Telly Savalas as Ernst Stavro Blofeld in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

Vitals

Telly Savalas as Ernst Stavro Blofeld, aka Comte Balthazar de Bleuchamp, megalomaniac terrorist

Piz Gloria, Switzerland, December 1969

Film: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Release Date: December 18, 1969
Director: Peter R. Hunt
Costume Designer: Marjory Cornelius

Background

‘Twas Christmastime at Piz Gloria, when all through the clinic
Not a creature was stirring, not even the agent from MI6.

The Angels of Death were snuggled in bed with care
in hopes that Sir Hilary’s bezants soon would be there.

As of 2020, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service remains the only James Bond movie prominently set during yuletide, as 007 (George Lazenby) disguises himself as genealogist Sir Hilary Bray in order to get close to SPECTRE chief Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Telly Savalas), under the pretense of investigating Blofeld’s claim to the title of Count Balthazar de Bleuchamp.

On the 00-7th of December, let’s see how one of Bond’s most iconic nemeses dresses for the holidays.

What’d He Wear?

Apropos his Alpine environs and his ambitious claim to Bavarian aristocracy, Blofeld tactfully dresses to make Sir Hilary Bray’s acquaintance, sporting several pieces of traditional German clothing (Tracht) including a traditional Trachten jacket known as a janker.

I’m admittedly no expert in traditional German dress, and I did my best to educate myself in order to adequately analyze how Blofeld dresses at Piz Gloria. My perspective is thus that of a novice in this area, and I welcome any who are more knowledgable to share those insights—or corrections!—in the comments.

Having buttoned up his janker, Blofeld rises to meet his genealogically informed guest, allowing the man he believes to be Sir Hilary Bray to take in the full splendor of his wearing traditional Bavarian dress.

The details of these classic Bavarian tunics share some superficial similarities with the Nehru jacket, a garment that has enjoyed a long pedigree among villains in the Bond series from the eponymous villain in Dr. No through Spectre, in which Christoph Waltz’s Blofeld wears one in navy velvet. Indeed, it seems that the higher a Bond antagonist’s ambition, the higher a chance of seeing him wear a mandarin collar by movie’s end.

This standing collar is a defining characteristic of the Bavarian janker, typically either made from a contrasting cloth or accented with decorative stitching.

Blofeld’s brown wool serge janker is detailed with the latter, a red helix-like pattern embroidered around the short collar that would be mimicked above and below the two jetted pockets over the chest. (The red trim adds a nice holiday-themed touch, though it could just be the sartorial romantic in me looking for festivity in a megalomaniac’s wardrobe.)

These pockets are another classic characteristic of the janker, with either one or two on the chest that can be as minimalist as a set-in jetted pocket or detailed with a flap and button.

Depending on the length of a janker, there may also be a pair of pockets at the hip level. Blofeld’s suit jacket-length janker indeed has a jetted hip pocket aligned with the lowest button on the front, though these appear to lack the red embroidered detailing of the chest pockets.

Production photo of Telly Savalas in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, sourced from thunderballs.org.

Janker buttons are typically made from a decorative horn or metal. Blofeld’s five silver crested shank buttons up the front of his janker resemble those on a traditional blazer with two smaller vestigial buttons placed close together on each cuff. He leaves the top button, matched to a slanted buttonhole, unbuttoned for much of his conversation with Sir Hilary.

If not made from authentic mountain sheep-sourced loden, jankers are constructed from heavier woven wool suited to the Alpine climate such as woolen flannel or tweed, though Blofeld’s janker appears to be made from a napped wool serge.

You can read more about jankers, Trachten jackets, Styrian jackets, and other Bavarian attire from High Latitude Style, Robert W. Stolz, and Ludwig & Therese. The latter is a Munich outfitter of traditional Bavarian clothing including an olive wool “Nikodemus” Trachten jacket that shares a few stylistic similarities with Blofeld’s screen-worn garment.

Blofeld buttons up his janker to complete the look of the rightful Comte Balthazar de Bleuchamp.

When Blofeld peels off his white lab coat upon entering his office, we see that even his scarlet red loden vest (or waistcoat) is styled to coordinate with his janker with its short mandarin collar and silver-toned metal buttons. Appropriately, this is another piece of traditional German clothing, characterized by its deep, rounded neckline connected at the top with a decorative chain just below the collar. Blofeld’s vest has four “swallow” welt pockets, each named for the drooped opening that resembles the shape of a passerine bird in flight.

These vests are widely marketed in Germany and, via the internet, around the world, from sites like Frankenmuth Bavarian Specialties, Trachten-Quelle, and Ernst Licht, though Blofeld’s waistcoat more closely resembles what the latter markets as the “Prien vest” than the “Miesbacher vest”.

Blofeld wears a white cotton shirt by Frank Fosterwith a point collar and single-button barrel cuffs. His dark brown knitted silk tie adds both textural and tonal coordination with the rest of the outfit until his buttoned-up janker covers up most of what he wears under it.

Blofeld’s waistcoat is cut and styled in the Miesbacher tradition, but it lacks the contrasting piping.

We only get a brief look at Blofeld’s dark trousers and boots as he enters the office, the rest of his outfit concealed by a lab coat. A behind-the-scenes photo suggests that the trousers are a brown woolen serge to match his Trachten jacket, with enough seen on-screen to tell us that they are likely flat front trousers held up with suspenders and finished with turn-ups (cuffs) on the bottoms.

The silhouette of the boots indicates non-laced ankle boots in dark leather, possibly the same brown suede ankle boots he would wear the following day on Christmas Eve.

Disguised in Highland dress as Sir Hilary Bray, Bond is soon no longer to be the only one clad in ancestral wear… though the glimpses he gets of Blofeld’s trousers and boots under his lab coat fail to suggest the Bavarian outfit he would build once in “Sir Hilary”‘s presence.

How to Get the Look

Telly Savalas as Ernst Stavro Blofeld in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). Photo sourced from thunderballs.org.

When in the Alps… dress in the classic Alpine style! At first glance, Blofeld appears to be channeling his fellow Bond villains in theeir Mao suits and Nehru jackets, but a closer look reveals that he indeed wears traditional Tracht like his decoratively stitched janker over a loden waistcoat.

• Brown wool serge Trachten janker with red-embroidered mandarin collar, five crested silver shank buttons, two jetted chest pockets (with red-embroidered detailing), two jetted hip pockets, and vestigial 2-button cuffs
• White cotton shirt with point collar and 1-button cuffs
• Dark brown knitted silk tie
• Scarlet red loden wool Miesbacher Trachten vest with short mandarin collar, decorative chain across the neckline, five-button front, and four welted “swallow” pockets
• Brown wool serge flat front trousers with turn-ups/cuffs
• Dark suspenders
• Dark brown suede ankle boots

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie, one of my favorites from the Bond franchise and a particularly suitable watch for 2020 with its themes of viruses and vaccines.

The Quote

The methods of the great pioneers have often puzzled conventional minds.

The post Telly Savalas as Blofeld: Trachten Clothes at Christmas appeared first on BAMF Style.

Sammy Davis Jr. in Ocean’s Eleven (1960)

Vitals

Sammy Davis Jr. as Josh Howard, casino heister, sanitation worker, and World War II veteran

Las Vegas, January 1960

Film: Ocean’s Eleven
Release Date: August 10, 1960
Director: Lewis Milestone
Costume Designer: Howard Shoup
Tailor: Sy Devore

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Sammy Davis Jr. was born 95 years ago today in Harlem. Nicknamed “Mr. Show Business” in recognition of his vast talents, Davis had gotten an early start to performing when he joined his father and uncle to create the Will Mastin Trio, named after his uncle. Following his service in World War II, Davis cultivated his career as a singer, dancer, actor, and comedian.

Davis’ natural talent, stage presence, and quick wit brought him into the orbit of pallies Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, who were forming the seeds of what would become immortalized as the Rat Pack. (Sinatra wisely followed Davis’ suggestion that the group not call themselves “the Clan”, instead referring to themselves as “the Summit.”)

1960 was the high watermark for the Summit, when they pulled together an ensemble cast to make Ocean’s 11, a stylish heist film set in Las Vegas. The story originated from a gas station attendant talking to director Gilbert Kay, who shared the plot with Peter Lawford, who—in turn—bought the rights and eventually pulled Sinatra into the production. “Forget the the movie, let’s pull the job!” Ol’ Blue Eyes had reportedly joked after learning the plot.

The Rat Pack in front of the Sands, February 1960. (Michael Ochs Archive)

The action is set on New Year’s Eve, where the Rat Packers and their cronies have planned the simultaneous robbery of five iconic casinos at the stroke of midnight. Unlike the modern remake directed by Steven Soderbergh, there’s little technical savvy needed to pull the job aside from a scientific understanding of how long it takes to sing “Auld Lang Syne” and the ability to cut power to several blocks of Sin City… which is where Davis factors in as Josh Howard, the team’s reliable demolitions expert.

Davis bookends the movie’s famous finale, which finds the ex-paratroopers saying goodbye to one of their number who was felled by a heart attack during the heist… and eventually mourning the millions they had liberated from the five casinos as well. The final shot follows Danny Ocean and his eleven—er, now ten—ex-commandos as they somberly walk up the Strip past the historic Sands Hotel and Casino.

The production of this scene was further immortalized in one of the few posed photos of the five core members of the Rat Pack—Sinatra, Martin, Davis, Lawford, and Joey Bishop—standing in front of the Sands marque bearing their names as it appeared on screen.

What’d He Wear?

The sobriety of the closing funeral brings Danny Ocean’s team together in suits for the only time as the planning and execution of the heists allowed for everything from comfortable knitwear to fashionable evening wear and even odd functional disguise in between. For the most part, the men dress in conservative single-breasted suits with the sole exception of Sammy Davis Jr., who rakishly breaks code in the sole double-breasted jacket of the group.

The cool dark brown subtly striped silk suit, shining under the bright Mojave Desert sunlight, was no doubt made for Davis by Sy Devore, legendary “tailor to the stars” who served the Rat Pack among other Hollywood luminaries of the era. Though Sy himself died during the latter years of the Rat Pack’s swingin’ sixties heyday, his Studio City shop continues to offer its customers a range of cutting-edge fashion with timeless sensibilities.

The trim suit was tailored to flatter Davis’ short and lean physique, the double-breasted jacket styled with sharp peak lapels that roll down to a single button at the bottom of three rows of two buttons each in a top-heavy trapezoidal formation in widths apart that taper down the front. By rigging Davis’ suit jacket with a lower-fastening 6×1 button formation rather than the more traditional 6×2, Devore neatly created a longer lapel line that flatters the 5’5″ entertainer.

Sammy takes rakish to a new level by pairing his ultra-loosened tie to a still-buttoned double-breasted jacket.

Sammy Davis Jr. on the set of Ocean’s Eleven.

Devore tailored the jacket with wide, padded shoulders with roped sleeveheads that also build up Davis’ chest. The ventless jacket has straight flapped hip pockets and a welted breast pocket, though Davis is the only one of the central Rat Packers to forego a pocket square. Each sleeve is finished with three buttons at the cuff.

The suit’s matching flat front trousers rise to Davis’ natural waist, which is just above the buttoning point of his jacket though this coordinates nicely with the double-breasted wrap to avoid the top of the trousers becoming visible with his jacket closed.

The trousers have a hidden hook-and-eye closure above the fly and slanted Western-style “frogmouth” pockets on the front. A lack of belt loops suggests the possibility of side adjuster tabs, though a talented tailor like Sy Devore would have cut the trousers to fit Davis without the need for additional support. The plain-hemmed bottoms break cleanly over the tops of his brown leather cap-toe oxfords. His dark brown socks continue the leg line of his trousers into the shoes, detailed only with thin tan double stripes along the sides.

Davis wears a white cotton shirt with a large and shapely button-down collar, also the favored collar of his fellow “rat” Dean Martin. His dark brown silk tie is just a shade warmer than the suit, tied in a small and tight four-in-hand and worn with the blade tucked into the waistband of his trousers.

With a single glance, Danny breaks the news to Josh that their efforts have been all for nought. Note how their attire reflects their personalities here, the more fastidious Danny in fussier pinned collar and French cuffs while the laidback Josh wears a more casual button-down collar with button cuffs.

As with many stars, a number of watches have been attributed to Sammy Davis Jr. over the years. The entertainer had a taste for unique watches, almost exclusively in yellow gold, ranging from his Cartier Pasha moon phase quartz watch (a gift from Frank) to a series of watches branded with his own name and even a custom Jamie West watch with a photo of Davis and his wife Altovise emblazoned on the dial.

Josh’s more subtle yellow gold wristwatch in Ocean’s 11 doesn’t appear to be anything quite so extravagant, but it was undoubtedly Davis’ personal timepiece seen for this scene.

Perhaps it was after glimpsing Davis’ subdued wristwatch in this scene that FS decided his pal Sammy needed an eye-catching Pasha de Cartier.

Sammy Davis Jr. in Ocean’s Eleven (1960)

How to Get the Look

Ever the individualist, Sammy Davis. Jr.’s style stands apart from his Rat Pack colleagues, eschewing the businesslike gray single-breasted in favor of a flashier brown double-breasted, cut to flatter his unique physique by the rightfully legendary Sy Devore.

• Dark brown subtly striped silk tailored suit:
  • Double-breasted 6×1-button suit with sharp peak lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and ventless back
  • Flat front trousers with side adjusters, “frogmouth” front pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• White cotton shirt with large button-down collar and 1-button squared cuffs
• Dark brown straight tie
• Brown leather cap-toe oxford shoes
• Dark brown socks with tan side stripes
• Gold wristwatch on expanding bracelet

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

Gallery

The post Sammy Davis Jr.’s Brown Suit in Ocean’s 11 appeared first on BAMF Style.

Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum on Magnum, P.I. (Episode 1.18: “Beauty Knows No Pain”)

Vitals

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

Hawaii, Christmas 1980 to Summer 1981

Series: Magnum, P.I.
Episodes:
– “Thank Heaven for Little Girls and Big Ones Too” (Episode 1.04, dir. Bruce Seth Green, aired 12/25/1980)
– “Lest We Forget” (Episode 1.10, dir. Lawrence Doheny, aired 2/12/1981)
– “Beauty Knows No Pain” (Episode 1.18, dir. Ray Austin, aired 4/16/1981)
– “Dead Man’s Channel” (Episode 2.02, dir. Ray Austin, aired 10/15/1981)
Creator: Donald P. Bellisario & Glen Larson
Costume Designer: Charles Waldo (credited with first season only)
Costume Supervisor: James Gilmore

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

In perhaps an early Christmas gift to the TV-watching world, Magnum, P.I. debuted on CBS forty years ago tonight on December 11, 1980, when the two-parter “Don’t Eat the Snow in Hawaii” introduced us to a charming, bewhiskered private investigator living the dream life on a Hawaiian estate with a sleek red Ferrari and a full closet of Aloha shirts at his disposal.

Four episodes in, Magnum, P.I. aired its first holiday-set episode when “Thank Heaven for Little Girls and Big Ones Too” aired on Christmas night, 1980. The series would revisit the holidays once more during the fourth season’s more festively titled “Operation: Silent Night”, though Magnum spends most of the episode clad in his drab tank top and bush shirt rather than the more colorful, creative outfit he wears while spending the holidays foiled by schoolteacher Linda Booton (Katherine Cannon) and her larcenous young wards.

Tom Selleck and Katherine Cannon in Magnum, P.I.‘s first season Christmas-set episode “Thank Heaven for Little Girls and Big Ones Too”.

With just two weeks to go to Christmas on this #AlohaFriday, I wanted to wish BAMF Style readers a happy holiday season by delving into a yuletide-themed episode from one of my favorite series!

What’d He Wear?

The Thomas Magnum image typically brings to mind Tom Selleck standing tall in a well-cultivated mustache in a colorful Aloha shirt and perhaps that well-loved Detroit Tigers baseball cap. Fans of the show know that, while the mustache was a welcome mainstay, Selleck wore a considerably more diverse wardrobe ranging from polos and rugby shirts to collarband button-ups and safari-inspired work shirts.

Rugby shirts enjoyed a spree of popularity during the preppy trend of the ’80s, and it seemed like every dashing TV lead kept a few in his closet from Sam Malone to Thomas Magnum. Magnum sported both long- and short-sleeved rugby shirts. Among the latter, he wore shirts in nearly every color, beginning with a navy rugby shirt in the third episode “China Doll” and ranging from bright pastels to earthy tans and this rich burgundy shirt, a particularly festive shade to debut in Magnum, P.I.‘s first Christmas-set episode.

The shirt’s body is made from a burgundy cotton, more form-fitting than the traditional rugby jersey and thus flattering for Selleck’s athletic physique. The stiffer white point collar is characteristic of a classic rugby shirt, with the white continuing down the long inner placket where the shirt can be closed through three white rubber buttons, though Selleck leaves all three buttons undone to create a deep V-neck effect.

Magnum models one of his many rugby shirts, a burgundy short-sleeved pullover making its final appearance in “Dead Man’s Channel” (Episode 2.02).

The experts at Magnum Mania! have invested plenty of exhaustive research and investigative discussion into all things Magnum, including his wardrobe… and including his rugby shirts (as well as those unique “kangaroo pocket” shirts.) I don’t want to steal the thunder from any of these super-fans and their knowledge, so check out their discussion!

“Thank Heaven for Little Girls and Big Ones Too” (Episode 1.04) begins with Rick Wright (Larry Manetti) calling Magnum away from a staid Christmas observation with Higgins (John Hillerman) to meet a mysterious woman at the capitol building. Magnum is bemused to discover that his latest client is actually a quintet of Vermont schoolgirls who have presumably lost their teacher, Linda Booton. After Magnum allows the girls to talk him into taking on their “case”, he then recruits them to try to convince a recalcitrant Higgins to host them while he searches for Miss Booton.

Magnum: Come on, Higgins, it’s the holidays… it’s a time for giving and sharing, right, kids? You can’t just turn five helplessly stranded little girls out into the night.
Higgins: Bah, humbug.

Magnum has more success enlisting his war buddy T.C. (Roger E. Mosley) to help him find Miss Booton, pulling on a unique sky-blue chambray bush-style fishing shirt as a lightweight top layer against the chillier December night air.

A reluctant T.C. joins Magnum in “Thank Heaven for Little Girls and Big Ones Too” (Episode 1.04).

This sky-blue shirt makes its sole appearance in “Thank Heaven for Little Girls and Big Ones Too” (Episode 1.04) as it swiftly gets torn apart during a brawl at Saigon Susie’s gym. Though the shirting appears to be a lightweight chambray cotton or cotton/linen blend, this appears to be more equivalent to a shirt-jacket—or “shacket”, as the marketing gods have colloquialized—meant to be worn untucked and over another layer.

While more likely a fishing shirt than traditional safari gear, Magnum’s overshirt features many safari-inspired details like the shoulder straps (epaulettes) and four semi-bellows pockets on the front; each side has two pockets stacked, with a pointed flap to close through a single white plastic button matching the seven that Magnum leaves unbuttoned up the front placket. There is also a narrow bellows-style flapped pocket on the upper left sleeve, which closes through a single-button flap like those on the front and brings the total number of outer pockets to five. He wears the cuffs unbuttoned and rolls the sleeves up to his elbows.

The straight-hemmed shirt has a slit along each side of the back that closes through a single button, likely creating a straight-through vent effect as it would be ungainly for a shirt this light to have a hunting-style poacher pocket in the back. The shirt also has a narrow point collar and a short horizontal tab on the left side of the chest, sewn to the shirt on its left side and buttoned to the shirt on the right.

Details like these side vents and accessory loop are common features of fishing shirts (the chest tab to secure one’s rod while attaching bait), though most modern fly-fishing shirts from outdoor outfitters like Columbia and L.L. Bean are made from water-resistant manmade fabrics and opt for Velcro fastenings rather than buttons.

Magnum makes the rounds from sports clubs to saloons during his holiday investigation in “Thank Heaven for Little Girls and Big Ones Too” (Episode 1.04).

It wasn’t until the end of the first season that Magnum started wearing his four-pocket naval dungarees, thus Magnum wears this shirt tucked into Levi’s jeans for its trio of first-season appearances. The jeans are a medium-wash in “Thank Heaven for Little Girls and Big Ones Too” and then a lighter wash in “Lest We Forget” and “Beauty Knows No Pain”, both times with the orange tab (rather than the classic red) that Levi’s introduced in the 1960s to differentiate its “fashion” denim.

Former Navy man Magnum continues wearing his mil-spec web belt, made of khaki cotton webbing and fastening through a gold-toned slider buckle. Beginning in the second season, this would be a wider buckle with his own last name and the U.S. Navy “Surface Warfare” badge, but he was still wearing the plain-buckled belt in the first season, similar to those still available from military contractors like Rothco (via Amazon).

Magnum was also a connoisseur of the classic boat shoe, the nautical footwear pioneered in 1935 by Paul A. Sperry, who had been inspired by his cocker spaniel’s grooved paws to develop a siped sole that would give fellow sailors more traction while walking the slippery decks at sea. Nearly a half-century later, the Sperry Top-Sider boat shoe was a casual favorite among everyone from sea dogs to preppy landlubbers. Decidedly in the former category, Magnum sported boat shoes in several colors, though this outfit always calls for Top-Siders with brown oiled leather uppers, detailed with two-toned rawhide laces through the side lacing and twin sets of eyelets.

Serenaded by bells ringing “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, Magnum awaits his prepubescent clients at the capitol building in “Thank Heaven for Little Girls and Big Ones Too” (Episode 1.04).

In “Lest We Forget” (Episode 1.10), Magnum joins Supreme Court Justice Robert Caine (José Ferrer) at the USS Arizona memorial. Apropos the episode’s themes of American military history, Vietnam veteran Magnum wears his oft-seen navy baseball cap recognizing his friends’ Marine Observation Squadron 2 (VMO-2) service with the yellow-embroidered “VMO2” and “DA NANG” above and below a right-facing eagle with its wings spread.

Reproductions of the hat are available from outfitters like Hawkins Military Merchants and U.S. Wings, though its wear should be limited to Magnum costumes to avoid one being accused of stealing valor.

The group represented on Magnum’s hat in “Lest We Forget” (Episode 1.10), VMO-2 was transferred to Da Nang Air Base in February 1970, where they remained until flying its last combat mission in March 1971.

“Lest We Forget” also breaks from Magnum’s established footwear with this outfit as he swaps out his brown leather boat shoes for another favorite set of kicks, his frequently seen PUMA Easy Rider sneakers in white nylon, detailed with blue-striped leather side trim and rubber-studded outsoles. Introduced only within a year before Magnum, P.I. premiered, the Easy Rider was revolutionary at the time as PUMA’s first jogging shoe, designed to capitalize on the new global trend.

Magnum’s Puma sneakers in “Lest We Forget” (Episode 1.10) signal that he’s ready should the day call for action.

All’s well that ends well when Magnum wears this shirt for a fourth and final time in the “Dead Man’s Channel” (Episode 2.02) epilogue, wearing it with a pair of navy blue elastic-waisted shorts with side pockets and a short inseam that I’d suspect was no longer than 3 inches. His shoes are white casual lace-ups that appear to blend boat shoe aesthetics with an athletic sneaker’s functional sensibilities.

Magnum’s shorts may be shorter than his sleeves in the burgundy rugby shirt’s swan song episode, “Dead Man’s Channel” (Episode 2.02).

Behind the wheel of his—er, Robin Masters’ Ferrari in “Beauty Knows No Pain” (Episode 1.18), Magnum wears the sporty tortoise-framed Vuarnet Skilynx Acier sunglasses, identified by Magnum Mania. Roger Pouilloux and Joseph Hatchiguian introduced the Vuarnet brand in 1961 to market their innovative Skilynx lens and capitalize on French alpine ski racer Jean Vuarnet’s gold medal during the previous year’s Winter Olympics.

