunny Hawaii, where reliable Rick (Larry Manetti) is trying to talk Thomas Magnum (Tom Selleck) into taking a missing persons job that should net him $10,000 after only two days of work. Magnum suspects it’s too good to be true, and—of course—it is, when their first tip on the trail for the missing Kenneth Geiger is soon waylaid by the gun-wielding ex-Sergeant Doheny, whose Panama hat and Aloha shirt can’t disguise Ol’ Blue Eyes’ distinctive voice as he offers Magnum some “constructive criticism”:

So far, you run a lousy investigation!

Sitting in a jail cell later that day, Doheny suggests to Magnum that they may have gotten “off to a bad start” and hopes to rectify things with the investigator he’s already antagonized. Once Doheny proves his earnestness and expertise and with renewed sense of mutual respect between them—not to mention Rick’s urging—Magnum agrees to help Doheny out in his search for the two vicious killers who had raped, beaten, and murdered the girl from the opening sequence before escaping to Hawaii… who is revealed to be Doheny’s own granddaughter, Laura.

What’d He Wear?

Tom Selleck may be famous for Thomas Magnum’s colorful Hawaiian shirts, but he wears a subdued stone-colored snap-front shirt for the majority of this episode, apropos its darker themes, while special guest star Sinatra steals the sartorial show in his festive Aloha garb.

As one would expect of FS, he makes his first appearance in Hawaii wearing a hat. The rest of his outfit may not differentiate him from the typical ’80s tourist in Hawaii, but Doheny’s classic Panama hat crafted from densely woven toquilla palm straw establishes him as a gent with old-school values. The fedora-styled hat has a narrow black band.

Even on Magnum, P.I., there’s no stopping the Chairman of the Board from sporting a natty hat, adapted to the show’s Hawaiian setting.

Doheny clearly doesn’t buy his tropical shirts at the same place as Magnum, wearing a very unique long-sleeved style that differs from Magnum’s typical Aloha shirts as far as cut, collar, pockets, and almost every other detail.

These shirts have four silver-toned metal buttons up the plain (French placket) front, which squares away at the chest where the shirt opening cuts away to a dramatically wide take on the “Lido collar”. Often associated with resort wear or the leisure class, the permanently open-necked Lido collar was popularized during the interwar years by Hollywood royalty like Gary Cooper, giving rise to the synonymous names “Hollywood collar” and “Cooper collar”. Doheny’s shirts lack that elegant tapered roll associated with the traditional Lido collar and may be best accurately described as a hybrid between a Lido collar and a classic camp (revere) collar.

While we’re playing “Guess that Hawaiian island on Doheny’s shirt?”, Kenneth Geiger is getting away!

Doheny’s first shirt has an indigo ground, covered with an all-over print of white-sketched tropical scenes, occasionally accompanied with Anglicized versions of Hawaiian islands and locations such as Kahoolawe, Kauai, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, and Diamondhead Honolulu.

I’ve tried in vain to track down who would have made this distinctive shirt during the 1970s and ’80s timeframe that it would have been produced with no promising leads aside from this royal blue polyester/cotton vintage shirt from Royal Creations (via Etsy) that borrows the concept and color scheme but differs in the detail of the pattern and the layout of the shirt itself.

Cut straight around the hem and meant to be worn untucked, Doheny’s shirts have a narrow split vent on each side. A matching patch pocket on each side of the chest closes with a single button through a pointed flap.

With both shirts, Doheny wears cream-colored flat front slacks that provide a tropically appropriate balance to his vibrant shirts. These trousers have side pockets, jetted back pockets, and a straight leg down to the plain-hemmed bottoms. He wears a black leather belt that coordinates with his black leather loafers with their squared plain toe and high vamps. His black socks are likely the same “Gold Toe” black socks as we see folded in the top of his suitcase.

Kenneth Geiger turns out to be a dead end.

That night, Doheny changes into another purple-toned long-sleeved Aloha shirt, similarly styled as his previous shirt but with a lilac ground and a more familiar all-over floral print of purple hibiscus. This shirt also seems to swap out the earlier shirt’s metal buttons for more traditionally Hawaiian brown wood buttons.

As the latest houseguest at Robin’s Nest, Doheny is shown to his new quarters by the estate’s proud majordomo Higgins (John Hillerman).

Doheny wears no visible jewelry or accessories, save for the gold wristwatch he was gifted upon his retirement from the NYPD at the start of the episode, secured to his left wrist via flat, shining gold bracelet with a jewelry clasp. The watch has a gold rectangular case and a minimalist gold rectangular dial with a raised bump at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock positions.

According to Tom Selleck during a September 2016 segment of Live! with Kelly, Sinatra’s only condition for appearing on Magnum, P.I. was: “Just make sure I get to beat somebody up!” Steven Keats looks like he wouldn’t mind if the Chairman had made a more genteel request.

The Gun

“The gun gets ’em to tell the truth, then they haven’t got time enough to think up a lie,” explains Doheny of his gun-happy techniques. The weapon in question appears to be an early Colt Detective Special, likely Doheny’s backup piece from his NYPD service. The rounded “half-moon” front sight and rounded butt suggests that this may be a “first issue” Detective Special, produced between 1927 and 1946 before the front sight would be ramped and serrated. The Detective Special would undergo far more extensive cosmetic changes in the early ’70s but it remained at its core a reliable and easily concealed revolver packing six rounds of .38 Special ammunition.

Sinatra seems to spend a substantial amount of his screen time giving Steven Keats hell.

Despite his propensity for pulling his gat perhaps more often than a situation requires, Honolulu PD Lieutenant Page (Joe Santos) still arranges for his fellow officer Doheny to receive a permit to legally carry his Detective Special concealed while in Hawaii. (I’m not familiar with the Hawaii firearms ordinances in 1987, but it seems that Doheny would not be so easily extended that courtesy today as a non-resident.

How to Get the Look

Frank Sinatra as Michael Doheny in Magnum, P.I., Episode 7.18: “Laura”

More than three decades after he wore his “loose, flowing sports shirt” as Maggio in From Here to Eternity, Ol’ Blue Eyes proved he was as comfortable as ever in a tropical-printed aloha shirt… just the item anyone would want to have on hand when guest-starring on Magnum, P.I.!

• Purple all-over tropical-printed long-sleeved Aloha shirt with wide “Lido collar”, four-button extended-tab plain front, two matching chest pockets (with button-down pointed flaps), button cuffs, and straight hem with side vents
• Cream-colored flat front trousers with belt loops, side pockets, button-through back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Black leather belt
• Black leather squared plain-toe high-vamp loafers
• Black “Gold Toe” socks
• Gold rectangular-cased wristwatch with gold rectangular dial on flat gold jewelry-clasp bracelet

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the series. Of course, Magnum P.I. is fantastic and fun in its own right, but “Laura” provides a fitting swan song for Sinatra in a role that showcases not only his characteristic toughness but also substantial depth… considerably more dignified and on brand than Orson Welles’ somewhat more ignominious cinematic farewell in The Transformers: The Movie the year prior.

In fact, “Laura” received Magnum, P.I.‘s highest ratings in more than two years, ostensibly saving the show and extending it into another season. While there were plans for Sinatra to return during Magnum, P.I.‘s eighth and final season, the shortened run of episodes due to Tom Selleck’s scheduling conflicts meant there wouldn’t be an opportunity for Ol’ Blue Eyes to make a smooth return to the series and “Laura” remains his final on-screen acting role.

Tom Selleck, Larry Manetti, and Frank Sinatra on set of “Laura” (Magnum, P.I., Episode 7.18). It was reportedly though Manetti that FS first signaled his interest in taking what would be his final acting role.

The Quote

Well, like I always say… anybody can make a mistake.

Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina in Pierrot le Fou (1965)

Vitals

Jean-Paul Belmondo as Ferdinand Griffon, runaway husband

French Riviera, Summer 1965

Film: Pierrot le Fou
Release Date: November 5, 1965
Director: Jean-Luc Godard

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Five years after their collaboration in À bout de souffle that established many of the unconventional conventions that would define French New Wave, director Jean-Luc Godard reteamed with charismatic star Jean-Paul Belmondo for a surreal and colorful classic with its scenes and themes of seclusion that make it feel all the more relevant during this strange summer that still finds many in self-isolation.

Life may always be sad, but it’s always beautiful.

After a larcenous journey from Paris, Ferdinand Griffon (Belmondo) and Marianne Renoir (Anna Karina) finally arrive in the south of France to make a go at the seaside life they dreamed about. While he seeks to “just exist”, the end goal for Marianne is to live the high life, perhaps with a little help from her gun-smuggling “brother” Fred. When Ferdinand chides Marianne aloud for her obsession with fun, she questions who he was addressing. In turn, he smashes a brick through the fourth wall by assuring it was only “the audience”, to which she looks back to make sure we’re still with them in the backseat of that sharp silver Ford Galaxie.

“The best plot summary of Pierrot le Fou is probably the simplest: ‘Two fictional characters move through space,'” wrote Evan Kindley in his 2008 review of the film’s DVD release for the Criterion Collection, adding “And that space is arranged and conducted as well as a mid-century French aesthete steeped in the classical Hollywood tradition could manage. Which is to say, about as well as humanly possible. In Pierrot, Godard, working with godlike supergenius cameraman Raoul Coutard, is mercifully free of the distraction of significant content and can construct little window-boxes of pure beauty.”

Ferdinand and Marianne spend their days idling—him writing, her singing—while surrounded by various wildlife and nothing but their own thoughts, feelings, and scattered discussions about both. It’s these scenes that present Pierrot le Fou at some of its most philosophical, as our titular fou attempts to scribble out his wisdom by the sea when all his muse wants to do is live the kind of life that comes with spending money.

Once Marianne tires of “playing Jules Verne” and insists they go into Nice, the two raise money by staging a bizarre “play” about the Vietnam War much to the delight of American tourists. Their new dollars net them some new duds, a dress for her and a light blue summer suit for him, but the two are hardly back in “civilization” long before she’s plunging yet another pair of scissors into a gangster’s neck and he’s being waterboarded in a bathtub.

What’d He Wear?

Clad in a businesslike glen plaid suit for the first portion of Pierrot le Fou, Ferdinand’s attire takes a renegade shift as he solidifies his involvement in his life of “free-spirited” crime with Marianne. He dresses in a navy pinstripe double-breasted suit of mysterious origins with a striped neckband shirt and pork-pie hat for the heist of their new Galaxie, then finally arrives at their destination in a colorfully avant-garde casual ensemble of a rainbow-striped shirt with black velvet jacket, dirty off-white jeans, and penny loafers.

The first of Ferdinand’s new threads to go is an unseasonably warm black velvet single-breasted jacket with padded shoulders and piped trim along the edges of the notch lapels.

Marianne shares updates of how their crime spree has been reported as the two drive toward their new secluded seaside home.

Once Ferdinand ditches the velvet jacket, we’re introduced to that colorfully striped shirt in all of its glory, patterned in bold varieted vertical stripes in blue, tan, taupe, red, gray, burgundy, magenta, gold, and teal, to name a few, likely made from a high-twist cotton.

Ferdinand’s shirt incorporates more color than is seen in some people’s entire wardrobes!

If Ferdinand’s look is one you aspire to, let’s start with the bad news: I can almost guarantee you won’t find this exact shirt anywhere. The good news? This releases you to embrace the free-wheeling spirit of Pierrot le Fou and find your own special shirt, unique to you, be it one of these ’90s-vintage shirts from a semi-premium designer like Nautica or Tommy Hilfiger (and I’m almost positive my dad had that Nautica shirt), an inexpensive online buy like one of these (one, two, or three), or—best yet—a unique vintage find like this to lightly clothe your back during sun-soaked days on the Baie des Anges.

Aside from its unorthodox color scheme, Ferdinand’s shirt is otherwise styled similar to the traditional OCBD sport shirt with its large, shapely button-down collar, of which he typically fastens either one or none of the collar leaf buttons in addition to the button through the back of the collar. The buttons fastening the collar, rounded cuffs, and the front placket are all white, possibly mother-of-pearl, and white-threaded to the body of the shirt. The shirt also has a box pleat running down the center of the back and a single pocket over the left breast.

Ferdinand: “Why do you look so sad?”
Marianne: “Because you speak to me in words and I look at you with feelings.”

Based on the black branded patch sewn along the top of the back right pocket, Ferdinand’s cream cotton sateen jeans appear to made by Lee, specifically part of their “Westerner” line of sanforized jackets and jeans in a wheat-colored alternative to the classic blue denim. Originating in the late 1950s, the Westerner line was Lee’s attempt to capture the demographic of male and female urbanites, cashing in on the increasing leisure-wear trend by branding these “Westweave polished cotton” jacket and jeans as mix-and-match “Lee-sures”. While perhaps unstylish to the modern eye, Sidney Poitier made both jacket and jeans look good in the opening (and closing) scenes of Lilies of the Field (1963).

Though marketed as “slacks” for the non-jean wearer, these creamy beige jeans are styled like most classic denim across the back half of the 20th century with five pockets (including right-side coin pocket), rivets at the corner seams, and belt loops that go unused by Bébel.

Ferdinand’s off-white pants are appropriately hued for a life by the sea, though their less-than-refined lifestyle means incurring some unfortunately placed stains on the seat of said trousers.

Ferdinand sheds his hosiery and goes sockless in his dusty dark brown leather moc-toe loafers. These slip-on shoes appear to have a self-strap across the top of the instep, though this strap appears to lack the signature slot that would classify them among the penny loafers that had been an American campus favorite ever since Massachusetts manufacturer G.H. Bass & Co. introduced its now-iconic “weejun” in the 1930s.

If I were looking to crib Ferdinand’s look, I’d probably start with a pair of brown moc-toe drivers for their malleable construction, though I’d still opt for a penny-style strap like one of these pairs of moderately priced slip-ons: Clarks “Ashmont Way”, Cole Haan “Grant Canoe”, Cole Haan “Howland”, Florsheim “Jensen”, Florsheim “Oval”, Marc Joseph “Union Street Driver”, or Massimo Matteo “Florencia”.

Ferdinand lives his idyllic Robinson Crusoe life, journaling by the water with the assistance of tropical bird perched upon his shoulder.

On his right pinky, Ferdinand wears a gold signet ring that appears to have been the actor’s own affectation.

Ferdinand’s new pale blue cotton suit that he wears into Nice consists of a single-breasted jacket and darted-front trousers. The short three-button jacket has notch lapels, sporty patch pockets on the breast and hips, a single vent, and no buttons on the cuffs. The trousers have a fitted waistband that closes through a single white button on the extended tab, side pockets, button-through back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms that break high.

After he loses track of Marianne and loses himself with a familiar face at the movies, Ferdinand keeps his wrinkling suit trousers and worn-in shoes but swaps out the striped shirt and suit jacket for a navy ribbed jumper and drab jeep cap.

The Car

Marianne and Ferdinand acquire their latest ride.

#CarWeek may be officially over, but I can’t resist a few words in appreciation of that silver 1961 Ford Galaxie Sunliner with the lush red-and-white leather interior that Marianne had so wisely talked Ferdinand into thieving…

Marianne: Look, Pierrot, a Ford Galaxie.
Ferdinand: My name is Ferdinand. (looks up) Yeah, a ’62.
Marianne: Show me you’re a man.

Once he finishes his reading, Ferdinand prepares to make Marianne proud with a gambit that secures them the Galaxie convertible, though IMCDB‘s eagle-eyed experts have identified it as a 1961 model rather than the ’62 Ferdinand claimed, evident by the horizontal bar across the grille that was removed to make way for a “flat face” grille for the 500 models and up for 1962. (Still close, Pierrot!)

Other than the fact that the Galaxie was reportedly owned by Godard himself, there is little on record about the screen-used car or the engine that powered it, which could have ranged anywhere from Ford’s “Mileage Maker Six” base motor up to the powerful 390 cubic-inch V8 mill introduced for ’61. No matter what was under the hood, it was certainly the first to get drenched when Ferdinand impulsively steers the Galaxie into the Mediterranean.

Ferdinand follows an impulse to prove to Marianne that he knows how to have fun too, though it’s hard not to cringe watching that pristine Galaxie being driven into the surf.

What to Imbibe

While performing his “play”, Ferdinand—in the blue service dress of a U.S. Navy lieutenant—takes a long pull from a bottle of Long John whisky, which he also enjoys on the rocks while “in character”.

“Yeah! Sure” Pierrot seems to exhaust his knowledge of English after two words of his “play”.

The story of this blended Scotch dates back to the 1820s when notorious bootlegger Long John Macdonald began operations at the Ben Nevis distillery outside Fort William in the Scottish Highlands, producing Long John’s Dew of Ben Nevis, which would become one of the first marketed single malt brands according to scotchwhisky.com. More than a century later, the brand name had been passed along from London merchant W.H. Chaplin & Co. to gin distiller Seager Evans, who was currently using the Long John name to market its blend. Several more mergers and acquisitions over the course of the 20th century landed Long John in the hands of the French liquor giant Pernod Ricard in 2005, where it has enjoyed its most steady market in France ever since… making it all the more interesting that Long John’s arguably most prominent cinematic exposure was forty years earlier in that most French of French nouvelle vague cinema.

Later, when at the Bar Dancing de la Marquise in Hyères, Ferdinand orders two beers “so when I finish one, I’ll still have one left,” but our hapless hero barely has a chance to make a dent in his first when he gets the call from Marianne.

“You slept with my wife,” Ferdinand’s fellow patron reminds him. “Oh, right.”

How to Get the Look

Jean-Paul Belmondo as Ferdinand Griffon in Pierrot le Fou (1965)

Jean-Paul Belmondo’s vibrantly striped shirt in Pierrot le Fou echoes the colorful chaos that follows him and Anna Karina through France, balanced by contemporary Ivy favorites like his trendy neural-toned jeans and worn-in weejuns.

• Multi-striped cotton long-sleeved shirt with large button-down collar, front placket (with white buttons), breast pocket, and 1-button rounded cuffs
• Black velvet single-breasted jacket with piped-edge notch lapels and padded shoulders
• Cream cotton sateen Lee Westerner jeans with belt loops, five-pocket layout, and straight leg with plain-hemmed bottoms
• Dark brown leather moc-toe vamp-strap loafers
• Gold signet pinky ring

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

It’s a good thing I don’t like spinach, because if I did, I’d eat it, and I can’t stand the stuff.

Whether locked down at home or safely enjoying a warm getaway, I hope this summer has been safe and stylish for BAMF Style readers!