Nearly forty years after Selleck first spun his tires speeding away from Robin’s Nest, Vuarnet introduced a variation of these frames as the Vuarnet Tom 1623, named in tribute to the show’s stylish star.

Magnum throws a Vuarnet-tinted glance at Barbara Terranova (Marcia Wallace) in the first season finale, “Beauty Knows No Pain” (Episode 1.18).

Until it was replaced with a “Pepsi bezel” Rolex GMT Master reportedly belonging to his father, Magnum wore a Chronosport Sea Quartz 30 dive watch that flashbacks reveal to have been his war-worn watch as well. (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!) This steel 42mm-cased watch with a slim black tick-marked rotating bezel has a black dial with a day-date window at 3:00 and is worn on a black tropical rubber strap.

Also reflective of his war service is the identical gold team ring that Magnum, Rick, and T.C. wear. The large oval surface is filled in black enamel with a raised Croix de Lorraine. Alternately 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. Replicas abound, such as this relatively well-reviewed piece offered on Amazon. Though he would wear it on his right hand in the pilot and all episodes from the second season on, Selleck wears the team ring on the third finger of his left hand for most of the series’ first season.

Magnum flashes his dive watch and team ring, both sharing his left hand for the last time in the first season finale “Beauty Knows No Pain” (Episode 1.18).

How to Get the Look

Tom Selleck and John Hillerman in a promotional photo for Magnum, P.I.

When not in his signature Hawaiian shirts, Thomas Magnum dressed for casual comfort in ’80s prep staples like rugby shirts and boat shoes with his usual Levi’s jeans and khaki web belt. It may just be a festive coincidence that he wears a burgundy-bodied rugby shirt in the series’ first Christmas episode, but it’s always nice to see some seasonal color during the holidays!

• Burgundy cotton jersey short-sleeve rugby shirt with white collar and long 3-button placket
• Sky blue chambray fishing shirt with point collar, shoulder straps (epaulets), four semi-bellows pockets, sleeve pocket, button-tab chest loop, button cuffs, and button-through side vents
• Blue denim Levi’s vintage “orange tag” jeans
• Khaki web belt with gold-tone sliding belt buckle
• Brown leather Sperry Top-Sider boat shoes
• 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
• Navy cotton twill baseball cap in navy cotton twill with yellow-embroidered “VMO2 / DA NANG” text and eagle logo
• Vuarnet Skilynx Acier tortoise nylon sport sunglasses

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the entire series.

I also highly suggest the extensively researched Magnum Mania! site for fans of the series. For obvious reasons, I suggest 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

Well, some people don’t like to be taken for a ride.

The post A Magnum, P.I. Christmas: The Burgundy Rugby Shirt appeared first on BAMF Style.

Christopher Plummer as Captain Georg von Trapp in The Sound of Music (1965)

Vitals

Christopher Plummer as Captain Georg von Trapp, widowed ex-Imperial Austro-Hungarian Navy officer

Salzburg, Austria, Spring 1938

Film: The Sound of Music
Release Date: March 2, 1965
Director: Robert Wise
Costume Designer: Dorothy Jeakins

Background

Happy birthday, Christopher Plummer! Born 91 years ago in Toronto, the distinguished actor continues to be a familiar face on screen, most recently as the doomed mystery writer at the center of Knives Out (2019). Plummer’s most recognizable performance remains arguably that of Georg von Trapp, the Austro-Hungarian patriarch whose family of young singers was depicted in The Sound of Music.

Considered one of the best movie musicals of all time, The Sound of Music was nominated for ten Academy Awards, winning five including Best Picture and Best Director, and remains one of the highest-grossing movies of all time. While Plummer would hardly consider himself a fan of The Sound of Music even more than five decades later, he and Julie Andrews forged a lifelong friendship after working on the film, and he has at least come to appreciate the somewhat saccharine musical he occasionally denigrated as “The Sound of Mucus”.

The movie and stage musical were adapted from Maria von Trapp’s own memoir of her life with the von Trapp family, though significant liberties were taken in condensing the timeline and characters, simplifying all into a musical romance set amidst the tension leading up to the Anschluss in the spring of 1938. In fact, Maria had met the von Trapps more than a decade earlier when she arrived to tutor one of Georg’s daughters, also named Maria. The widowed 47-year-old Georg and the 22-year-old Maria married in November 27 and would have three more children together (including the youngest born after their escape to the United States), bringing the total number to ten. The von Trapp children already had a degree of musical talent before Maria’s arrival, cultivated further by Catholic priest Franz Wasner—represented on screen to some degree as the musical director Max Detweiler (Richard Haydn)—as they began performing in paid concerts.

What’d He Wear?

The prolific Dorothy Jeakins received one of her 14 Academy Award nominations for Best Costume Design in recognition of her work on The Sound of Music, in which she also appeared uncredited as Sister Augusta, one of the nuns at Nonnberg Abbey.

Jeakins fittingly dressed the proud Austrian von Trapp in equestrian-inspired garb that incorporates regional pageantry with its gray suiting and rich green detailing. He’s no stranger to traditional Bavarian dress, including the dark gray-and-green janker he wears for his on-screen introduction and the forest green Tracht jacket for the climactic performance and trek across the mountains, but not all of his clothing is strictly rooted in Tracht. Captain von Trapp frequently “dresses down” in sporty gray suits detailed with equestrian-style flap pockets, a dignified and appropriate style for a courtly ex-military officer spending his days at his elegant country villa.

As I expressed in my earlier post about Telly Savalas’ janker in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, I’m no expert in Bavarian dress. While I hope that I’ve adequately represented the fruits of my research in this post, I would look forward to those with stronger knowledge than mine to share their insights, elaborations, or corrections in the comments.

The Green-Trimmed Equestrian-Cut Suit

Trees, lakes, mountains… you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all!

Not long after he hires Maria and leaves his seven children in her care, Georg von Trapp returns to his picturesque estate with his high-society pals Baroness Elsa von Schrader (Eleanor Parker) and Max Detweiler, the latter self-admittedly inviting himself along as he “needed a place to stay where the cuisine is superb, the wine cellar unexcelled, and the price—uh—perfect.” He escorts the baroness around his grounds, each taking their turns pitching woo just before Maria and the children pitch themselves into the lake as they paddle over to greet him.

The dapper captain escorts the elegant baroness around his estate.

Though information abounds about the women’s costumes in The Sound of Music, I’ve seen little about Captain von Trapp’s fine attire. While undoubtedly an execution of costume designer Dorothy Jeakins’ vision, I’m thus unsure of who made this fine suits, and the only tailor I’ve read to be associated with Christopher Plummer was Maxwell Vine of Mayfair (as mentioned by Matt Spaiser for Bond Suits.)

Whoever made this suit for von Trapp neatly drew inspiration from the character’s heritage and lifestyle, blending traditional Tracht and equestrian detailing to create an attractive country suit. The sporty cut of von Trapp’s single-breasted jacket, shaped with front darts, is suppressed at Plummer’s waist for an athletic silhouette. Additional equestrian elements include the single vent, the flapped set-in breast pocket, and flapped hacking pockets on the hips, slanted toward the back to allow a rider easier access while on horseback.

The notch lapels have a dark green felt-finished collar and roll to three neat gilt shank buttons, ornamentations borrowed from Tracht. The suiting itself appears to be a light gray loden, the coarse and durable Tyrolean water-resistant melton wool originally sourced from Austrian mountain sheep and characteristic to classic Bavarian clothing.

The sleeves are finished with wide gauntlet cuffs made from the same soft forest green felt as the collar, each cuff detailed with two decorative gilt buttons.

von Trapp’s white cotton shirt has an icy finish, an almost indiscernible pale blue cast. It has a semi-spread collar, front placket, and unique cuffs that appear to be “double-ply” like the classic French cuff but fused to the sleeves like single cuffs. Obviously, these cuffs are worn fastened with links, in this case a set of small, black-surfaced circular cuff links.

His straight tie echoes the colors of his suit, consisting of stone-gray cross-hatching against a dark green ground, albeit in a more muted shade than the felt detailing on his jacket.

Christopher Plummer and Julie Andrews filming The Sound of Music. von Trapp never removes his jacket on screen.

When driving with Max and the Baroness up to his estate, von Trapp wears a hat that follows the Alpine-infused sensibilities as the rest of his outfit. von Trapp’s dark brown felt hat is arguably a Tyrolean hat like his friend Max wears, characterized by the rope-corded band and the short brim, though the brim isn’t quite as closely cropped as the quintessential Tyrolean hat and appears to lack the flourish of brushed feathers.

Given the range of geography included in Alpine, Bavarian, and Tyrolean styles, there doesn’t appear to be one true Tyrolean hat with crown heights, brim widths, and other factors differing based on the wearer’s region.

von Trapp, Max, and the baroness don traveling hats as they ride to the von Trapp villa in the captain’s sleek Mercedes-Benz cabriolet.

von Trapp keeps his jacket buttoned so we see little of the trousers aside from the straight-cut legs made from the same lighter gray loden cloth, finished with slightly flared plain-hemmed bottoms that break over his dark brown leather cap-toe derby-laced ankle boots, worn with plain black socks.. Assuming these are styled in the manner of his other trousers, we can assume that they have a flat front.

“What’s gonna happen is going to happen, just make sure it doesn’t happen to you,” Max advises von Trapp regarding the coming annexation by Nazi Germany, met with a firm rebuke from the captain. The rebukes are only just beginning once Maria and the singing children submerge themselves while paddling over to greet Georg, culminating in a showdown where Maria implores that the father be more demonstrative with his love for his children. von Trapp is just about to fire the outspoken governess when he’s moved by the sound of his children’s singing voices; one would thus be correct in saying it’s the sound of, well, music that shifts the captain’s emotions and turns the tide in how he shows attention to his children as well as his growing affection for Maria.

The Gray Mini-Check Suit

We’ve got to get out of Austria and this house… tonight.

When Georg and Maria return home from their honeymoon to a post-Anschluss Salzburg, von Trapp’s first move is to pull down the Nazi flag (“the flag with the black spider,” according to his daughter Gretl) that has been hung from his villa, ripping it apart. The flag wasn’t his only wedding gift from the Third Reich, as he’s also given the request—nay, demand—that he accept a commission in the Kriegsmarine and report for duty the following day. “To refuse them would be fatal for all of us,” von Trapp realizes, “and joining them would be unthinkable.” In response, Georg and Maria plot to spirit their entire family out of German-occupied territory immediately following the children’s inaugural performance at the Salzburg Festival that evening.

von Trapp’s mini-checked sport suit is a significant departure from any traditional Bavarian styles as it looks like it could have been cut by any Western tailor with expertise in country clothing. The lighter-weight wool suiting is patterned with a tic-check that creates the effect of a black vertically oriented grid against a light gray ground.

Like the gray loden suit, the single-breasted suit jacket has flapped pockets, notch lapels, and a three sporty shank buttons on the front, albeit the buttons appear to be gray woven leather rather than metal. In addition to the flapped breast pocket, the hip pockets are flapped and slant backwards, though they follow a gentler slant than the more dramatically angled hacking pockets on his loden suit. Other differing details from the loden suit are short side vents rather than an equestrian single vent, and the cuffs have no ornamentation aside from the two decorative buttons matching those on the front. The flat front trousers were tailored to be worn without a belt.

von Trapp demonstrates his resistance to Nazi rule.

von Trapp wears another plain white cotton shirt that appears to have an icy cast in certain light, made all the more evident by the blue shade of his dark navy knitted tie.

The incorrigible Max unconsciously provides the von Trapps with their exit strategy after enlisting the children to sing at the annual Salzburg Festival.

von Trapp wears a pair of rings throughout The Sound of Music, with a gold band on the third finger of his right hand and a larger pinky ring on his left that has a large, black enamel-filled center.

Now married, Georg and Maria plan the next move to ensure their own safety and that of the seven children.

As depicted in The Sound of Music, the erstwhile naval officer had been sent an “offer” to join the German Navy, but his opposition to Nazi ideology resulted in his turning down the decision and—anticipating arrest or worse reprisals—fled Austria with his family, heading for the United States by way of a train to Italy, rather than over the mountains, as the family held Italian citizenship by nature of von Trapp’s birth in the Austro-Hungarian (now Croatian) city of Zadar, which had become part of the Kingdom of Italy following the 1920 Treaty of Rapallo.

Their musical tour actually brought them back to Salzburg within the year, but the von Trapps were safely back in America by the time war broke out across Europe in September 1939.

Christopher Plummer as Captain Georg von Trapp in The Sound of Music (1965)

How to Get the Look

The proud Austrian von Trapp incorporates elements of traditional Bavarian dress with equestrian country attire for the sporty gray flap-pocket suits he wears around his country estate.

• Light gray loden wool Bavarian-inspired suit:
  • Single-breasted equestrian-cut jacket with notch lapels (with forest green felt collar), three gilt shank buttons, flapped set-in breast pocket, slanted flapped hacking pockets, forest green felt-finished turnback cuffs (with two ornamental gilt buttons), and single vent
  • Flat front trousers with plain-hemmed bottoms
• Ice-white cotton shirt with semi-spread collar, front placket, and single cuffs
  • Black-faced round cuff links
• Dark green and stone-gray cross-hatched straight tie
• Dark brown felt short-brimmed Tyrolean hat with dark brown rope-corded band
• Dark brown leather ankle boots
• Black socks

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie. I’m not typically a fan of musicals, but there’s no arguing with The Sound of Music‘s solid anti-Nazi stance.

Take that, Third Reich!

The Quote

To refuse them would be fatal for all of us… and joining them would be unthinkable.

The post The Sound of Music: Christopher Plummer’s Flap-Pocket Country Suits appeared first on BAMF Style.

If you’ve been following BAMF Style for a few years, you know I like to take a break from the enviable style of Grant, McQueen, Poitier, and their ilk to tackle a problem many of us have faced: how to dress for the office Christmas party. Given that corporate America’s closets tend to have more in common with Michael Scott than with Steve McQueen, the American version of The Office rose to the occasion to address the phenomenon of ill-fitting sweaters and ill-advised ties that seems to plague my fellow cubicle-dwellers as they don their gay apparel for the holiday season.

2020 being the year that it’s been, many staff parties have been relegated to holiday happy hours via Zoom or Teams where there will likely be a better chance of catching glimpse of a co-worker’s sweatpants than Christmas ties. For this year’s ranking of Dunder Mifflin duds, it thus feels more appropriate to settle in for Michael Scott’s vision of a more intimate holiday gathering… which also hosts its fair share of snowball scenes that would no doubt result in severe HR violations.

“Classy Christmas” aired ten years ago, the second of three episodes to be directed by Rainn Wilson. It also marked Michael Scott’s final Christmas celebration at Dunder Mifflin Scranton before Steve Carell left the series at the end of the seventh season.

Jenna Fischer, Ed Helms, John Krasinski, Leslie David Baker, and Steve Carell in “Classy Christmas”, the seventh season holiday episode of The Office.

Series: The Office
Episode: “Classy Christmas” (Episode 7.11/7.12)
Air Date: December 9, 2010
Director: Rainn Wilson
Creator: Greg Daniels
Costume Designer: Alysia Raycraft

“Before we kick off the party, I just want to remind everyone that an office party is just that… a party,” Pam Beesly announces. “It’s not an excuse to get really drunk or confront someone or have a cathartic experience of any kind.”

Of course, this being Dunder Mifflin Scranton, there’s no way any celebration would pass free of drama, and it could be argued that Pam’s own husband Jim begins the “Classy Christmas” spiral into chaos when he launches a snowball in the face of his co-worker Dwight Schrute… who admittedly deserved it.

For whatever is going on between Jim and Dwight, it’s naturally Michael Scott that escalates the holiday drama when he learns that not only will his HR nemesis Toby Flenderson be out of the office on jury duty but Toby will be temporarily replaced by Holly Flax, for whom Michael had fallen in love two seasons earlier. Enthusiastic about Holly’s return, Michael postpones the party—which had been on the verge of starting—to be retooled as the eponymous “Classy Christmas” experience.

Thus, the double-sized “Classy Christmas” offers us back-to-back looks at how the Dunder Mifflin Scranton staff dresses for their corporate celebration, ranking the gents’ takes below based on their appropriate levels of seasonal festivity, office decorum, and overall fashionability.

Round 1

12. Darryl Philbin (Craig Robinson)

I feel good today!

Having been promoted from the warehouse to work on the same floor as the sales and support staff, Darryl quickly sees that a little more sartorial effort will be expected from him to keep up with the Dunder Mifflin Scranton holiday celebrations. Given that his former colleagues had chided him just for tucking in his shirt after his promotion in “St. Patrick’s Day” (Episode 6.19), Darryl soon sees that Christmas at Dunder Mifflin will require more than just an ecru off-the-rack cotton/poly shirt worn unbuttoned at the top to show his neutral-colored undershirt.

Let’s cut Darryl a little slack as it’s his first Dunder Mifflin Scranton Christmas party since he’s been promoted from the warehouse.

11. Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner)

That would be impressive if anyone knew what a comptroller was!

Arguably the most corpulent of Dunder Mifflin Scranton’s employees, poor Kev doesn’t do himself any favors in this large scarlet red sweater that manages to envelop his entire torso and essentially transforms him into a genetically enlarged cherry. Not a bad sweater on its own, this is merely an example of a man not dressing to flatter his body type.

It looks like we spy one of his usual J. Garcia “painted” silk ties with a festive red and green print, but the high V-neck covers it too much. Kevin could have better served his tie—and his midsection—by opting for a classic cardigan, perhaps even a shawl-collar cardigan, that would have added complexity and brought a degree of Andy Williams-inspired austerity.

At least the Santa hat adds some vertical dimension to Kevin’s outfit… though one could also argue that it’s merely the stem this giant cherry needed.

10. Creed Bratton (Creed Bratton)

Aside from his surprising turns in the second- and third-season Christmas parties, Creed tends to sabotage what could be an otherwise passable look with obnoxious ties too wild to be festive. In the first part of “Classy Christmas”, Creed stays primarily in the background, emerging only to incorrectly speculate on Holly Flax’s race and temperament. How to even describe the tie, which appears to be scattered with a large-scale print of computers alternating among red and yellow ornaments against a forest green ground, tied in a Windsor knot.

Creed reels at the Hello Kitty laptop sleeves that Kelly chose as corporate’s Christmas gift to its employees.

9. Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson)

Oh, my god… it’s the first snowfall of Christmas! Is that just so magical for you, little girl? Can you not wait to have a hot chocolate and cuddle up with Papa and tell him about all your Christmas dreams?

You know what, Dwight? You may be an obnoxious boor in this episode who takes a dangerous prank much too far, but you get some points for trying with your go-to holiday kit of a red-and-green striped bow tie and Santa-printed suspenders, revived from “Secret Santa” but toned down without the elf hat and ears. Granted, there’s still no sense of coordination, the belt and braces are redundant, and it’s *deep sigh* another mustard short-sleeved shirt worn with a suit… but it’s still a festive—if ultimately failed—spin on Dwight’s typically dour duds.

Clad in red-and-green bow tie and suspenders among his usually earthy garb, Dwight makes a deal Jim will live to regret.

8. Jim Halpert (John Krasinski)

Well, it’s not a snowball, ’cause it’s only a dusting. Right?

I once resented Jim’s lack of creativity when dressing for the office—and, in particular, office Christmas parties—but, by “Classy Christmas”, the case could be made that he’s now overcompensating. No longer the laidback, scrappy, and single salesman who rotated between three worn-in OCBDs and just as many subdued ties, Jim the married assistant manager (and new dad!) has upgraded to conservative business suits and off-the-rack shirts with non-buttoning collars. Welcome changes, for sure, and he even indicates some holiday cheer in the previous season’s “Secret Santa” when he marks the occasion in a bright red tie that’s conspicuously different from his everyday attire.

A season later, and Jim now shows up at the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch in his typical navy suit and white shirt, but his dark blue tie is printed with a wintry motif of snow falling down onto a hapless snowman at the blade. Is Jim now buying his ties from the same place as his once-resented superior Michael Scott?

Michael leaving seems to inspire some sartorial introspection, as Jim tones it down a touch with his penguin-printed red tie in the following season’s “Christmas Wishes” before eschewing holiday-themed neckwear altogether for the final season’s “Dwight Christmas”… but there’s still another classy Christmas party to go before we get to that!

Jim, about to launch the snowball heard ’round the office.

7. Toby Flenderson (Paul Lieberstein)

Well, that’s hurtful talk and, uh, we’ve talked about that…

“The horrible red-headed sad sack” sticks to his established holiday tradition of a classic-patterned sports coat (this time, a light brown windowpane check) over a neutral shirt (this time, cream) and a silk holiday tie in a neatly arranged pattern (this time, rows of dancing penguins against a red ground). It’s never a particularly offensive look, and given the unabating disappointment in Toby’s personal life, it’s nice to see the banal HR rep embracing some Christmas cheer with his tie that accompanies otherwise tasteful business attire.

Toby makes an announcement that will change Michael’s life.

6. Stanley Hudson (Leslie David Baker)

Pam got the sugar-free cookies I like, I’m doin’ fine!

Similar to Dwight, it’s refreshing to see seasonal style on someone like Stanley who shows little enthusiasm for… well, much at all. We first saw Stanley in a Christmas sweater the previous season in “Secret Santa”, possibly a gift from his ex-wife Teri… or his girlfriend Cynthia.

The crossword-addicted salesman may have been ranked higher if he’d just selected a different tie with his outfit (or gone tieless!) as I feel like the yellow-on-green polka dots clash too much with the established navy, cream, and red in his sport jacket and alpine-patterned sweater.

Stanley illustrates that he doesn’t need to be dressing for Florida to wear festive patterns.

5. Gabe Lewis (Zach Woods)

Kelly, I thought we agreed on fleece blankets.

Given how easy Gabe makes himself to hate, I’m surprised I don’t reserve more ire for his excessively patterned Christmas tie. Gabe may not be ready for Pitti Uomo anytime soon, but he displays some basic comprehension of coordination and fit. Aware of that attention-grabbing red tie, he keeps the rest of his outfit muted, wearing a subdued green shirt that brings out the holly in his tie. The conservative dark gray suit flatters the lanky Gabe’s 6’4″ frame with its three-button jacket and, like the shirt, refuses to compete with the tie for attention aside from a Santa pin on Gabe’s lapel that thematically unites.

While not the prize-winner for the ideal “Classy Christmas” aesthetic, Gabe’s first look in the episode

Gabe offers up a pathetic wave to Erin, whom he is still surprising dating by this point.

4. Ryan Howard (B.J. Novak)

He’s rubbing his neck!

By the seventh season, Ryan Howard’s short-lived style phases have evolved to a quasi-hipster phase anchored by his rectangular glasses with thick black frames. Surprisingly, he doesn’t incorporate this into his holiday attire for the first party in “Classy Christmas”, dressing in a manner but subdued and stylish in his lavender plain-fronted shirt with a narrow dark forest green tie bar-striped in burgundy.

Ryan excitedly decodes Toby’s not-too-subtle hints about the subject of his jury duty case.

3. Michael Scott (Steve Carell)

What every boss wants is a wonderful Christmas with no drama.

Though he’s actually dressed in a Santa suit (or at least the trousers and suspenders) for the first part of the episode, let’s enter his “street clothes” he requests from Erin in the latter act of the episode. This may be Michael’s strongest contender to date with his narrow-striped navy suit, plain white shirt, and a grid-motif silk tie with enough burgundy for a staid wink at yuletide frivolity without a dancing Santa or snowman cheapening the look.

“I am dead inside.”

2. Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez)

Here’s a question nobody’s asking: Is this worth it?

One of the consistently better-dressed members of The Office cast, Oscar dresses for the initial celebration in “Classy Christmas” in a rich fuschia sateen shirt and coordinated paisley tie. It’s the sort of ensemble you might find on the shelves at Macy’s, perhaps with a Geoffrey Beene or Van Heusen label, but the Dunder Mifflin Scranton employees have relatively few outfitters at their immediate disposal beyond the tenants at Steamtown Mall. Even a nicer dresser like Oscar isn’t going to blow his underwhelming salary on custom-made shirts or clothes from high-end outfitters.

Note that Oscar is using the custom mug Kelly made for him during her off-screen America’s Got Talent party earlier in the season.

1. Andy Bernard (Ed Helms)

All good, Santa!

Remember what I just said about Dunder Mifflin employees not putting too much value in high-end clothing? Enter Andy Bernard, the exception to prove the rule ever since he brought his Brooks Brothers-informed steeze to Scranton from Stamford. Andy’s first attempts to look the part for the corporate Christmas party in “A Benihana Christmas” failed to impress, though it’s worth remembering that said festivities fell right at the same time as the sycophantic Ivy grad was still trying to worm his way into Michael Scott’s good graces… and he had just the flashy tie to do it.

Four years later, Andy has come into his own, dressing more for his own preferences and truly able to put together a decent holiday party outfit that combines his personal sense of preppy style with seasonal color. Andy’s look is centered by a festive red waistcoat with gold buttons that serves as a statement piece, grabbing all the needed attention from the navy jacket, subdued graph-check shirt, and a navy tie with a woven motif of Santa playing golf, the sort of thing that might have been more obnoxious if it were more in-your-face but perfectly suited to the Nard Dog.

Andy’s holiday cheer is evidently no put-on, as he can’t restrain his obvious enthusiasm during the day.

Round 2

“Holly’s coming back, and this is the most important Christmas part of my life,” announces Michael, “…so back to work!”

Michael doesn’t have much patience for Gabe’s suggestion that “I’m not sure the temporary replacement of an HR rep really warrants a party,” so the Dunder Mifflin Scranton employees’ expected celebration is postponed to give Michael enough time to round up the food, furnishings, and fashions that will live up to his theme of a “cool” Christmas. One can only imagine the pride he felt when Holly observed upon her return:

It looks beautiful in here, it’s super classy… it’s like a party for limousine drivers.

12. Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson)

I have no feeling in my fingers or penis… but I think it was worth it.

Perhaps cynical after he took a snowball to the face while dressed in his favorite Christmas bow tie and suspenders, or maybe just dressing for business now that he’s dedicated to the task of terrorizing Jim Halpert with snow, Dwight ignores the “Classy Christmas” direction in favor of one of his usual mustard short-sleeved shirts anchoring a brown suit and tie. Not a festive color to be seen… at least not until he surprises Jim dressed in Pam’s red cardigan and holding a bowl full of snowballs, a sight that no amount of powder to the eyes can unsee.

Change from first round ranking: -3

Dwight establishes that there are no limits to how far he’ll go to settle the score with Jim.

11. Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner)

I don’t wanna get dirty. There might be girls at the party.

Kevin just can’t catch a break. He’s left his sweater at home for the “classy” Christmas, but he isn’t faring much better by just tying on a holiday-themed tie with his dark brown suit and double-striped shirt with little coordination aside from the likely unintentional semi-match of the brown suiting with the reindeer trailing Santa as he skis down the snowy slope on Kevin’s tie.

Change from first round ranking: unchanged. Kevin eleven.

Kevin leaves his sweater at home for the classy Christmas party.

10. Darryl Philbin (Craig Robinson)

Pick a damn tree already!

That’s the spirit, Darryl! In addition to the red satin-striped silk tie, Darryl’s slate gray shirt has a sateen cast that brings a celebratory edge. Some fit issues linger, particularly with those lower-rise trousers, but it’s nice to see Darryl putting in some effort as he brings his daughter to the office party.

Change from first round ranking: +2

Darryl introduces his nine-year-old daughter Jada (Taylar Hollomon) to “Santa Bond”.

9. Creed Bratton (Creed Bratton)

Creed fares a little better for the second round of “Classy Christmas”, and—once Jim’s snowball breaks the window—his addition of a gray scarf adds a surprisingly dashing wintry touch. I take no issue with his navy suit or the royal blue shirt, but I’m not wild about the, well, wild tie. Patterned with snowmen angled in every direction against a blue ground that at least harmonizes with the rest of his outfit, Creed’s chaotic tie foreshadows the famous Dwight vs. Jim parking lot showdown—or snowdown, if you will.

Change from first round ranking: +1

Creed picks out his own holiday treat as Jada hands out snacks from the vending machine.

8. Jim Halpert (John Krasinski)

Okay, I’m sorry, why are we discounting this whole “Woody came to life” thing so quickly?

Did Michael’s favorite tie retailer offer Jim a BOGO deal? The “Classy Christmas” dictum doesn’t affect Jim’s newfound penchant for novelty ties, though at least this one offers a cheap chuckle with its scene of Santa’s legs stuck in a chimney while snow continues falling on him against a midnight sky. Worn with Jim’s otherwise tasteful winter outfit of a dark gray pinstripe flannel suit and pale slate shirt, I consider this a slight improvement over Jim’s Round 1 look (as I guess I a least have a soft spot for smirk-worthy novelty ties), but his co-workers’ improvements overshadow his and Big Tuna stays at #8.

Change from first round ranking: unchanged

Jim finds himself repeatedly victimized by a snowball-hurling prank. One wonders if the pre-Christmas tie Jim would have better dealt with this new stress imposed by his nemesis.

7. Gabe Lewis (Zach Woods)

Yet another opportunity where a blanket would have come in handy…

We see little of Gabe’s look under the raincoat and scarf he has to put on after Jim’s snowball breaks the window, but he evidently took Michael’s “Classy Christmas” memo to heart and put away his tackier tie in favor of one more subdued with a small-scaled Christmas tree motif.

Change from first round ranking: -2

Even the mockumentary’s interviewers were evidently surprised that Gabe and Erin were still dating by this point.

6. Toby Flenderson (Paul Lieberstein)

I know people are only this excited to talk to me because of the trial, but… they talk to me for a while, and maybe people realize I have something to say.

Isn’t it great to see Toby looking so much lighter and happier when he’s even temporarily freed from the confines of daily life at Dunder Mifflin! He returns for the office party in a dark green holiday sweater with a cream-and-red stitched wintry pattern, layered over the same olive mini-checked button-down that he had worn with a jacket and tie during Meredith’s impromptu (and ill-advised) intervention in “Moroccan Christmas” (Episode 5.11).

If you work somewhere that doesn’t require ties and you’re not afraid to sport what some may deride as “an ugly Christmas sweater”, an outfit like this adds some coziness when gathering around the communal punch bowl… once communal anything is a thing again.

Change from first round ranking: +1

Toby outlines his plan for making more friends around the office.

Exactly one year earlier, Cheyenne Jackson wore the same sweater—albeit in navy—as Danny Baker in “Secret Santa”, fellow NBC sitcom 30 Rock‘s fourth-season Christmas episode.

5. Ryan Howard (B.J. Novak)

Who’s in charge of making drinks around here? Is there a bartender…?

Like Darryl, Ryan merely livens up his daily dress with a red tie, but the improved fit of the admittedly image-obsessed Ryan’s clothes gives him a considerable edge. The red tie, detailed with a small tonal pattern, adds flavor to his businesslike charcoal pinstripe three-piece suit, which he dresses down by removing the jacket, loosening his collar and tie knot, and rolling up his shirt sleeves. As much as Ryan may have evolved into the pretentious guy-you’d-love-to-punch by now, his outfit neatly bridges the desired corporate-meets-classy Christmas party line.

Change from first round ranking: +3

Ryan offers Pam some patronizing feedback—veiled as constructive criticism—about her thoughtful handdrawn Christmas gift for Jim.

4. Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez)

Why would someone hug you?

Oscar’s good at dressing for a party! He pulls together another winner for the classier portion of “Classy Christmas”, wearing another colorful sateen shirt and paisley tie combination, this time with a rich indigo shirt coordinated with a dark navy tie patterned in a bright green paisley that adds a seasonal festivity. Once the broken conference room window calls for extra layers, Oscar pulls on not only his dark brown windowpane sports coat but also a Barbour-style waxed jacket.

Change from first round ranking: -2

Oscar keeps a well-informed conclusion to himself about Angela’s date after catching his eye wandering to Ryan’s tight trousers.

3. Stanley Hudson (Leslie David Baker)

I have been trying to get on jury duty every single year since I was 18 years old. To get to go sit in an air-conditioned room downtown, judging people, while my lunch is paid for? That is the life…

Stanley improves his holiday look for the second party by opting for nearly all solid patterns that offer less potential for clashing, layering a camelhair sports jacket over an olive sweater with a bright red tie and neutral light gray shirt. The fortuitous broken window allows Stanley to tie the look together with a navy tartan scarf with white, tan, and red in the plaid that pulls out the other colors in his outfit.

Change from first round ranking: +2

Never one for excessive intraoffice fraternization, Stanley and his martini enjoy the Dunder Mifflin Scranton Christmas party in relative solitude.

2. Andy Bernard (Ed Helms)

I don’t have kids or anything, but if my grandmother ever dies, I’m going to kill myself.

Andy, still dressing to impress! It’s a little preppier than before, and it may be a little… much… for some people’s taste, but the erstwhile Ivy Leaguer Andy (“Cornell… ever heard of it?”) still arguably the most fashionable man at Dunder Mifflin Scranton.

The Nard Dog revives his second-prize style from “Secret Santa” of a light brown corduroy sports jacket, cornflower blue shirt, and bow tie though he swaps out the cream sweater for a considerably more festive waistcoat patterned in dazzling Royal Stewart tartan plaid, a holiday favorite for its prominent red and green. Based on the fact that it’s similarly cut and styled with its five gold blazer-style buttons, now positioned to button through the right side (like a women’s garment), we can reasonably assume this is the same red waistcoat from his earlier outfit, worn reversed.

Change from first round ranking: -1

Andy offers up his ‘brid—Toyota Prius Hybrid, that is—on Pam’s tree-finding mission, until realizing the irony of the car’s inability to fit a tree (despite saving trees on a daily basis) means needing to recruit his “hookup with a pickup.”

1. Michael Scott (Steve Carell)

The name’s Bond, Santa Bond. I’ll have an egg nog, shaken not stirred… classic Brosnan.

Would I actually wear this to the office? Chances are… slim. That said, the effort and consistency in Michael Scott’s “sophisticated take” on Santa as well as the fact that he finally left his tacky tie at home after wearing it for three consecutive on-screen Christmas parties give Dunder Mifflin Scranton’s proud regional manager the top spot.

Looking to make a smooth impression on his lost love Holly, Michael wears a lush scarlet velvet smoking jacket with black silk shawl collar, cuffs, and pocket jetting. The trim coordinates with his black sateen shirt and black pants, which we see have the authentic silk side stripe of formal tuxedo trousers as he has Angela hemming the bottoms before Holly’s arrival. Michael even appears to have revived “Date Mike”‘s Kangol cap from the previous season, providing for what becomes the foundation of a velour Santa hat.

Everybody loves Santa, everybody can’t get enough of the jolly old man. But that is a myth, because you know what? He is not necessarily a big fat guy with a beard! He’s not necessarily an old guy! No one knows what the real Santa Claus, gah—god!

As I mentioned, Michael’s “Classy Christmas” getup may not be right for the typical office holiday party—depending on your workplace, of course—but in 2020? Embrace the decadence.

Change from first round ranking: +2

Michael chalks his Sean Connery impression up as “classic Brosnan” while preparing to have a Holly jolly Christmas, if you will.

Happy holidays, BAMF Style readers!

I hope all of you, particularly fans of The Office, enjoyed this exploration into another classic holiday episode.

Whether you’re a fan to The Office or finally just want to see what all the fuss is about, do yourself a favor and check it out on Netflix through the end of the year or on Peacock, beginning in January 2021. (If you don’t want to keep up with the streaming shifts, you can always pick up the series—or gift it to your favorite Dunder Mifflin super-fan—on Blu-ray or DVD!

The post The Office: Classy Christmas – Ranking Holiday Looks appeared first on BAMF Style.

James Shigeta as Joe Takagi in Die Hard (1988)

Vitals

James Shigeta as Joe Takagi, Nakatomi Corporation executive

Los Angeles, Christmas 1987

Film: Die Hard
Release Date: July 15, 1988
Director: John McTiernan
Costume Designer: Marilyn Vance

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

My latest post focused on yet another chaotic Christmas party on The Office, though the drama of Dunder Mifflin’s holiday celebrations pale in comparison to how the employees of the Nakatomi Corporation are forced to spend Christmas Eve in Die Hard.

James Shigeta kicked off #Noirvember last month when I focused on his style in The Crimson Kimono so, in the spirit of the yuletide season, let’s revisit the actor via his arguably most memorable role as the stylish, unflappable, and ultimately doomed head of the Nakatomi Corporation.

Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi, born Kyoto, 1937. Family emigrated to San Pedro, California, 1939. Interned, Manzanar, 1942 to ’43. Scholarship student, University of California, 1955. Law degree, Stanford, 1962. MBA, Harvard, 1970. President, Nakatomi Trading. Vice Chairman, Nakatomi Investment Group… and father of five.

Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) introduces himself—and Takagi—by reading the executive’s CV, luring him out from his among his employees with the purpose of coercing the codes out of him to raid the company’s vault of $640 million in negotiable bearer bonds.

You want money? What kind of terrorists are you?

What’d He Wear?

Gruber proves that he knows even more about Takagi than his personal and professional history when he observes: “Nice suit. John Phillips, London. I have two myself… rumor has it Arafat buys his there.”

The London tailor was invented for the film’s narrative, but Gruber’s conspicuous admiration for Takagi’s high tailoring (as well as Harry Ellis’ smug admiration for Holly’s new Rolex) reflects the vain, materialistic, power-hungry psyche of the late ’80s that Bret Easton Ellis tapped into with sociopaths like Patrick Bateman in American Psycho who would just as soon kill someone for wearing an unfashionable suit.

Though he may be wearing the “right” clothes, Takagi rises above the Batemans, Grubers, and Harry Ellises of the world with his accepting, trustworthy nature, not thinking twice about welcoming the blue-collar John McClane (Bruce Willis) to his corporate celebration.

Okay, all you “Die Hard isn’t a Christmas movie” Scrooges… explain what Santa’s doing there!

Takagi opts for festive fabrics rather than colors for his company’s holiday party, selecting the hues of conservative business wear but in a silk suiting that shines like holiday lights. The charcoal pinstripes against the elephant gray silk suiting echoes the distinguished executive’s graying hair.

As a successful, powerful businessman, it stands to reason that Joe Takagi would be tailored in a manner consistent with the decade-defining “power suits”, albeit more subtle than some per his more unassuming personality. The suit jacket has the strong, squared, padded shoulders associated with power suits and lower-gorge notch lapels that roll to a low but still proportional two-button front. The single reverse-pleated trousers have a low rise to meet the buttoning point, held up with a black leather belt and detailed with side pockets and turn-ups (cuffs) on the bottoms.

The full cut is still flattering rather than excessively baggy. The sleeves are roped at the shoulders and finished with two “kissing” buttons spaced back from each cuff. The ventless jacket and minimalist jetted hip pockets serve to keep the lower torso looking sleek and minimalized in comparison to the built-up shoulders and chest, which also draws attention with the black silk pocket square Takagi wears folded in the welted breast pocket.

Takagi wears a plain white cotton shirt with a spread collar and double (French) cuffs that he fastens with a set of plain round silver links.

Shooting his cuffs, buttoning his jacket, straightening his tie; Takagi dresses to kill for the company Christmas party… and unfortunately dresses to be killed as well.

Perhaps another indication of Takagi’s amiable and unassuming personality is his choice of neckwear. At the height of a decadent decade where conspicuously colored “statement” ties were meant to intimidate or at least catch one’s eye, Takagi foregoes the classic red power tie—even though it could have been excused as a festive seasonal choice—and instead coordinates with the grayscale palette of the rest of his outfit by wearing a silk tie in a design of gray “painted” streaks against a black ground, held in place with a pearl stickpin.

Holly holds her boss back from volunteering his identity to the terrorists, no doubt returning the favor after Takagi likely came to her aid against Ellis’ lecherous advances.

Takagi wears a gold watch just barely glimpsed under his left shirt cuff. The squared look of the case suggests a luxurious tank watch like the famous Cartier, though he may also choose to wear a Rolex given that his company seems to value the venerated Swiss watchmaker.

A glimpse of a gold watch can be spotted under Takagi’s left shirt cuff.

Takagi’s black leather oxfords appear to have a classic cap-toe and are worn with black socks.

James Shigeta as Joe Takagi in Die Hard (1988)

How to Get the Look

“It’s a very nice suit, Mr. Takagi… it’d be a shame to ruin it.”

• Gray black-pinstripe silk tailored “power suit”:
  • Single-breasted 2-button suit jacket with low-gorge notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, 2-button cuffs, and ventless back
  • Single reverse-pleated trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• White cotton shirt with spread collar and double/French cuffs
  • Round silver cuff links
• Gray-on-black “painted”-streak motif silk tie
  • Pearl stickpin
• Black leather belt with squared metal single-prong buckle
• Black leather cap-toe oxford shoes
• Black socks
• Gold wristwatch

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

We’re flexible! Pearl Harbor didn’t work out, so we got you with tape decks.

The post Die Hard: Takagi’s “John Phillips” Suit appeared first on BAMF Style.

Al Pacino as Benjamin “Lefty” Ruggiero in Donnie Brasco (1997)

Vitals

Al Pacino as Benjamin “Lefty” Ruggiero, washed-up Mafia soldier

New York City, Christmas 1978

Film: Donnie Brasco
Release Date: February 28, 1997
Director: Mike Newell
Costume Designer: Aude Bronson-Howard & David C. Robinson

Background

Like The Godfather and Goodfellas, Donnie Brasco follows the tradition of great Mafia movies by featuring some Cosa Nostra Christmas celebrations. The frequency with which the holidays appear in mob cinema is no coincidence, as Catholic traditions are very important to we Italian-Americans.

Donnie Brasco features a casual Christmas on Mulberry Street, perhaps more reflective than the Phil Spector-scored Goodfellas party of how many yuletide observances will look in 2020. The movie was loosely based on the true story of FBI agent Joe Pistone, whose five-year undercover work resulted in more than 100 mob convictions after he successfully infiltrated the Bonanno crime family under the guise of a jewelry fence named Donnie Brasco.

Joe (Johnny Depp) drops in on Christmas Eve to show face with his de facto mob “mentor” Benjamin “Lefty” Ruggiero (Al Pacino), who’s spending his holiday in front of the tube watching animals. Joe plans it to be an in and out visit, exchanging Christmas cards—each enclosed with $500—but the lonely Lefty, abandoned by his own deadbeat son, insists that his new protégé stick around:

No man of mine is gonna be alone on Christmas!

At the expense of his own wife and children’s quality time, Joe is roped into the kitchen where Lefty shows off his culinary skills rather than defaulting to the manigott’ preferred by “them goombahs in Brooklyn.” Lefty also has a helping hand in his inamorata Annette (Ronnie Farer), though her inability to “cook special like Benny” relegates her role to putting out kitchen fires as Lefty prepares his melt-in-your-mouth coq au vin.

What’d He Wear?

Yes, this has been a heavy year for tracksuit content on BAMF Style, but what can I say? It’s 2020. Working from home for nine months has meant my collection of suits and sport jackets have endured three seasons patiently hanging, awaiting my return for the office while watching a rotation of garments—increasing in their comfort and decreasing in their formality—take center stage.

If Donnie’s three-piece suit and combed coiffure reflect how I appeared for work at the start of the year, Lefty’s red tracksuit and less refined tresses depict where I’ve landed nine months later.

Donnie evidently missed the dress code memo when he arrives at Lefty’s apartment in his matching windowpane suit jacket and waistcoat with odd trousers and open-neck, disco-collar shirt. In other contexts, Donnie may be too dressed down for a holiday celebration, but he’s got the formality edge on Lefty, who’s sprawled on his plush La-Z-Boy in a red soft-shell tracksuit with gray-and-black stripe accents.

The track jacket has a white-taped zipper up the front and matching rear-slanted zip-openings on the two pockets placed over the hips. The shoulders are detailed with black and gray jersey-knit cotton rings around the armholes, with a gray strip over top of each shoulder running from the neck to the inner-placed gray armhole ring. The pants have white trim around the elasticized waistband and black-and-gray striping down the side of each leg to mimic the shoulder detailing.

His own unique brand of Santa Claus, Lefty ambles over in his all-red tracksuit to pull Donnie’s present from under the Christmas tree.

Lefty continues his parade of seasonally festive colors with burgundy slippers and dark socks that appear to also be a shade in the burgundy spectrum.

Annette, “a good woman” by Lefty’s standards, dresses somewhat fancier for the holiday in a shiny cheetah-print jumpsuit… which would certainly appear to her animal-obsessed paramour.

Lefty doubles down on the decadence by fully unzipping his track jacket to let the coq au vin settle, showing more of the track pants pulled up over his tucked-in white ribbed cotton sleeveless undershirt. Jockey marketed these as “athletic shirts” (or “A-shirts”) upon their development in the mid-1930s, though they would be denigrated with the sticky “wife-beater” moniker after prominently featuring in a criminal’s publicized mugshot a decade later. These sleeveless undershirts have become a staple of wiseguy style as seen in The Godfather, Goodfellas, The Sopranos, and countless other works of Cosa Nostra cinema.

Lefty proudly shares that having “cancer of the prick” has placed him in the medical books. At least he’s easing the pain in his affected area by wearing non-smothering pants…

Lefty wears a gold necklace with an ovular religious pendant which drops atop his white undershirt. I’m not sure we ever see the necklace clearly enough to discern which saint is represented on the medallion, but it clearly has more than symbolic significance for Lefty, who gently kisses it after taking it off his neck in his final scene on screen.

Like so many wiseguys in movies (and real life!), Lefty also wears a pinky ring, in this case a gold shiner with a black onyx-filled surface studded by a single diamond in the center.

I hope Lefty gave his pinky ring a thorough cleaning after handling raw chicken!

Lefty wears a gold watch with an octagonal case that encloses a white octagonal dial, strapped to his left wrist on a gold expanding bracelet. The shape alone isn’t enough for me to discern the exact model of Lefty’s wristwatch as watchmakers from Timex to Longines made timepieces with this profile during the era… however, I know there are some eagle-eyed horologists among my readers who may have some insightful thoughts about Lefty’s watch!

Lefty and Donnie thank each other for their mutual—if redundant—gifts of $500 apiece.

When Lefty shifts the day’s activities into the kitchen, he puts on a plain white apron and rests a pair of tortoise-framed rectangular reading glasses on his nose.

“Sometimes you don’t make no fuckin’ sense, Donnie.”

What to Imbibe

“Can of collagen, can of tomatoes… and a punch of salt,” Lefty describes his process for making coq au vin, tossing the controversial punch over his left shoulder before adding it all to the pan. He then pours in copious E&J brandy which eventually lights the dish aflame… calling for Annette’s unique talents to fight the fire with her own apron and a pot lid.

If you like cooking with a pinch of salt, wait until you get your palms full of a punch of salt!

The E&J was just for cooking, however. As described in Pistone’s memoir and depicted on screen in Donnie Brasco, Lefty’s favorite drink was a white wine spritzer, often downed in a trio to calm down after running into his ex-wife who lives in the same building.

A simple and often refreshing drink, the spritzer is made by pouring chilled white wine into a glass—either a wineglass or a highball glass, depending on preference and amount—and topping it off with club soda or any other light, carbonated beverage with some recipes calling for ginger ale or even lemon-lime soda like Sprite. It’s likely a pair of spritzers that “Donnie” and Lefty toast with after their holiday dinner.

“I die with you, Donnie.” Perhaps feeling the warmth of a filling Christmas coq au vin and a trio of spritzers, Lefty’s pledges his loyalty to the young protégé he’s known for approximately a month.

How to Get the Look

Al Pacino as Benjamin “Lefty” Ruggiero in Donnie Brasco (1997)

Far from elegant but undeniably comfortable, Lefty Ruggiero’s bright red tracksuit subconsciously channels Santa Claus for the aging mobster’s intimate Christmas spent with no one but his nearest and dearest.