Although this summer has been markedly different from years past, I still found myself relying on the familiar comforts of retail therapy, specifically building my unnecessarily vast wardrobe of short-sleeve printed shirts and discovering the wares of great warm-weather outfitters like Aloha FunWear, Busbee McQuade, Dandy Del Mar, and Scott Fraser Collection.

I’m always on the lookout for budget-friendly alternatives to favorite items I’ve spotted in movies and TV, and this was a particularly fruitful year for finding three fine alternatives to shirts I’d long wanted from the tropical worlds of James Bond and Thomas Magnum. While I’ve already explored two of these looks in depth on BAMF Style, I wanted to break from my usual format on what I believe to be my 1,000th post to express my excitement for these finds.

I had plenty of fun putting together this brief guide to share some of this season’s finds that I’ve been picking up, comparing budget versions against some of the higher investment pieces and—for the sake of transparency—being sure to mention whether or not I personally owned the shirts in question.

Please feel free to add your own observations or summer favorites in the comments!

All prices, ratings, and availability as of July 10, 2020.

To kick things off, I also wanted to add a brief playlist I curated of some of my favorite instrumental tracks for a long, lazy summer day into night, beginning with Link Wray’s surf-infused interpretation of Liszt’s famous “Liebesträume No. 3.”

Bond’s Striped Camp Shirt in Thunderball

One of the most popular pieces of James Bond’s casual wear, this blue-and-white striped short-sleeved camp shirt from Thunderball continues to attract attention 55 years after Sean Connery first wore it with cream linen slacks and sandals at Largo’s Bahamian estate. Orlebar Brown wisely included it in the third release of their 007 Heritage Collection this year, though I found a surprising alternative for a portion of the price from Abercrombie & Fitch.

James Bond (Sean Connery) wore this striped summer shirt with camp collar for a warm afternoon of shotguns and rum at the estate of villain Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi) in Thunderball (1965).

The Budget Buy:

The Short-Sleeve Camp Collar Button-Up Shirt in “Navy Blue Stripe” from Abercrombie & Fitch

Abercrombie & Fitch
Short-Sleeve Camp Collar Button-Up Shirt

Price: $27.50

Color: Navy Blue Stripe

Material: 100% viscose

Average customer rating: 3.5/5 stars (2 reviews)

Do I own it? Yes

While viscose is hardly an ideal substitute for a cool-wearing cotton/linen blend, the soft, lightweight fabric is still comfortable with a pattern and style that echoes Connery’s screen-worn shirt and for less than 10% the price of the Orlebar Brown reproduction.

Admittedly, my initial connotation with A&F date from my high school and college years, when I associated it with over-sexualized advertising and occupying a pungent corner in the local mall, but the brand appears to have reinvented itself with more practical clothing at accessible prices. I re-discovered the brand during the first few weeks under quarantine and have come to rely on its sweater-knit pocket tees as a comfortable staple when working from home and blogging into the night.

The Investment:

The Thunderball Stripe Shirt in Riviera/White from Orlebar Brown

Orlebar Brown
Thunderball Stripe Shirt

Price: $295

Color: Riviera/White

Material: 100% woven cotton/linen blend

Average Customer Rating: 5/5 stars (2 reviews)

Do I own it? No

The price tag is the only major factor that has kept this screen-accurate replica from my closet, beautifully detailed with OB’s “Capri collar” as well as a blue all-over butcher stripe and breast pocket to mimic 007 himself.

You can read more about the original look in my BAMF Style post.

Bond’s “Enjoying Death” Shirt in Skyfall

Daniel Craig’s 007 may be the most dressed-down iteration of the character yet, balancing his suits from Brioni (in Casino Royale) and Tom Ford (in everything else) with practical and contemporary casual-wear rooted in classic staples that will hopefully be less susceptible to aging than casual-wear often can be. After he was presumed killed on assignment at the beginning of Skyfall, Bond is shown to be “enjoying death” in exile on a remote Greek island, sporting a uniquely printed Zara Youth shirt with his Levi’s Vintage Clothing leather jacket and Topman trousers.

Clad in Zara shirt, James Bond (Daniel Craig) eyes a scorpion as he owns up to a bar challenge to down a dram of Macallan and capture the deadly arachnid in the glass before it can bite him in Skyfall (2012).

The Budget Buy:

Standard-Fit Long-Sleeve Linen and Cotton Blend Shirt in “blue floral” from Amazon house brand Goodthreads

Amazon
Goodthreads Men’s Standard-Fit Long-Sleeve Linen and Cotton Blend Shirt

Price: $20.04

Color: Blue Floral

Material: 55% linen, 45% cotton

Average customer rating: 4.2/5 (222 reviews)

Do I own it? Yes

While not screen-accurate in its print (nor was it intended to be), this affordable and comfortable shirt from that most omnipresent of online retailers evokes the look and style of Craig’s cynical, grizzled 007.

The Investment:

The “Enjoying Death” shirt from ROYALE Filmwear

ROYALE Filmwear
SKYFALL Enjoying Death Shirt

Price: $89

Color: Light Blue

Material: 100% cotton

Do I own it? No

The ROYALE Filmwear experts diligently replicated Craig’s screen-worn shirt, from the intricate repeating navy floral pattern to the fit and the pocket flaps. If Skyfall convinced you that Bond’s shirt is what you need in your wardrobe, this meticulous tribute would be the best place to turn.

You can read more about the original look in my BAMF Style post.

The Magnum, P.I. “Jungle Bird” Shirt

Arguably the most iconic and recognizable of Tom Selleck’s tropical shirts on the original run of Magnum, P.I., the red “jungle bird” aloha shirt made by Paradise Found remains in production more than 40 years after the series pilot was filmed and even Selleck’s “successor” Jay Hernandez has been spotted wearing it on the recent CBS reboot.

Thomas Magnum (Tom Selleck) wears his red “jungle bird” Paradise Found aloha shirt one of many times on Magnum, P.I., seen here in the episode “Missing in Action” (Episode 1.09).

The Budget Buy:

“Island Paradise” relaxed fit camp shirt from Old Navy

Old Navy
Relaxed-Fit Printed Short-Sleeve Camp Shirt

Price: $26

Color: “Island Paradise”

Material: 100% rayon

Average customer rating: 4.7/5 stars (74 reviews)

Do I own it? No

It may lack the avifauna that give the original “jungle bird” shirt its particular joie de vivre, but this Old Navy printed shirt strikes me as a fine starting place for aspiring aloha-wearers inspired by Magnum but looking to see what works for them with the help of a familiar, inexpensive, and reliable brand… or it could just nicely pad the closets of a seasoned aloha-wearer.

The Alternate Budget Buy:

Parrots Hawaiian Shirt from Pacific Legend

Pacific Legend
Parrots Hawaiian Shirt

Price: $26.87 to $39.95

Color: Red

Material: 100% cotton

Average customer rating: 4.4/5 stars (516 reviews)

Do I own it? No

While I don’t have firsthand experience with this shirt or company, it seems to have strong reviews as an authentic, Hawaiian-made alternative to the “jungle bird” shirt on Magnum, P.I. If it weren’t for how affordable the genuine Paradise Found shirt was, I would likely seek out this alternative for myself.

The Investment:

The original “jungle bird” aloha shirt by Paradise Found, available from AlohaFunwear

AlohaFunwear
Paradise Found Original Magnum PI Hawaiian Shirt

Price: $64

Color: Red “Jungle Bird”

Material: 100% rayon

Average customer rating: 5/5 stars (51 reviews)

Do I own it? Yes

This is The One! Made in Hawaii, this shirt from Paradise Found continues the pattern that was popularized when their shirts were first worn by Tom Selleck in the ’80s, detailed with matching pocket and real wood buttons. As a proud owner of this shirt, I can attest to its comfort, its beautifully vivid and eye-catching print, and the fact that you don’t need Selleck’s signature facial hair or Ferrari to feel great wearing it.

Plus, the Aloha Funwear crew is fantastic and takes pride both in their authentic products and their warm, attentive customer service.

While I haven’t covered the red “jungle bird” shirt yet, you can read more about Selleck’s first aloha shirt on Magnum, P.I. in this BAMF Style post.

Bond’s Off-White Terry Cloth Shirt

In addition to his Conduit Cut suits, grenadine ties, and cocktail cuff shirts, Sean Connery established terry cloth as one of 007’s preferred fabrics for summertime leisure garb, first with his blue playsuit in Goldfinger (1964) and again when briefly sporting a beige mottled toweling camp shirt in the pre-credits sequence of Diamonds Are Forever (1971). The shirt had been recreated by Orlebar Brown during last year’s release of its 007 Heritage Collection, though it appears that this particular piece has completely sold out and been discontinued. Not to worry, fans of luxury and leisure, as we appear to be in the midst of a terry cloth revival…

Sean Connery sports a ’70s-styled terry shirt in the Diamonds Are Forever (1971) prologue.

The New Find:

The Tropez Terry Cloth Shirt from Dandy Del Mar

Dandy Del Mar
The Tropez Terry Cloth Shirt

Price: $109

Color: Ivory

Material: 80% cotton/20% polyester terry cloth

Average customer rating: 5/5 stars (5 reviews)

Do I own it? Yes

One of my favorite discoveries of the year was Dandy Del Mar, the California-based outfitter celebrating a return to the glory days of leisure through its vintage-inspired resortwear, consisting of terry cloth shirts, shorts, and robes, classic and comfortable swim trunks, and huaraches.

The brand’s creative, resplendent with cocktails, Cadillacs, beaches, and beautiful women drew me in to its world of leisure, and I was honored to be gifted this very shirt which has quickly become one of my poolside favorites.

While I haven’t covered Connery’s shirt from Diamonds Are Forever yet, you can read more about Dandy Del Mar in this BAMF Style post.

Though different from the usual BAMF Style format, I want to reinforce that this is a completely organic post, not sponsored or promoted by any of the brands mentioned. However, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases from Amazon.com, and I may receive commissions for certain purchases made through Amazon links.

Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall on the set of Key Largo (1948)

Vitals

Humphrey Bogart as Frank McCloud, taciturn war veteran and former newspaperman

Key Largo, Florida, Summer 1948

Film: Key Largo
Release Date: July 16, 1948
Director: John Huston
Wardrobe Credit: Leah Rhodes

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Released today in 1948, John Huston’s moody noir Key Largo marked the fourth and final of Bogie and Bacall’s on-screen collaborations, closing out their celluloid romance the way it began in To Have and Have Not (1944) with a talent-packed cast (including Dan Seymour as a heavy heavy) in a tropical locale shrouded in shadows, storms, and gunplay. The claustrophobia of our characters’ forced isolation against the looming summer storm outside and the raging tension inside made it particularly impactful viewing during months in lockdown.

By this point, Humphrey Bogart had been firmly established as one of the biggest stars in the world, having risen over the decade thanks to iconic roles in movies like The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, and most recently The Treasure of Sierra Madre, to name just a few. No longer Warner Brothers’ resident “sniveling bastard” who gets plugged by the end, Bogie had now developed his own personal brand of cinematic heroism, the honest but laconic man-of-the-world who’s seen enough to be cynical when we—and our femme fatale du jour—meet him, until he ultimately finds his ideals in time to triumph over evil by the end. (Okay, Fred C. Dobbs may not apply in this case.)

Key Largo‘s hero of the hour is Frank McCloud—that’s Frank, by John, out of Ellen—a former Army major traveling the country on his way to live the seafaring life aboard a fishing boat as “life on land’s become too complicated for my taste.” His last stop is Key Largo, specifically the Largo Hotel, to visit the family of one of the fallen soldiers from his command. The man’s gregarious father, James Temple (Lionel Barrymore), runs a resort hotel that he co-operates with his son’s widow, Nora (Lauren Bacall), who appears instantly smitten with the newcomer. Frank has seen enough of the world to know that the five hard-nosed thugs and their abusive boss are hardly in the hot and humid Keys for the deep-sea fishing as they claim.

Just a dozen years had passed since Bogie had exploded onto the big screen with his star-making role in The Petrified Forest (1936) as a Dillinger-esque criminal holding a cafe full of people hostage in the Arizona desert. Now, he’s on the other end of the gangster’s gun, standing tall among his fellow hostages to challenge their torturer, the domineering bully Johnny Rocco played by Edward G. Robinson in his fifth and final on-screen pairing with Bogie.

Johnny Rocco gives Frank McCloud what for, see?

Rocco: You, do you know what you want?
Frank: Yes, I had hopes once, but I gave them up.
Rocco: Hopes for what?
Frank: A world in which there’s no place for Johnny Rocco.

Like many gang chiefs in Warner Brothers’ early fare, our hero’s foil “the one and only Rocco” was pulled from contemporary headlines, borrowing mannerisms, affectations, and even favorite alias from the recently deceased Al Capone and biographical details from the recently exiled Lucky Luciano.

Even Lucky’s main squeeze Gay Orlova would inspire Rocco’s torch-singing moll Gaye Dawn, a performance that would land Claire Trevor a well-deserved Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. One of the film’s key scenes (no pun intended) and the sequence that has been cited as directly responsible for Trevor’s Oscar centered around Gaye’s boozy, reluctant, and off-key a capella rendition of Libby Holman’s signature hit “Moanin’ Low”, falling apart as she recognizes how much her life parallels that of the abused lover singing the song.

Key Largo was based on Maxwell Anderson’s play that ran from November 1939 through February 1940 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, starring Paul Muni in the central role of Spanish Civil War deserter King McCloud. Huston worked with Richard Brooks to adapt for the screen, making McCloud a World War II veteran who finds his redemption in courageous action rather than death.

It was Howard Hawks who contributed Key Largo’s ending of a gunfight at sea, dusting off an unused finale idea from To Have and Have Not. To demonstrate just how much Bogart inhabited his parts, the vessel was named Santana, sharing its name with the actor’s personal fishing boat.

What’d He Wear?

Warner Brothers costume stalwart Leah Rhodes was credited with the wardrobe in Key Largo, a film whose costume design meets the unique challenge of any work set across a single day where a character’s unchanging costume—and how it’s worn and unworn over the course of that day—are very telling. Admittedly, Frank McCloud may be the least interesting dresser of the crowd gathered at the Largo Hotel, though by ignoring contemporary fashion trends he adopts a more timeless and versatile look appropriate for our quiet hero.

As in most of his movies, the clothes are almost certainly Bogart’s own, though it was likely a collaboration between Rhodes, Huston, and Bogart himself that determined how he would wear them, primarily stripped down to his shirt sleeves and suit trousers.

Bogie and Bacall.

Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall on set of Key Largo (1948)
Source: Harper’s Bazaar

In their nearly matching white button-up shirts, worn open at the neck, with neutral, pleated bottoms and dark belts, Frank and Nora are unified from the start in a heroic uniform of sorts. Our two humbly dressed heroes are subconsciously pitted together in the fight against these gangsters wearing their flashy duds like Johnny Rocco’s silk dressing gown or the trigger-happy Toots’ quintessentially gangland white tie against a dark shirt… of course, any 1948 audience member worth their salt should have known that Bogie and Bacall would be on the same team, but it is a helpful visual clue for the less-informed viewer watching 70 years later.

Frank McCloud arrives in Key Largo wearing an unseasonably warm two-piece suit made of heavy woolen twill, though he wisely keeps the jacket slung over his arm. Color photography from the set reveals that the suiting consisted of a substantial diagonal rib alternating in tan and dark taupe for an overall light brown.

Understandably after a long day of traveling by bus, Frank’s first order of business upon checking into his room is to change into a fresh shirt, nearly identical to the white shirt he had arrived wearing. These cotton shirts have white two-hole sew-through plastic buttons up the front placket, of which he leaves the top two undone even when wearing his loosened tie. The collar has long points and welted edges. Bogart keeps the button cuffs unfastened and loosely rolled up his forearms. There are two pleats behind each shoulder.

Note how subtle Frank’s plain white shirt looks when compared to Toots over his left shoulder, sporting monogrammed dark silk shirt, contrasting light knitted tie tucked into his “Hollywood” trousers supported by belt and braces, not to mention that wide-brimmed Panama hat or his spectator wingtips.

Frank arrives wearing a two-color “diagonal”-direction block-striped tie that is arguably the most dated part of his wardrobe, not necessary for the relatively timeless pattern but rather the length… or lack thereof. In accordance with the era’s prevailing fashions, the tie is worn short, not just to accommodate the higher-rise trousers as it still falls a few inches short of the trouser waistband and Bogart’s natural waist. Considering that the tie was already loosened, it would have looked almost comedically short when properly tightened to the neck. Frank McCloud’s heroic image was best served when the tie was abandoned.

Once Frank realizes he may have a chance to woo the lovely Nora, he wisely discards the short tie and echoes her refreshing open-neck look.

Frank’s trousers have a fashionably long rise, though they hardly compete with Lionel Barrymore’s gut-eating linen slacks. The double reverse-pleated trousers are cut with a voluminous fit through the legs down to the turn-ups (cuffs) on the bottoms. There are no back pockets, just gently slanted side pockets. Through the trouser belt loops, he wears a dark brown leather belt with a squared gold-toned single-prong buckle.

For all the parallels between Frank and Nora’s wardrobes, they diverge when we get down to their footwear. Nora wears classic rope-soled espadrilles with additional lacing around her ankles, while Frank still wears the lace-up oxford shoes and black socks that would have been appropriate with his suit. The contrast of his shoe leather against the socks suggest that Frank’s six-eyelet cap-toe oxfords have brown leather uppers.

“My first sweetheart was a boat,” Frank admits to Nora before putting his money where his mouth is and proving his maritime mettle.

Frank holds a dark fedora in his hand, never wearing it but using it to briefly conceal the pistol that Gaye smuggles to him before the climactic scenes aboard the Santana. It’s during these scenes that he finally completes the suit by putting on the heavy twill suit jacket, likely more comfortable for a night at sea than it would have been during the sunny afternoon.

Bogie in his natural habitat: at the helm of a fishing boat.

The sporty single-breasted suit jacket has wide, padded shoulders with roped sleeveheads. Worn turned up in the back, the notch lapels have swelled edges and roll to a three-button front. The ventless jacket has patch pockets on the hips and left breast, where Frank wears a white linen or cotton pocket square, and the sleeves are finished with four buttons on each cuff.

Frank McCloud takes command of the Santana.

Key Largo marks one of the rare instances where Bogart does not wear the gold ring he inherited from his father with the two rubies flanking a diamond. He does wear a steel round-cased chronograph with a gold dial on a dark brown leather strap. The dial appears to have two gold sub-registers at the 3:00 and 9:00 positions.