• Red soft-shell tracksuit with gray-and-black accents
  • Zip-up track jacket with white-taped zipper, gray-and-black shoulder rings, and white-zipped hip pockets
  • Elastic-waisted track pants with black-and-gray side stripes
• White ribbed cotton sleeveless undershirt
• Burgundy slippers
• Dark burgundy socks
• Gold necklace with religious pendant/medallion
• Gold pinky ring with black onyx-filled surface and diamond center
• Gold octagonal-cased wristwatch with white dial on gold expanding band

Do Yourself a Favor And…

Check out the movie and also the real Pistone’s written account of his undercover life.

The Quote

I got cancer of the prick.

The post Donnie Brasco: Pacino’s Red Christmas Tracksuit appeared first on BAMF Style.

Robert De Niro flanked by co-star Stephanie Kurtzuba and director Martin Scorsese on the set of The Irishman (2019)

Vitals

Robert De Niro as Frank “the Irishman” Sheeran, tough Mafia enforcer

Philadelphia, Christmas 1960

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

Background

Last year’s holiday season, there was plenty of buzz around The Irishman, Martin Scorsese’s latest mob epic which had been released to Netflix following a brief limited theatrical run. At 209 minutes, The Irishman clocked in as Scorsese’s longest movie to date, following real-life enforcer Frank Sheeran (Robert de Niro) through his connections to the mob via Philadelphia boss Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) and his friendship with outspoken labor leader Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino).

Everything seems to change for the boys after the Kennedy administration puts the mob in the government’s crosshairs, but they get one final moment of peace at Christmas 1960, just less than a month before JFK would take office. Frank and Russell gather with their families for an intimate holiday celebration where the only real tension is Frank’s 11-year-old daughter Peggy withholding her affection for the Bufalino patriarch, refusing to see him as a benevolent “Uncle Russell” despite his Christmas gift of skates lined with a C-note.

On #MafiaMonday with just a week until Christmas, let’s look a little deeper at Frank Sheeran’s seasonal style during this brief holiday scene.

What’d He Wear?

“These guys don’t dress to be noticed — you know, the peacock variety of those gangster guys,” costume designer Sandy Powell explained to Indiewire of The Irishman‘s low-key protagonists. We’re used to seeing a little more flash from the gangsters of Scorseseworld, whether its silk suits and alligator shoes in Goodfellas or the colorful wardrobe of pastel silk sport jackets worn by Robert De Niro in Casino.

Even in the more toned-down world of The Irishman, Christmas calls for a little extra sartorial pizzazz, especially given everyone’s good fortunes and promising futures at the dawn of the ’60s. Frank Sheeran tends to let his clothing speak an octave louder than his voice (while his guns speak louder still), so it’s hardly surprising when he dresses for the holidays in a single-breasted blazer made from a dark, subdued burgundy wool. The narrow notch lapels are finished with sporty swelled edges, rolling to two silver-toned shank buttons that echo three buttons on each cuff. The jacket has low-slung flapped pockets on the hips and a welted breast pocket he leaves empty, saving the ornamentation for his busy neckwear.

Frank’s narrow tie is likely an authentic vintage piece, patterned in a gray-on-black geometric paisley print that covers the neck of the tie, bordered by a trio of gold stripes crossing “downhill” from right-to-left. Below the gold stripes at the blade and above the gold stripes from the knot through the tail, the tie is patterned in the same paisley but in a tonal burgundy-on-burgundy that coordinates with his blazer. Sandy Powell and Christopher Peterson pointed out in a Vanity Fair featurette that Frank was intentionally dressed in a narrower tie, more contemporary with the era and a direct contrast to the bolder, ’50s-style tie that the older Russell wears with his Christmas cardigan.

Frank Sheeran, dressed for the holidays.

New York shirtmaker Geneva Custom Shirts made many of the shirts worn by the principal cast in The Irishman, so Frank’s pale pink cotton shirt with its puckered self-stripe is likely no exception. The shirt has a point collar, front placket, and rounded cuffs that close through a single button. Under his left cuff, he wears a gold tank watch with a rose gold rectangular face and textured black leather strap, identified by BAMF Style readers Cedric and Aldous as a 1940s-era Bulova President.

One of Frank’s Christmas presents from the Bufalinos is a new gold-finished watch which appears to have an expanding band, though he keeps his Bulova tank watch on for the duration of the short scene.

From the waist down, Frank wears a conservative kit that would work just as effectively with a blazer in the traditional navy wool and neatly harmonizes with the top half of his outfit. He wears dark gray wool pleated trousers with a slim black leather belt that closes through a ridged silver-toned single-prong buckle. He coordinates the belt to his shoes, a pair of black calf cap-toe derbies worn with uninspired black socks we see under the cuffed bottoms of his trousers.

A behind-the-scenes shot of Joe Pesci, Kathrine Narducci, Lucy Gallina, India Ennenga, and Robert De Niro filming the Bufalino family Christmas in The Irishman. Pesci’s colorful cardigan was the subject of a blog post during last year’s holiday season.

Frank only wears this blazer on screen at Christmas, but several scenes set in the early 1970s feature him in another burgundy blazer, updated for the times with broader lapels and sportier details like swelled edges and a flapped breast pocket.

How to Get the Look

Robert De Niro as Frank Sheeran in The Irishman (2019)

Assumed to be around 40 years old in this scene (yes, I know), Frank Sheeran was intentionally dressed to be more contemporary than the older Russell Bufalino, styled in the slimmer lapels and tie widths that would be fashionable in the early years of the decade to follow. Frank also doesn’t shy away from incorporating some dignified festivity with a burgundy blazer and busily patterned retro tie.

• Dark burgundy wool single-breasted blazer with narrow notch lapels, 2 silver-toned shank buttons, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets,
• Pale pink puckered self-striped cotton shirt with point collar, front placket, and 1-button rounded cuffs
• Gray-on-black geometric paisley-printed vintage tie with burgundy blade and tail separated by thin gold triple “downhill” stripes
• Dark gray wool reverse-pleated trousers with belt loops and turn-ups/cuffs
• Slim black leather belt with ridged silver-toned single-prong buckle
• Black calf leather cap-toe derby shoes
• Blakc socks
• Bulova President vintage yellow gold tank watch with rose gold rectangular face (with gold hour markers and 6:00 sub-dial) on textured black leather strap

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie, currently streaming on Netflix and recently released via the Criterion Collection.

The post The Irishman: De Niro’s Burgundy Christmas Blazer appeared first on BAMF Style.

Jerry Stiller as Frank Costanza on Seinfeld (Episode 9.10: “The Strike”)

Vitals

Jerry Stiller as Frank Costanza, neurotic (but inventive) retiree

Queens, New York, Tuesday, December 23, 1997

Series: Seinfeld
Episode: “The Strike” (Episode 9.10)
Air Date: December 18, 1997
Director: Andy Ackerman
Created by: Larry David & Jerry Seinfeld
Costume Designer: Charmaine Nash Simmons

Background

Fed up with the materialism around the holidays? Do you wish the holidays were less about forgiveness and cheer and more about directly telling people what they’ve done to upset you over the past year? Happy Festivus!

Seinfeld writer and story editor Dan O’Keefe took inspiration for one of Frank Costanza’s shining moments from his own father, Reader’s Digest editor Daniel O’Keefe, who had founded the secular holiday of Festivus in the late ’60s. Unlike Frank, who had spitefully created the holiday after a discouraging Christmas, the elder O’Keefe founded Festivus with the more benign motive of commemorating his first date with Deborah, the woman he would marry. The O’Keefes reportedly celebrated Festivus sporadically, or “whenever the hell my dad felt like it, September to May,” as Dan O’Keefe recalled in a Washington Post Q&A. “One year there was none. One year, there were two.”

Once the Seinfeld writing team learned about the holiday from O’Keefe’s brother, they dragged the full background from a reluctant O’Keefe before it was repositioned as the perfect vehicle for Jerry Stiller’s brilliantly bombastic portrayal of Frank Costanza:

And at lunch one day, Danny O’Keefe started talking about this tradition that his father made him do instead of Christmas—this whole Festivus thing he and his brothers had to endure—and Alec and I just looked at each other. Because we knew how great that was going to be for Frank. We said to Danny, “You know we’re doing this on the show, right?” And he goes, “No one’s going to want to see that.” And I go, “Danny, you can write the script with us, or you can watch it on television, but we’re doing it.” It was such a great opportunity to have Jerry shine. An airing of grievances? Who could ask for anything better for Jerry Stiller?

— Jeff Schaffer, former Seinfeld writer, to Max Cea for GQ

Given what we know about the Costanza family, the origins of Festivus would require some alternation to suit Frank’s neuroses, as we learn when a perfervid Frank outlines his conceptualization to an eager Kramer:

Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reach for the last one they had… but so did another man. As I rained blows upon him, I realized there had to be another way! … out of that, a new holiday was born: a Festivus for the rest of us!

Seinfeld had always taken a more casual approach to its Christmas-themed episodes, the holiday serving as more of an incidental backdrop to controversies surrounding marked-down cashmere sweaters, provocative holiday cards, and a commie-curious Santa. Thus, it’s fitting that Seinfeld‘s most memorable holiday episode—and perhaps one of its most lasting episodes of all time—should center around a holiday invented as an alternative to Christmas.

In tribute to Jerry Stiller, who died this May at the age of 92, let’s take a moment during this surreal holiday season to bask in Frank Costanza’s grievances.

What’d He Wear?

December in Queens is no time for Frank Costanza’s famous cabana shirts so the cantankerous retiree dons a maroon knitted cardigan that, despite his best efforts, arguably taps into the seasonal festivities beyond his own invented holiday. The sweater is paneled into vertical strips as well as a strip extending from each side of the neck, across the shoulder, and down each raglan sleeve to the ribbed cuffs. Five flat pearl sew-through buttons close up the front from the straight hem to mid-chest, where the sweater opens up into a V-neck. The cardigan has two welt-opening pockets on the hips.

“Welcome, newcomers. The tradition of Festivus begins with the airing of grievances. I got a lot of problems with you people! And now you’re gonna hear about it! You, Kruger. My son tells me your company stinks!… Kruger, you couldn’t smooth a silk sheet if you had a hot date with a babe- I lost my train of thought.”

With his wardrobe of leisure suits, wide ties, and cabana shirts, Frank Costanza likely hasn’t gone shopping for new clothes in about 20 years, still proudly sporting his broad-collared, chaotically patterned disco-era shirts in the 1990s.

On Festivus, Frank wears an ice-gray shirt—almost certainly made of polyester or other manmade fabric favorites of the ’70s—with wide slate-colored bar stripes generously spaced to make room for columns of a repeating pattern that appears to consist of a double-headed arrow (⇕) with a coil around the center. (If there is a name or significance for this particular shape, please let me know!) The shirt has a long-pointed collar that would have been fashionable around the time it was originally sold as well as a front placket, breast pocket, and button cuffs.

Frank strips down to his shirt sleeves for the fabled Festivus feats of strength.

Frank tucks the shirt into his khaki flat front trousers, forgoing the belt loops in favor of a set of suspenders (braces) made from a muted khaki cloth that nearly matches the pants he clips them onto.

Frank wears his usual steel watch, plated in yellow gold and secured to a black leather strap, as well as the gold wedding band symbolizing his marriage to Estelle (Estelle Harris). His shoes remain unseen throughout the entire episode, but it would be reasonable to assume he’s foregone form in favor of function (and comfort) with the somewhat clunky brown napped leather moc-toe derbies that he wears with similar outfits in other episodes.

The shoes seen in “The Raincoats” (Episode 5.18) are a likely contender, detailed with tan laces and tan soles and worn with white socks. These types of shoes, which tend to be targeted toward the Frank Costanza demographic, are often marketed with terminology like “walking shoes” and “comfort oxfords” (despite boat shoe-style derby lacing).

From beltless raincoats to vintage cabana shirts, old men’s fashions drive the plot of “The Raincoats” (Episode 5.18). Frank Costanza’s cardigan, open-neck shirt, and khakis would prove to be one of his favorite ways to dress while at home, a pattern repeated again for Festivus four seasons later.

How to Celebrate

Jerry: When George was growing up, his father hated all the commercial and religious aspects of Christmas, so he made up his own holiday.
Elaine: Oh, and another piece of the puzzle falls into place!
Jerry: And, instead of a tree, didn’t your father put up an aluminum pole…? Then weren’t there feats of strength that always ended up with you crying?

In the more than 20 years since Seinfeld brought Festivus to the world’s attention, an abundance of articles, books, and websites have been dedicated to the peculiar holiday originated by the O’Keefe family. I’ve found Festivus! The Website to be a particularly comprehensive digital resource, exploring every aspect of the holiday’s on-screen observance from the dinner prepared by Estelle (meatloaf on a bed of… lettuce) to the plain aluminum pole that Frank fished from his crawlspace. No decoration, of course, as Frank “finds tinsel distracting.”

Frank touts aluminum’s “very high strength to weight ratio” when showing off his Festivus pole to Mr. Kruger.

“We never knew when it was going to happen until we got off the school bus and there were weird decorations around our house and weird French ’60s music playing,” Dan O’Keefe explained to Mother Jones in 2013.

The music sadly seems not to be an element of the Costanza family celebration, which begins with the famous “airing of grievances” as Frank outlines to Kramer:

At the Festivus dinner, you gather your family around and tell them all the ways they have disappointed you over the past year!

The concept of a holiday centered around outlining your disappointment in family and friends may seem too true to Frank Costanza’s character to have not been invented for the show, but it was indeed part of the O’Keefe tradition as members of the family would dictate their complaints into a tape recorder.

O’Keefe’s recollections also include occasionally wrestling with his brothers though he was never forced to pin his father, for “if [he] had, [he] would’ve been raised by the state of New York,” as he explained to CNN in 2013. Frank, on the other hand, wraps up the Costanza observance with a demand that his son defeat him during the annual feats of strength before Festivus can conclude:

And now, as Festivus rolls on, we come to the feats of strength. … Until you pin me, George, Festivus is not over!

How to Get the Look

Jerry Stiller as Frank Costanza on Seinfeld (Episode 9.10: “The Strike”)

Should you feel so compelled to channel Frank Costanza for your Festivus celebration…

• Maroon knitted panel-strip raglan-sleeve cardigan sweater with five flat pearl plastic buttons, ribbed cuffs, and hip pockets
• Ice-gray polyester shirt with alternating slate bar stripes and coiled double-headed arrow motif, with point collar, front placket, breast pocket, and button cuffs
• Khaki flat front trousers with belt loops and side pockets
• Khaki cloth suspenders with gold-toned hardware and clips
• Brown napped leather moc-toe derby shoes
• White socks
• Gold wedding ring
• Gold-finished steel wristwatch on black leather strap

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the entire series, currently streaming on Hulu. You’ll have some good times.

You can also read writer Dan O’Keefe’s history of the holiday in his 2005 book, The Real Festivus.

The Quote

Welcome, newcomers! The tradition of Festivus begins with the airing of grievances… I got a lot of problems with you people! Now, you’re gonna hear about it!

The post Seinfeld: Frank Costanza’s Festivus Cardigan appeared first on BAMF Style.

Bing Crosby as Bob Wallace in White Christmas (1954)

Vitals

Bing Crosby as Bob Wallace, Broadway crooner and World War II veteran

Pine Tree, Vermont, December 1954

Film: White Christmas
Release Date: October 14, 1954
Director: Michael Curtiz
Costume Designer: Edith Head

Background

Merry Christmas to all BAMF Style readers who celebrate! After a turbulent year, I know I’ve found comfort in the warm familiarity of the 1954 holiday classic White Christmas starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye as a pair of war buddies-turned-producers who stage yet another “yuletide clambake” to support their popular general (Dean Jagger)… as if you hadn’t already seen it!

Bing and Danny’s plans to spend the holidays in New York are derailed when they meet the talented Haynes songbird sisters, played by Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen. Now, I don’t know whether the best plots are hatched while you’re dancing or whether they just happen in Vermont, but Danny and Vera-Ellen conspire to pair their work-obsessed partners Bing and Rosie together. Plenty of holiday mischief, misunderstands, and “small compound fractures” follow until the climactic Christmas Eve performance.

If you’re one of the few unfamiliar with White Christmas, or if you’ve watched it so much that you can anticipate every Bing-ism from playing “a little trombone here” to getting stuck with “weirdsmobiles”, check out this fun roundup from the blog Life of Ando celebrating the movie’s quirkier aspects.

What’d He Wear?

Among the scheming in White Christmas, Bob and Phil set out to present their Christmas Eve show at the Columbia Inn to rejuvenate its owner, their former commander Tom Waverly.

Bob: …the minute Phil and I saw it, we decided it was ideal. Didn’t we, Phil?
Phil: That’s right, Bob. Ideal. That’s exactly the word we used, too. Ideal. We looked at this big ski lodge and we said, “Isn’t it ideal? Absolutely ideal.” Didn’t we?
Bob: Ideal.
General Waverly: We’ve established the fact the lodge is ideal.

Scarf aficionados Michael Curtiz and Bing Crosby are joined by Danny Thomas on set, with Danny Kaye standing over director Curtiz.

Both performers are dressed nattily when trying to talk “the old man” into hosting the spectacle at his “ideal” inn. While the younger—and arguably less mature—Phil wears a sportier suede blouson and yellow turtleneck, Bob takes a more sophisticated approach to off-duty dress, layering a smart gray flannel blazer over a burgundy knitted shirt and silk scarf.

The brief vignette only photographs our heroes from the waist up, though a behind-the-scenes photo from filming the scene reveals a pair of medium-shaded socks that suggests either the bright red or blue hose that Bing wore elsewhere in White Christmas.

Bing’s dark gray woolen flannel blazer was tailored flatteringly in the full-cut fashions of the early ’50s, building up the drape chest with wide, padded shoulders and a suppressed waist. The notch lapels gently roll over the top of three gilt shank buttons, an ornamentation characteristic of blazers in addition to the sporty patch pockets. The single-breasted blazer also has short double vents and three gilt buttons on each cuff that match those on the front.

With this casual outfit, Bob wears a burgundy knit long-sleeved shirt with a large polo-like collar and two white plastic buttons worn closed on the plain (or French) placket. He ties a periwinkle silk scarf around his neck like a day cravat, tucking it into the top of his buttoned-up shirt.

Sporty, sophisticated, and sturdy: Phil, Bob, and General Waverly reflect their own personalities in their approach to casual dress. A blazer, knit shirt, and scarf is as dressed-down as Bob Wallace gets… at least, when not performing in the proverbial girdle and snood.

Several misunderstandings later, Betty has abandoned the show—and any fledgling romantic feelings for Bob—as she boards a train for New York. As it turns out, Bob himself has been at the station to make some arrangements for when his fellow veterans would descend on the town for the Christmas Eve show and catches up with Betty just in time to exchange quick and confused farewells.

Perhaps as he’s conducting some business, Bob chooses to dress a little more formally than he does around the inn, wearing the same white shirt, striped tie, and burgundy cardigan that he had worn with his glen plaid suit when the foursome first arrived in Pine Tree. The white cotton shirt has a spread collar and a plain “French placket” front. Bob tends to prefer shirts with double (French) cuffs, though these could get bulky when worn under the long sleeves of his sweater.

The burgundy cardigan, with its four smoke-gray plastic sew-through buttons, has been knitted in a lighter-weight material that reveals the silhouette of his tie underneath. The brown tie is patterned with tan “downhill” stripes that are split by very narrow stripes in brown, periwinkle, tan, and orange.

One of those sticky situations that could have been avoided by direct communication! Let’s hope Emma truly did resign as president of the New England chapter of Busybodies Anonymous after all the trouble she caused.

Bob’s trousers are a shade of dark gray adjacent to taupe, a warmer shade than his blazer to provide the necessary contrast though some may argue that the effect still too closely resembles a mismatched suit. Likely pleated per the era’s fashions and Bing Crosby’s own preferred style seen elsewhere in White Christmas, the trousers are finished with turn-ups (cuffs) that break high enough to show the yellow cotton lisle socks that provide a touch of color between the conservative-colored trousers and the black leather derby shoes.

Bob’s yellow socks get the time to shine on screen when he scurries down the station after a hastily departing Betty.

With both outfits, Bob wears his usual chocolate brown felt fedora with a brown grosgrain ribbon and self-finished edges that he wears both upturned and turned down in the front. On the inside of his left wrist, Bing Crosby wears his usual gold wristwatch with a curved brown tooled leather strap, evidently the same watch he would wear in other films of the era including High Society.

Crosby would wear a different gray napped wool odd jacket in White Christmas, a more formally styled tailored jacket with a ticket pocket, for his late-night “Vermont smorgasbord” with Betty that culminates in a kiss after the two sing “Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)”.

How to Get the Look

Bing Crosby as Bob Wallace in White Christmas (1954)

Merry Christmas, BAMF Style readers! Today’s yuletide post explores how Bing Crosby dresses up (and down) a gray flannel blazer in the 1954 holiday classic White Christmas, always incorporating some festive burgundy knitwear into his outfit, whether it’s a two-button long-sleeved polo shirt and scarf or a lightweight cardigan over a white shirt and tie.

• Dark gray woolen flannel single-breasted 3-button blazer with notch lapels, patch pockets, 3-button cuffs, and double vents
• Burgundy lightweight knit long-sleeve 5-button cardigan sweater
• White shirt with large spread collar, plain front, and double/French cuffs
• Brown tie with tan “downhill” stripes and complex narrow stripes
• Taupe-gray wool double reverse-pleated trousers with self-belt, side pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• Black leather derby shoes
• Yellow cotton lisle socks
• Gold wristwatch on tooled brown leather curved strap
• Brown felt short-brimmed fedora with brown grosgrain band

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie, and have a very happy holiday!

The post White Christmas: Bing’s Gray Flannel Blazer appeared first on BAMF Style.

Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men (Episode 1.05: “5G”).

Vitals

Jon Hamm as Don Draper, mysterious and award-winning Madison Avenue ad man

Series: Mad Men
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant

Background

Only three days left in 2020! The tradition of gents wearing black tie on New Year’s Eve, popularized in movies like the 1960 Rat Pack classic Ocean’s Eleven, seems to have fallen out of favor among the general population as standards of formality have decreased. However, given how excited many will be to see 2020 come to an end may herald a resurgence in dinner jackets and tuxedoes as many celebrate the new year in private.

On #MadMenMonday, we can take a few style tips from the enigmatic Don Draper on assembling a classic black tie ensemble from his half-dozen screen-worn dinner jackets.

Don’s most creative black tie ensemble, a blue silk plaid dinner jacket evidently worn to celebrate the New Year in 1956, is sadly never seen beyond this slide from his Kodak Carousel pitch in the first season finale.

What’d He Wear?

Jon Hamm and January Jones on Mad Men (Episode 1.05: “5G”)

“5G”

Episode: “5G” (Episode 1.05)
Air Date: August 16, 2007
Director: Lesli Linka Glatter

Set in Ossining, New York, Spring 1960

“5G” begins with Don and Betty Draper returning home tipsy from the NYOC Awards, he in black tie and she in an elegant white gown, establishing what would become an enduring Mad Men pattern of Don in black tie portending potential disaster for his personal life. In this case, the initial disaster seems to be no worse than a hangover… until the well-publicized awards dinner brings his half-brother Adam back into his life. Adam’s return could mean Don’s exposure as Army deserter Dick Whitman… but the titular $5,000 payoff instead leads to a slow burn and a tragic end for the vulnerable Adam.

Long before that, Don dresses to celebrate his role as a rising star in the advertising world. His black tie kit follows the trends of 1960, with some elements still rooted in the ’50s, particularly echoing the slimmer continental styles that emerged in mid-decade rather than the fuller-cut fashions of the immediate post-war era.

Don would exclusively wears shawl-collar dinner jackets throughout the ’60s, though the “5G” jacket in 1960 was the only one to feature silk piping rather than full facings. The wide pleats on Don’s shirt bib would be supplanted going forward by narrower pleats.

• Black single-button dinner jacket with piped-edge shawl collar, welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, 2-button cuffs, and ventless back
• White cotton formal shirt with spread collar and wide-pleated bib (with black studs) and double/French cuffs
• Black narrow “batwing”-style bow tie
• Black pleated silk cummerbund
• Black reverse-pleated formal trousers with wide satin side stripe and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Black patent leather oxfords
• White folded cotton pocket square

The drunk Drapers. We almost never see them this happy together.

Read the full BAMF Style post.

Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men (Episode 2.07: “The Gold Violin”)

Summer White in “The Gold Violin”

Episode: “The Gold Violin” (Episode 2.07)
Air Date: September 7, 2008
Director: Andrew Bernstein

Set in New York City, Summer 1962

Don’s only on-screen variance from his established black tie pattern occurs in the climax of this pivotal second season episode when he and Betty join the Barretts for a summer evening at the famed Stork Club. Having pulled up in his brand-new Cadillac with his beautiful wife on his arm, Don looks every bit the fabled “Mr. Success” in Sinatra’s song of the same name, though his fortune will be short-lived as the obnoxious comedian Jimmy Barrett (Patrick Fischler) all too eagerly divulges to Betty his suspicions regarding Don and his domineering wife Bobbie (Melinda McGraw).

Appropriate for the summer evening, Don arrives in a dashing off-white dinner jacket. From his dinner jacket’s shawl collar to his pleated shirt and straight bow tie, every detail of Don’s outfit is slim and sleek, a trademark of the Camelot years in the early ’60s. Jimmy Barrett dresses similarly and doesn’t look half bad, though I hate giving any credit to the crass comic.

Interestingly, his personal slideshow in “The Carousel” had depicted Don wearing a similar dinner jacket for his marriage to Betty circa 1954. Given the events of “The Gold Violin”, he bookends both the beginning and the end of their marriage wearing the same thing… yes, the two would remain married for another year and a half, but the love was effectively gone after Betty learned about one dalliance too many.

• Ivory single-button dinner jacket with narrow self-faced shawl collar, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, spaced 2-button cuffs, and single vent
• Off-white cotton formal shirt with semi-spread collar and narrow-pleated front (with gold studs) and double/French cuffs
• Black narrow straight bow tie
• Black formal trousers with satin side stripe and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Black patent leather oxfords
• Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Classique wristwatch with a yellow gold rectangular case on a brown alligator leather strap

The Drapers arrive at the Stork Club.

007 inspo? The inaugural James Bond movie, Dr. No, was still months away from its U.K. premiere, so the fictional secret agent would have had no real impact on Draper’s style. That said, it could be argued that this was Mad Men‘s homage to Sean Connery’s memorable off-white peak-lapeled jacket that he wears as Bond in Goldfinger‘s pre-credits sequence two years later.

Read the full BAMF Style post.

Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men (Episode 3.10: “The Color Blue”)

“The Color Blue”

Episode: “The Color Blue” (Episode 3.10)
Air Date: October 18, 2009
Director: Michael Uppendahl

Set in New York City, Fall 1963

More than a year after the fateful night at the Stork Club, the Draper marriage is on life support. Betty has discovered Don’s box of secrets detailing his past life as Dick Whitman and has begun constructing a path to her own future life with Henry Francis (Christopher Stanley). Don is oblivious to it all as he embarks on yet another romantic affair, this time a little too close to home in the form of his daughter’s teacher, Suzanne Farrell (Abigail Spencer).

The ad man beams with pride as he’s honored with yet another award, presented to him by his now-estranged friend and colleague Roger Sterling (John Slattery), though there won’t be a night of drunken canoodling with a giggling Betty to follow.

Don has updated his tuxedo for the ’60s, now wearing a black dinner suit with a subdued diamond self-textured print that only shines under the light of the Draper boudoir as he’s dressing for the event, layering the dinner jacket over his usual underpinnings of narrowly pleated shirt, cummerbund, and suspenders.

• Black diamond-textured single-button dinner jacket with silk-faced shawl collar, welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and ventless back
• White cotton formal shirt with semi-spread collar and narrow-pleated front (with gold-trimmed black studs) and double/French cuffs
• Black narrow “batwing”-style bow tie
• Black pleated silk cummerbund
• Black suspenders
• Black reverse-pleated formal trousers with wide satin side stripe and plain-hemmed bottoms
• White folded cotton pocket square
• Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Classique wristwatch with a yellow gold rectangular case on a brown alligator leather strap

Don gets an eyeful of Betty before the awards dinner. Note the unique pattern in his suiting.

007 inspo? Draper’s black tie kit generally follows the template that Sean Connery would wear throughout his first four films as James Bond in the early ’60s.

Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men (Episode 5.07: “At the Codfish Ball”)

“At the Codfish Ball”

Episode: “At the Codfish Ball” (Episode 5.07)
Air Date: April 29, 2012
Director: Michael Uppendahl

Set in New York City, Fall 1966

Don Draper’s year of loneliness saw little cause for celebration, so his black tie wouldn’t emerge back on screen until the fifth season. Now, relatively happy in his marriage to Megan (Jessica Paré), Don escorts his in-laws and his daughter Sally to an American Cancer Society dinner in his honor. What could go wrong here, you ask? Well, Don wears a tuxedo, so we know something won’t go well!

For starters, Don receives the ironic news that his publicly published anti-smoking letter—the very missive that resulted in this evening of awards—has turned companies like Corning Inc. against him, limiting the ceiling for his success. Poor ten-year-old Sally Draper (Kiernan Shipka) also encounters “dirty” disappointment after discovering her grandmother-in-law Marie (Julia Ormond) praising at the altar of Roger Sterling.

Echoing the evolving style of the era as he too grows older, Don’s black tie ensemble takes on more timeless proportions with more body to the jacket’s shawl collar and the thistle-shaped bow tie. This particular tuxedo was auctioned by ScreenBid following the end of the series’ run, where it was described as an Arnold Constabile dinner suit with a size 42R jacket.

• Black single-button dinner jacket with satin-faced shawl collar, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and single vent
• White cotton formal shirt with semi-spread collar and narrow-pleated front (with gold-trimmed black studs) and double/French cuffs
• Black silk thistle/”butterfly”-shaped bow tie
• Black formal trousers with satin side stripe and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Black patent leather oxfords
• White folded cotton pocket square
• Omega Seamaster DeVille wristwatch with stainless 34mm case, textured black crocodile strap, and black dial with date indicator

Don Draper, American Cancer Society honoree and lifetime smoker.

007 inspo? Don continues the example he wore for “The Color Blue”, which also aligns with how Sean Connery was dressing in black tie through the Bond films of the 1960s.

Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men (Episode 6.05: “The Flood”)

“The Flood”

Episode: “The Flood” (Episode 6.05)
Air Date: April 28, 2013
Director: Christopher Manley

Set in New York City, Spring 1968

Two years after his ACS awards dinner, Don has changed little of his approach to black tie as he’s settled into a pattern rooted in timeless styling appropriate for a man at his age and status. The continuance of the ’60s has hardly affected his dress with only a little more girth to his bow tie signaling the wider fashions that would follow in the next decade.

The major difference noted in “The Flood” is seeing an overcoat over Don’s tuxedo for the first time on Mad Men, an appropriate addition given the chilly weather of New York in April. April 4, 1968, that is… the date of Martin Luther King’s assassination. News of the murder understandably brings the Advertising Club of New York’s annual awards banquet to a halt as the attendees are shaken by the tragedy.

• Black single-button dinner jacket with silk-faced shawl collar, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and single vent
• White cotton formal shirt with point collar and narrow-pleated front (with black studs) and double/French cuffs
• Black silk thistle/”butterfly”-shaped bow tie
• Black pleated silk cummerbund
• Black suspenders
• Black formal trousers with satin side stripe and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Black patent leather oxfords
• Black wool single-breasted overcoat with notch lapels
• White folded cotton pocket square
• Omega Seamaster DeVille wristwatch with stainless 34mm case, textured black crocodile strap, and black dial with date indicator

Draper’s dinner suit, deconstructed. While Megan unwisely phones her father for consolation after Dr. King’s assassination, Don finds more consistent comfort in a roly-poly of Canadian Club.

007 inspo? Bond kept his dinner suit in the closet in You Only Live Twice so, even if the theme song made its way into Mad Men, it would not be influencing any of Don Draper’s evening attire.

Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men (Episode 7.08: “Severance”)

“Severance”

Episode: “Severance” (Episode 7.08)
Air Date: April 5, 2015
Director: Scott Hornbacher

Set in New York City, Spring 1970

Now in complete control of his identity more than we’ve ever seen him, a once-reticent Don now eagerly regales Roger and a trio of young ingenues with the story of his poor upbringing in rural Pennsylvania during the Depression. We don’t know where they’re coming from, but the long night has landed the group in a roach-infested, hole-in-the-wall diner where Don gets intrigued by their mysterious waitress Diana (Elizabeth Reaser).

Don the bachelor has notably adopted a new dinner jacket for the new decade, partying during the spring of 1970 in a single-breasted dinner jacket cut with peak lapels. Though this traditional style dates back to the earliest days of the black tie dress code at the start of the 20th century, Don’s lapels appropriately skew a little wider—matching the wider wings of his butterfly-shaped bow tie—in accordance with the early ’70s trends.

As with their daily dress, Don doesn’t get as caught up in the fads of fashion as his colleague Roger Sterling, now sporting a white walrus mustache in addition to his crushed velvet dinner jacket and frilly shirt. A ScreenBid auction following the series finale has confirmed Don’s dinner jacket as a genuine vintage piece made by Gingiss Formalwear.

• Black single-button dinner jacket with silk-faced peak lapels with welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, and single vent
• White cotton formal shirt with point collar and narrow-pleated front (with gold-trimmed black studs) and double/French cuffs
• Black silk large thistle/”butterfly”-shaped bow tie
• Black pleated silk cummerbund
• Black suspenders
• Black formal trousers with satin side stripe and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Black calf leather oxfords
• Omega Seamaster DeVille wristwatch with stainless 34mm case, textured black crocodile strap, and black dial with date indicator

Don shares the story of an unwisely gifted toaster in the Whitman family.

007 inspo? After a decade in shawl-collar dinner jackets, Don finally opts for peak lapels as he looks ahead to the 1970s. This follows the example set by ’60s style icon James Bond, as it wasn’t until George Lazenby’s turn the previous year in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service that 007 would wear a dark dinner jacket with peak lapels.

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the entire series, and have a happy New Year!

Roger Sterling and Don Draper wish you a very happy New Year.
(Photo taken during production of season 6’s “The Flood” by Frank Ockenfels/AMC)

I also recommend checking out Bryant Draper, the new menswear line from Inherent Clothier in collaboration with Mad Men costume designer Janie Bryant. The classic-inspired collection includes timeless pieces to build a traditional black tie ensemble like the Gable Tuxedo and the Fairbanks Tuxedo Shirt, named in tribute to famously fashionable Hollywood icons.

The post Mad Men: Don Draper’s Decade of Black Tie appeared first on BAMF Style.

Gene Hackman as Reverend Frank Scott in The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

Vitals

Gene Hackman as Reverend Frank Scott, fiery, independent-minded minister

aboard the S.S. Poseidon en route Athens, New Year’s Eve 1972

Film: The Poseidon Adventure
Release Date: December 12, 1972
Director: Ronald Neame
Costume Designer: Paul Zastupnevich

Background

Happy New Year’s Eve… and #TurtleneckThursday? After this disaster of a year, I can’t think of a better movie to bid good riddance to 2020 than one of the most famous disaster movies of the ’70s.

Produced by “Master of Disaster” Irwin Allen, The Poseidon Adventure followed the Airport template of a star-studded cast fighting to survive a perilous disaster while tackling their own personal issues. While Airport had originated the disaster film boom of the ’70s, The Poseidon Adventure proved its enduring box office power, recouping more than 25 times its initial budget and paving the way for a decade’s worth of similar stories set amidst tropical storms, within fire-prone skyscrapers, and even aboard a famous airship.

Unlike the ill-fated Titanic which sank during its maiden voyage in 1912, the fictional S.S. Poseidon—partially filmed aboard the decommissioned Cunard liner RMS Queen Mary—is making one last run before it will be scrapped in Athens. The cautious Captain Harrison (Leslie Nielsen) finds his authority challenged by the ship’s aggressive owner Linarcos (Fred Sadoff), establishing the dangers of hubris that would remain a consistent theme throughout the disaster sub-genre.

Down in the ship’s elegant dining room, the Poseidon‘s glamorous passengers are celebrating New Year’s Eve amidst their own personal dramas or crises of faith. Seated at the captain’s table are New York detective Mike Rogo (Ernest Borgnine), his ex-prostitute wife Linda (Stella Stevens), and Reverend Frank Scott (Gene Hackman), a controversial cleric yet popular passenger who had captivated a congregation earlier that day with his religious philosophy said to be based on director Ronald Neame’s own hybrid of Christian, Buddhist, and New Age spiritualist beliefs.

While the champagne pops and auld acquaintances be forgot, the crew learns of a massive undersea earthquake that results in a rare wave that strikes the ship broadside, capsizing the S.S. Poseidon and quite literally turning the lives of its passengers upside down.

2020, as summed up by The Poseidon Adventure.

We’re floating upside-down… we’ve gotta climb up.

While most of their fellow passengers follow the boorish purser’s overly cautious advice, Rev. Scott pulls a small group together to commandeer a decorative Christmas tree to climb up and out of the dining room and through the galley to potential freedom. The good reverend is only able to muster nine others that will join him to work their way up—or down, rather—into the ship’s intestines until they can attempt to cut their way out through the inch-thick steel hull to possible rescue. Belle Rosen (Shelley Winters), who insists that “a fat woman like me can’t climb” asks, “There’s something different up there than there is down here?”

“Yes,” Rev. Scott responds. “Life. Life is up there, and life always matters very much, doesn’t it?”

I love Hackman’s take-charge attitude, an alpha energy that won’t be suppressed by his super-’70s combover and seems to win him the affection of every woman on the ship… though it’s only Mrs. Rosen with whom he comes close to, uh, “getting familiar” as he gives her considerably more than a helping hand on her way up the crooked Christmas tree. After that, it’s a surreal, inverted hellscape through dimly lit corridors and air shafts, years before John McClane made it cool.

“Come on out to Poughkeepsie, we’ll pick our feet, have a few laughs…”

The Poseidon Adventure marked a rare occasion where the Academy seemed to have responded to a film’s box office rather than its critical reputation (or Oscar bait properties) as the movie described by Roger Ebert as “the kind of movie you know is going to be awful, and yet somehow you gotta see it” received a total of nine Academy Award nominations, winning two for Best Song and Best Visual Effects. Despite Ebert’s perhaps hyperbolic statement, The Poseidon Adventure isn’t necessarily awful, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it when I first watched it a few years ago before. Prior to that, I was only familiar with it from one of the prolific Mort Drucker’s parodies in my stack of vintage Mad magazines.

This recap by Ruthless Reviews sums up a lot of what makes The Poseidon Adventure so rewatchable… as well as being the movie that reinforces to me that Jack Albertson and Arthur O’Connell were two different actors.

What’d He Wear?

Reverend Scott appears for dinner at the captain’s table in a plain black wool suit over an off-white turtleneck, a look that evokes seafaring if less formal than his dinner-suited shipmates.

Two clerics in black suits, though Scott takes a more civilian approach with his turtleneck that also signifies his breaking from traditional philosophies of organized religion.

Apropos his modest vocation, Reverend Scott seems like the type who would not invest heavily or frequently in clothes. The slim, narrowly notched lapels of his single-breasted suit jacket suggest that it predates the early ’70s, likely made during the mid-to-later years of the prior decade. The 3/2-roll jacket has two buttons on the cuffs, a single vent, straight flapped hip pockets, and a breast pocket that our humble hero naturally wears sans ornamentation.

Rather than a dress shirt and bow tie like his fellow passengers or even a clerical collar like chaplain John (Arthur O’Connell), Reverend Scott appears at dinner in a simple cream-colored turtleneck that gets progressively dirtier and more damaged over the course of the eponymous adventure, until the right shoulder is completely torn away. The sweater has a ribbed roll-neck and cuffs and a jersey-knit body.

Note the textile difference between the ribbed neck and jersey-knit body of Reverend Scott’s turtleneck.

Reverend Scott’s suit has matching black wool flat front trousers with straight pockets along the side seams, jetted back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms. He holds them up with a black leather belt that closes through a shiny gold-toned square single-prong buckle.

Unsurprisingly, Reverend Scott chooses ordinary footwear for his outfit, a pair of black leather derby shoes worn with black socks. By this point in the early 1970s, loafers were finding increased acceptance with suits and even evening-wear—particularly among Americans—though wearing lace-ups would ultimately serve Frank well as they’d be more likely to remain on his feet throughout his ordeal.

Reverend Scott steps through the rubble after the initial capsizing.

Earlier that day, chaplain John had asked Reverend Scott to serve as guest preacher during Sunday services (and, indeed, December 31 fell on a Sunday in 1972.) Frank had dressed similarly for the sermon, in a navy serge sports coat over a gray turtleneck with charcoal trousers, the daytime alternative to his nighttime turtleneck and suit.

Reverend Scott established his clerical “uniform” of notch-lapel jackets and turtlenecks earlier that day.

Paul Zastupnevich lost the Academy Award for Best Costume Design to Anthony Powell for Travels With My Aunt, but Zastupnevich would get several more opportunities to dress the decade’s biggest stars for disasters as the costume designer for The Towering Inferno and Beyond the Poseidon Adventure. Zastupnevich was born December 24, 1921, in Homestead, Pennsylvania, just a stone’s throw from where I live in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

How to Get the Look

Gene Hackman as Reverend Frank Scott in The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

Reverend Frank Scott was one of the coolest priests this side of Fleabag thanks to Gene Hackman’s confidence, charm, and costume that swapped out a clerical collar for a hip turtleneck under an otherwise priestly black suit.

• Black wool ’60s-era suit:
  • Single-breasted 3/2-roll jacket with narrow notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 2-button cuffs, and single vent
  • Flat front trousers with belt loops, straight/on-seam side pockets, jetted back pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• Cream-colored turtleneck with ribbed roll-neck and set-in sleeves
• Black leather belt with gold-toned square single-prong buckle
• Black leather cap-toe derby shoes
• Black socks

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie. I also dig Ernest Borgnine’s festive and creative black tie ensemble, but we’ll save that exploration for a future New Year’s Eve!

The Quote

What more do you want of us? We’ve come all this way, no thanks to you. We did it on our own, no help from you. We didn’t ask you to fight for us, but damn it, don’t fight against us!

The post The Poseidon Adventure: Gene Hackman’s New Year’s Eve Turtleneck appeared first on BAMF Style.

William Powell and Myrna Loy in After the Thin Man (1936)… with Skippy as Asta

Vitals

William Powell as Nick Charles, retired private detective

San Francisco, New Year’s Eve 1936

Film: After the Thin Man
Release Date: December 25, 1936
Director: W.S. Van Dyke
Wardrobe Credit: Dolly Tree

Background

Happy New Year! Dashiell Hammett and “One-Take Woody” Van Dyke continued the runaway success of The Thin Man by reuniting William Powell and Myrna Loy as crime-solving power couple Nick and Nora Charles, coming home to San Francisco after solving the famous “Thin Man” case during their holiday in New York. The three-day train ride returns Nick and Nora to the City by the Bay just in time for New Year’s Eve, where they find their home commandeered by revelers that have already kicked off their celebrations.

Given that Nick’s success in the Wynant murder remains the talk of the town, it’s clear that the action was meant to pick up exactly where The Thin Man left off following Christmas 1933, though the Charles family steps off the Sunset Limited into a world where the clothes, cars, and music all reflect the contemporary setting of 1936.

Nick and Nora are greeted home by the boisterous “Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)”, the 1936 hit originally written and recorded by Louis Prima that would be immortalized by the Benny Goodman orchestra’s epochal 12-minute performance live at Carnegie Hall in January 1938… and, for some, by a Chips Ahoy! commercial. Despite the composition’s increasing association with Goodman, Prima would re-record it during the “Wildest!” phase of his career, cutting a version for his 1958 album Strictly Prima that would be prominently featured on the Casino soundtrack.

In After the Thin Man, “Sing, Sing, Sing” is sung by Eadie Adams, a vocalist from Kay Kyser’s outfit who briefly turned from nightclubs to movies—primarily playing singers—during the mid-1930s. Given the unfortunate dearth of Ms. Adams’ listening material available on the internet, I suggest listening to the recordings that a young Louis Prima made on the Brunswick label with the New Orleans Gang throughout the ’30s to get yourself in that Thin Man state of mind… with a martini (or six) at hand, of course.

What’d He Wear?

Nick Charles wears two double-breasted suits in After the Thin Man, this lighter-colored traveling suit on New Year’s Eve and then a darker flannel suit when setting out to solve an assortment of murders on New Year’s Day. Little to no documentation exists informing us of the color of the former, aside from the visual evidence from the movie itself which suggests a lighter-colored worsted, likely hued in one of the popular colors of the era such as blue, gray, brown, or even green.

Nick’s suit jacket was tailored in the style of the era, with sharp peak lapels, padded shoulders, and the traditional 6×2-button configuration spaced to flatter Powell’s lean 5’11” frame. The ventless jacket has straight jetted hip pockets and a welted breast pocket from which a rakishly arranged white pocket square protrudes. Each sleeve is finished with three-button cuffs.

Nick and Nora are dismayed to find their abode full of partiers celebrating their return… luckily, none of the revelers seem to recognize the couple they are welcoming home.

Though suit jackets have changed little from the 1930s to today, our first look at Nick Charles on the train to San Francisco shows just how much trousers have evolved since that proverbial “golden era” of men’s fashion. In addition to the already long rise, the trouser waist hem gently rises to a center “braces back” with two buttons where Nick fastens the hooks of his light-colored suspenders (braces). This detail was certainly not universal to men’s trousers of the era, as some achieved the same purpose with a small split on the back, others fastened their braces to buttons along the inside of the waistband, and others yet were increasingly embracing belts as alternatives.

Nick doesn’t rely solely on his suspenders to keep his trousers in place as they’ve also been tailored with a set of buckle-fastening tabs on each side of the waistband to adjust the fit. From the waist down, Nick’s pleated trousers generally resemble modern pants with their straight pockets along the side seams, jetted back pockets, and turn-ups (cuffs) on the bottoms.

“Just practicing, dear. Will you have a little slice of throat?” Nick gets interrupted while shaving before the train pulls into San Francisco.

Nick wears a light-colored shirt with a hairline stripe so faint that the cotton shirting looks to be solid in medium shots. The fastidious details of the pinned collar and double (French) cuffs speak to the well-dressed Nick’s nature, as neither collar nor cuffs could be worn without the appropriate accoutrement. He wears a medium-colored tie with a unique repeating all-over pattern of small pale circles bisected by a darker barbell-shaped object.

Nick and Nora anonymously dance through the party supposedly being held in their honor.

Nick wears a pair of cap-toe oxfords in a lighter-than-black leather that suggests brown.

Asta leads Nick off the train upon arriving in San Francisco.

Nick carries—but never wears—a houndstooth check wool topcoat that appears to have an ulster-style collar and raglan sleeves. His fedora is made of a light-colored felt, lighter than his suiting, and is detailed with a pinched crown, self-edged brim, and a dark grosgrain band.

Nick: Oh, you got ideas, huh?
Nora: Very definite ideas.
Nick: I was afraid so.
Nora: I’m going to lock the door, plug the bell, cut the telephone and crawl into bed for a month!
Nick: Oh, Nora, you’re my favorite woman.

What to Imbibe

Nora: Are you packing, dear?
Nick: Yes, darling, I’m just putting away this liquor.