I can’t positively identify the watch based on what we see on screen, but I’ve heard that Bogart was a Longines wearer in real life and the details of this screen-worn watch appear consistent with several Longines chronographs from the era.

The Gun

You don’t like it, do you, Rocco? The storm? Show it your gun, why don’t you? If it doesn’t stop, shoot it.

Frank McCloud twice gets his hands on Johnny Rocco’s celebrated rod, er- pistol. The first time, Rocco challenges Frank to a moralistic duel of sorts, racking the slide and handing over his own Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless and challenging him to shoot him with him, fulfilling his long-time hope for a world without Johnny Rocco, the only drawback being that he would have to die for the privilege. “One Rocco more or less isn’t worth dying for,” McCloud grumbles before tossing the gat away… only for Deputy Sawyer (John Rodney) to tragically learn that it wasn’t even loaded.

Temple tries to give Frank a heroic out by suggesting that he must have been able to tell by the pistol’s weight that it wasn’t loaded, but Frank defends his sense of self-preservation: “Me, die to rid the world of a Johnny Rocco? No thanks!”

Gaye smuggles Rocco’s pistol to Frank. In addition to its recognizable design, the “COLT” logo emblazoned on its hard plastic grips leaves no question regarding the Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless’ identity.

Later, Gaye fakes an attack of lovestruck desperation to smuggle Rocco’s gat out of his pocket and slip it to Frank, who uses it to get the drop on Rocco’s gang once aboard the Santana, using it to pick off each henchman—and arming himself with Toots’ own nickel-plated Colt Model 1903 for backup—until taking on the big boss himself.

Commandeered Colt in hand, Frank surveils his target.

Colt had introduced its popular and reliable Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless model nearly half a century earlier, definitively proving the relevance of mid-sized semi-automatic pistols in a segment that had been dominated by revolvers just a decade earlier. The .32 ACP model with its eight-round magazine was introduced in 1903, followed by the .380 ACP version five years later, though the larger round meant only seven could be loaded into each magazine.

Over the decades to follow, it would prove to be popular as a concealed weapon for civilians as well as criminals like John Dillinger, Al Capone, and Willie Sutton, who could easily carry and draw it from a trouser pocket; the “hammerless” designation was a misnomer as the hammer was simply covered by the back of the slide. Nearly 600,000 were made during the pistol’s original production run, which ended in 1945.

What to Imbibe

Frank tries to cool off upon his arrival at the Largo Hotel by ordering a beer from the bar, though he’s swiftly denied by Angel Garcia (Dan Seymour), who seems to be the gang’s de facto bartender. Luckily for Frank, the whiskey-swilling Gaye seems to have some sway among the guys and advocates for Frank to get his beer despite the bullish thugs’ reluctance.

Frank makes a fast friend and drinking companion in Gaye Dawn as the two bond over her knack for picking the right horses.

Frank later repays the favor by defying Rocco’s wishes and pouring Gaye a much-needed dram of Kentucky bourbon after she humiliates herself singing “Moanin’ Low” for the group. The bottle in question appears to be fixed with the fictional “Kentucky Hill” prop label that can be found across many Warner Brothers films from Casablanca to Blazing Saddles.

How to Get the Look

Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall on set of Key Largo (1948)
Source: CRFashionBook.com

Humphrey Bogart’s simple and tasteful approach to dressing in Key Largo keeps his dressed-down white open-neck shirt and pleated twill trousers just as relevant and effortlessly stylish the better part of a century later.

• White cotton shirt with long point collar, front placket, and button cuffs
• Light brown woolen twill double reverse-pleated high-rise suit trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• Dark brown leather belt with square gold-toned single-prong buckle
• Dark brown leather 6-eyelet cap-toe oxford shoes
• Black socks
• Steel round-cased chronograph watch with round gold dial (with two gold sub-dials) on dark brown leather strap

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

When your head says one thing and your whole life says another, your head always loses.

Johnny Depp as Raoul Duke in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971)

Vitals

Johnny Depp as Raoul Duke, “doctor of journalism” and alter ego of Hunter S. Thompson

Las Vegas, Spring 1971

Film: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Release Date: May 22, 1998
Director: Terry Gilliam
Costume Designer: Julie Weiss

Background

We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold…

…and, with the scream of a bright fireapple red Chevy convertible speeding through the desert scored by Big Brother and the Holding Company’s manic “Combination of the Two”, we’re off and running with Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo on their way to a hallucinogenic weekend romp in Sin City. Johnny Depp’s opening narration as the notorious Dr. Duke transcribes verbatim the opening lines of Hunter S. Thompson’s landmark roman à clef Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

The book and film chronicle Thompson’s drug-fueled trip to Las Vegas with his friend, activist attorney Oscar Zeta Acosta, rebranded for the story as the 300-pound Samoan “Doctor Gonzo” who would ultimately be portrayed to chaotic perfection by Benicio Del Toro.

Ralph Steadman’s illustration of Dr. Gonzo and Raoul Duke at the helm of the Great Red Shark.

On the anniversary of Hunter S. Thompson’s birthday on July 18 in the foul year of Our Lord 1937, let’s join Raoul Duke on “a classic affirmation of everything right and true and decent in the national character… a gross, physical salute to the fantastic possibilities of life in this country—but only for those with true grit.”

What’d He Wear?

Hunter S. Thompson had befriended Johnny Depp several years earlier, so there was little question in the writer’s mind that his friend would be up to the task of portraying him, inviting him to spend four months living in the basement of Thompson’s Owl Farm home in Colorado. In addition to sharing his manuscript and mementos from “the Vegas book,” Thompson also personally shaved Depp’s head to resemble his own and provided assorted articles of clothing and accessories—from that patchwork jacket to his TarGard cigarette holder—to complete Depp’s transformation for the screen.

Both Raoul Duke and his storied attorney Dr. Gonzo are clad in Acapulco shirts for their adventure, having evidently heeded their own advice. “The only way to prepare for a trip like this,” Thompson wrote, “was to dress up like human peacocks and get crazy then screech off across the desert and cover the story.”

“Our vibrations were getting nasty.”
Raoul Duke nervously eyes the hitchhiker in their backseat, making his inaugural convertible ride as Dr. Gonzo steers the trio across the desert. While our two protagonists are clad in their respective Acapulco shirts, the hitchhiker wears a t-shirt with Ralph Steadman’s illustration of Mickey Mouse emblazoned on the front.

Ralph Steadman’s portrait of Hunter S. Thompson with bucket hat, cigarette, Acapulco shirt, and sneakers.

Duke is dressed in a dark brown short-sleeved camp shirt with an all-over yellow floral pattern, outwardly similar to a traditional aloha shirt but made from a soft terry cloth, a pile woven cotton also known as “toweling” for its prevalence in bath towels.

The terrycloth detail is often missed by purveyors offering inexpensive “replicas” of the shirt, ostensibly for Halloween costumes, such as thecostumebase or Largemouth. Terry shirts are indeed seeing a resurgence thanks to the tasteful products of companies like Busbee McQuade, Dandy Del Mar, and Orlebar Brown, though I imagine those seeking to crib that chaotic Gonzo look would need to look to vintage wares. The closest equivalent I’ve seen to a well-made terrycloth shirt with aloha sensibilities are the unique “High Water Hawaiian” shirts by California Cowboy, consisting of cotton-lyocell tropical-printed shells and the brand’s proprietary terrycloth lining. In fact, California Cowboy has cited Thompson’s book and personal style as the inspiration for its “High Water” line. If you want to pay tribute to Duke’s look without following the toweling route or getting a costume-like replica of the shirt, I can personally recommend the “Island Monarchy Yellow” Hawaiian shirt by Aloha Republic, via Aloha Funwear.

In addition to being at its most fashionable during “this doomstruck era of Nixon”, terry toweling shirting would be ideal for the good doctor of journalism as Thompson noted elsewhere in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in that “I tend to sweat heavily in warm climates. My clothes are soaking wet from dawn to dusk.”

While photos of the real HST in this shirt aren’t as easy for me to find as some of him in that famous patchwork jacket, this screen-worn item was undoubtedly one of the man’s own famed Acapulco shirts, and I believe it’s the one reflected in one of of Ralph Steadman’s iconic illustrations of the writer.

Depp wears a dark brown leather studded cuff bracelet on his right wrist, inspired by one the real Thompson had been frequently photographed wearing. The owner of Leatherpunk researched the wristband before developing his own replica and determined that, while Thompson’s black leather cuff closes through two snaps, Depp wore a brown leather bracelet with a single-prong buckle closure. His site currently offers reproductions of both.

On his left wrist, Depp wears a steel watch with a black bezel and black dial, worn on a period-correct black leather rally strap. As opposed to the “skeleton-face Accutron” Bulova that Thompson described in his book, the screen-worn piece has been identified by the users at OmegaForums.net as an Alsta Nautoscaph, the same diver that Richard Dreyfuss wore in Jaws (1975), four years after Thompson’s savage journey to the heart of the American dream.

Ostensibly tasked with covering the fourth annual Mint 400 off-road race as “the absolute cream of the national sporting press,” Duke confirms to a bewildered hitchhiker (Tobey Maguire) picked up somewhere in Bat Country that “we’re on our way to Las Vegas to find the American Dream.”

Duke dresses his dome with a fisherman’s bucket hat in off-white canvas, detailed with green canvas under the full brim.

In yet another extension of the real Thompson’s style, Depp wears gold-framed aviator sunglasses with yellow tinted lenses and the round ring between bridge and top bar suggesting the Ray-Ban Shooter Aviator frames. In addition to what Ray-Ban calls the “vanity bullet hole”, the Shooter aviators are designed with a reinforced acetate “brow bar” (or “sweat bar”) above the top bar as also seen on the Outdoorsman frame, originally designed to keep sweat from clouding a pilot’s vision.

While I don’t believe the yellow tinted lenses are commercially available with the currently offered RB3138 Shooter Aviators (via Amazon or Ray-Ban), there are plenty of budget-friendly alternatives from costume outfitters like Costume Agent (via Amazon) to get that yellow-lensed gonzo look. (On the other end of the budget spectrum, L.A.-based eyewear boutique Jacques Marie Mage announced its Thompson-inspired “Duke” shades last year, limited to a run of just 250 and retailing for $850 each.)

“How long could we maintain? I wondered. How long until one of us starts raving and jabbering at this boy? What will he think then? This same lonely desert was the last known home of the Manson family; will he make that grim connection when my attorney starts screaming about bats and huge manta rays coming down on the car? If so, well, we’ll just have to cut his head off and bury him somewhere, ’cause it goes without saying that we can’t turn him loose. He’d report us at once to some kind of outback Nazi law enforcement agency and they’ll run us down like dogs. Jesus, did I say that? Or just think it? Was I talking? Did they hear me?”

Duke staggers around the Shark in a pair of light pink chinos that, in characteristic fashion, clash with the rest of his outfit. These flat front trousers are worn sans belt and have side pockets and turn-ups (cuffs) on the bottoms, which hike up high to show his white ribbed tube socks.

Depp also sports Thompson’s favorite kicks, a pair of well-worn Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star sneakers with low white canvas uppers, laced with flat white laces through seven silver-toned eyelets, and white rubber outsoles that somehow manage to support him through the “muck” of the Mint Hotel lobby despite his request for golf shoes.

As Dr. Gonzo drives in his wraparound sunglasses alternatively described as being of Spanish, Brazilian, and Danish origin, Raoul Duke kicks back in Thompson’s favorite Chuck Taylor All-Stars to get acquainted with their bright-eyed new companion.

Nearly 50 years since Raoul Duke’s infamous trip and almost 100 years since their introduction to the market, Converse continues to offer its signature basketball shoe (via Amazon and Converse), including the white low-top variety favored by Hunter S. Thompson.

The Car

“As your attorney, I advise you to rent a very fast car with no top,” Dr. Gonzo had advised Raoul Duke in Beverly Hills, and the two thus spend their evening “locating a convertible with adequate horsepower and proper coloring” before aiming the famous Great Red Shark due northeast across the desert.

The actual Red Shark from Thompson’s garage made an appearance as Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo’s primary ride from L.A. to Vegas, a bright red 1971 Chevrolet Impala convertible which Depp himself had traded in his own car to drive for months in advance to prepare for the role.

Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo speed northeast in the Great Red Shark.

1971 was the first model year for Chevrolet’s fifth generation of the venerated Impala and would become one of GM’s top-selling models for the decade, with a wheelbase elongated to 121.5 inches.

IMCDB users noted that two different cars were likely used in the movie, one a legitimate 1971 model while another—most clearly seen when Duke is being chased by a police officer played by Gary Busey—has white interior door panels from the 1973-1974 models when the convertible was moved upmarket to the Caprice Classic series. (I believe this later model was the ’73 convertible that Thompson would later be gifted from friends… more on that below!)

The IMCDB users also contend that Duke’s Impala convertible was powered by a top-of-the-line 402 cubic-inch “400 Turbo Jet” V8 mill offering 300 gross horsepower and mated to GM’s three-speed Turbo Hydramatic transmission. According to Pawel Zal’s Automobile Catalog, this could push the Impala to a theoretical top speed of 111 mph, though Thompson recalled hitting speeds closer to 120 in the Great Red Shark:

I always drive properly. A bit fast, perhaps, but always with the consummate skill and a natural feel for the road that even cops recognize.

1971 Chevrolet Impala Convertible

Body Style: 2-door convertible

Layout: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive (RWD)

Engine: 402 cu. in. (6.6 L) Chevrolet 400 V8 with Rochester 4-barrel carburetor

Power: 300 hp (223.5 kW; 304 PS) @ 4800 RPM

Torque: 400 lb·ft (542 N·m) @ 3200 RPM

Transmission: 3-speed GM Turbo Hydramatic THM-400 automatic

Wheelbase: 121.5 inches (3086 mm)

Length: 216.8 inches (5507 mm)

Width: 79.5 inches (2019 mm)

Height: 53.4 inches (1356 mm)

The Chevy becomes an increasing liability for Thompson, who describes “a huge Red Shark just outside the door so full of felonies that I’m afraid to even look at it,” so the book depicts him abandoning it in long-term parking at McCarran International Airport before renting a white Cadillac convertible to known forth with as The Whale, though the luxury of GM’s upmarket stablemate to the Impala couldn’t compare to the Shark’s speed and handling.

Old elephants limp off to the hills to die; old Americans go out to the highway and drive themselves to death with huge cars.

Note the “Impala” badging below the retractable roof.

Two decades after Thompson’s “strange torpedo” in Sin City, his friends would gift him with the ’73 Chevrolet Caprice convertible that would become a familiar sight on the streets of Aspen and would be lent to the production of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. More than a decade after Thompson’s 2005 suicide, his personally owned Red Shark was part of the inaugural exhibit at the Cannabition Cannabis Museum in Las Vegas.

The Gun

In case the idea of speeding across the desert to Las Vegas with a trunk full of drugs wasn’t dangerous enough, Dr. Gonzo brings along what the book describes as “a fat black .357 Magnum,” depicted on screen as a Smith & Wesson Model 19 with a police-length 4″ barrel.

Dr. Gonzo responds to Raoul Duke’s allegation that he’s a narcotics agent.

The novel clarifies the weapon as “one of those snubnosed Colt Pythons with the beveled cylinder”, passing from Dr. Gonzo’s possession to Raoul Duke’s as he learns to his admiration and horror when he first tries to escape Sin City. He considers that it may not be wise to keep the weapon, “but I wasn’t about the throw the bastard away, either. A good .357 is a hard thing to get, these days.”

What to Imbibe

We had two bags of grass, 75 pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers… also, a quart of tequila, quart of rum, case of beer, pint of raw ether, two dozen amyls. Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge, and I knew we’d get into that rotten stuff pretty soon.

…you know what, I’m going to save myself some legal trouble and implore my readers not to follow Raoul Duke’s dangerous regimen, especially if you’re going to be hitting the road any time soon. The description is, like much of Depp’s narration, nearly verbatim with Thompson’s written word, though the Budweiser prescribed in the novel is generalized to “beer” for the narration (and portrayed by Regent brew on screen) and the described “tequila” is actually a bottle of Wild Turkey bourbon. I could dedicate an entire blog, let alone a single post, to Hunter S. Thompson’s famous use of substances so let’s narrow the BAMF Style recommendation to a single concoction here.

“My attorney ordered two cuba libres with beer and mescal on the side,” Thompson writes in the chapter depicting their check-in at the Mint Hotel.

In the Mint Hotel bar, Raoul Duke—in no need of further inebriation—sits by the two Cuba Libres ordered by Dr. Gonzo.

As one may infer from its name, the Cuba Libre (or “Free Cuba”) was developed in Cuba though its exact origins—like many classic cocktails—are less pinpointed. The drink was known to emerge in the early 1900s, following the strong American presence in the island nation during the Spanish-American War and the introduction of Coca-Cola to the Cuban market in 1900. Over the century to follow, the highball became a staple not only in Cuba but spreading its way up through the United States, though an essential ingredient of the true Cuba Libre was often lost along the way as the “rum and Coke” became a popular order in all corners of the continental U.S. Prohibition reportedly eased its popularity, as the strong cola flavor would ideally overpower the lacking taste of bootleg rum when consumers couldn’t easily get their hands on better quality products.

In Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, Ted “Dr. Cocktail” Haigh assures us of the Cuba Libre that “the trick, here, is that this drink is not ‘just a rum and Coke.’ The lime juice changes everything.” Indeed, a simple addition of lime juice—preferably fresh—transforms the drink from what the Washington Post‘s Jason Wilson called “a lazy person’s drink” to a refreshing symbol of revolution.

Haigh’s recipe prescribes two ounces of Cuban rum, the juice of half a lime, topped with Coca-Cola in an iced highball glass and garnished with a lime wedge; Raoul Duke would have certainly favored the oft-referenced Bacardi Añejo for his libations.

A future post focusing on Fear and Loathing will explore the famous “Singapore Slings with mescal on the side” that our heroes were drinking a day earlier in the patio section (“of course”) of the Beverly Hills Hotel.

How to Get the Look

Johnny Depp as Raoul Duke in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971)

“Setting aside his odd accessories, one of the reasons that Thompson’s style is so appealing is that it is so completely American. Hawaiian shirts, white Chuck Taylor All-Stars, and Ray-Ban Aviators accompanied by guns, cigarettes and liquor bottles,” wrote Brenden Gallagher in his 2017 retrospective “Going Gonzo” for Grailed.