More than two years had passed since audiences first met Nick and Nora Charles in The Thin Man, though the sequel wastes no time in reminding fans of the couples’ shared love for spirits. As Nick and Nora prepare to alight from the train in San Francisco, he takes care not to waste any remnants of the batch of martinis he had evidently premixed in their shaker, not bothering to shake to waltz time and instead allowing the motion of the Sunset Limited to perform the yeoman’s share of the shaking.

Good to the last drop.

Back in their home—and, more importantly, their home bar—Nick is dismayed to find his Napoleon brandy being ravaged by the unwanted guests at their homecoming party… though he soon follows their example as he pours a couple of snifters for him and Nora upon learning of their dreaded New Year’s Eve plans with Nora’s prim and prickly Aunt Katherine. Unfortunately, I’m not well-versed enough in the realm of interwar-era cognac to identify Nick’s prized stock.

As the guest list at Aunt Katherine’s dinner party grows, so does the amount of Napoleon brandy Nick needs before he can attend.

How to Get the Look

William Powell and Myrna Loy in After the Thin Man (1936)

William Powell brought his usual debonair style to the first sequel to The Thin Man, re-introducing us to Nick Charles while wearing a light worsted double-breasted suit for train travel.

• Medium-light worsted double-breasted suit:
  • Double-breasted jacket with sharp peak lapels, 6×2-button configuration, welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and ventless back
  • Double reverse-pleated long-rise trousers with buckle-tab side adjusters, 2-button “braces back”, straight/on-seam side pockets, jetted back pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• Light hairline-striped cotton shirt with pinned collar, plain “French placket”, and double/French cuffs
• Medium-colored tie with small two-color repeating all-over print
• Light-colored suspenders
• Brown leather cap-toe oxford shoes
• Medium-colored socks
• Light-colored felt fedora with dark grosgrain band
• Gold tank watch on dark leather strap

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the entire film series and Dashiell Hammett’s original treatments outlining After the Thin Man and Another Thin Man in the single volume released as Return of the Thin Man… significant for being the last fiction that Hammett composed during his life.

The Quote

Darling, you don’t need mystery. You’ve got something much better. Something more alluring… me.

The post After the Thin Man: Nick Charles’ Light Double-Breasted Suit for the New Year appeared first on BAMF Style.

Robert Duvall as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore in Apocalypse Now (1979)

Vitals

Robert Duvall as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore, U.S. Army Air Cavalry commander and surf fanatic

Vietnam, Summer 1969

Film: Apocalypse Now
Release Date: August 15, 1979
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Supervisor: Charles E. James
Costumers: Luster Bayless, Norman A. Burza, Dennis Fill, and George L. Little

Background

Happy 90th birthday, Robert Duvall! Today’s post looks at one of the most recognizable roles from the actor’s prolific career, his Academy Award-nominated performance as the gung-ho surf enthusiast Colonel Kilgore in Coppola’s war epic Apocalypse Now.

Loosely based on Joseph Conrad’s you-probably-had-to-read-it-in-high-school novella Heart of Darkness, Apocalypse Now needs little introduction, nor does Kilgore’s famous monologue celebrating the aromas of incendiary devices after commanding his 9th Cavalry squadron to attack a VC-held village to the tune of Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries”.

An Army veteran himself, Duvall’s characterization of Kilgore was reportedly based on Lieutenant General James F. Hollingsworth, the “Stetson-and-spurs”-wearing Lieutenant Colonel John B. Stockton, and Major General George Patton IV, son of the famously flamboyant World War II commander.

What’d He Wear?

Stationed in the Vietnam jungle, it stands to reason that Colonel Kilgore would be attired in the U.S. Army battle dress colloquially known as “jungle fatigues.” Officially designated the Tropical Combat Uniform, these fatigues descended from the M-1942 parachutist uniform, evolved for warmer climates and made from the olive green (OG-107) cotton sateen material that had been the Army’s favorite fatigues from the Korean War onward (as seen on M*A*S*H and worn by the men under Kilgore’s and Willard’s respective commands.)

“Natick Labs designed the tropical combat jacket and trousers in 1962 following a request from Army Material Command for a specialized uniform for Special Forces personnel in Vietnam,” explains Vietnam Gear. “The tropical combat uniform was ideally suited to Vietnam because it was both lightweight and quick drying.”

Several distinct patterns of “jungle jackets” (specified MIL-C-43199) would be developed over the course of the Vietnam War, though newer-authorized patterns tended to support rather than supplant the older stocks. The first pattern Type I jacket, made from light but wind-resistant 5.5-oz. OG-107 cloth, introduced the general characteristics that would remain consistent through each design: two inward-slanting chest pockets (withe pen pockets) and two cargo pockets over the hips, all covered with two-button flaps, though the exposed buttons were prone to snagging in the jungle.

In early 1965, a revision was authorized to amend these concerns by concealing the pocket buttons and reducing the buttons under the front fly from five to four, in addition to the exposed button at the collar. The 2nd pattern Type II retained the shoulder straps (epaulettes) and “take-in tabs” on the waist, though a slightly heavier 6-oz. cloth was authorized to better withstand wear and tear in the field.

The following year, the 3rd pattern Type III tropical combat uniform was designed with a more minimalist approach, removing the gas flap, epaulettes, and side tabs while also having a yoke across the back. Introduced late in 1966, the 3rd pattern was also the first to be produced in four-shade ERDL camouflage, designated “Class 2” as opposed to the olive green “Class 1” fatigues. The ERDL was originally designated for special forces units including pathfinders and reconnaissance teams before it was more widely adopted by infantrymen before the end of the decade. By then, the cotton poplin was replaced by a rip-stop cotton while other minor cosmetic adjustments continued.

Colonel Kilgore’s OG-107 poplin tropical combat jacket appears to be a modified version of the Type II (2nd pattern), evident by the side adjuster tabs, inner gas flap button, concealed pocket-flap buttons, and lack of a yoke. Curiously, his jacket also lacks the shoulder straps (epaulettes) characteristic to 2nd pattern jackets, which has led some to believe he wears a 3rd pattern jacket or—as Moore Militaria suggests—”a very rare transitional coat that never had the epaulettes.”

Aside from the lack of shoulder epaulettes, Kilgore’s jungle jacket with its gas flap, side tabs, and covered pocket-flap buttons would surely be a 2nd pattern evolution of the tropical combat coat.

Kilgore’s insignia and badging across his shoulders, collar, and chest tell the story of his military service. His collar devices include the blackened metal oak leaf of a lieutenant collar on the right and the blackened crossed sabers indicating his branch of service in the United States Cavalry on his left.

Moore Militaria and Soldier of Fortune have recreated Kilgore’s badging in sets available for purchase online, including the “KILGORE” and “U.S. ARMY” black-on-OD name tape that he wears over his right and left chest pockets, respectively.

On his left shoulder, Kilgore wears the distinctive combat service identification badge (CSIB) shoulder sleeve insignia of the 1st Cavalry Division, consisting of a black silhouetted horse’s head positioned to the left of a bold black right-down-to-left stripe, or couped in sinister chief (in heraldic terms). Just above it, Kilgore wears the black-printed “RANGER” tab of the famous U.S. Army Rangers.

The rest of his badges are all “subdued” olive drab cloth with black embroidery. Above “KILGORE” on the right chest, he wears the South Vietnamese parachute qualification badge. Stacked on the left side of his chest, he wears the Combat Infantryman, Senior Army Aviator, and Basic Parachutist badges, though only this latter “jump wings” badge can be prominently seen as the other two fall under his flat collar.

Kilgore confers with fellow surf enthusiast GM3 Lance Johnson (Sam Bottoms) during the famous “Ride of the Valkyries” scene. Note Kilgore’s scarf, sunglasses, subdued insignia, and the stitching separating a pen slot atop the seam of each chest pocket flap.

One of the most distinctive elements of Kilgore’s uniform is his yellow cavalry scarf, the history of which has been comprehensively explored by CavHooah. The cavalry neckerchief or ascot was maintained through tradition as a symbol of 19th century Cav soldiers including Indian Scouts and Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. CavHooah traced the most widespread practice dating back to the establishment of the U.S. Constabulary during the post-World War II occupation when 545th MP Company (1st Cavalry) soldiers wore yellow scarves to identify their unit, though it would take another 20 years before the Air Cavalry was created.

By that time, in 1966, the U.S. Army Concept Team in Vietnam (ACTIV) had developed an olive-hued cotton neckerchief (or sweat cloth) to be issued with the tropical combat uniform, serving purposes of protection from the elements as well as practical makeshift uses ranging from tourniquets to binding prisoners. According to IWM, “custom variants inevitably appeared, such as those made from camouflage parachute nylon or branch-colored cloth with unit-specific embroidery,” so it’s likely that proud Cav soldiers and officers like Colonel Kilgore would have sported neckerchiefs in the classic cavalry yellow. Kilgore’s neckerchief appears to have been pre-made in the shape it would be worn with a velcro-closure band in the back.

Over his jungle jacket, Kilgore wears a hefty black leather gun belt, similar to U.S. Army officers’ belts from the mid-to-late 19th century, albeit without the ornate eagle-embossed buckle as Kilgore fastens his belt with a large plain brass rectangular buckle. The belt has twelve cartridge loops around the left side, each loaded with a .45-caliber round though these appear to be the longer .45 Long Colt revolver cartridge rather than the .45 ACP cartridge that would fit the M1911A1-style pistol holstered on his right hip.

The mother-of-pearl grips shine from Colonel Kilgore’s holstered M1911A1, differentiating the commander’s flashy sidearm from the run-of-the-mill service pistol.

Kilgore wears the OG-107 cargo pants issued as part of the Tropical Combat Uniform, detailed with slanted side pockets, two flapped back pockets, and a flapped cargo pocket on the side of each thigh. All four flapped pockets have concealed buttons like the jacket, suggesting 2nd pattern trousers to match the modified 2nd pattern jacket.

The tropical combat fatigue pants were fitted with side adjuster tabs along the waistband—button tabs for the first and second patterns, sliding tabs for the third pattern onward—though Kilgore’s tabs are covered by the dark olive drab webbed belt he wears through the trouser belt loops. The belt has a plain brass slider buckle. The plain-hemmed bottoms have drawstring ankle ties are secured under the wearer’s feet and meant to be worn bloused over the boot tops.

Kilgore correctly tucks and blouses the trousers into his black leather boots, which have multiple buckled straps across the instep suggesting a tanker-style boot rather than the classic lace-up “jump boots” or the cotton canvas-and-leather “jungle boots” that had been authorized with tropical combat dress.

“Bring me my Yater Spoon, the 8’6″,” demands Kilgore, in anticipation of the six-foot peak he wants to ride. Kilgore proudly advocates for Yater, wearing a khaki cotton crew-neck T-shirt emblazoned with the company’s iconic “Yater Santa Barbara Surf Shop” logo.

“Reynolds ‘Renny’ Yater was one of the first commercial surfboard builders of the 1950s,” proclaims the official company history, describing Yater’s introduction of the Yater Spoon in 1965-66, thus giving Kilgore plenty of time to get his hands—er, feet—on one before Captain Benjamin Willard (Martin Sheen) encountered him in the Vietnam jungle during the summer of ’69. The company capitalized on Duvall wearing their shirt on screen, reproducing the design in “military green” and “coyote brown” as worn by Titus Welliver on Bosch. You can find this reproduced T-shirt available from Beach House.

Kilgore’s signature Cavalry Stetson is another part of his kit decreed more by tradition than regulation, dating back to the typical Cav headgear from the late 18th century through the Civil War. John B. Stetson had not started making hats until his “Boss of the Plains” design quickly became a Cavalry standard around 1865, though the cavalrymen in the decades predating this had worn broad-brimmed cattleman’s hats with tall crowns.

As 20th century Cav soldiers looked to earlier tradition, black Stetson cattleman’s hats became unofficially adopted as preferred headgear to be regulated on a case-by-case basis by the unit commander… in Kilgore’s case, one imagines he had little hesitation about allowing use of the Cavalry Stetson given that he’s never seen without his, even when dressed down to his surf T-shirt or without any shirt at all!

Everett Kolto wrote in his essay “Armed Storytelling: The Weaponry of Apocalypse” (via ApocalypseNow101.com) that “despite every single one of his fellow soldiers hopping out of the aircraft with a weapon in hand, the Lt. Colonel emerges weaponless, unfazed by the chaotic warzone around him. Instead of taking a weapon, he chooses to put more of an importance on his own black hat, determined to not let it fly away in the artificial rotor wind. Kilgore’s hat is important: it resembles that of a late 19th century American Cavalryman straight out of the American Indian Wars.”

Kilgore adorns his black Cavalry Stetson with the gold plastic crossed sabers signifying his command in the 9th Cavalry Regiment, though I’ve read that this insignia curiously suggests an enlisted rank rather than that of a commissioned officer. On the first day of his acquaintanceship with Willard, he has the silver oak leaf denoting his rank of lieutenant colonel pinned above the crossed sabers, though he wears only the crossed sabers (and a larger set, at that) during the following day’s air assault. In addition to the black grosgrain band, Kilgore wears a black-and-gold acorn band with his earned “combat spurs”, the band representative of the cord that would have previously secured a cavalry scout’s horse.

Duvall’s screen-worn hat in black 4X fur felt was auctioned in October 2004, the listing still live on the BidAMI Auctions site, where more details are included:

Fashioned to a throw-back to the Civil War, it is a black felt Stetson calvary hat, size 7 1/2. A gold and black braid encircles the chapeau and is finished by gold bead tassels. Gold plastic crossed swords adorn the front of the head piece. The brim is 4 inches. A leather chin strap is attached on the inside. The leather sweatband is marked with the Stetson logo and “XXXX Stetson Authentic X’s.” The initials “R.D.” are handwritten on the inside of the hat, as well as “CC” and “7 1/2” in white marker.

You can see more examples of Cavalry Stetsons at CavHooah, pick up an authentic Cav-inspired Stetson, or check out Miller Hats‘ reproduction of Kilgore’s “1776” Hat.

Kilgore shields his eyes during the day with a pair of gold square-framed aviator sunglasses, likely the American Optical Flight Goggle 58, which had been developed in 1958 to meet the U.S. Air Force’s Type HGU-4/P specifications. These sunglasses were designed with a notably lighter frame than their predecessors with a semi-rectangular lens shape and straight, flex-friendly “bayonet” temples that could be comfortably worn with a flight helmet or other headgear while covering the wearer’s full field of vision. Though the AO-58 remains the “Original Pilot Sunglass”, Randolph Engineering had emerged as the U.S. Department of Defense’s prime contractor for Type HGU-4/P flight sunglasses by the early 1980s.

Kilgore maintains his tradition-influenced gear to the many accessories that complete his outfit.

The U.S. Army had been requiring double identification tags worn around the neck ever since introducing its circular aluminum discs in the years before World War I, and Kilgore correctly wears his metal “dog tags” on the appropriate ball-chain necklace. However, he also wears a sterling silver ID bracelet with wavy edges, secured to his right wrist via a chunky round-link chain, similar to the ID bracelets that U.S. service members had worn during World War II to supplement their dog tags.

Kilgore also wears a gold class ring with a ruby red stone that shines from the third finger of his left hand, almost certainly signifying graduation from a prominent military institution like West Point. A steel wristwatch with a round, light-colored dial fastens to his left wrist via a black strap.

“Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn’t find one of ’em, not one stinkin’ dink body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell? The whole hill. Smelled like… victory. Someday this war’s gonna end.”

The Guns

As much a part of his image as the Cav Stetson and scarf, Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore carries an M1911A1 semi-automatic pistol with flashy pearl grips prominently holstered—but never drawn—on his right hip. The 1911 series of pistols had been designed by John Browning and originally produced by Colt at the time they were first authorized for American military service just prior to World War I. It was during the mid-1920s that the M1911A1 variant was introduced, cosmetically differentiated by its curved mainspring housing and shorter trigger.

It could be argued that Kilgore endeavored to fashion himself after the famous General George S. Patton Jr., who notably carried his ivory-handled six-shooters into the field, though this was the same overnice flag officer who bitterly corrected a reporter on his choice of armament: “Son, only a pimp in a Louisiana whorehouse carries pearl-handled revolvers; these are ivory.”

Despite lacking the late General Patton’s endorsement, Kilgore’s keenly aware of the role his pearl-gripped pistol plays in crafting his image, eschewing the full-flapped M-1916 or M12 holsters approved for service in favor of a more open-topped design with only a single-snap thumb strap securing the pistol in place so that his mother-of-pearl handles with the faintly imprinted Air Cavalry logos can be seen in all their glory.

In “Armed Storytelling: The Weaponry of Apocalypse”, Everett Kolto writes: “Interestingly, Kilgore does have a handgun strapped to his belt, but without any motion or gesture towards it, it may as well not even be there. As it rests there in its holster, its purpose lost and forgotten, so too are the motive and purpose behind the Vietnam War. When Kilgore and the soldiers around him dive at his feet, flattening themselves and making themselves a harder target for incoming fire, Kilgore doesn’t budge as the camera shows him standing triumphantly over them, daring the enemy to try and take a shot at him. With no personal stake in the fight, why should he care?”

Despite their seemingly ceremonial purpose, Kilgore’s M1911A1 appears to have seen considerably usage as suggested by the blued finish wearing away in some places.

The mother-of-pearl grips shine from Colonel Kilgore’s M1911A1, differentiating his flashy sidearm from the standard-issue service pistol.

Kolto continues: “The only time Kilgore does take a weapon into his arms is to cover for the soldiers that he orders to change out their uniforms to get ready to surf; even then, he doesn’t attempt to use the rifle as his reluctance towards engaging the enemy becomes clearer. A fully automatic rifle capable of taking down handfuls of enemies with a single clip sits there in the palm of his hand, but he merely tosses it aside off screen. He then proceeds to call in a wave of bombers, not to deliver a strategic strike on enemy forces, but to give the troops some extra protection for surfing. Kilgore trivializes the more traditional weapons around him, dismissing them as nothing more than tools for his own entertainment. The rifle lays in the sand, discarded.”

The rifle in question is a variant of the M16 battle rifle, freshly approved for U.S. military service in 1964 and authorized for jungle warfare in Vietnam the following year, chambered for the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge. The rifle Kilgore picks up has a curved thirty-round box magazine.

The eagle-eyed experts at IMFDB identified the exact variant as a unique M16 (SP1) with its original “slickside” upper receiver (lacking a forward assist) and a M16A1-style lower receiver (a raised “full fence” around the magazine release button). This configuration would have been correct for the the Colt Model 604 variant then fielded by the U.S. Air Force but not for the Army, though it’s most likely that the rifle itself was a commercially available Colt AR-15 SP1 rifle converted to fire fully automatic and modified by a movie armorer to resemble a military M16.

Kilgore arms himself with an M16.

At the end of the day, the only gun that matters to Kilgore is his board, the eight-foot, six-inch Yater Spoon:

If I say it’s safe to surf this beach, Captain, it’s safe to surf this beach!

After all… Charlie don’t surf.

Colonel Kilgore’s Tropical Combat Uniform

Robert Duvall as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore in Apocalypse Now (1979)

I know I don’t have to warn any BAMF Style readers against stealing valor by appropriating military uniforms or badging… but you know what would be a safe bet if you want to channel Colonel Kilgore? A black Stetson, a surf shop T-shirt, gold aviators, and green cargo pants!

• Olive green (OG-107) 6-ounce cotton sateen U.S. Army Tropical Combat Uniform, Type II
  • Modified “jungle jacket” with 5-button fly front (with inner gas flap), slanted flapped bellows chest pockets (with two concealed buttons), flapped bellows hip pockets (with two concealed buttons), button-adjuster side tabs, and button cuffs with gauntlets
  • Fatigue pants with belt loops, side adjuster waist tabs, slanted side pockets, flapped cargo pockets, flapped back pockets, and ankle ties
• Dark olive drab cotton web belt with brass slider buckle
• Black leather gun belt with brass rectangular buckle, right-side holster and left-side cartridge loops
• Black leather tanker-style boots with buckled instep straps
• Black fur felt Cavalry Stetson cattleman’s hat with black grosgrain band, black-and-gold acorn corded band with “combat spurs”, and pinned rank and unit insignia
• American Optical (AO) Original Pilot FG-58 military aviator sunglasses with squared gold frames and straight “bayonet” temples
• Yellow cotton cavalry scarf
• Silver dog tags
• Sterling silver ID bracelet
• Gold class ring with ruby red stone
• Steel wristwatch with round light-colored dial on black strap

Robert Duvall’s screen-worn uniform, hat, and scarf were part of Debbie Reynolds’ private collection that was auctioned by Profiles in History beginning in the summer of 2011.

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie, though several versions have been released: the theatrical Apocalypse Now released in 1979, the extended Apocalypse Now Redux that appeared in 2001, and Coppola’s ultimate Apocalypse Now Final Cut released for the film’s 40th anniversary.

For more history about Tropical Combat Uniform fatigues and “jungle jackets”, I highly recommend the comprehensive and illustrated guides at Moore Militaria and Vietnam Gear.

The Quote

I love the smell of napalm in the morning.

The post Apocalypse Now: Robert Duvall as Colonel Kilgore appeared first on BAMF Style.

Nicolas Cage as Rick Santoro in Snake Eyes (1998)

Vitals

Nicolas Cage as Rick Santoro, flashy homicide detective and compulsive gambler

Atlantic City, September 1998

Film: Snake Eyes
Release Date: August 7, 1998
Director: Brian De Palma
Costume Designer: Odette Gadoury

Background

Folks, today is Nicolas Cage’s birthday so we’re going to celebrate in style by taking a look at the film that won Cage the esteemed Blockbuster Entertainment Award in the category of Favorite Actor (Suspense).

Has anyone been asking to read about the threads Nic Cage wore in the 1998 box office bomb Snake Eyes? No. Is that going to stop me after the absolutely insane year that we’ve just had? Also no.

I truly went most of my life without thinking about the movie Snake Eyes until I went down a Letterboxd rabbit hole last summer and came across Aubrey Farnsworth’s entertainingly absurd reviews including many, many from The Cage Canon. Her review of Snake Eyes in September immediately brought back to mind being nine years old in the summer of 1998, seeing trailers for the latest Nicolas Cage joint, and thinking that his shiny brown suit and yellow aloha shirt was just about the coolest outfit anyone could wear. (It isn’t, but I was nine. Plus, digging through old family photo albums revealed that four-year-old me had actually sported a similar combination of a brown suit and wild-patterned shirt… to one of my sister’s dance recitals, no less!)

When 31-year-old me finally got around to watching the movie just a few days after Aubrey’s review, I was pleasantly surprised by a fun and entertaining—if occasionally uneven—thriller as our heroic Mr. Cage races against time and narrative inconsistencies to solve a high-profile murder, untangle a dangerous conspiracy involving a greedily corrupt Atlantic City casino mogul, and prove to us all that adulterous, crooked, and potentially coked-out cops can be people too.

What’d He Wear?

“Jesus, I get you a front row seat and you show up lookin’ like Don Ho,” comments Rick’s straitlaced pal, U.S. Navy Commander Kevin Dunne (Gary Sinise), who looks considerably sharper in his blue service dress uniform while serving in the official capacity of leading a security detail for U.S. Secretary of Defense Charles Kirkland (Joel Fabiani), whose assassination during the televised Tyler vs. Ruiz boxing match kicks the plot into gear. (CDR Kevin Dunne isn’t to be confused with actor Kevin Dunn, who appears in Snake Eyes as the fight’s media emcee, Lou Logan.)

Do we ever find out why Rick Santoro is such a loud dresser or such a loud person in general? Do we even need to know? “It’s fight night!” Rick excitedly dismisses any question he can’t answer, be it about his attire or attitude.

Information about Cage’s screen-worn kit comes from several prop and auction sites, specifically The Golden Closet, Heritage Auctions, and YourProps, all of which have confirmed that the rust brown-colored suit was constructed from a polyester/cotton blend woven with narrow horizontal ribs and slubbed for a silky sharkskin effect of gold fleck detailing.

Nicolas Cage’s screen-worn costume from Snake Eyes. (Source: YourProps)

Rick’s boxy suit jacket exaggerates the full fit that was fashionable throughout the ’90s, cut with wide, straight padded shoulders and short notch lapels that break high to allow for four rust-toned plastic sew-through buttons.

The ventless suit jacket also has a welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, and three-button cuffs. Even though it’s hardly glimpsed on screen, the lining provides yet another opportunity for Rick to exhibit his sartorial flamboyance, this time via the bronze gold satin-finished lining described by YourProps.

Aside from their more functional purpose to provide more coverage on a sport jacket, four-button jackets are hardly conventional and immediately date the jacket to the ’90s, evoking images of NBA drafts from that era. (In these basketball players’ defense, the average height in the NBA tends to be closer to 7′ than 6′, and the additional buttons provide visual balance for the players’ striking heights… though, on the other hand, the pastels and patterns often used for these infamous suits hardly have any business on a tie, let alone a suit!)

A four-button suit jacket may be more flattering on the six-foot Nicolas Cage than, say, Danny DeVito (with all due respect to Mr. DeVito), but it’s an element here that coordinates with the excessively full cut and flashy suiting to be more of a fashion statement… after all, he is wearing it with a yellow Hawaiian shirt.

Lou (Kevin Dunne) and Ricky.

It’s undeniably Rick’s aloha shirt that invites Commander Dunne’s “Don Ho” comparison, wearing a tropical-printed yellow cotton shirt with his suit. While most sartorial purists would advise against pairing a Hawaiian shirt with a suit, Rick wisely keeps the conservative worsted business suits in his closet and chooses a flashy “fashion suit” for this bold ensemble.

The short-sleeved shirt coordinates with the suit via a reversed colorway, making the golden yellow more prominent as the ground color while the dual shades of brown are incorporated into the detailing via the all-over tropical floral print. Rick buttons the brown wooden (or faux-wood) two-hole buttons up from the straight, untucked hem to the top of the chest, leaving only the top loop undone and flattening the camp collar over the lapels of the jacket. The collar comes to a point in the center of the back, extending just enough to cover the full width of the lapel.

Rick’s gold necklace neatly follows the neckline of his shirt, dropping a flat gold triangular pendant that hangs just behind the buttoning point of his shirt. Rick seems to manifest gold, from his clothes and jewelry to his bright yellow Corvette, the same color as the shirt he wore at the start of this tumultuous night.

“See if you can find me another shirt if I’m goin’ on TV, I don’t wanna look like this,” Rick requests of Lou after the fit hits the shan. “Gotta be, you know, classy like you, Lou.”

Whether it was Lou Logan or someone else, Rick does eventually receive a plain white cotton shirt and skinny black tie to swap out his now-bloodied Hawaiian shirt. The white shirt has a point collar, a plain “French placket” front, breast pocket, and button cuffs.

Remember tobacco product placement in ’90s movies, where Nic Cage could just casually offer Carla Gugino a Marlboro?

Wearing his dressier shirt tucked in shows off more of Rick’s suit trousers around the waist, from the exotic leather belt to the voluminous pleats that contribute to the full fit.

I can’t confirm if Rick’s trousers have two or three sets of pleats; double pleats would be the most conventional, but this was the ’90s when even James Bond was wearing triple-pleated slacks. Especially given Rick’s excessive number of jacket buttons, I think we can safely say all bets are off when using sartorial tradition to hypothesize. When Rick hits the deck and draws his Glock during the assassination, I believe we see three closely spaced pleats.

The trousers also have a zip fly with a hook-and-button closure, side pockets, two jetted back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms with a full break.

Rick shows a unique sense of belt-and-shoe coordination, not by attempting to match the colors but instead selecting exotic leathers for each. True, when Rick got dressed at the start of the day (or night, most likely, given his personality), his untucked covered his shirt hem and thus nullified his choice of belt. Rick’s scaled russet-colored belt suggests alligator leather, detailed with a gold-toned single-prong buckle with two metal keepers and a pointed tip all in a matching gold finish.

Apropos the movie’s title, Rick appears to be wearing snakeskin loafers that shine an iridescent green. These slip-on shoes have a split apron toe, ornamented with a ridged gold-finished bar across each instep. Almost unrelenting in his quest to make every aspect of his outfit unique and memorable, Rick lets up with his choice of almost pleasantly uninteresting black socks, though these go generally unseen due to the trousers’ full break.

Snakeskin in Snake Eyes.

Given that he even carries a gold-finished cell phone, it’s no surprise that Detective Goldfinger Santoro bedecks himself in more gold jewelry than most of the gangsters would on The Sopranos.

On the third finger of his right hand, Rick wears a large gold class ring, evidently a memento from his time at Neptune High School as his classmate Commander Dunne wears the same ring and Rick flashes it when introducing himself to Lincoln Tyler (Sam Shaw) as a “fellow Sea Devil, Class of ’80,” though the Jostens-made ring featured at The Golden Closet is inscribed with a date of 1979. The blue stone was likely chosen to reflect the nautical themes of the school’s name and mascot.

The proud Neptune High grad takes a drag of his Marlboro while reviewing the “bitchin’ technology” security footage in the hopes of finding Julia Costello (Carla Gugino).

Rick wears a gold dive watch, shining yellow gold from the link bracelet to the champagne dial. Based on the watch’s profile and other examples I’ve seen from the era, I suspect Rick wears a TAG Heuer sports watch, though I can’t recall the exact model.

Rick balances both hands with a ring and wrist jewelry on each, also wearing a shiny gold wedding ring on the third finger of his left hand and a gold ID bracelet (engraved “Ricky” according to The Golden Closet) secured to his right wrist on a large Cuban-style curb-link chain.

Rick attempts to work his chaotic charm.

It’s revealed that this certainly wasn’t the only tropical-themed printed shirt in Rick Santoro’s closet as the epilogue depicts him going fishing with his son while wearing an oversized white-and-blue shark-printed shirt over a tonally coordinated slate-blue T-shirt.

A relatively subdued look for Rick Santoro as he takes his son fishing.

A note for fans of Vanishing Point: Gilda Texter is credited as Snake Eyes‘ key costumer in Atlantic City. Nearly a decade before Ms. Texter transitioned her career to Hollywood’s costume industry, she ironically starred as the nude motorcycle rider in Vanishing Point… a role that required a very simple costume.

The Gun

Though he’s off duty for fight night, Rick still carries his Glock 19 duty sidearm, drawing it in the aftermath of Secretary Kirkland’s assassination.

Ricky hits the floor and draws his Glock.

Glock had revolutionized the firearm community when it introduced the innovative Glock 17 in 1982. It took some time for the world to catch on that these polymer-framed pistols weren’t “plastic guns” that could easily bypass airport security (and we can all thank Die Hard 2 for propagating that rumor), but the Austrian manufacturer endured and introduced its second generation in 1988 that included both the longer-barreled Glock 17L and the “compact” Glock 19, which would become one of the most popular Glocks in both the civilian and police markets.

The Glock philosophy centers around its interchangeable parts, particularly the concept that any Glock pistol chambered for one caliber can use many of the the same parts and magazines. Thus, when the Glock 19 was introduced as a same-caliber follow-up to the Glock 17 in 9x19mm Parabellum, this meant many components (not related to the scaled-down frame) could be seamlessly swapped between the two weapons. The concept went a step further in 1995 with the introduction of the subcompact Glock 26, establishing the general Glock template of firearm “families” in standard, compact, and subcompact sizes for each caliber.

Though considered a “compact” sidearm, the Glock 19 dimensionally resembles a full-sized service pistol more than a smaller handgun like the Walther PPK. The overall length is 6.85 inches with a barrel just over 4 inches long, compared to the full-size Glock 17’s 7.32-inch length and 4.5-inch barrel. The Glock 19 weighs in at only 21 ounces unloaded, an ounce lighter than the Glock 17 and just over an ounce heavier than the subcompact Glock 26.

How to Get the Look

Nicolas Cage as Rick Santoro in Snake Eyes (1998)

Nothing’s too flashy for Rick Santoro, who dresses in a chaotic but coordinated fashion for fight night in his slubbed silky brown suit and plenty of gold jewelry to draw the eye… in case the tropical-printed shirt or snakeskin loafers wouldn’t be enough!

• Rust brown (and gold-slubbed) horizontal-ribbed polyester/cotton suit:
  • Single-breasted four-button jacket with short notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and ventless back
  • Triple reverse-pleated trousers with belt loops, hook-and-button closure, side pockets, jetted back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Golden yellow (with two-toned brown tropical floral print) cotton short-sleeved aloha shirt with camp collar (with loop), plain “French placket” front, and straight waist hem
• Russet brown scaled alligator leather belt with gold-finished single-prong buckle, keepers, and pointed tip
• Dark green snakeskin split-toe loafers
• Black socks
• Gold necklace with gold triangular pendant
• Gold ID bracelet on Cuban-style curb-link chain
• Gold class ring with blue stone
• Gold wedding ring
• Gold dive watch with champagne dial, gold bezel, and gold link bracelet

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie. It may not be among the best of De Palma’s or Cage’s respective filmographies, but it’s an interesting concept, excitingly executed, and the opening Steadicam sequence is truly fun to watch… as is an almost psychotically hopped-up Nic Cage at his bombastic best through it all.

The Quote

It isn’t lying! You just tell them what you did right, and you leave out the rest!

The post Nicolas Cage in Snake Eyes appeared first on BAMF Style.

Frank Sinatra in Marriage on the Rocks (1965)

Vitals

Frank Sinatra as Dan Edwards, workaholic advertising executive

Los Angeles, Fall 1965

Film: Marriage on the Rocks
Release Date: September 24, 1965
Director: Jack Donohue
Costume Designer: Walter Plunkett

Background

Kick back on this chilly #SinatraSaturday with the mid-century comedy that reunited Rat Pack pallies Frank and Dean, the duo’s final on-screen collaboration until Cannonball Run II, twenty years later.

Marriage on the Rocks stars FS as Dan Edwards, a buttoned-up businessman who—thanks to madcap circumstances—ends up swapping lifestyles with his swingin’ pal Ernie… played by who else but Dean Martin?

What’d He Wear?

Befitting his dedication to long hours at the office, Dan Edwards is introduced in a rotation of conservative business suits—I counted five gray suits alone—before his lifestyle shift draws out a more casual at-home wardrobe for his laidback evenings at Casa de Ernie. On this particularly cozy night, he’s brushing off the advances of his daughter’s pal Lisa (Davey Davison) when his brash former mother-in-law Jeannie (Hermione Baddeley) barges in—with bagpipes and kilt—to announce that she’s moving in!

Of all the mid-century crooners, the cardigan crown has been shifted between Perry Como, Bing Crosby, and Andy Williams, while Frank Sinatra has understandably been more associated with loosened ties, tilted hats, and sleek suits from Sy Devore. Just like his crooning comrades, however, Ol’ Blue Eyes had long illustrated his reliance on the classic cardigan, seen in publicity shots, album covers, and his movies like Ocean’s Eleven and indeed twice in Marriage on the Rocks. Dan Edwards’ first on-screen cardigan was orange, famously The Voice’s favorite color, and we catch up with the happy bachelor Dan a few scenes later, now comfortably wrapped in a double-breasted olive green cardigan.

Dan “welcomes” his new roommate… and her bagpipes.

The earlier cardigan was a simpler, more traditional style, while Dan’s olive cardigan approaches the unique territory of cardigan/blazer hybrids that found particular favor among Italian-influenced hepcats through thee decades to follow; even the estimable Roger Moore wore a navy cardigan-blazer on The Persuaders! as documented by Matt Spaiser for his comprehensive blog Bond Suits.

Dan’s olive cardigan wouldn’t quite qualify as a cardigan-blazer—the wide-ribbed olive cloth and conventional black plastic sew-through buttons assure that—but it incorporates the elements of a tailored jacket with its notch lapels and the double-breasted wrap, which appears to be a full six-by-three button configuration which could be worn with all three rows of buttons fastened; FS opts to leave the top button undone. The cardigan is further detailed with set-in hip pockets and raglan sleeves with an open gauntlet (but no buttons) at each cuff.

Beneath the cardigan, Dan wears a pale yellow cotton shirt with a button-down collar that serves the purposes of form and function by coordinating with the cardigan’s casual nature while keeping the collar under control.

Dan wears dark gray wool trousers that look like they may have been orphaned from one of his business suits. They appear to have a flat front, though the long rise conceals the waistband under his cardigan’s straight hem. The fit is straight through Sinatra’s legs down to the plain-hemmed bottoms that break cleanly over his perhaps overly formal black calf cap-toe oxfords, worn with black socks.

Dan may be taking a break from his workaholic days, but he’s still all business from the waist down… though not in the way that Lisa wishes.

Sinatra wears his usual gold signet ring on his left pinky and a gold tank-style watch with a black leather strap on the same wrist.

How to Get the Look

Frank Sinatra in Marriage on the Rocks (1965)

The fastidious Frank Sinatra’s sense of decorum dictates that, even when dressing down, he’s dressing up, thus his olive cardigan for an intimate evening in still incorporates the sensibilities of a dressier blazer, from its notched lapels to the double-breasted button configuration, all worn with a button-down shirt, gray slacks, and black oxfords.

• Olive green ribbed-knit double-breasted cardigan with narrow-notched lapels, 6×3-button configuration, set-in hip pockets, and raglan sleeves with gauntlet cuffs
• Pale yellow cotton shirt with button-down collar and button cuffs
• Dark gray wool flat front trousers with plain-hemmed bottoms
• Black calf leather cap-toe oxford shoes
• Black socks
• Gold signet pinky ring
• Gold tank watch on black leather strap

The cardigan revival of recent years hasn’t neglected those of the double-breasted variety, though they’re arguably harder to come by than their single-breasted or shawl-collared cousins and next to impossible in shades of olive. A cursory search yields double-breasted cardies on both ends of the price spectrum, with Express’ price-reduced cotton cardigan speaking to budget-minded audiences while ISAIA offers luxury in a micron cotton package via The Rake.

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

See? You needn’t have pity on me anymore. My mother-in-law’s come to live with me!

The post Marriage on the Rocks: Sinatra’s Double-Breasted Olive Cardigan appeared first on BAMF Style.

Rod Taylor as Bruce Templeton in The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)

Vitals

Rod Taylor as Bruce Templeton, charismatic aerospace lab chief

Long Beach, California, Spring 1966

Film: The Glass Bottom Boat
Release Date: June 9, 1966
Director: Frank Tashlin
Costume Designer: Ray Aghayan (credited with Doris Day’s costumes only)

Background

In honor of Aussie actor Rod Taylor’s birthday on January 11, 1930, today’s post explores the first movie of his that I’d seen. The Glass Bottom Boat reteamed Taylor with Doris Day after their collaboration the previous year in Do Not Disturb, this time in a Cold War-era romantic comedy where Doris’ PR flack is suspected of being a spy sent by Mother Russia to seduce scientific secrets out of Bruce Templeton, the debonair head of a NASA research facility.

The suspicions and seductions culminate during a party at Templeton’s home, in fact the mid-century estate that had recently been designed and constructed by architect David Lyle Fowler for his mother. (This home at 1261 Angelo Drive in Beverly Hills has since been demolished and replaced with the massive Pritzker estate mansion.)

What’d He Wear?

The subtle creative elements of Bruce Templeton’s black tie kit suggest a man of taste who respects tailoring well enough to add unique personal touches that neither interfere with tradition nor ignore trending fashions.

Perhaps the most noticeable affectation would be the black velvet trim on Bruce’s black dinner jacket, constructed from a material with a touch of shine that suggests a blend of wool and mohair, then a fashionable fabric for men’s tailoring. The collar is covered in black velvet, while the rest of the straight and sharp peak lapels appear to be the same material as the rest of the jacket; had these lapels been faced in silk as on a traditional dinner jacket, this could have clashed with the velvet trim to make the jacket too busy.

The lapels roll to a single black plastic button at the waist, which matches the two buttons on each cuff. Black velvet piping also accents the jetting along the straight hip pockets and around the top and sides of the welted breast pocket, where Bruce wears a triangular-folded scarlet silk pocket square. The nicely tailored ventless jacket has straight, English-style shoulders with light padding and roped sleeveheads.

Bruce Templeton coolly confers with Zack Malloy (Dick Martin).

Bruce’s white cotton dress shirt has a textured front bib split into stripes that alternate between a plain broadcloth finish and a white-on-white birdseye weave. It’s one of these birdseye stripes that runs vertically up the plain “French placket” where the buttonholes are cut, and through which Bruce wears three small black studs. The shirt also has double (French) cuffs and a point collar.

His short black satin bowtie is shaped in the then-fashionable batwing style, characterized by its narrow, almost rectangular, appearance when tied.

Bruce’s flat front formal trousers match his dinner jacket in the same shiny black fabric, detailed with the requisite black silk side striping. He covers the waist with a unique black silk cummerbund that fastens on through an adjustable back strap, though the design has three satin-covered buttons on the front and a gently dipped crest so that, with the dinner jacket on (but unbuttoned), the cummerbund would resemble a formal waistcoat with a low V-shaped opening.

Watching a shirt-sleeved Bruce tie on his narrow bow tie before slipping on his dinner jacket reminded me of a passage in the eighth chapter of Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale. #IYKYK

Among the more conventional pieces of Bruce’s black tie ensemble are his black cap-toe oxford shoes, though they appear to be a calf leather rather than dressier patent leather.

Throughout The Glass Bottom Boat, Bruce Templeton wears a slim gold dress watch with a champagne gold dial and flat gold bracelet, indeed an ideal wristwatch style to wear for formal occasions.

Bruce tries to spirit Jennifer Nelson (Doris Day) away from the paranoid conspiracy theories being bounded about by his colleagues.

We also see some interesting black tie looks from Bruce’s friends and fellow revelers. As his fiercely—and comically—loyal pal and colleague Zack Malloy, comedian Dick Martin dresses in the fashion that was then popular by his similarly named entertainer Dean Martin, right down to the informal white button-down collar shirt, butterfly-shaped bow tie, and bright red silk pocket square.

Dick Martin in The Glass Bottom Boat.

The Glass Bottom Boat also nods to its adopted genre with an uncredited cameo by Robert Vaughn, then in the middle of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.‘s four-season run on NBC. The heightened sense that the party is filled with spies and the music cue for Vaughn’s brief appearance suggests that he’s in character as Napoleon Solo, as does his dapper three-piece dinner suit, similar in style—if not exact detail—to one that he had worn on the series, as comprehensively written about by Matt Spaiser for Bond Suits.

In his unfortunate disguise, Homer Cripps (Paul Lynde) may think he’s a master spy, but Napoleon Solo is the real deal.

What to Imbibe

After Jennifer Nelson (Doris Day) overhears Bruce and his colleagues discussing the possibility that she’s a spy, she decides to have some fun with their suspicions, kicking off the evening’s festivities with a drink that Bruce’s housekeeper Anna (Ellen Corby) describes as “Hooch… that’s half-Scotch, half-Bourbon.”

“It sounds delicious,” a steely Jenny replies before downing the glass. I suspect she was incorrect.

How to Get the Look

Rod Taylor as Bruce Templeton in The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)

A classy guy like Bruce Templeton chooses his dinner suit wisely, incorporating touches of fashionable creativity allowed for the intimacy of a party hosted within his own home while still respecting the tested-and-true black tie traditions.

• Black wool-and-mohair single-button dinner jacket with velvet-collar peak lapels, velvet-trimmed welted breast pocket, velvet-jetted hip pockets, 2-button cuffs, and no vents
  • Scarlet red silk pocket square
• White cotton dress shirt with point collar, alternating self-striped bib, and double/French cuffs
  • Black shirt studs
• Black satin silk batwing-style bow tie
• Black silk 3-button cummerbund
• Black wool-and-mohair flat front formal trousers with satin side striping, side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Black calf leather cap-toe oxfords
• Black socks
• Thin gold wristwatch with gold dial on flat gold bracelet

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

That’s right, pally, you play your games and I’ll play mine.

The post Rod Taylor’s Velvet-Trimmed Dinner Jacket in The Glass Bottom Boat appeared first on BAMF Style.

Spencer Tracy in Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

Vitals

Spencer Tracy as John J. Macreedy, one-armed war veteran

Black Rock, California, Fall 1945

Film: Bad Day at Black Rock
Release Date: January 7, 1955
Director: John Sturges

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Bad Day at Black Rock may have been one of the most requested movies I’ve been asked to write about, so when I saw that the Criterion Channel had added it to their streaming collection in December, I wasted no time in finally watching this swift and spectacular thriller that had been recommended by so many of you.

Based on Howard Breslin’s short story “Bad Time at Honda”, the account begins in the sprawling desert of eastern California, specifically the isolated berg of Black Rock, where no train has stopped in four years—the duration of American participation in World War II—until this particular day in late 1945, when the one-armed John J. Macreedy (Spencer Tracy) requests a stop.

Conductor: Man, they look woebegone and far away.
Macreedy: Oh, I’ll only be here 24 hours.
Conductor: In a place like this, it could be a lifetime.

Macreedy isn’t warmly accepted in this remote hamlet of less than a dozen structures, facing mysterious hostility from the new townspeople as he inquires about a nearby landmark called Adobe Flat. In contrast to the seething resentment and outright anger the townspeople exhibit toward this newcomer, the desert itself looks marvelous, beautifully photographed in CinemaScope by cinematographer William C. Mellor.

“You look like you need a hand,” quips the most threatening townsman, Hector David (Lee Marvin), as the one-armed Macreedy hefts his suitcase up the hotel steps after talking the clerk, Pete Wirth (John Ericson), into renting him a room and bath.

“There’s one thing about Black Rock, everybody is polite,” Macreedy jokes with the bored sheriff, Tim Horn (Dean Jagger.) “That makes for very gracious living.”

More Black Rock inhabitants, such as the hot-tempered Coley Trimble (Ernest Borgnine), share their suspicions with de facto town leader Reno Smith (Robert Ryan), who masks his own hostility to diplomatically greet Macreedy and attempt to discern why he’s in town. Macreedy takes the bait, sharing that he’s in search of a Japanese-American farmer named Komoko. Smith reveals that Komoko was interned during the war; indeed, the filming location of Lone Pine, California, isn’t far from where the infamous Manzanar camp had been situated.

Smith: I believe a man is as big as what he’s seeking… and I believee you’re a big man, Mr. Macreedy.
Macreedy: Flattery will get you nowhere.

While everyone else in town dangerously bands together to protect their deadly secret, only Doc Velie (Walter Brennan) and Sheriff Horn suspect that Macreedy—or at least what he’s after—could be the antidote to the poison that’s been running through Black Rock for the last four years, and they make the unpopular decision to ally themselves with Macreedy.

After patient withstanding the townspeople’s abuse, the mild-mannered Macreedy finally fights back as the aggressive Coley continues needling him over a bowl of chili, offering in no uncertain terms the opportunity to fight to the death. Macreedy calmly rises, pays for his chili, and—with one well-placed judo chop to his opponent’s neck—alerts the town that they’re going to have to try a little harder if they want to scare John J. Macreedy.

What’d He Wear?

Though he freshens his shirt and tie, John J. Macreedy wears the same suit, made of a lightweight charcoal gray silk that shines under the desert sun like a suit of armor. The suit was reportedly bought off-the-rack for the production from a secondhand store (according to IMDB), though it fits Spencer Tracy almost as though it had been tailored for him.

The single-breasted suit jacket has a three-button front, which he wears correctly with only the middle button fastened where his trousers rise to the waist. The ventless jacket has straight shoulders, roped sleeveheads, and three buttons at the end of each cuff. The patch pockets are a sporty touch for an otherwise businesslike suit, and Macreedy wears his white cotton handkerchief folded in the breast pocket like a pocket square.

Spencer Tracy consults Don McGuire and Millard Kaufman’s screenplay while filming Bad Day at Black Rock.