• Brown (with yellow floral pattern) terrycloth “Acapulco shirt” with notched camp collar and notched short sleeves
• Light pink chino cotton flat front trousers with side pockets and turn-ups/cuffs
• Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star low-top basketball sneakers with white canvas uppers and white rubber outsoles
• White ribbed tube socks
• Off-white canvas bucket hat
• Ray-Ban RB3138 Shooter Aviator gold-framed sunglasses with beige sweat bar and yellow-tinted lenses
• Alsta Nautoscaph stainless steel dive watch with black dial and black bezel on black leather rally strap
• Dark brown leather studded bracelet

In a later passage from the novel, Thompson describes his appearance as equivalent to “some crusty drifter who looks like something out of an upper-Michigan hobo jungle”…

I looked pretty bad: wearing old Levis and white Chuck Taylor All-Star basketball sneakers… and my ten-peso Acapulco shirt had long since come apart at the shoulder seams from all that road-wind. My beard was about three days old, bordering on standard wino trim, and my eyes were totally hidden by Sandy Bull’s Saigon-mirror shades.

Do Yourself a Favor and…

As your attorney, I advise you to check out the movie and read Thompson’s book, which Depp himself has described as “a calmer version of what actually happened.”

The Quote

We can’t stop here! This is Bat Country.

Gregory Peck as Harry Street in Ernest Hemingway’s The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952)

Vitals

Gregory Peck as Harry Street, expatriate writer and former newspaper reporter

French Riviera (Côte d’Azur), Summer 1936

Film: The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Release Date: September 17, 1952
Director: Henry King
Wardrobe Supervisor: Charles Le Maire

Background

Despite its wintry title, The Snows of Kilimanjaro was expanded significantly from Ernest Hemingway’s original short story for Henry King’s lush 1952 cinematic adaptation, featuring plenty of summertime fun in Côte d’Azur during its prewar heyday.

The rest of the world may have been suffering from the Great Depression, but Papa surrogate Harry Street has risen to literary stardom and is now living la belle vie, adrift in the Mediterranean while his latest paramour “Frigid Liz, the semi-iceburg of the semi-tropics” frolics in the warm sea around him. Though lovely, Countess Elizabeth (Hildegard Knef) is hardly the treasured Cynthia (Ava Gardner), and Harry admits he’s only attracted to Liz for her elusive qualities, describing in Papa-esque prose that “she was something to hunt down and trap and capture.”

In addition to today being the birthday of Ernest Hemingway, who entered the world July 21, 1899, today is also my 31st birthday!

What’d He Wear?

There’s no mistaking that Harry Street is at leisure as our hero languishes on a raft off the Riviera in his summer whites. The short-sleeved linen camp shirt looks sun-bleached to a warm ivory color, styled with wide-pointed loop collar, shirring at the back yoke, breast pocket, and plain, placket-less button-up front. Through the light linen fabric of the shirt, we can discern the outline of what appears to be a white cotton short-sleeved V-neck undershirt.

Harry lazes in a pair of cream gabardine trousers with double reverse pleats, straight side pockets, button-through back pockets, and turn-ups (cuffs) on the bottoms. Much like famous rakes Fred Astaire and Errol Flynn, Harry dresses his waist with a silk sash, a strip of burgundy silk with white polka dots that breaks up the monochromatic outfit. As the trousers are appointed with buckle-tab side adjusters rather than belt loops, Harry wears the sash around the waistband, knotted on the left.

Blissfully adrift.

“The smartest sandals are those that make the foot look the most naked,” wrote the prolific sartorialist Sir Hardy Amies in his ABCs of Men’s Fashion, adding that said footwear may be hell for walking, but “they are, however, ideal for loafing in the garden, on a terrance, or on a boat.” Peck is outfitted accordingly for just such an activity, sporting a pair of light tan leather sandals with straps over the insteps and around the back of each ankle.

Despite what GQ tried and failed to convince us of a few years ago, wearing socks with sandals is never “cool”, though Peck’s Harry Street makes this surprising sartorial decision with such louche lack of concern that I’m almost willing to forgive. To illuminate any who haven’t closely examined the screenshot or have simply chosen to ignore it, Peck wears taupe ribbed socks with his sandals.

Harry shares a few fleeting moments of warmth with “Frigid Liz”.

Whether intentional or not, the actor’s own grandson Zachary Peck sported a very similar look of white summer shirt, cream trousers, and sandals when modeling for Jerusalem Sandals in 2018. The brand’s “Amos” ankle-strap sandals in honey-colored leather ($78.95 as of July 15, 2020) thus seem like a particularly fitting footwear choice for those looking to build their summer leisurewear à la Harry Street. If you’re not a fan of open-toed shoes but appreciate their breezy properties, I would recommend checking out these handmade huaraches from Dandy Del Mar ($99), a comfortable tribute to these early Mexican sandals.

Let’s Go Shopping

Plenty of modern retailers are taking inspiration from vintage looks so you can pay homage to Harry’s summer garb at any price point! All prices below as of July 16, 2020.

The Shirt

• Abercrombie & Fitch Linen-Blend Camp Collar Button-Up Shirt in white linen/cotton ($20): I’ve mentioned elsewhere that A&F has been pleasantly surprising me lately, and this shirt—which I own in navy blue—is no exception. Harry wears short sleeves, but I like the look, fit, and feel of this affordable shirt too much to not include it.
• Banana Republic Slim-Fit Linen-Cotton Resort Shirt in white linen/cotton ($39): Another inexpensive winner, styled like Harry’s with the neat added retro detail of flapped chest pockets.
• Orlebar Brown Golden Gun Shirt in ivory Italian woven cotton (£195): Though part of their latest 007 Heritage Collection release, the timeless styling of this “capri collar” shirt is consistent with Harry’s look on the Riviera.
• Scott Fraser Collection White Slub Cuban Collar Shirt in white cotton blend (£165): SFC is one of the best retro-minded outfitters out there, and this “Cuban collar” shirt provides another fine long-sleeved alternative.
• short fin Camp Linen Shirt in white linen/cotton ($32.50): This basic linen camp shirt hits all the style points of Harry’s screen-worn shirt, though reviewers suggest to size up before purchasing!

The Trousers

• 28 Palms Relaxed Fit 100% Linen Pant in white linen (up to $40): These simple, drawstring-waist trousers may not be as inspired by classic style as the others, but Harry’s attitude suggests that he may have worn these if he could have… plus, you’ll be tying a silk sash around your waist anyway, won’t you?
• Orlebar Brown Griffon Two Tone Shell Wash Tailored-Fit Trousers (£185): Classic details (i.e. side adjusters) with modern sensibilities.
• Scott Fraser Collection Classic Wide-Leg Trousers in white Irish linen (£245)
• Scott Fraser Collection Gaucho Trousers in off-white linen/cotton (£270): These distinctive wide-legged trousers are less consistent with Peck’s screen-worn attire but took inspiration from the “beach pajamas” commonly seen in the luxurious world of the roaring ’20s Riviera.

How to Get the Look

Top marks for socially distant vacationing, Harry!

Harry Street enjoys his hedonistic ennui in style, floating out in his light, louche, and simple “summer whites” with a rakish pop of color via a polka-dotted burgundy scarf around his waist and—say it ain’t so!—the daring and much-aligned footwear combination of socks and sandals.

• Ivory linen short-sleeved camp shirt with wide-pointed loop collar, plain front, and breast pocket
• Cream gabardine double reverse-pleated trousers with buckle-tab side adjusters, straight side pockets, button-through back pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• Burgundy polka dot silk waist sash
• Tan leather sandals with instep and ankle straps
• Taupe ribbed socks

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie and Hemingway’s original short story. The film’s years in the public domain led to an abundance of low-quality prints available on home media and streaming, but the way I enjoyed the stunning Oscar-nominated art direction and Technicolor cinematography was watching the restored version as available on The Ernest Hemingway Classics Collection DVD box set offered by 20th Century Fox, the very set sourced for the screenshots in this post.

The Quote

You’ve got a few other things at home I’d like to call my own.

Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee in A Summer Place (1959)

Vitals

Troy Donahue as Johnny Hunter, college student and “silly sentimentalist”

New England, Spring 1959

Film: A Summer Place
Release Date: November 18, 1959
Director: Delmer Daves
Costume Designer: Howard Shoup

Background

Sixty years after shaking up more genteel audiences with its frank but ultimately tame depictions of adultery and sexuality, A Summer Place may be most widely remembered for its serene theme song. Originally written by Max Steiner, it was Percy Faith’s arrangement of “Theme from A Summer Place” that transformed the instrumental ballad into a #1 hit that took the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for a record-breaking nine consecutive weeks in early 1960.

(Faith later tried to replicate his success with a questionable disco version that I’m sure no one had been asking for, “Summer Place ’76”.)

Adapted from Sloane Wilson’s novel published the previous year, A Summer Place tells the story of two generations of lovers brought together on an island inn off the coast of Maine. Ken Jorgensen (Richard Egan) and Sylvia Hunter (Dorothy McGuire), reunited after 20 years, are forced to face their own reignited feelings for each other as well as the passionate romance growing between his daughter Molly (Sandra Dee) and her son Johnny (Troy Donahue). Somehow, the scandalous affairs manage to garner front-page stories in all the region’s major newspapers from Boston to Buffalo, alienating the children from their parents and bringing them closer together until the good-natured Ken and Sylvia—now married to each other—invite Molly and Johnny to spend spring break at their new beach house.

“Frank Lloyd Wright designed our house,” the typically modest Sylvia proudly shares when Molly arrives. Indeed, the exteriors were filmed at the picturesque Clinton Walker House that Wright designed in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, though the film places it within reasonable driving distance of Maine, so it’s likely meant to be somewhere in New England.

Sandra Dee, Troy Donahue, and a Lacoste-clad Richard Egan at the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Clinton Walker House during production of A Summer Place.

Johnny and Molly are reunited on the beach, and Steiner’s familiar theme kicks in as the two declare their love for each other in a secluded cove she had already scouted, though the guilt she feels after a trio of boys tease them has her questioning his motives.

Molly: Are you bad, Johnny? Have you been bad with girls?
Johnny: No… I just don’t know exactly what that word “good” means.

What’d He Wear?

The scenes of Johnny and Molly on the beach take up only a few minutes of screen time, though they seem to make up the bulk of imagery used to promote the film as the sight of Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee in their swimsuits and respective cover-ups neatly align with the title A Summer Place… despite the scene in question actually being set during the two teens’ spring break.

To borrow the parlance of the era, it may sound square of Johnny to be wearing a cardigan for his date on the beach, though a glance at the once and future Merle Johnson in his open tennis sweater and short-inseam trunks assures the viewer that this won’t be Fred MacMurray settling in for cookies with his three sons.

Molly and Johnny are reunited on the beach for the first time in several months.

With its navy, white, and crimson red striping around the neck and down the placket on each side of the opening, Johnny’s soft ivory cable-knit cashmere cardigan echoes the traditional tennis sweater (or cricket sweater, as it would be known if Johnny had opted to spend his spring holiday across the pond.) The traditional tennis or cricket sweaters are long-sleeved V-neck pullover jumpers, but cardigans like Johnny’s aren’t uncommon and continue to be made today such as these reimaginings by Brooks Brothers and Todd Snyder.

I’ve put some thought into why Johnny was dressed in this manner so far from the tennis courts and landed on two theories:

1. Johnny’s parents, specifically his more socially conscious father, purchased the garment in the hopes of projecting his ambitions of upward mobility onto his son and present him as the kind of young man who spends his leisure time playing tennis… despite Johnny barely having enough money for a long-distance phone call.
2. The film sides with the younger, more progressive generation but likely recognized that Johnny and Molly may not be instantly sympathetic to older or more conservative audiences, so they coded the young couple as “wholesome” or “all-American” by draping Johnny in a patriotic red, white, and blue for what might be an otherwise scandalous afternoon in the sand. (Though Molly’s terry cloth cover-up is yellow, her red and white-striped bathing suit under it adds credence to this theory.)

With a name like Johnny Hunter, would he even consider wearing anything but red, white, and blue?

The cardigan’s loose cable knitting and softness of what appears to be a cashmere wool construction would have made it quite comfortable on what appears to be a sunny yet breezy day on the beach. The cardigan has six flat mother-of-pearl buttons up the front, initially worn open to showcase the round gold pendant Donahue wears on a thin necklace, though he buttons it up as the day gets later and chillier. The only pocket is a set-in pocket over the left breast, and the waist hem is widely ribbed.

Johnny wears white swim trunks with a short inseam, likely no more than two or three inches, as well as a higher rise up to Donahue’s natural waist, where it closes through an extended waistband with a stacked two-button closure on the right side of the waist. Though a brighter, stark white in color, the trunks echo the sweater with its red, white, and blue stripe tape down the outside of each leg, always with the crimson red stripe toward the front and navy toward the back.

The pleasant crashing of the waves could be ominous as they provide the backdrop for Johnny and Molly plotting their scheme for escaping forced family fun time to share what would be an amorous date night.

Consistent with prevailing styles during the era (as modeled by Sean Connery on the set of Woman of Straw), the sole pocket on these short trunks is a set-in pocket just below the right side of the waistband, closing through a small, rounded single-button flap. Embroidered on the left thigh is the circular logo of an aquatic flamingo, though I can’t identify the brand solely from this; all I can ascertain is that it’s clearly not the famous Jantzen diving girl.

Several modern swimwear outfitters specialize in retro-minded trunks, such as Dandy Del Mar, Retromarine, and Orlebar Brown whose 4.5″-inseam Setter (white with “Bahama blue” side striping) and 6″-inseam Bulldog (white with “rescue red” side striping) are fine updates to Donahue’s look. If OB’s $275 price tag is a little steep, you could sacrifice color-correctness and pick up these double-digit priced A|X Armani Exchange or Hugo Boss trunks, though both are arguably more modern in their approach and execution. Tori Richard also offers red, white, and blue ’60s-inspired trunks with side striping, albeit only in red and navy blue as of July 2020 (via Amazon or Tori Richard.)

Johnny had also worn this cardigan much earlier in A Summer Place, sported open with the tennis-friendly outfit of a lightweight cotton two-button polo shirt and beige flat front slacks when the Jorgensen family first arrived at Pine Island together the previous summer.

Johnny waits with his parents for the Jorgensen family to come ashore at Pine Island.

Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee in A Summer Place (1959)

How to Get the Look

Clad in his red, white, and blue, Troy Donahue looked like the ’50s archetype of the “all-American boy” when reuniting with Sandra Dee on the beach in A Summer Place.

• Ivory cable-knit cashmere tennis/cricket cardigan with navy, white, and crimson-striped placket, six pearlesque sew-through buttons, and set-in breast pocket
• White short-inseam swim trunks with navy, white, and crimson side striping, double-button waistband closure, and right-side pocket (with button-down flap)
• Gold thin necklace with gold pendant

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

I’m just angry at myself for wanting you so much.

Andy Samberg as Nyles in Palm Springs (2020)

Vitals

Andy Samberg as Nyles, aka “Misty’s boyfriend”, time-looped slacker focused only on “the next bite”

Palm Springs, California, November 2019

Film: Palm Springs
Release Date: July 10, 2020
Director: Max Barbakow
Costume Designer: Colin Wilkes

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

This is today, today is yesterday, and tomorrow is also today… it’s one of those infinite time loop situations you might’ve heard about.

Shorthand descriptions of Palm Springs have summed up the movie as “Groundhog Day for millennials,” though I was pleasantly surprised by the poignancy and philosophical complexity of this incredibly entertaining movie… particularly in the context of the much-publicized fact that the Lonely Island tacked on a nice 69 cents to the record-setting $17.5 million sale price to Neon and Hulu after its premiere at Sundance in January 2020.

The action is set two months earlier—November 9, 2019, to be exact—when we meet the listless and laidback Nyles (Andy Samberg) on the day of a friend’s wedding in Palm Springs. Unlike Groundhog Dog, we’re already well in the middle of Nyles’ time-looping life and our hero is all too aware of it, having determined that nothing matters until he accidentally brings self-destructive bridesmaid Sarah (Cristin Milioti) into the time loop, a major point of divergence from its spiritual predecessor as Bill Murray had never pulled Andie MacDowell into his repetitive days.

“Groundhog Day is rightfully regarded as the foundation, but new life has been breathed into this narrative scenario with recent stories dealing with grief, trauma, and love,” wrote Emma Fraser for SyFy Wire, recalling similarly themed releases from across the last year including Natasha Lyonne’s excellently existential Russian Doll on Netflix.

Many, including The Verge‘s Joshua Rivera, have been quick to point out the eerie relevance of Palm Springs‘ release in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, a time of seemingly redundant days under lockdown with no realistic end in sight. Not surprisingly, Palm Springs quickly broke Hulu’s streaming records during its opening weekend in mid-July 2020.

“We’re all tired,” wrote Rivera. “Every day runs together, an endless tangle of hours and screens and occasional bursts of daylight to recharge. Old routines take on new wrinkles: meetings via webcam, masks to maintain and wear before outings, communal activities retrofitted to be done in isolation. Maybe we’re not in a literal time loop, but it sure feels like one; a long, endless stretch of days where little changes and we’re burned out all the time. Enter Palm Springs, a movie for 2020’s burnout state of mind.”

Even without a world struggling to pull itself together from the rubble of life under COVID-19, Palm Springs would have been particularly resonant for the increasing ennui I’ve observed expressed by my peers (I’m 31, for the record), a “unique generational malaise” as Rivera calls it that has been reinforced by frequent studies of modern depression and anxiety as reported by The Atlantic (here and here), Business Insider, Psychology Today, and Vogue, among scores of other sources. Of course, every generation has had its struggles, but there seems to be a unique knack for millennials to publicly—and often performatively—come to terms with their mental health issues, resulting in a collective de-stigmatization if not overall celebration. (Again, to provide empirical evidence, I have a frequently worn T-shirt that announces “I’m Depressed” in the Seinfeld font.)

“Palm Springs was conceived and filmed in a pre-pandemic world, but the allure of nihilism was already strong in an existence where many of the pretenses of equity or civic duty had been dispensed,” contextualizes Rivera. “The pull to withdraw and go numb was already strong; now it’s overwhelming. The cost of sticking your neck out is high, and the rewards are slim. What point is there in pushing forward and finding the way to break a cycle bigger than us? Or, more importantly, examining the ways we’ve helped hasten the rot? … What elevates Palm Springs from clever dark comedy to poignant story is in the clarity of its moral vision, the belief that it’s worth it to hold on to some kind of decency even if literally nothing in the world matters.”

Isolation.

Without knowing what writer Andy Siara had in mind when penning his debut screenplay, the finished product (also Max Barbakow’s directorial debut) struck me as a surprisingly profound allegory for mental health struggles. Consider the exposition: our protagonist is already locked into an undesirable and overwhelming desperate situation beyond his control, living an existence that he has accepted as ultimately meaningless:

I don’t know what it is; it could be life, it could be death, might be a dream, I might be imagining you, you might be imagining me, it could be purgatory or a glitch in the simulation that we’re both in, I don’t know, so… I decided a while ago to sort of give up and stop trying to make sense of things altogether because the only way to really live in this is to embrace the fact that nothing matters.

Those suffering from depression can likely relate to this type of surrender, and much of the messaging from Nyles, Sarah, and Roy (J.K. Simmons) while stuck in the loop overlaps with depressive emotions: “nothing matters,” “the pain is real”, and “I’m getting out of this thing”, in addition to the faintly hopeful “I should hope it isn’t all meaningless” and Roy’s simple point that could be the movie’s entire thesis: “nothin’ worse than goin’ through this shit alone.” Of course, all apply on the surface to the conditions of the time loop, though audiences with mental health issues can recognize the coded language, feelings, and moments like Roy’s daughter commenting that Nyles “looks sad,” only for this astute observation to be quickly dismissed: “Oh, he’s okay.”

Like many depressives, Nyles is quick to attempt self-destruction as a way out of his undesirable predicament, though Palm Springs neatly and healthily addresses the futility of suicide as it merely reverts Nyles back to where he was without solving any problems… a conclusion that he could have learned from Bill Murray’s Phil Conners. Once she has realized this as well, Sarah is quicker to take a gamble on a more calculated solution, and her well-researched plan reminded me of therapy; there’s no guarantee that it will “work”, but it’s worth putting in the effort to try to work your way out of this desperate hole.

Sarah’s assertive drive to leave reveals Nyles’ realization of his own co-dependency issues, as he’s become dependent on her companionship, Roy’s increasingly brutal assassination attempts, and the ironic comfort of the repetitive time loop itself that has become his own sweet hereafter. To some viewers, this could be frustration: shouldn’t Nyles leap at any opportunity to save himself from this? Unfortunately, some depressives like yours truly may recognize the Stockholm syndrome-like grip that the time loop has on Nyles; he’s grown complacent—if not comfortable and content—living with that which causes him to suffer.

Sarah: Holy shit. Are you scared to leave?
Nyles: What? No, not at all! I just don’t want to leave; there’s a difference.

Of course, Nyles wants to leave in theory, but he’s mentally and emotionally trapped by his endless days where there’s little to rely on other than knowing part of him doesn’t want to be in this predicament anymore. (Though one could make an argument for not wanting to leave a life free of responsibility and full of burritos and beer.)

Much as Nyles promises a life “less mundane” for Sarah, the movie’s colorful cinematography and excellent music keep it to a quick and efficient 90 minutes rather than the seven-odd years Nyles spends reliving it (as calculated by Marshall Shaffer for Decider.) One standout track that I’ve added to my summer playlist has been “Ulu Palakua” from Iwalani Kahalewai’s 1972 album An Hawaiian Happening, the ideal aloha anthem to get us talking about Nyles’ tropical garb.

What’d He Wear?

“Why is he dressed for a luau?” we overhear a wedding guest ask as Nyles takes the microphone. As we learn, Nyles had once put forth the sartorial effort for his role as a wedding guest in full suit and tie, though imprisonment in his time warp has shifted our protagonist’s priorities so that dressing appropriately for an acquaintance’s wedding has ended up reasonably low on the list. In turn, he’s styled himself as the ultimate man of leisure, clad in aloha shirt, swim trunks, sneakers, and ubiquitous wooden-framed sunglasses… consistent with his self-described mission to “try to live my life at this point with as little effort as possible.”

“There was the goal to make him look like the quintessential man of leisure,” costume designer Colin Wilkes explained to Men’s Journal of Nyles’ tropical-driven style.

I’ve discussed ad nauseam my delight that the late 2010s are seeing a resurgence of the aloha shirt with many brands offering tropical-printed tops for men. While many aloha shirts I’ve explored were worn in seminal aloha shirt productions like Blue Hawaii, From Here to Eternity, and Magnum, P.I., this costume from Palm Springs may be one of the first prominent examples discussed from the current aloha revival.

Informed by the screenplay’s direction that Nyles spent much of his days in a Hawaiian shirt and swim trunks, costume designer Colin Wilkes explained to Charles Thorp at Men’s Journal that her homework started with “looking at a lot of old Martin Parr photography and just general images of ‘cool dads’ for reference.”

“We really wanted to make something iconic—that wouldn’t be dated quickly—but still felt natural and real and would work really well in contrasting him against this arid, desolate landscape,” Wilkes further shared with Fawnia Soo Hoo for Fashionista, elaborating that more than 80 shirt options were considered before she landed on the Polo Ralph Lauren shirt that Andy Samberg would end up wearing in the movie. As the bright red shirt was from Ralph Lauren’s 2018 collection, Wilkes was able to purchase 15 multiples of the same shirt, though this was eventually limited to the six with the least deviations in print for the sake of continuity.

Nyles braces for a quick death when he realizes Sarah, the newcomer to the time loop, is going to attempt an automotive suicide to break out of it. “There’s nothing worse than slowly dying in the ICU,” he frequently comments, another eerily prescient observation for a movie that would be released during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yang-Yi Goh had kicked off a breakdown for GQ of “18 effortless, eccentric button-ups to live in” last year with this shirt at the top of the list. Constructed of lightweight viscose, the bright red shirt is covered with a retro-inspired all-over print in white, yellow, mint green, and black, detailed with tropical scenes like palm trees, pineapples, surfer girls, volcanoes, and the occasional “Aloha” stenciling.

The short-sleeved shirt has a brief vent on each sleeve, and the flat camp collar has a loop to ostensibly close the shirt at the neck via smaller button under the right collar leaf, a carry-over from classic mid-century sport shirts. In addition to the matching breast pocket, the shirt has a matching lower pocket on each hip, no doubt an asset to a guy like Nyles who is always looking for easy ways to lug around more cans of his favorite beer.

“The crimson red was a perfect contrast to the stark desert landscape and his mustard yellow shorts,” Wilkes told Men’s Journal, as illustrated when Nyles jokes to Sarah that he’s the antichrist.

“I had mustard yellow in my head as soon as I read about the swim trunks in the script,” Wilkes told Men’s Journal, and she followed through on this vision by dressing Nyles in a pair of yellow trunks from ASOS Design made of 100% recycled polyester. Now unavailable (as of July 2020), these ASOS trunks had last been an affordable $13.50 when in stock on the brand’s website.

The solid shorts were a smart choice as this single color provides a relatively grounding balance while its vibrancy harmonizes with the shirt (and echoes the yellow in its print), keeping Nyles’ outfit appropriately flashy without being clashy. The mid-length shorts appear to have a 7″ inseam, ending just above the knee, and are tightened at the waist via black drawstring. They have side pockets and a squared patch pocket on the back left side where, of course, Nyles tends to keep an extra beer.

Nyles’ dirty Adidas sneakers are most likely the Adidas Continental 80 in the white, yellow, and black colorway (G28995) with smooth white leather uppers detailed with yellow and black webbed stripes along the side, yellow outsoles, and yellow soft French terry lining, neatly tying into those yellow shorts and the yellow throughout his shirt.

You can read more about these retro, ’80s-inspired athletic shoes at Adidas (or find a pair with this specific colorway at Nike Shoes Zone, GOAT, or Amazon.)

Nyles’ ASOS shorts and Adidas shoes get some screen time when he and Sarah run into some roadside mishap.

“You wear underwear… under your bathing suit?” asks a bewildered Sarah the first time they hook up. “Yeah, doesn’t everybody?” responds Nyles.

While the spotted shorts may seem played for laughs, particularly in the context of coitus interruptus and Roy’s well-aimed arrow, Wilkes explained to Fashionista that the pink concentric circles on his pale blue cotton boxer shorts (“vegan donuts,” according to Wilkes) were intentionally chosen to coordinate with the embossed polka dots on Sarah’s J. Crew bralette to communicate “the idea of planting circles of infinity and the metaphor of that.”

Seconds from disaster, Nyles strips down to his open aloha shirt and boxers.

Nyles’ woody sunglasses are another essential item for what Wilkes described as “the quintessential man of leisure,” though prop master Marcy SIlver explained to Men’s Journal that these were originally going to be yellow. After more than three dozen pairs cycled through the mix, she landed on the “surprise hit” of these faux-wooden framed sunglasses with a browline shape like the classic Ray-Ban Clubmaster, though the double hinge pins as opposed to Ray-Ban’s traditional oblong endpieces suggest a different manufacturer.

If you’re looking to crib Nyles’ wood browline shades, shoppers across a range of budgets can pick up a pair from Amazon, starting at the semi-rimless ABLIBI sunglasses up to the Ray-Ban RB3016 “Clubmaster Wood”.

Nyles peers out from behind wooden-framed sunglasses for another day spent with burrito and pool floatie.

Alternately, if Nyles is looking to change up his look, he occasionally grabs a light blue denim baseball cap from a fellow pool player at the dive bar he frequents with Sarah. The look is fitting for Wilkes’ “cool dads” reference point, as many an American millennial could likely find one of these somewhere in the back of Dad’s closet; in fact, The Hat Depot even includes “Dad Hat” in the marketed description of its current issue of plain blue washed denim baseball caps.

Lunch.

While Palm Springs has seen record highs of 102°F in November, the average low is closer to 50°F at night so camping out with Sarah and the famous Cabazon Dinosaurs means Nyles occasionally needs something heavier than an aloha shirt and shorts, to which he turns again to Ralph Lauren, specifically a red quilted “puffer” down jacket with a gray-lined hood and a zip-up front reinforced by a button-up fly.

Nyles and Sarah layer up for an evening in the desert.

For their coordinated dance to Patrick Crowley’s energetic “Megatron Man”, Nyles and Sarah take over the dive in coordinated blue denim trucker jackets over white tank tops with red paisley cotton bandanas tied around their necks.

Note the Cerveza Akupara neon beer sign on the bar’s back wall.

Earlier scenes depict Nyles at Tala and Abe’s wedding in more traditional wedding guest garb: black suit, white shirt, and black tie. The uninspired garb is about as far as one could get from the carefree finery he later adopts.

“I like your hat,” Nyles tells Roy. “Of course you do,” his eventual nemesis wastes no time in responding.

Wake up…

Each morning, Nyles arises wearing the same blue melange short-sleeved T-shirt with white contrast top-stitching on the shoulder seams. When he throws the covers off, he reveals the same boxer shorts that he famously wears under his swim trunks.

Another day in anti-paradise.

While there’s little interesting about a plain blue T-shirt, Palm Springs fans seeking a comfortable top can wink at one of the film’s in-universe products with these T-shirts and bandanas touting the fictional “Orchid Explosion by Fournier” hair mist.

What to Imbibe

Nyles cracks countless cans of Akupara beer, a fictional brand designed by prop master Marcy Silver’s team specifically for Palm Springs as it would likely be next to impossible to get a real brand in Nyles’ and Sarah’s hands for all the driving, swimming, and flying (and subsequently crashing) a commandeered plane.

In an Instagram post from January, Silver shared that nearly 1,000 Akupara cans were made, a colossal amount of work and certainly worthwhile as Nyles tends to go through several six packs per day in the time loop… not to mention the many that Sarah pelts at him in the pool, sending him diving underwater as the cans charge at him through the pool like a slacker’s take on the beginning of Saving Private Ryan.

Nyles enjoys one of many cervezas Akupara.

The only other beer clearly seen on screen is the equally fictional Durstin Pale Ale that Roy serves him during Nyles’ white flag-raising visit to Irvine, where they each raise a bottle to toast to Mai Tais.

“Brewed in Boston, MA,” according to the label, the Durstin must be an in-joke to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, where the exact same label appeared on molotov cocktails within the game… making it all the more entertaining that Roy is offering one to his former sworn enemy.

No wonder Nyles suspiciously sniffs his beer from Roy, especially if he’s a Modern Warfare fan.

“Here are you the drinks you didn’t pick up from the bar,” the bartender deadpans as she drops off two gray-looking cocktails—each garnished with a grapefruit slice and pine.

“Yeah, I always get an extra one,” Nyles explains, “save myself a trip…”

“Or you might just be an alcoholic,” Sarah counters.

“Could be!”

Any mixologists have a clue what Nyles is supposed to be drinking here?

Later, Nyles also mixes himself a morning Margarita as Sarah’s parents debate her whereabouts… though this becomes just straight tequila after Sarah stops seeing him and takes her loops in a different direction.

How to Get the Look

Andy Samberg as Nyles in Palm Springs (2020)

What would you wear if you had to dress in the same clothing every day until the end of time? Given his general attitude and the warm Palm Springs climate, you can’t fault Nyles for choosing an outfit that embraces a life of leisure and distracts from his new lifetime of ennui.

• Red tropical-printed viscose Ralph Lauren short-sleeved aloha shirt with camp collar, plain front, matching breast pocket, and hip pockets
• Mustard yellow polyester ASOS Design mid-length swim trunks with black drawstring, side pockets, and back-right pocket (with black-grommeted vent)
• Pale blue (with pink concentric circle print) cotton boxer shorts
• Brown faux-wood framed browline sunglasses
• White leather Adidas Continental 80 sneakers with yellow and black side striping (and yellow terry lining)

Though out of stock as of the film’s streaming release in July 2020, this Polo Ralph Lauren aloha shirt is still included in the online catalogs for Ralph Lauren and ASOS.

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie, exclusively streaming on Hulu.

I also recommend reading these great articles about Colin Wilkes’ costume design for Palm Springs:

• Fashionista: “In ‘Palm Springs,’ Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti Repeat the Same Day Over and Over Again in Ralph Lauren, ASOS and & Other Stories” by Fawnia Soo Hoo (7/10/2020)
• Men’s Journal: “How to Get Andy Samberg’s ‘Palm Springs’ Style” by Charles Thorp (7/15/2020)
• SyFy Wire: “Look of the Week: Palm Springs‘ Playful Costume Repeats” by Emma Fraser (7/24/2020)

The Quote

We kind of have no choice but to live, so I think your best bet is just to learn how to suffer existence.

Stephen Graham as “Tony Pro” in The Irishman (2019)

Vitals

Stephen Graham as Anthony “Tony Pro” Provenzano, brash New Jersey mobster

Miami, Summer 1972

Film: The Irishman
Release Date: November 1, 2019
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Design: Sandy Powell & Christopher Peterson

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

“Next time you come in, you come heavy or not at all.”

“Meeting in the middle of the desert always made me nervous. It’s a scary place. I knew about the holes in the desert, of course, and everywhere I looked, there could have been a hole.”

“Don’t ever take sides with anyone against the family again.”

The annals of mob fiction are laden with rules and etiquette surrounding meetings in the world of La Cosa Nostra, and Martin Scorsese’s latest continues that grand tradition in The Irishman when hotheaded capo Anthony “Tony Pro” Provenzano (Stephen Graham) meets with famously outspoken labor official Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino) in Florida. As with most of his opinions, Hoffa has been clear about where he stands on tardiness:

You don’t keep a man waiting. The only time you do is when you want to say something… when you want to say fuck you.

The intent of the meeting was to make peace between the two strong personalities, but Tony Pro already has two strikes against him when he strides into the meeting 15 minutes late and sporting a loudly printed shirt and shorts. Tony Pro makes his case that Hoffa is unfamiliar with the meeting decorum of the Sunshine State, but the damage is done.

On this midsummer #MafiaMonday, let’s take a closer look at one of the more noteworthy depictions of a celluloid gangster dressing for the heat and putting a new spin on what it means to be “fashionably late.”

What’d He Wear?

Tony Pro, from costume to execution. (Design sketch sourced from GQ. Costume photo sourced from Hollywood Movie Costumes and Props.)

“You’re making a point? You makin’ a point dressin’ like that?” asks an offended Hoffa. “This how you dress for a meeting?”

“And this is how you dress in Florida?” counters Tony Pro. “In a suit?”

Well, Tony Pro, there are such things as summer suits, and we should give Hoffa some credit for that rather than suffering through the Florida heat in a heavy charcoal worsted just for the sake of decorum. However, that’s not the point here as Pro seemingly channeled his stubborn Taurus energy into spending Hoffa’s precious time that morning digging into his own closet for the least professional pieces he could find just to inflame the irascible labor leader.

In breaking down what they describe as probably “the most talked-about outfit in the film”, The Irishman‘s Oscar-nominated costume design team of Sandy Powell and Christopher Peterson recalled in a video for Vanity Fair that the only real direction from the original script was that Tony Pro would be wearing shorts.

“We just got about a hundred pairs of shorts, a hundred different shirts, and had a session where we tried on lots of different shorts, lots of different shirts in various combinations,” explained Powell, “and we hit this one fairly early on.”

“He knew the minute he had the right shorts,” Powell explained to GQ of the white lightweight cotton flat front Bermuda shorts that Graham wore when striding into the room. The short, thigh-length inseam offers up plenty of bare leg down to his white patent leather Gucci loafers. These slip-on shoes are detailed with a gold horsebit over each vamp strap, patterned in Gucci’s signature green-and-red Web stripe. The smooth apron-toe differs from the moccasin-style toe of the original Gucci loafer introduced in 1953.

(As of July 2020, the closest applicable shoe in Gucci’s current lineup is the white leather moc-toe driver for $590.)

Pre-meeting niceties.

When Tony Pro sits down, we get a better look at that shirt, patterned in a panel print echoing the mustard and brown hues popular in the early ’70s. The white vertical stripes with their black and rust-on-orange tribal patterns alternate with a wider brown melange strip, bordered on each side by a mustard-shaded series of diamonds and filled in through the center with tropical imagery including pineapples, angelfish, a tiki statue, and flowers.

“We chose the boldest of all of them,” Peterson recalls, and the effect of this decision isn’t lost on the viewer… or Hoffa, who stews as the angelfish on Tony Pro’s panel-print shirt swim through his field of vision. The original shirt worn for most of the scene was a true vintage piece, though Powell and Peterson’s team had to digitally copy its unique print to make the multiples for Graham to wear when Tony Pro’s conflict with Hoffa becomes physical.

This short-sleeved shirt has a wide camp collar, breast pocket, and four cream-colored sew-through buttons up the plain front, though Pro only fastens the bottom two to reveal the yellow gold “figaro”-style chain link necklace hanging low on his chest. The shirt’s straight hem is meant to be worn untucked, though no one has to tell our über-casual Tony Pro twice.