The suit’s matching trousers have a long rise which, as noted, meets the jacket’s buttoning point at Tracy’s natural waist. The double reverse-facing pleats flatter the 55-year-old actor’s expanding midsection while also responding to the pleat-heavy trends of the postwar era when tailors were celebrating the end of wartime cloth restrictions by cutting fuller-fitting suits detailed to capitalize on having more fabric available.

Macreedy holds his trousers up with a belt that goes almost unseen on screen due to the jacket remaining buttoned, though a few glimpses reveal a strip of black leather rather than the brown that would better coordinate with his shoes. (Since the jacket does keep the belt mostly covered, the lack of coordination would be less an issue.)

The trousers have gently slanted “quarter top” pockets along the sides and jetted back pockets. The bottoms are finished with turn-ups (cuffs) with a short break over his brown leather derby shoes.

Macreedy’s derbies collect dirt while investigating at Adobe Flat.

Constructed from a russet brown leather evoking the service shoes authorized for his fellow U.S. Army officers during World War II, Macreedy’s cap-toe derbies have five-eyelet open lacing. He generally wears light gray cotton lisle socks, but a continuity error in the hotel lobby swaps out his hosiery for a pair of darker blue-slate ribbed socks.

Yet another footwear-related continuity error can be seen as Macreedy attempts to escape with Liz Wirth (Anne Francis) in her jeep, and he now appears to be wearing a set of black calf cap-toe oxfords with dark socks (seen here), though the following scene finds him back in the appropriate burgundy-hued derbies and lighter gray socks.

Back at the hotel, Macreedy has evidently shined his shoes (and changed his socks!)

When Macreedy arrives in town, he wears an icy white shirt with a long-pointed spread collar and button cuffs, coordinated with his navy blue silk tie. (This is evidently his traveling combination, as he changes back into it when leaving town the following day.)

Hector keeps a suspicious eye on Macreedy as he checks in.

After freshening up in his hotel room and bath, Macreedy changes into a plain white shirt similarly detailed with a long-pointed spread collar, plain “French placket” front, and button cuffs. He also wears a dark brown tie, eventually peeling this off to construct a makeshift molotov cocktail.

Doc Velie may have been one of Macreedy’s few allies in Black Rock, but Walter Brennan and Spencer Tracy didn’t get along due to their vastly different political views. The rift grew on set as Brennan supposedly derided Katharine Hepburn for speaking out against the McCarthy hearings and taunted Tracy for receiving only two Academy Awards against Brennan’s three.

Macreedy tops off his look with a beautifully constructed fedora in chocolate brown felt with a perfectly pinched crown, self-edged brim, and a wide band in a coordinated shade of dark brown grosgrain.

What to Imbibe

A prominent whiskey “brand” encountered throughout Bad Day at Black Rock is Golden Delight, a fictional bourbon label printed for other MGM films of the label like the hardboiled noir The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and the Tennessee Williams adaptation Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), where Paul Newman’s repressed Brick desperately drowned this elixir of choice until he could feel “that mechanical click.”

Macreedy finds a more utilitarian use for Golden Delight, using an empty bottle at an ambush site as the vessel for a molotov cocktail. Earlier that day, however, Golden Delight served its intended purpose as the preferred bourbon swilled by town sheriff Tim Horn.

Macreedy lifts Tim Horn’s bottle of Golden Delight.

As Macreedy establishes his scrappy alliance with Doc Velie and the now-defrocked sheriff Tim Horn, he wordlessly opens his briefcase and pulls out a bottle of whiskey for Doc to crack open… an obvious choice, as Doc is played by Walter Brennan, one of classic Hollywood’s most memorable on-screen drunks. The label on Macreedy’s bottle reads Pebble Ames, no doubt another fictional creation from MGM’s props department.

“It’ll take an awful lot of whiskey to wash out your guts,” Macreedy taunts Pete as the spineless clerk takes a swig. :”Go on, swill it! What is there left for you to do?”

Though Tracy himself battled alcoholism throughout his life, he was known to abstain from drinking during a film shoot and would exclusively drink cold 7 Up while hosting cocktail hours for the cast and crew in his hotel room.

How to Get the Look

Spencer Tracy in Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

Spencer Tracy’s heroic John J. Macreedy dresses in a manner of dignified simplicity. The suit has a flattering fit despite its secondhand status, and his plain charcoal suit, white shirt, dark tie, and fedora differs little from the standard kit any gent would wear in mid-century America, though the added shine of Macreedy’s suiting suggests that he’s a knight sent to rescue the toxic town of Black Rock from itself.

• Charcoal silk suit:
  • Single-breasted 3-button jacket with patch breast pocket, patch hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and ventless back
  • Double reverse-pleated long-rise trousers with “quarter top” side pockets, jetted back pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• White cotton shirt with long-pointed spread collar, plain “French placket” front, and button cuffs
• Dark brown tie
• Black leather belt with single-prong buckle
• Russet brown leather cap-toe 5-eyelet derby shoes
• Light gray cotton lisle socks
• Brown felt fedora with brown grosgrain silk ribbon and self-edged brim

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

You’re not only wrong, you’re wrong at the top of your voice.

The post Spencer Tracy in Bad Day at Black Rock appeared first on BAMF Style.

Chadwick Boseman in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020). Photo by David Lee/Netflix.

Vitals

Chadwick Boseman as Levee Green, ambitious blues cornetist

Chicago, Summer 1927

Film: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Release Date: November 25, 2020
Director: George C. Wolfe
Costume Designer: Ann Roth

Background

The late Chadwick Boseman was being named as an Oscar contender for his performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, based on the August Wilson play of the same name, even before it came out. We’re still two months away from the Academy Award nominations being announced, but Boseman has already received posthumous Best Actor wins from the Chicago Film Critics Association, Alliance of Women Film Journalists, and Music City Film Critics’ Association for what turned out to be his final screen role.

The praise is well-deserved as the actor delivered a powerhouse performance as the hotheaded horn-blower Levee Green, an ambitious (and fictional) member of a four-piece band backing Ma Rainey (Viola Davis), the Mother of the Blues herself. The North Side neighborhood in my hometown of Pittsburgh was transformed to resemble roaring ’20s Chicago when production came to the Steel City two summers ago; Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is the only one of the ten plays in the Hill District-born Wilson’s “Century Cycle” not actually set in Pittsburgh.

Chadwick Boseman had been diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016, never speaking publicly about his illness all the while delivering some of his most iconic performances in Marshall, Black Panther, and the two Avengers films to follow. Indeed, Boseman’s vigorous performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom belies his health at the time, and his fellow cast members remained unaware of his ongoing treatment for the cancer that would progress to stage IV before it ended his life at the age of 42 on August 28, 2020.

What’d He Wear?

Levee: I knows how to play real music, not this old jug band shit! I got style.
Toledo: Oh, everybody got style! Style ain’t nothin’.

Clothing—and, in particular, shoes—make up the major emphasis on personal style in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Ma herself commands her nervous nephew Sylvester (Dusan Brown) to “tuck your clothes in, straighten them up, and look nice… look like a gentleman.” Levee may be referring to his approach to music when he celebrates his style during one of many arguments with pianist Toledo (Glynn Turman), but we know appearance is important to the swaggering young cornetist who was late to rehearsal as he was busy buying an $11 pair of yellow shoes. (In 2020, $11 shoes would cost more than $160… not unreasonable but also not advisable for a musician living paycheck-to-paycheck.)

Chadwick Boseman, Dusan Brown, Colman Domingo, Michael Potts, Viola Davis, and Glynn Turman in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Photo by David Lee/Netflix.

Given the emphasis on style, it’s fitting that Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom engaged the services of one of the most eminent costume designers in the business. Ann Roth, who co-designed the iconic costumes in The Talented Mr. Ripley among many other credits in her prolific stage and screen career, shares the story’s spiritual roots in Pittsburgh as her own career started as a scenery painter for the Pittsburgh Opera in the early 1950s.

“They have to wear a shirt and a tie and they travel on buses and on trains and they travel a lot and their clothes take a beating,” Roth explained to Fawnia Soo Hoo for Fashionista. “If they perform at night, those suits either hang over the back of a chair in a rooming house somewhere. They don’t have a wardrobe lady and they don’t have a valet. Some of them take their pants off, folded them and put them between the mattress and the bedspring. That often happened. It takes the crease out!”

As most of the action is set over the course of one day, we get to know the quartet’s sense of dress intimately as they slip off their jackets and loosen their ties for “band room” rehearsal before straightening up again when rejoining Ma to record their sessions. The only other outfits prominently seen on screen are the band’s dinner suits from the previous evening’s stage performance, consisting of midnight blue dinner jackets with broad peak lapels worn with wing-collar shirts and coordinated waistcoats.

Levee dresses to the nines for the Ma Rainey performance that opens the movie.

The next day, the four men arrive ahead of Ma at the Hot Rhythm Recordings studio, Levee bringing up the rear while also bringing the most individualized sense of style. Roth told Fashionista that she had begun designing Boseman’s costume remotely (even in the days before COVID!), though they instantly connected when meeting in person for his fittings. “He got into it,” Roth told Fashionista. “He enjoyed the process of [determining the origin of] the clothes: ‘Where did they come from? Who paid for them? How much did they cost? Where did he pick them up? Tennessee? Alabama? Arkansas? How did the pants fit?’ All that. [Levee] wanted to look good. And [Boseman] was very responsive; a very, very good actor to play with.”

Unlike his bandmates in their matching two- or three-piece suits, Levee uses his clothing to communicate his individuality, pairing a boldly striped odd jacket over a matching gray plaid waistcoat and trousers.

The dark gray twill flannel jacket is patterned in a bold and widely spaced white chalk-stripe. Sports coats were just beginning to be accepted during the 1920s, beginning with the tweed country-wear meant for sporting pursuits. Given that pinstripes and chalkstripes are generally meant for business dress anyway, it’s likely that Levee’s jacket was meant to be orphaned from a full suit but worn here with the underpinnings from another suit for a visually interesting contrast.

The ventless single-breasted jacket has a three-button front that flatters Boseman’s lean, six-foot-tall frame, detailed with a welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, and two-button cuffs. The shoulders follow a natural slope with shirring at the pronounced sleeveheads that resemble the Neapolitan-style spalla camicia shoulder.

Levee wears a gray-on-ecru striped cotton shirt that coordinates with the rest of his gray-scaled outfit. The gray stripe looks like a typical bengal stripe, though each is detailed with two darker hairline-width stripes within them. The shirt has a point collar, front placket, and button cuffs.

Levee’s two-color silk twill tie echoes the Art Deco-era with its organized but askew geometric print of slanted tiles. To me, the pattern resembles a scattering of undeveloped Polaroids as each tile is cream-colored with a large chestnut brown square in the center that matches the narrow border along the edges of each tile. Although the pattern may look chaotic, the tiles are neatly organized in an “uphill” direction.

The foundation of Levee’s outfit is a matching six-button waistcoat (vest) and trousers, almost certainly elements of a full three-piece suit. The wool suiting is a black-and-gray broken twill that creates an overall gray effect, overlaid with a unique multi-color plaid consisting of sets of three vertical charcoal pinstripes that run perpendicular to sets of three horizontal pinstripes colored in pale gray, pink, and pale gray.

The satin-finished lining is gray with a pinkish hue, reflecting the suiting’s unique colorway, with an adjustable strap across the waistcoat’s lower back. Levee keeps a white handkerchief in the left of the waistcoat’s two lower welted pockets, handy for polishing his horn as well as his shoes. We rarely see the waistcoat fully buttoned aside from his arrive and a brief continuity error when he finally breaks through the mysterious door.

Made from the same gray-toned plaid as his waistcoat, Levee’s flat front trousers rise fashionably high to Boseman’s waist, where they are held up with a set of suspenders (braces) striped in a dark slate blue and cream cloth and fastened to buttons along the inside of his trouser waistband with light brown leather two-prong hooks. He leaves the belt loops unused, appropriately avoiding the redundancy of belt and braces as well as the oft-unsightly bulge created by a belt buckle under a waistcoat.

The full-fitting trousers have on-seam side pockets, jetted back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms that gently flare.

Kicking back between sessions.

“Look here, Cutler! I got me some shoes,” Levee sings as he strides into the band’s basement rehearsal, showing off his new $11 brogues. While everyone shares their admiration at first, Cutler (Colman Domingo) later grumbles about “any man who takes a whole week’s pay and puts it on some shoes… you know what I mean?”

Despite Cutler’s admonition, Levee remains proud of his wingtip brogues, constructed of golden-hued leather uppers consistent with Ann Roth’s original vision as she outlined to Fashionista: “In that period, most men had a pair of black shoes and a brown pair. When you went to church, those were the black shoes, and the brown shoes were working shoes, but yellow shoes were extraordinary. You had to be a high-stepper to have them, or to wear them, or to pay for them.”

I’m sure Levee would agree, as he touts “a man gotta have some shoes that dance like this!” as Slow Drag (Michael Potts) lays down a bass beat for him, Levee having already outlined how they differentiate him from the otherwise natty Toledo’s well-worn black “clodhoppers”.

Levee slips into his much-admired new yellow brogues. His boldly striped hosiery reflects his boldly striped jacket, a thematic coordination if not a tonal one.

Levee’s yellow leather brogues are detailed with medallion perforated wingtips and oxford-style closed lacing, wearing flat orange laces through the five sets of eyelets. He’s drawn to the shoes as they tilt from a prominent display in a Halsted Street store window, though Roth explained to W Mag that she found them on Orchard Street in Manhattan: “I used to know who made them. But I don’t remember now that I’ve had this drink.”

Levee spots the yellow shoes that will seal his fate, though perhaps not in the manner he had hoped.

Levee wears an olive felt fedora with a nearly matching olive grosgrain band and grosgrain piping along the edges of his upturned brim. His sole jewelry is a gold ring, worn on his left index finger, an affectation suggestive of self-esteem, confidence, and leadership and thus perfectly suited for the ambitious cornetist who aspires to lead his own band sooner rather than later.

You can read more about Ann Roth’s costume design for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at Fashionista, Variety, and W Mag.

Gallery

How to Get the Look

Chadwick Boseman in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020)

Ever the individualist, Levee dresses to suit his own style in a boldly striped orphaned jacket over a waistcoat and trousers, even wearing his ring on an unorthodox finger, but he adds a coda to his jazzy ensemble after spotting a pair of shining yellow brogues in a store window.

• Dark gray chalkstripe flannel twill single-breasted 3-button jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 2-button cuffs, and ventless back
• Gray-on-ecru striped cotton shirt with point collar, front placket, and button cuffs
• Cream-and-chestnut brown tile-patterned silk twill tie
• Gray plaid broken-twill wool single-breasted 6-button waistcoat with two welted pockets
• Gray plaid broken-twill wool flat front trousers with belt loops, on-seam side pockets, jetted back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Slate-and-beige striped cloth suspenders with light brown leather hooks
• Yellow leather 5-eyelet wingtip oxford brogues
• Charcoal-blue, white, and black vertical-striped socks
• Olive felt fedora with grosgrain band and grosgrain-edged brim
• Gold ring, left index finger

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie, currently streaming on Netflix. You can also pick up a copy of August Wilson’s play.

The Quote

Life ain’t shit. You can put it in a paper bag and carry it around with you. It ain’t got no balls. Now death? Death got some style. Death will kick your ass and make you wish you’d never been born, that’s how bad death is. But you can rule over life. Life ain’t nothing.

The post Chadwick Boseman in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom appeared first on BAMF Style.

Cary Grant and Irene Dunne in The Awful Truth (1937)

Vitals

Cary Grant as Jerry Warriner, witty divorcee

New York, Fall 1937

Film: The Awful Truth
Release Date: October 21, 1937
Director: Leo McCarey
Costume Designer: Robert Kalloch

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Archibald Leach was born 117 years ago today on January 18, 1904. Though he’d established his now-iconic stage name just before his film debut in This is the Night (1932), I consider Leo McCarey’s 1937 screwball comedy The Awful Truth to be the symbolic start of Cary Grant’s screen persona as a stylish yet self-deprecating gentleman with a remarkable penchant for physical comedy as well as wit.

The Awful Truth chronicles the tumultuous divorce of Jerry and Lucy Warriner, played by Grant and Irene Dunne in their first of three on-screen collaborations. Despite their suspicions of the other’s fidelity that led to the decision to end their marriage, Jerry and Lucy maintain a playful antagonism as they both move on to other partners. As they approach the end of the 60-day decree that will finalize their divorce, Jerry has already gotten engaged to socialite Barbara Vance (Molly Lamont).

Painfully aware of the titular “awful truth” that she and Jerry still love each other, Lucy designs to sabotage Jerry’s engagement by crashing a formal dinner at the Vance estate in the guise of Jerry’s fictitious sister Lola.

What’d He Wear?

By the middle of the 1930s, the dinner jacket had been firmly established on both sides of the Atlantic as the preferred standard for evening-wear, relegating white tie and tails to only the most formal occasions. The wealthy Vance family considers an engagement dinner with their new prospective son-in-law to fall into this category of formality, so Jerry respects their affluence by attending the dinner in a perfect execution of full evening dress, stylishly interpreted for trending styles of the ’30s without sacrificing tradition.

Jerry’s formal tailcoat is appropriately made from black or midnight wool. The silk-faced peak lapels extend broadly out to the padded shoulders, the wide and sharp points with gently slanted gorges being the outfit’s primary concession to ’30s fashions—and not an unattractive concession, at that. The six silk-covered buttons on the front are arranged in a double-breasted configuration, three on each side following a V-shape though the coat isn’t mean to be closed and has no buttonholes to do so. The four buttons on each cuff are also covered in silk as are the two decorative buttons sewn along the waist line above the back tails. In addition to the inside breast pockets, the evening tailcoat has only a welted breast pocket where Jerry wears a white handkerchief.

Dressed to perfection in period-influenced full evening dress, Jerry works to make a good impression on his fiancée Barbara’s family… though the clear admiration in Barbara’s eyes would be short-lived once Jerry’s “sister” strolls in.

Jerry wears the prescribed white cotton piqué, or marcella, shirt with a pronounced detachable wing collar and single cuffs, fastened with a set of gleaming links that coordinate with the subtle diamond studs on the stiff shirt front.

Regarding the natty neckwear that characterizes the white tie dress code, Jerry wears a white bow tie, likely also made from marcella cotton, fashioned in a tastefully large butterfly/thistle shape.

While full evening dress continues to endure into the 21st century, the dress code’s elegance has often been compromised by wearers aware of its components but not how they should properly fit. Scores of white tie do’s and don’ts across the internet highlight the misadventures of contemporary celebrities and statesmen; Gentleman’s Gazette illustrates these sartorial debacles with particular aplomb.

Irene Dunne and Cary Grant clown around during production of The Awful Truth. Note how the tailcoat’s cutaway front follows the lines of the waistcoat while just covering the bottom, suggesting a synchronicity that could only be the product of perfect tailoring.

The most common faux pas of modern attempts at white tie would arguably be the relationship with the waist. This should be no surprise, as the last few decades have found trouser waistlines falling considerably below the natural waist as the low-rise fad continues to overwhelm the men’s fashion industry. We’ve been seeing this every day as men hit the streets—or their Instagram accounts—wearing suits that fit a bit too snugly with the telltale shirt “triangle” between the buttoned jacket and the top of the trouser waistband belying questionable tailoring.

Tailors (and their customers) from the oft-described “golden age” had mastered cutting to flatter their clients by anchoring jacket buttoning points and trouser tops around the wearer’s natural waist, a position that may seem comically high to under-informed men today. This naturally applied to full evening dress in addition to suits and daily attire so that the waistcoats would be cut with a high bottom that would echo the lines of tailcoat’s cutaway front, which should be cut to the just cover the bottom of the waistcoat as, per Simon Candy of Henry Poole & Co., “the waistcoat should absolutely not come below the jacket… although a perfectly fitting jacket will be cut so as the pointing of the white marcella piqué waistcoat come to, at most, a quarter of an inch below the lowest point of the jacket.”

In his same 2010 piece that quotes Candy’s stipulations, GQ style writer Robert Johnson summarized that “the simple rule of thumb is that you should only ever see black and white not black, white and black again.”

As Jerry Warriner, Grant wears a white marcella waistcoat with a shawl collar that comes to broad, sharply square-cut corners at the bottom of the low, V-shaped opening. The waistcoat has three closely spaced mother-of-pearl buttons above the notched bottom that tapers back on each side to follow the lines of the tailcoat’s cutaway front.

The elegant relationship between the tailcoat’s cutaway front, the bottom of the waistcoat, and the hidden trouser waistband is only interrupted—and briefly, at that—when Jerry reaches into the inner breast pocket of his tail coat.

Traditional tailoring tenets dictate that one should never see a gentleman’s trouser waistband and especially not the device that said wearer uses to hold up those trousers. The advents of the two-piece suit and trouser belts led to a loosening of these guidelines, but it remains true among degrees of formal dress, particularly with white tie and tails.

Naturally, Grant’s double forward-pleated formal trousers are perfectly tailored to rise to his natural waist, concealing the top of his trousers—and the likely white suspenders (braces) used to hold them up—under the waistcoat. The requisite silk side braid is present in the form of two narrow stripes down the seam of each leg to the plain-hemmed bottoms, which break against the top of his black leather cap-toe oxford shoes, just long enough to cover his black dress socks so that no form of “undergarments” should be seen.

While patent leather opera pumps with grosgrain ribbons are considered the traditional choice for formal evening footwear, oxfords emerged during the early 20th century as a more practical alternative.

Jerry works the room, paying respect to his hosts by adhering to the full evening dress code. It’s considering impolite to out-dress one’s host, but such impropriety is difficult to avoid when you’re Cary Grant.

When the party ends earlier, the Warriners escape into the evening air in their outerwear, Jerry in a long dark overcoat with the dress code’s prescribed black silk top hat and white silk scarf.

Jerry’s top hat and double-breasted overcoat may not be ideal for an evening motorcycle ride, but there wasn’t time for a visit to Schott NYC for the appropriate riding gear.

Likely made from black wool, albeit in a considerably heavier wool than the barathea evening coat and trousers, Jerry’s knee-length overcoat echoes the tailcoat’s sensibilities with its double-breasted, six-button configuration, though the overcoat was obviously cut and designed for its lower two rows of buttons to close for protection. The generously cut coat has a welted breast pocket and four-button cuffs.

Jerry and Lucy secure lodging.

The Awful Truth would hardly be the debonair Grant’s final foray into white tie, as he would wear the fashionable formal ensemble several more times across his screen appearances, making his final movie appearance wearing white tie while flirting with Ingrid Bergman after his economics lecture in Indiscreet.

How to Get the Look

Cary Grant and Irene Dunne in The Awful Truth (1937)

If white tie and tails were designed to flatter any man’s appearance, you can imagine how good this formal full evening dress kit would look on Cary Grant, especially when tailored during the celebrated “golden age” of menswear in the late 1930s.

• Black or midnight blue wool barathea full dress tailcoat with wide silk-faced peak lapels, six silk-covered buttons, welted breast pocket, silk-covered 4-button cuffs, and 2 ornamental back buttons
• White cotton marcella piqué formal shirt with detachable wing collar, stiff front bib, and single cuffs
• White cotton marcella piqué butterfly-shaped bow tie
• White cotton marcella piqué low-cut single-breasted 3-button waistcoat with square-cut shawl collar and notched bottom
• Black or midnight blue wool barathea high-rise double forward-pleated trousers with double silk side braiding, on-seam side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Black leather cap-toe oxford shoes
• Black dress socks
• Black or midnight blue wool double-breasted 6-button overcoat with peak lapels, welted breast pocket, hip pockets, and 4-button cuffs
• White silk formal scarf
• Black silk top hat

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

Can’t have any doubts in marriage! Marriage is based on faith… once you’ve lost that, you’ve lost everything.

The post The Awful Truth: Cary Grant’s White Tie and Tails appeared first on BAMF Style.