Tony Pro compounds his blatant show of disrespect by not removing his sunglasses when sitting across from Hoffa once the meeting has commenced… no doubt planning, if challenged, to claim that he needed them as the sunlight was shining directly into his eyes through the window behind Hoffa’s head. The style is typical of the era, with oversized tinted lenses in dark tortoise plastic-based teardrop aviator-style frames with a double bar bridge.

In November 2017, Stephen Graham Tweeted “Welcome to the world of Tony Pro…” with what appears to be a photo of his screen-worn sunglasses. Sunglasses like these are still offered from major eyewear brands like Ray-Ban (via Amazon or Ray-Ban) though more affordable frames are also available from SOJOS (Amazon) and zeroUV (Amazon).

No flashy gangster would be completely dressed without his pinky ring, and Tony Pro doesn’t disappoint here either, wearing a gold shiner on his left pinky with a large diamond. He also wears a gold wristwatch with a square black dial set flush on a flat gold bracelet, reminding me of the luxury “bracelet watches” offered by Bueche-Girod during the 1970s (and also worn by Robert De Niro in Casino.) See vintage Bueche-Girod watches at Antiques Atlas, Aspire Auctions, J&P Timepieces, and Parkers Jewelers.

Gold watch and ring flashing from his left hand, Tony Pro enlists Frank’s pragmatism to settle his traffic-related argument with Jimmy.

In a scene where character wardrobes are essential, costume designers Sandy Powell and Christopher Peterson illustrated what made them worthy of an Academy Award nomination with not just the context of Tony Pro’s garish garb and Hoffa’s subtler summer suit but also the others in the room. Much as Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) and Anthony “Tony Jack” Giacalone (Patrick Gallo) serve as neutral mediators looking to find common ground between their respective friends, the two men also bridge the sartorial divide in the room, each clad in checked sport jackets and open-neck shirts that concede to Tony Pro’s point about the laidback Floridian culture while still maintaining a Hoffa-approved level of decorum.

Tony Pro’s costume was so memorable that Hoffa was still talking about it almost a year and a half later, asking a beleaguered Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci): “Who wears shorts to a meeting?” “Nobody,” Russell concedes.

How to Get the Look

Al Pacino and Stephen Graham appeared to have gotten along much better than Jimmy Hoffa and Tony Pro as seen here on the set of The Irishman (2019)
(Source: The Sun)

Tony Pro redefined “fashionably late” with his Florida-friendly tropical-patterned camp shirt, white shorts, and Gucci loafers, so it’s quite understandable why this was “the most talked-about outfit in the film”, both from audiences and fellow characters.

• Brown, mustard, and white tropical-motif panel-print short-sleeved vintage aloha shirt with camp collar, breast pocket, 4-button plain front, and straight waist hem
• White lightweight cotton flat front shorts
• White patent leather apron-toe Gucci loafers with gold horsebit detail and green-and-red striped instep strap
• Dark tortoise oversized acetate aviator sunglasses with double bar bridge and purple tinted lenses
• Yellow gold “figaro”-style chain-link necklace
• Gold pinky ring with large diamond
• Gold “bracelet watch” with flush black square dial on flat gold bracelet

As with many vintage aloha shirts, it would likely be next to impossible to find the exact one Tony Pro wore without replicating it yourself, so I suggest going on a hunt to find your own unique shirt, whether retro or retro-inspired like the “Fancy Feathers” shirt by Straight to Hell Apparel.

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie, currently streaming on Netflix, as well as Charles Brandt’s source book I Heard You Paint Houses.

You can see photos of the screen-worn costumes worn by Graham, Pacino, and De Niro in this scene at Hollywood Movie Costumes and Props, which also includes the costumes Carrie Bufalino (Kathrine Narducci) and Irene Sheeran (Stephanie Kurtzuba) wore during the road trip with their husbands.

The Quote

In my mind, it’s always eight degrees in New York, I’m makin’ a point.

Al Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa in The Irishman (2019)

Vitals

Al Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa, pugnacious and passionate labor official

Miami, Summer 1972

Film: The Irishman
Release Date: November 1, 2019
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Design: Sandy Powell & Christopher Peterson

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

It was on this day in 1975 that James R. Hoffa was last seen outside the Machus Red Fox restaurant in a suburb of Detroit. The outspoken labor leader had spent his decades in and out of power making dangerous enemies from law enforcement and the Mafia to the executive branch and his own union. Martin Scorsese’s latest epic, The Irishman, was released to Netflix last year, adapting Charles Brandt’s I Hear You Paint Houses that purportedly “closed the case” on what happened to Hoffa after he disappeared 45 years ago today.

That afternoon, Hoffa had been planning to meet with Anthony “Tony Jack” Giacalone and Anthony “Tony Pro” Provenzano, two La Cosa Nostra capos, though The Irishman suggests that the animosity that stemmed from a prior meeting between Hoffa and Tony Pro made disaster inevitable for the pugnacious Teamster boss.

Three years earlier, we’re in the back room of an otherwise empty Florida restaurant with Hoffa and his taciturn friend and bodyguard, Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro). Over Hoffa’s soft drinks—Coca-Cola for Frank, and the usual Canada Dry ginger ale for Jimmy—he grumbles about Tony Pro’s lateness:

You don’t keep a man waiting. The only time you do is when you want to say something… when you want to say fuck you.

Frank had been warned from the get-go about Hoffa’s intolerance for tardiness, so he knows it’s in everyone’s best interest to not inflame the situation, but there’s nothing he can do when Tony Pro (Stephen Graham) finally strides into the room with Tony Jack (Patrick Gallo) in tow, 15 minutes late and adding sartorial insult to unpunctual injury with his decision to wear a boldly printed sports shirt, short white shorts, Gucci loafers, and sunglasses.

What’d He Wear?

Pacino’s screen-worn costume. (Photo sourced from Hollywood Movie Costumes and Props.)

“You’re making a point? You makin’ a point dressin’ like that?” asks an offended Hoffa. “This how you dress for a meeting?”

“And this is how you dress in Florida?” counters Tony Pro. “In a suit?”

“For a meetin’? Anywhere! Florida, Timbuctu, I dress in a suit… for a meetin’,” responds Hoffa, adding, “and you’re late.”

While I’m prone to defending the virtue of an aloha shirt, I would have to argue that Hoffa has decorum on his side—summer in Florida or not—and he still dresses for the context and climate, leaving his darker and heavier suitings in the closet while choosing an effective tan summer suit for his summit with Tony Pro.

Costume designer Sandy Powell noted in a video recorded for Vanity Fair that she intentionally dressed Hoffa and Sheeran in “lighter tones, softer colors” as a welcome relief from the “dark, somber-looking suits,” though Hoffa was still making concessions with “more of a casual-looking suit for him.” Now that the timeline had shifted into the ’70s, costume designer Christopher Peterson indicated that polyester suitings were more commonplace and this suit with its subtle sheen seems to be no exception, though polyester doesn’t breathe as well as natural fibers, making it a less than ideal suiting for a warm climate (which may further explain Hoffa’s irritability!)

Hoffa was considerably less interested in fashion than the mobbed-up characters of The Irishman, so his suits were designed to resemble what he would’ve purchased off the peg at a local menswear outfitter, perhaps altered here or there but ultimately not tailored to fit. With its single-breasted, two-button jacket and traditional styling, Hoffa isn’t looking to break any sartorial ground, he merely wants to wear what he feels a given situation calls for with minimal discomfort.

Jimmy and Frank debrief during the ride home after the meeting takes a sour turn. While Frank’s plaid sports coat and open-neck shirt may not align with the Mandated Jimmy Hoffa Meeting Dress Code, the Irishman likely gets a pass as his garb shares considerably more in common with traditional businesswear than Tony Pro’s printed shirt and shorts.

Hoffa’s suit jacket reflects its era with the broad, pick-stitched notch lapels that cover plenty of real estate between the jacket’s front openings and the shoulders, built up for an appropriately intimidating appearance with padding and roped sleeveheads. Each sleeve is finished with three-button cuffs. The wide-flapped hip pockets and long double vents are also typical of the early ’70s, and—consistent with this non-fussy dresser—he doesn’t wear a pocket square in the jacket’s welted breast pocket.

Hoffa’s large-collared shirt and wide tie are also consistent with the fashions of the decade. The white cotton shirt was likely made by Geneva Custom Shirts, the New York-based shirtmaker who crafted many of the shirts for The Irishman‘s leading and supporting actors as well as shirts that Al Pacino wears in real life. In addition to the large spread collar, the shirt has a front placket, breast pocket, and double (French) cuffs.

The wide tie, which likely extends to four inches wide, is grounded with a hairline-width ribbing in beige, tan, and black and cross-striped with balanced “uphill” orange-and-yellow stripes. Hoffa wears it tied in a thick Windsor knot that covers much of the tie space between the shirt’s collar leaves.

Dressed in similar color schemes but opposing ends of the formality spectrum, Hoffa eyes the too-casual Tony Pro with nothing less than contempt.

Pleats were out of fashion by the early ’70s, so Hoffa’s suit trousers are flat front with belt loops and gently flared bottoms. He wears a black belt to match his shoe leather; a sartorial guideline that basic was made for simple dressers like Hoffa.

Before I get too ahead of myself in defending Hoffa’s suit against Tony Pro’s garish garb, I should point out that Hoffa would have done himself a service to swap out his usual and unstylish white socks or even just a slightly more colorful warm shade of beige or tan hosiery… but, of course, he doesn’t even yield here to what would have been a simple style upgrade for the sake of his personal convenience and preference. He wears black horsebit loafers, potentially the same moc-toe Florsheim shoes with gold bit detailing that he wore for the scene depicting his famous disappearance.

Frank and Jimmy wait.

Unlike Tony Pro, who wears his sunglasses throughout the scene, Hoffa keeps his tinted shades of the table. The black browline-framed sunglasses, popularized in the early ’60s by models like the Ray-Ban Clubmaster and Shuron Ronsir, would have been about a decade out of date by the time this scene was set, though it makes sense that Hoffa didn’t prioritize picking up a pair of more fashionable shades after spending four years in prison.

An accurate wristwatch is essential for a punctilious timekeeper like Jimmy Hoffa, so we can assume he takes care of his gold-toned watch, bedecked proudly with a Teamsters logo on the gold dial and strapped to his left wrist by a black leather band. My friend Aldous Choi has suggested that Hoffa’s watch is almost certainly a custom presentation watch from the period not unlike those manufactured independently by Hamilton’s awards department. If Hoffa is wearing a Hamilton, Aldous further deduced from researching Hamilton Chronicles that we’re likely seeing either a 1972 Dateline A-593 or a 1973 Auto Date Buccaneer.

Hoffa’s only other visible accessory or piece of jewelry is a thick gold pinky ring on his left hand.

How to Get the Look

Al Pacino and Stephen Graham appeared to have gotten along much better than Jimmy Hoffa and Tony Pro as seen here on the set of The Irishman (2019)
(Source: The Sun)

Jimmy Hoffa may get some ribbing from the colorfully costumed Tony Pro for wearing a suit in Florida, but you have to applaud Hoffa for knowing to leave his blues and grays at home up north and sports a summery tan with his businesslike white shirt and striped tie.

• Tan polyester suit:
  • Single-breasted 2-button suit jacket with wide, pick-stitched notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and long double vents
  • Flat front suit trousers with belt loops and gently flared bottoms
• White cotton shirt with large spread collar, front placket, breast pocket, and double/French cuffs
• Gold-on-beige/tan/black ribbed “uphill”-striped tie
• Black leather belt
• Black leather moc-toe horsebit loafers
• White socks
• Gold pinky ring
• Gold custom Hamilton presentation watch with round tan dial (with Teamsters logo) on black leather strap

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie, currently streaming on Netflix, as well as Charles Brandt’s source book I Heard You Paint Houses.

You can see photos of the screen-worn costumes worn by Graham, Pacino, and De Niro in this scene at Hollywood Movie Costumes and Props, which also includes the costumes Carrie Bufalino (Kathrine Narducci) and Irene Sheeran (Stephanie Kurtzuba) wore during the road trip with their husbands.

Jay R. Ferguson as Stan Rizzo on Mad Men (Episode 6.04: “To Have and To Hold”)

Vitals

Jay R. Ferguson as Stan Rizzo, maverick advertising agency art director

New York City, Summer 1965 through Spring 1968

Series: Mad Men
Episodes:
– “Chinese Wall” (Episode 4.11), dir. Phil Abraham, aired 10/3/2010
– “A Little Kiss, Part 1” (Episode 5.01), dir. Jennifer Getzinger, aired 3/25/2012
– “Mystery Date” (Episode 5.04), dir. Matt Shakman, aired 4/8/2012
– “Far Away Places” (Episode 5.06), dir. Scott Hornbacher, aired 4/22/2012
– “Lady Lazarus” (Episode 5.08), dir. Phil Abraham, aired 5/6/2012
– “The Phantom” (Episode 5.13), dir. Matthew Weiner, aired 6/10/2012
– “To Have and to Hold” (Episode 6.04), dir. Michael Uppendahl, aired 4/21/2013
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Anyone who has been a regular BAMF Style reader or Instagram follower knows that I have a fascination with these random observances—particularly those food-related ones—that dot the calendar, typically of unconfirmed origins but celebrating everything from root beer floats (August 6) to ranch dressing (March 10, as I once commemorated with Gene Hackman’s ranch suit in Prime Cut.)

Thus, you’ve probably already deduced—with an audible groan, no doubt—that today is National Mustard Day, commemorated the first Saturday in August. During my latest Mad Men rewatch, I was increasingly impressed with the character of Stan Rizzo, who brought a swaggering yin to the debonair yang of the sadly dismissed Sal Romano (Bryan Batt), Sterling Cooper’s previous art director and a sophisticated dresser who will receive his own much-deserved BAMF Style coverage soon.

When Stan was first hired by Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce midway through the show’s fourth season, I recall being initially annoyed by the character’s boastful, frat-tastic energy, particularly as I was still mourning Sal’s departure. Over the series, we watch Stan evolve into a more self-assured artist and professional, who abandons much of his early posturing to embrace his own leonine brand balancing unapologetic confidence with nonchalance and sincerity, aided by Jay R. Ferguson’s charismatic performance that layers more warmth onto the character as time goes on.

What’d He Wear?

Stan’s preference for yellow plaid sport jackets is established during his debut season, first seen in “Chinese Wall” (Episode 4.11) when he makes a clumsy pass at Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss) during what he believes to be the agency’s “last days of Rome.” It’s a good color for Stan, appropriately evocative of hot dog condiments given his celebrated work on the Heinz account while also signifying his more forward-thinking approach; while the debonair Sal Romano was rooted in the dapper style of the 1950s, Stan dresses more in anticipation of the colors and casual attitudes of the following decade, comfortably decked out in the autumnal shades and open collars of the ’70s.

While more of a lemon yellow than a rich mustard, this first sports coat has a tan shadow plaid that could argue a resemblance to brown mustard, further accented with a teal windowpane overcheck that coordinates with his fondness for bright blue knitwear. This jacket has narrow notch lapels with sporty welted “swelled edges”, rolling to a two-button front, as well as a welted breast pocket, gently slanted flapped pockets on the hips, spaced two-button cuffs, double vents, and roped sleeveheads.

While he dons his jacket and she applies lipstick to prep for a meeting in “Chinese Wall” (Episode 4.11), Stan allows himself a moment of pettiness at Peggy’s expense.

The jacket is prominently introduced in “Chinese Wall” when he puts it on over his go-to azure blue knitted short-sleeved polo shirt with the long, four-button placket and thin sky blue horizontal stripes.

Stan also wears his favorite khaki slacks from the fourth season, a pair of flat front trousers styled with the usual on-seam side pockets and jetted back pockets with plain-hemmed bottoms. His shoes are black leather moc-toe loafers with a side-buckle strap, worn with black socks.

A sleazier Stan than we recognize from later seasons tries to teach Peggy a relaxation “technique” he reportedly learned from a yogi.

We see Stan’s yellow plaid jacket again at the start of the fifth season in “A Little Kiss, Part 1” (Episode 5.01) when he and Peggy present their famous “bean ballet” to the Heinz executives, worn again with the azure striped short-sleeved polo though with perhaps dressier charcoal flannel flat front trousers. (It’s also in this episode that we get a look at the tag of Stan’s shirt, though it’s hard to discern any more than what appears to be an “M.S.” at the start of the tag.)

Stan and Peggy’s presentation celebrating “the art of supper” falls flat.

“Mystery Date” (Episode 5.04) presents us with Stan at his dressiest, clad not only in a sport jacket and trousers but with a light-colored dress shirt and Draper-esque striped tie to boot! At first glance, you may think he’s called back into service his old reliable yellow plaid jacket but a closer look reveals a richer-toned sports coat, grounded in a more golden-hued mustard yellow than the previous jacket and patterned with a rakishly slubbed varieted self-check that contrasts just enough against the napped cloth. (For all intents and purposes, we’ll call this jacket #2!)

In addition to the different color and pattern, “jacket #2” also varies in its cut and style from its predecessor with narrow “half-clover” notch lapels sans edge swelling, single-button front and single-button cuffs all in a golden amber plastic, and jetted slanted hip pockets that lack flaps. Like the other jacket, this mustard sports coat has a welted breast pocket and double vents.

Their tie stripes may follow the same direction, but SCDP creative chiefs Don and Stan each have otherwise considerably divergent approaches to dressing for the office.

It was this jacket and tie shaking up Stan’s thus-established casual aesthetic that put GQ contributor Andrew Richdale in touch with Mad Men costume designer Janie Bryant to discuss what she called “a totally new side of him,” the result of a discussion with Matthew Weiner to reflect a somewhat matured Stan recognizing the importance of their meeting with Butler Footwear. “Matt actually had the great idea of having him take the sports coat off during the meeting,” Bryant explained. “He put it on the back of the chair and then put it back on as he was walking out. I loved that. It highlighted his casual sensibility.”

While he’s willing to adhere to the mandated coat and tie for his meeting, sporting striped neckwear in—what else—mustard, Stan’s casual sensibility prevents him from tying one on (a tie that is) around the office, clad in his shirt sleeves and open neck when consulting with fellow newcomer Michael Ginsberg (Ben Feldstein) for a pre-pitch conference in Draper’s office. With a wrinkle that suggests it isn’t as well-cared for as his colorful array of knitwear, Stan’s button-up dress shirt is a pale mint green with spread collar, plain front, button cuffs, and breast pocket for his Chesterfields.

We also see more of Stan’s high-rise trousers, a pair of then-fashionable chocolate brown slacks with a beltless band fitted around his waist with only a single button external closure and “frogmouth”-style front pockets, another burgeoning menswear detail that would become increasingly popular throughout the ’60s and into the ’70s.

The characteristically chaotically dressed Ginsberg illustrates how wearing a tie doesn’t necessarily make a man look more fashionable or formal, as Stan arguably looks more stylish in his simple open-neck shirt and brown trousers.

In “Far Away Places” (Episode 5.06), Stan arrives at the office wearing a tan gabardine windbreaker over his solid royal blue knit polo, though he swaps it out for the previously seen yellow plaid sport jacket (“jacket #1”, if you will) when he and Peggy unsuccessfully rehearse their new Heinz Baked Beans presentation for Don. By this point, we see that Stan tends to keep this jacket slung over the back of his chair in the office, always at the ready should the need to be dressier arise.

The blue shirt has a large collar that extends almost the full length of the short three-button placket. A set-in breast pocket closes with a single button through the welted top, and the short set-in sleeves are banded above the elbows. Stan again wears charcoal trousers, and his brown leather ankle-high motorcycle boots are prominent seen as a disappointed Peggy breaks down their presentation materials.

“Far Away Places” (Episode 5.06)

“Lady Lazarus” (Episode 5.08) provides a swan song for jacket #1, which looks considerably greener against the beige knitwear sported under it; indeed, Janie Bryant had described this garment to GQ as “a bright acid green and yellow plaid sports coat” and those tones have considerably more room to pop agains this neutral ground.

This retro shirt, which would be briefly worn again in the following episode “Dark Shadows” (Episode 5.09), has a tonal grid-textured body and a double olive-striped piping that follows the edges of the wide collar, the long four-button placket, the top of the set-in breast pocket, and the bands around the cuffs and hem.

While I love the retro shirt, “Lady Lazarus” (Episode 5.08) may feature my least favorite pairing with one of Stan’s yellow plaid sport jackets.

When teaming up with Ginzo for the Topaz presentation in “The Phantom” (Episode 5.13), Stan is down to just one yellow plaid sports coat… jacket #2 was our winner! He wears it here again with chocolate brown trousers and one of his favorite shirts, a burgundy quarter-zip long-sleeved pullover seen frequently across the back half of the fifth season.

Not seen under the jacket, this shirt has a large, white-piped collar and a button-adorned breast pocket also detailed with white stitching. (If it is the same shirt, the long black rectangular-framed zip pull seen in other episodes has evidently been removed.) As with most of his polo shirts across the fourth and fifth seasons, Stan makes the somewhat regrettable decision of wearing a white cotton undershirt with a high crew-neck that tends to be visible above the open necks of his polo shirts.

Another day, another presentation… this time for Topaz Hosiery Mills in “The Phantom” (Episode 5.13).

By the sixth season, we’re seeing more mustard in other men’s wardrobes (and even many of the women), particularly among the more forward-thinking characters like Ted Chaough (Kevin Rahm) and Harry Crane (Rich Sommer), though Don continues to incorporate the color into his ties. The trail-blazing Stan, however, seems to have already moved on, having adopted a more earthy, sage-green tone to accompany the beard he spent most of 1967 cultivating before he ultimately settles into the hippie-artist aesthetic of beads, bush jackets, corduroy, denim, snaps shirts, and scarves for the series’ final season set across 1969 and 1970.

Stan oversees this handoff of his signature color in “To Have and To Hold” (Episode 6.04), which began with Don and Pete’s covert meeting to get their agency’s foot in the door to take over the prized Heinz ketchup account. Given Stan’s experience with their beans division, he’s enlisted to secretly develop the art for SCDP’s pitch. On the day of the presentation, Stan joins his suited colleagues by taking one of his mustard plaid sport jackets—jacket #2—for one last spin, worn with a tonally coordinated yellow shirt, brown trousers, and striped tie, the burgundy “uphill” stripes alongside the yellow and green perhaps to evoke Heinz’s prized mustard that is tragically under-represented in the ads themselves.

As Stan commiserates over a Budweiser in “To Have and To Hold” (Episode 6.04), we get a look at that textured slubbing on jacket #2.

Stan is proud of his artwork’s minimalist approach—even if he isn’t given the space to utter more than half a sentence during the meeting—until the group greets Peggy and Ted from CGC just outside the door. “It’s a bake-off?” he realizes. “Since when?”

After Peggy and Ted steal the grand prize, a double victory for SCDP’s rival as their infuriated client from the beans division pulls his account, Stan’s mustard jacket gets one final moment to shine as he heads to the can to conduct one more bean ballet.

Ted nurses his Old Spanish, oblivious to Stan “greeting” Peggy on his way to the can.

Throughout the many shades of mustard and increasing pilosity from the fourth through sixth seasons, Stan maintains the same timekeeping device, a steel watch with an oceanic blue gradient dial on a steel bracelet, until this would be replaced by the seventh season. A Reddit user suggested Rado or Seiko as possible manufacturers, though I’ve never seen any confirmed or positive identification of Stan’s wristwatch.

Stan’s aquatic watch dial echoes his favorite shirt color in “A Little Kiss, Part 1” (Episode 5.01).

If you dig Stan’s style and want to read more about it comprehensively, check out this great guide by the blogger of 24 Pinfold Street. You can also read Janie Bryant’s full interview with Andrew Richdale at GQ about Stan’s preference for mustard here.

Of Special Mention…

Never worn with either of his mustard plaid sport jackets, Stan illustrates his loyalty to the color with a few golden-hued knit shirts as well.

The first appears in “The Beautiful Girls” (Episode 4.09) when Peggy’s new pal Joyce Ramsey (Zosia Memet) visits the office to invite her out for drinks that night at P.J. Clarke’s. Misreading the situation, Stan amuses himself by riffing on Petula Clark’s “Downtown” to hint at Joyce’s unveiled sexuality. The short-sleeved polo has a three-button placket and a trio of gradient block stripes on each side, running up from the banded hem to the seam of each raglan sleeve. The collar is fastened through a single button in the back.

Joyce calls Stan’s bluff. He should have just minded his own business!

A season later in “Christmas Waltz” (Episode 5.10), Stan ignores seasonal shades in favor of his then-favorite color with an all-mustard knit long-sleeved polo shirt, detailed with a closely spaced French placket of four cloth-covered buttons and patterned with two tonal-textured horizontal stripes: one across the upper chest and arms and one across the abdomen over the banded hem.

SCDP’s creative stars react to the partners’ announcements about Christmas bonuses and the potential for finally getting an automotive account.

How to Get the Look

Jay R. Ferguson as Stan Rizzo on Mad Men (Episode 5.06: “Far Away Places”)

Do Stan Rizzo’s plaid sport jackets cut the mustard? (Sorry, I had to say it.)

• Mustard yellow plaid single-breasted 1- or 2-button sport jacket with narrow notch lapels, welted breast pocket, slanted hip pockets, 1- or 2-button cuffs, and double vents
• Knit polo shirt
• Charcoal or chocolate brown flat front beltless trousers with frogmouth front pockets and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Brown leather ankle-high motorcycle boots
• Black socks
• Steel watch with aqua blue gradient dial on steel bracelet

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the series. If you prefer streaming, Mad Men is no longer available on Netflix in the U.S. as of June, though it joined the Amazon Prime catalog (albeit with ads) the following month.

The Quote

I’ve got tickets to the bean ballet, and the curtain’s about to go up.

Don Johnson and Virginia Madsen in The Hot Spot (1990)

Vitals

Don Johnson as Harry Madox, drifter and used car salesman

Texas, Summer 1990

Film: The Hot Spot
Release Date: October 12, 1990
Director: Dennis Hopper
Costume Designer: Mary Kay Stolz

Background

One of the benefits of writing BAMF Style the last eight years has been learning about movies from readers that may have otherwise never crossed by path. Thanks to suggestions from two readers, Peter and Cecil, I discovered The Hot Spot, a neo-noir in the pulp tradition with shades of The Postman Always Rings Twice and Jim Thompson’s hardboiled fiction. With some exceptions, I’ve found many neo-noir attempts to fall flat, either from trying too hard to replicate the look and feel of the golden age of noir or trying too hard to inject modern sensibilities from a more permissive, explicit era of filmmaking. On the other hand, the best neo-noir movies recognize that it was more often style, tone, and snappy dialogue that made those works by Hawks, Siodmark, Torneuer, and Wilder so watchable, with plot almost secondary to the story be it simple, complex, or somehow both as in the case of The Big Sleep.

Enter The Hot Spot, with a title alone that would fit well among Columbia’s B catalog of early ’50s noir. As Roger Ebert stated in his three-star review, “Only movie lovers who have marinated their imaginations in the great B movies from RKO and Republic will recognize The Hot Spot as a superior work in an old tradition.” All the elements are here: our laconic, chain-smoking anti-hero, his femme fatale vs. the ingenue romantic interests, and plenty of drinking alone in sweaty, neon-lit motel rooms while pondering the next move.

It helps that the screenplay had been originally adapted in the early ’60s by Charles Williams and Nona Tyson from Williams’ 1952 novel Hell Hath No Fury. The script was originally intended to be a vehicle for Robert Mitchum before Dennis Hopper dusted it off decades later to replace the heart of the Mike Figgis-penned heist film he was planning to make with Don Johnson, fresh from his career-defining role on Miami Vice. As Johnson recalled in a 2014 interview with The A.V. Club:

Three days before we started shooting, Dennis Hopper came to all of us, he called a meeting on a Sunday, and he said, “Okay, we’re not making that script. We’re making this one.” … This was three days before we started shooting! So he was kind of looking around the table at everybody and saying, “Well, you know, if Don Johnson bails, we don’t have a movie.” And I read the script, and I said, “Wow!” I mean, the Figgis script was really slick and cool, and it was a heist movie, but this was real noir, the guy was an amoral drifter, and it was all about how women were going to take him down.

The premise alone should be familiar: a stranger rides into town. In this case, it’s the fashionable yet cynical Harry Madox, steering his ’59 Studebaker off of a blue highway into a steamy Texas berg, seemingly comprised solely of barbecue joints, motels, and car dealerships. Emboldened by a beer at a sleazy strip club, Harry follows a voluptuous young woman (Jennifer Connolly) onto a used car lot where he picks up the slack from a lackadaisical salesman and impulsively sells a Mercury, in turn securing himself a job at the dealership.

The next day, Harry—and the audience—get better acquainted with the world of “Landers” (actually filmed in Taylor, Texas), when he begins his first full day of work at Harshaw Motors. “Shouldn’t chew that stuff,” Harry advises his fellow salesman Lon Gulick (Charles Martin Smith), adding “it’s bad for ya” just before lighting his own Kool. Right away, Harry makes it clear that he won’t be a model employee, refusing his boss’ command to accompany a “Miss Harper” on the unenviable task of repossessing a Taurus from local deadbeat landscaper Frank Sutton (William Sadler), until a look at his co-worker reveals her to be Gloria, the attractive young woman that drew him to the lot in the first place.

As Harry continues getting acquainted with the town while the rest of its inhabitants busy themselves with a restaurant fire, he encounters a loquacious banker who’s all too forthcoming about his deviances and the bank’s lack of adequate security as well as his boss’ seductive wife Dolly (Virginia Madsen), who motors into the lot and soon coaxes Harry into joining her in the cockpit of her long pink Cadillac.

Dolly: So whatcha gonna do in our town?
Harry: Whatever there is to do.

What’d He Wear?

With the heat steady around 90°F, Harry is quick to throw off his fawn-colored jacket after arriving at work, spending the rest of his morning in the striped shirt and tie that has been the subject of multiple BAMF Style requests from readers Peter and Cecil.

The long, ventless, single-breasted suit jacket is styled and cut consistent with late ’80s fashions with its wide, padded shoulders, low two-button stance, spacious, boxy fit. The details are otherwise similar to traditional business suits with welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, and four-button cuffs. While the material is likely a lightweight linen blend to match the trousers, the extra layer would have still been somewhat oppressive in the extreme heat, and it’s no surprise that Harry—not particularly bound by decorum or tradition—would remove the jacket as soon as he’s inside the poorly cooled dealership office.

Harry arrives to his first day of work at Harshaw Motors in a full suit, though the jacket wouldn’t last more than a few seconds.

Harry Madox’s trademark look consists of a short-sleeved shirt with clipped-in-place tie, pleated linen trousers, and nubuck shoes. While short-sleeved shirts and ties have been disparagingly equated with the bland styles of NASA mathematicians or high school vice principals, Harry spins the look by wearing uniquely patterned shirts with enough insouciance that he looks more rebellious than square, opting for offbeat shirts that suit his own comfort and dress code. Rules of fashion be damned to Harry Madox, who isn’t about to compromise his own comfort for a job he already resents before he starts.

We already sense that Harry Madox isn’t necessary on the level when we meet him, but it’s hard to miss what’s being suggested by this shirt with its bold horizontal stripes that evokes the sepia-toned image of old-fashioned prison garb, particularly those of Southern chain gangs. The unorthodox horizontal block stripe elevates the impact of its otherwise bland beige and stone gray colorway, further enhanced by a raised tonal windowpane grid that adds texture and character. He also self-cuffs each of the short sleeves for an added “tough guy” touch.

When Harry loosens and removes his tie, it’s revealed that the shirt is a casual camp shirt with the traditional loop collar which Harry fastens under the tie knot to effect the look of a spread collar. The shirt has large, clear plastic buttons that fasten up a plain front and a breast pocket for his ubiquitous cigarettes. The sheer lightweight linen shirting outlines both the deck of Kools in his pocket as well as his undershirt.

While the traditional idea of a man in a short-sleeved shirt and tie conjures the inevitable pen-filled pocket protector, Harry Madox’s prison-striped shirt naturally has a pack of Kools in the breast pocket. Now with his tie loosened and collar undone, note the small loop on the left side of the collar that connects to a small button under the right collar leaf.

In addition to the requests to write about this shirt, Peter also asked if it would be possible to find shirts like this currently available. While several brands are currently marketing and offering horizontal-striped shirts (with a brief selection below), I’m ashamed to report that I fell short of the task of finding any with the distinctive colors and/or “prison stripe” as we see Don Johnson wearing here; for whatever reason, my shirts I encountered were of a thinner stripe and almost always incorporated blue into its colorway. I’d welcome any input or feedback from BAMF Style readers who may have seen something similar and can help Peter on his quest!

All availability and pricing of the below selections current as of August 2, 2020:

Paul Muni in I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), dressed to evoke Harry Madox’s potential future as his crimes escalate.

Goodfellow & Co. Striped Standard Fit Short Sleeve Shirt in cyber blue stripe cotton (Target, $19.99)

Lucky Brand Men’s San Gabriel Shirt in blue/white stripe linen (Macy’s, $69.50)

Madewell Ransell Stripe Double Weave Perfect Short Sleeve Shirt in throw stripe faded rosebud (Nordstrom, $47.70)

Old Navy Textured-Dobby Short-Sleeve Shirt for Men in white stripe cotton (Old Navy, $29.99)

Original Penguin Chambray Horizontal Stripe Shirt in dark sapphire cotton (Original Penguin, $79)

Perry Ellis Multi-Color Stripe Button-Up Shirt in bijou blue cotton (Amazon, $34.99-$39.99)

Rails Carson Stripe Short Sleeve Linen Blend Button-Up Shirt (Nordstrom, $118)

Tasso Elba Men’s Cannela Linen Striped Shirt in khaki combo linen (Macy’s, $31.99)

Tasso Elba Men’s Stripe Linen Shirt in coral stripe linen (Macy’s, $31.99)

Tasso Elba Men’s Sunset Striped Shirt in tan combo linen (Macy’s, $31.99)

Weatherproof Vintage Men’s Horizontall Stripe Twill Slub Shirt in moonlight blue cotton (Macy’s, $27.50)

Harry’s narrow tie is covered in an appropriately chaotic black static print against a minty gray ground that coordinates with the darker stripe of his shirt, held into place at mid-chest by a gold tie bar or clip, detailed in the center with a black enamel-filled accent.

Harry’s white ribbed cotton sleeveless undershirt is outlined through the sheer linen shirting and on full display when he joins Lon in washing down the ’86 LTD sedan that he and Gloria drove out to Sutton’s dilapidated spread. This particular A-shirt has a deep scoop neckline.

The fawn-colored trousers have a lightweight construction prone to wrinkling that suggests linen or a linen blend, likely the same material as the matching suit jacket he had been wearing at the start of his workday. Like all of his other trousers, these are styled in the fashions of the late ’80s and early ’90s with a full, baggy fit abetted by double reverse-facing pleats flanking the fly. They have a straight pocket on each side, just forward of the seams, with two back pockets; the right back pocket is covered with a scalloped, single-button flap, while the left back pocket merely has a slim welt across the opening. The bottoms are finished with turn-ups (cuffs).

Excess bagginess aside, Harry’s trousers have a stylishly medium-to-long rise to around Don Johnson’s natural waist, considerably higher than the low-rise trousers commonly seen over the last decade. His trousers are held up with a plain black leather belt with a steel single-prong buckle.

In his undershirt and trousers, the brawny Harry Madox catches Dolly’s attention as the polar opposite of her cardiac-fatigued husband.

Harry rotates through three pairs of shoes over the course of The Hot Spot, though his most commonly seen are these taupe nubuck oxfords with brick red outsoles. Bucks like these, a fashion dating back to the early 20th century, are still relatively easy to find from modern shoemakers:

• Allen Edmonds Nomad Buck Oxford derby shoes in bone nubuck (Amazon)
• Clarks Oliver Lace Dark Sand Suede derby shoes in dark sand suede (Clarks)
• Cole Haan Morris Plain Oxford derby shoes in taupe nubuck (Amazon)
• Deer Stags Walkmaster derby shoes in sand nubuck (Amazon)
• Eastland Men’s Buck Oxford derby shoes in taupe suede (Amazon)
• Florsheim Highland Plain Toe Oxford derby shoes in “dirty buck” suede (Florsheim)

His socks are a darker taupe brown to coordinate with the fawn color of his trousers, though they also have white striped rings.

Yeah, but I got ambitions. See, I figure if I stick around sellin’ jalopies another 30, 40 years, somebody’ll give me a testimonial… and a $40 watch.

Strapped to his left wrist, Harry wears a Fossil “Uomo” quartz watch with a polished gold-toned case, best seen when he’s repeatedly checking the time on the day of the big heist. The black dial has a gold-printed inner ring in increments of 10 and a white date window in the 3 o’clock position, and the strap appears to be a smooth dark brown leather with black edge stitching.

Founded in 1984 by Tom Kartsotis, Fossil was still a relatively young brand at the time, but its initial intent to offer “fashion watches with a retro look” made it the ideal choice for Don Johnson to wear in The Hot Spot, a stylish thriller with a retro noir feel.

Fossil strapped to his wrist, Harry takes a drag from his Kool while taking in the sights of Sutton’s homestead.

The Car

Harry Madox drives into town behind the wheel of a black 1959 Studebaker Silver Hawk, a beautiful emblem from the noir era. Studebaker introduced its dramatic-finned Hawk coupes in 1956, adding the pillared Silver Hawk to the line for the following model year, replacing the Power Hawk and Flight Hawk models.

1959 was the last year for the Hawk line, with the Silver Hawk the only model still offered by Studebaker, with straight-six and V8 engine options available. Johnson’s screen-driven Studebaker can be identified as a ’59 model based on the “Silver Hawk” script being moved from the trunk lid to the fins and, according to IMCDB, it’s powered by the 259 cubic-inch (4.2 L) V8 engine, offering just under 200 horsepower.

Harry’s stylish ’59 Studebaker is a remarkable contrast against the uninspired and chunky Ford K-cars among Harshaw’s offerings.

Seeing the Studebaker on screen resonated deeply with Roger Ebert, who described the Hawk as “the only car I have ever loved” in a contemporary interview with Dennis Hopper, during which he was sure to ask the idiosyncratic director and actor about its inclusion.

“Because I like the car,” Hopper told Ebert when asked why it was used. “I think it’s the best-looking car ever made. It was designed by Raymond Loewy, the same guy that designed the Coke bottle… If you look at the movie, it will appear that it takes place in the present day, because Johnson is a used car salesman and he’s selling recent cars. But I didn’t really change anything, because I didn’t want to. At heart, it’s a film noir from the 1940s or 1950s. I put them all in 1940s-looking clothes. I figured, in a small town in Texas, not a whole hell of a lot has really changed, you know?”

For the sake of clarity, it was actually Robert Bourke who was responsible for the Hawk design, contracted from Raymond Loewy Associations.

How to Get the Look

Don Johnson as Harry Madox in The Hot Spot (1990)

A man outside of time, Harry Madox dresses for his days in sweaty, small-town Texas in short-sleeved shirts, ties, and pleated trousers, including this boldly horizontal-striped linen shirt that evokes the prison uniforms of a half-century earlier.

• Beige and stone gray horizontal “prison-stripe” linen shirt with loop collar, plain front, breast pocket, and self-rolled short sleeves
• Minty gray narrow tie with black static print
  • Gold tie bar/clip with black enamel-filled center accent
• Fawn-colored linen double reverse-pleated suit trousers with belt loops, straight side pockets, scalloped-flap back right pocket, slim-welted back left pocket, and turn-ups/cuffs
• Black leather belt with steel single prong buckle
• Taupe nubuck oxford shoes with brick red outsoles
• Taupe socks with white stripes
• Fossil Uomo quartz watch with gold-toned case, black ringed dial (with 3:00 date window), and dark brown edge-stitched leather strap

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie, described by Ebert as “one of those exercises in style, sex and shadows that were familiar in the postwar years, before high-tech violence came along and took all of the fun out of sin. It’s a sultry melodrama starring Johnson as a man without a past. He drives into town (in the ’57 Hawk)[sic] and gets a job in a used car lot by selling a car to a customer even before he’s met the guy who owns the lot. The owner is a slow-thinking fleshapoid with a bum ticker, who lives in a big house up on the hill, where his young and reckless wife (Virginia Madsen) is bored, bored, bored by her endless routine: Get up, slip into a negligee, drink and smoke all day. She needs a real man. The first time she looks at Johnson, she’s like a butcher trying to decide where to make the first cut on a side of prime beef.”

The Hot Spot is further amplified by its bluesy soundtrack composed by Jack Nitzsche and features an original collaboration between John Lee Hooker, Miles Davis, Taj Mahal, and Roy Rogers.

The Quote

Wow. That was about as much fun as kissin’ a passed-out drunk.

The real John Lewis in 1965 and Stephan James portraying Lewis in Selma (2014)

Vitals

Stephan James as John Lewis, civil rights activist and future congressman

Selma, Alabama, Spring 1965

Film: Selma
Release Date: December 25, 2014
Director: Ava DuVernay
Costume Designer: Ruth E. Carter

Background

On the 55th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, today’s post celebrates the life and legacy of the late John Lewis, the prolific civil rights activist and longtime member of the U.S. House of Representatives who had been an instrumental force in the fight for voter and racial equality.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 has been cited as a direct result of the Selma to Montgomery marches, which opened the eyes of the public to the reality of racial injustice when state and local police—acting on orders from Alabama Governor George Wallace—resorted to extreme violence in response to the nonviolent activists. Ostensibly securing the right for all to exercise the right to vote in the United States, this landmark legislation was a major milestone during the era’s civil rights movement though—even more than a half-century later—we still have considerable progress to make.

Lewis had just turned 25 when he and fellow activist Hosea Williams led more than 500 marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, where they were assaulted by police with clubs and tear gas and sent scrambling for safety. The events of March 7, 1965, soon to be known as “Bloody Sunday”, physically scarred Lewis for the rest of his life but also cemented his legacy as recounted in Jay Reeves’ AP obituary, which describes Lewis’ unflinching stoicism in the moments before the attack:

Lewis stood motionless with his hands in the pockets of his raincoat, a knapsack on his back.

This image endured through the decades, and even Lewis himself understood the worth of putting considerable effort into tracking down a similar knapsack and coat for the 2015 Comic-Con International in San Diego, where he attended to promote his three-part graphic novel memoir March. After the news of Rep. Lewis’ death last month, many shared photos of the congressman cosplaying as his younger self during these events, walking with hundreds of children and convention attendees in tribute to the famous march that had taken place more than 50 years earlier as detailed in Sandra E. Garcia’s article for The New York Times.

“I had the opportunity to recreate what I wore on March 7, 1965 and march with some amazing young people,” Lewis himself posted on his official Facebook page.

Dressed in a raincoat and knapsack similar to what he had worn during the 1965 Selma march, John Lewis is joined by his policy aide and co-author Andrew Aydin as they lead young Comic-Con attendees around the event. (Photo by Carlos Gonzalez for The New York Times)

Ava DuVernay’s masterful Selma is centered around David Oyelowo’s magnificent performance as Martin Luther King Jr., presenting the famous minister and activist in all of his complexity, a man who balanced sincerity in his beliefs with the shrewdness required to be truly effective. Writing for the Miami Herald, Rene Rodriguez praised the fact that “unlike most biopics about heroic men who shaped our history or helped bring about change… Selma doesn’t feel like freeze-dried hagiography.”

In a section of his blog, Information is Beautiful, that evaluates how faithfully a recently released film “based on a true story” follows known history, David McCandless bestowed Selma with a 100% rating to conclude that all on-screen events are either completely or mostly true to history, while acknowledging the most frequented addressed point of contention that the film may have exaggerated Lyndon Johnson’s opposition to aspects of the movement. As the only movie of the 18 evaluated to carry this perfect score, Selma is noted by the site to “painstakingly recreate events as they happened and takes care to include everybody who was involved.”

Of these many figures involved, Selma also includes activist and minister C.T. Vivian, who also died on July 17, 2020, the same day as his friend John Lewis and just two weeks shy of his own 96th birthday. Portrayed by Corey Reynolds, Rev. Vivian is shown wearing a raincoat as the SCLC members are being introduced in Richie Jean Jackson’s kitchen.

Andrew Young (André Holland) introduces Rev. C.T. Vivian (Corey Reynolds) to Richie Jean Jackson (Niecy Nash).

The film begins with King’s acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, where he praises the men and women of his movement who are “motivated by dignity and a disdain for hopelessness,” a speech rewritten to some degree by DuVernay as the rights to many of King’s speeches had already been sold by his estate for a separate and yet unproduced biopic. While King may not have said them in this context, the description of a human “motivated by dignity” stuck with me long after I first saw Selma.

What’d He Wear?

A key element to how Selma was able to so faithfully recreate the events and moments behind the passing of the Voting Rights of Act of 1965 was the historically informed costume design by Ruth E. Carter, a talented three-time Oscar-nominated designer who would later win the Academy Award for Best Costume Design in recognition of her work on Black Panther (2018). In addition to paying homage to the sophisticated suits and gold Rolex worn by Martin Luther King, Jr., Carter’s costume design also reflects a deep level of attention paid to dressing all to resemble their 1965 counterparts as closely as possible, an endeavor she called out on her Instagram while the film was in production.

This naturally included the enduring image of Hosea Williams and John Lewis leading the vanguard across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965, from both men in their raincoats, white shirts, and ties to Bob Mants of SNCC standing directly behind them in his own dark coat and flat cap.

Spider Martin for the Birmingham News photographed Hosea Williams and John Lewis leading their vanguard across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965, for the Birmingham News, an event faithfully recreated in Selma.

A reliable raincoat is a must for any man, the ideal protective garment for anyone “expecting the unexpected.” With his simple light-colored raincoat neatly buttoned over suit and tie, Lewis looks poised, professional, and prepared, presenting the image like a man commuting to work who may be expecting inclement weather, ready to go the distance… both geographically and metaphorically.

“Coats were a form of armor,” Carter shared in a 2015 interview with Gina Marinelli for Refinery29. “It was like they knew that they were going to be faced with this brutality. So, not only did they put a coat on because they were going to march 50 miles, but because they could pad underneath to protect themselves. And, if you put your hands in the pockets of your coat while you were marching in the front line, it was a symbol of peaceful protest.”

The cinematic Lewis, portrayed by Stephan James, “debuts” the famous raincoat in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment when Coretta Scott King (Carmen Ejogo) is meeting with Malcolm X (Nigél Thatch). In this instance, he wears the coat open over a white open-neck shirt and cream cardigan.

Either coincidence or an “Easter egg” for viewers familiar with how the march would eventually play out, Williams and Lewis stand here in their same raincoats with Lewis on Williams’ left.

The first march attempt was organized locally by James Bevel, Amelia Boynton, and others on March 7, 1965 and soon became infamous as “Bloody Sunday” for the fierce attacks against the demonstrators after they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Of the more than 60 marchers who were treated for injuries, Lewis himself suffered a skull fracture and would carry the physical scars from that day for the rest of his life. Across the country, millions of Americans were outraged at the violence captured in news footage and photographs out of Selma, mobilizing support for the activists.

Though horrendously beaten, John Lewis stands tall in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday, ready to continue his work.

Lewis’ famous coat for the march appears to be a beige gabardine. The Prussian collar has a throat latch closure with a six-button fly front with an extra button sewn in toward the bottom hem. The sleeves are set-in with a half-tab at each cuff closing through a single button. The coat appears to be unlined, making it a cooler-wearing top layer particularly suitable for a long march through Alabama, with a long single vent in the back and slanted hand pockets.

The real Lewis’ famous backpack seen in detail in this photo by Tom Lankford for the Birmingham News, taken as Lewis, Williams, Bob Mants, and Albert Turner were confronted by Major John Cloud of the Alabama Highway Patrol moments before violence against the demonstrators ensued on March 7, 1965.

Around the time that the film was in production in 2014, Patrick Saunders of The Georgia Voice engaged now-Representative Lewis in a Q&A that concluded with a question about how, of all the marchers, Lewis appeared to be the only one wearing a backpack, to which the congressman provided a detailed response outlining the backpack’s origins and contents:

As a matter of fact I went to the Army surplus store and bought this backpack. I really thought we were going to be successful walking all the way from Selma to Montgomery. And somehow, some way, I thought maybe we would be arrested and we would go to jail, so while in jail I wanted to have something to read. I had two books in the backpack. I wanted to have something to eat—I had one apple and one orange. One apple and one orange wouldn’t last that long. Being in jail, you know I had been arrested and been to jail before, the sad thing about being in jail for two or three days, you need to brush your teeth. So there was toothpaste and a toothbrush in there.

I don’t know what happened to that backpack, I don’t know what happened to the two books. I don’t know what happened to the trench coat. One of the books was by a professor of political science at Harvard and the other book was by Thomas Merton, the monk. I just wished I had them. The Smithsonian and the Library of Congress are always asking me what happened to them and I tell them I really don’t know.

Consistent with historical record, Selma frequently depicts Lewis wearing white shirts with a tab collar, the device that fastens under the tie knot either with a button—or a snap, in Lewis’ case—to promote a neat, dignified appearance (assuming the shirt is fully fastened and the tie correctly knotted.) The tab collar saw a resurgence during the ’60s, likely consistent with the narrower tie widths that would look cleaner with it. For the first two marches, Lewis is shown wearing the same slim dark tie that I’ll go into more detail describing below.

Hosea Williams (Wendell Pierce) and John Lewis approach the state troopers.

For the attempt on March 7, Lewis is depicted wearing dark taupe brown wool trousers with button-through back pockets (with at least one of the buttons torn loose during the attacks on the bridge) and finished on the bottoms with turn-ups (cuffs) over his black calf leather cap-toe oxford shoes.

In all her attention to detail, Ruth E. Carter seemed to even keep the men’s black shoes consistent with what they wore that day: square-toed, high-vamp loafers for Williams and cap-toe oxfords for Lewis.

Two days later, after the brutality of Bloody Sunday aroused national support for the civil rights movement, King returned to Selma to join Lewis, Williams, and hundreds of clergy and supporters from across the United States for a second attempt across the bridge. This abbreviated march on March 9, 1965, would be dubbed “Turnaround Tuesday” for King’s decision to turn the 2,500 marchers around before crossing the county line.

John Lewis again wears his raincoat with shirt and tie, though his white shirt has a more conventional point collar. He wears the same tie as earlier, which we see more of as he wears the raincoat open to reveal the set of olive, tan, and brown “downhill”-directional stripes across the center.

SNCC leaders James Foreman (Trai Byers) and John Lewis depicted during the March 9, 1965 march. Note Lewis foregoing his usual tab collar as well as his knapsack.

For the March 9 event, Lewis presses into service a dark gray business suit that he had also worn previously at Jimmie Lee Jackson’s funeral and would later wear when marching alongside King into Montgomery. In some light, particularly while King speaks in Montgomery, the suiting presents a subtle sheen which suggests the possibility of a mohair/wool-blended construction as was popular during the ’60s.

The suit has a single-breasted, two-button jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, and straight flapped hip pockets. The matching flat front trousers have plain-hemmed bottoms.

During the “Turnaround Tuesday” debrief with King, we also see Lewis’ gold-cased wristwatch and what appears to be a gold wedding band on the ring finger of his left hand. (However, the real John Lewis wouldn’t marry his wife Lillian until 1968, three years after the events depicted on screen.)

The Kings and John Lewis lead the marchers out of Selma on March 21, 1965.

Two weeks after Bloody Sunday and with Judge Frank Minis Johnson having ruled in favor of the demonstrators’ First Amendment rights, more than 8,000 people assembled at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma on Sunday, March 21, 1965, to join King on the 54-mile march along U.S. Route 80 to Montgomery.

While Ruth E. Carter again remained true to what the principals wore that day, including King’s dressed-down off-white fisherman’s cap and light blue sport shirt, she found a deeper significance to why the actual figures had abandoned their more austere suits, coats, and ties for this third crossing of the bridge, explaining to Refinery29 that, “by the time we got to the third march, people and their children were singing, it was jubilant, and the thought was that they were protected. They didn’t necessarily need to wear their armor this time, they were actually going to make the 50 miles.”

Lewis reflects King’s celebratory blue hues, wearing a similarly shaded powder blue wool V-neck sweater over his white shirt and taupe trousers. Note how neatly the actual figures’ wardrobe (as seen in the photo at right) matches Ruth E. Carter’s costume design, with the minor exception of the cinematic Lewis wearing a white tab-collar shirt and tie as opposed to the pale blue button-down seen in real life.

Amelia Boynton (Lorraine Toussaint), Andrew Young, Diane Nash (Tessa Thompson), John Lewis, Ralph Abernathy (Colman Domingo), Martin Luther King, and Coretta Scott King lead the singing marchers out of Selma on Sunday, March 21. On the far right is activist Viola Liuzzo (Tara Ochs), who traveled from Detroit to join the march and would be murdered by the KKK four days later while shuttling her fellow activists to the Montgomery airport after the march had ended.

Upon arriving at the Alabama state capitol building in Montgomery on Thursday, March 25, with now approximately 25,000 supporters for the delivery of King’s famous “How long, not long” speech, the men are dressed back in their usual protest “uniforms” consisting of dark business suits, white shirts, and skinny ties. Lewis returns to his dark gray suit and white tab-collar shirt, this time worn with a solid brown tie and a natty pair of dark brown double monk-strap shoes.

King leads the tens of thousands of marchers into Montgomery on the morning of Thursday, March 25, 1965.

It’s fitting that our last look at John Lewis in Selma shows him standing in business suit, white shirt, and tie, the regulated dress code for the House of Representatives, in which Lewis would represent Georgia’s 5th District for the last 33 years of his life before his death of pancreatic cancer on July 17, 2020.

Selma‘s last look at John Lewis, standing proudly as his movement celebrates a milestone with decades of hard work to follow.

How to Get the Look

Stephan James as John Lewis in Selma (2014)

Selma costume designer Ruth E. Carter put extensive work into making sure each character’s sartorial details aligned with historical record. In the case of John Lewis (Stephan James), this meant dressing him in just the right beige raincoat, white tab-collar shirt, and dark skinny tie for an earnest young man ready to make “good trouble, necessary trouble” in the name of progress.

• Dark gray mohair/wool blend suit:
  • Single-breasted 2-button suit jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets
  • Flat front suit trousers with plain-hemmed bottoms
• White cotton dress shirt with tab collar, front placket, and button cuffs
• Black slim tie with olive, tan, and brown “downhill” center stripe set
• Black calf leather cap-toe oxford shoes
• Black socks
• White cotton crew-neck short-sleeve undershirt
• Beige gabardine raincoat with Prussian collar, throat latch, six-button fly front, slanted side pockets, half-tab cuffs, and single vent
• Gold wedding band
• Gold-cased wristwatch with round tan dial on dark leather strap

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

From John Lewis’ New York Times op-ed, which he directed to be published on the day of his funeral last Thursday:

Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.

When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.