Al Pacino as Lt. Col. Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman (1992)

Vitals

Al Pacino as Frank Slade, blind and bitter retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel

New York City to New Hampshire, Fall 1992

Film: Scent of a Woman
Release Date: December 23, 1992
Director: Martin Brest
Costume Designer: Aude Bronson-Howard
Tailor: Martin Greenfield

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Happy birthday, Al Pacino! As the legendary actor’s 81st birthday coincides with the Academy Awards tonight, let’s take a look at Scent of a Woman, Martin Brest’s 1992 drama that resulted in Pacino’s sole Oscar to date.

Pacino played retired Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade, a blind and irascible alcoholic who secretly plans on spending the Thanksgiving holiday with a lavish weekend in New York City before ending his life. Somewhat reluctantly along for the ride is Charlie Simms (Chris O’Donnell), a mild-mannered prep student hired to care for Frank, though the cantankerous colonel seems more than willing to watch out for himself.

Frank reveals his plan to Charlie during their first night on “a little tour of pleasures” with dinner at The Plaza’s famous Oak Room:

I said I was gonna blow my brains out. Try one of these rolls, Charlie, I buttered it for ya.

The reckless retiree is only one of Charlie’s headaches for the weekend, as he’s being pressured by his school headmaster, Mr. Trask (James Rebhorn), to divulge the identities of his prankster friends that had vandalized Trask’s car before the break.

Several tailored suits and tire-squealing Ferrari rides later, Charlie successfully intervenes in preventing Frank from carrying out the final step of his plan. He returns to school to face a formal inquiry into the prank, only to learn that his weaselly pal George (Philip Seymour Hoffman) had enlisted the support of his wealthy father to pass the burden onto Charlie. Despite the increased pressure, Charlie maintains his silence, prompting Trask to recommend his expulsion… and prompting Frank to rise and speak on behalf of his young friend:

Not only does Frank’s rousing speech succeed in humiliating the domineering headmaster, it also garners a round of applause from the students in attendance, clears Charlie’s name, and earns Frank the admiration of political science instructor Christine Downes (Frances Conroy), providing Frank with some hope that Charlie’s theory of Frank someday finding romantic happiness could come true.

What’d He Wear?

During his weekend in New York, Frank Slade gets swiftly tailored for a glenurquhart plaid three-piece suit that often steals the spotlight among Al Pacino’s costumes in Scent of a Woman, though he cycles this with a stylish navy wool suit, subtly self-striped in alternating single and double sets of narrow track stripes.

Also made for Pacino by venerated Brooklyn tailor Martin Greenfield, this navy suit follows the same ’30s-inspired cut and detailing such as the wide-shouldered, single-breasted jacket with peak lapels, which additionally serves to provide a powerful silhouette to match Frank’s oft-intimidating personality. Alan Flusser, who also contributed clothing to Scent of a Woman, described how the jacket’s cut could flatter a shorter and slimmer man like the 5’7″ Pacino, writing in his seminal tome Dressing the Man that “the single-breasted, three-button jacket would be welcome here, as when worn unbuttoned, each side forms a panel down the front that creates an illusion of verticality.”

The right lapel gently rolls over the top button, creating a “3/2.5-roll” effect rather than the full 3/2-roll. Like the glen plaid suit, this suit jacket has four buttons dressing the cuffs of each sleeve and double vents. The jacket’s straight hip pockets are covered with flaps, adding weight that Flusser suggests can create “a better overall balance between the top and bottom halves of the jacket” when tailoring for a man of Pacino’s physique. When Frank presses the full suit—including the waistcoat—into service for Charlie’s inquiry, he folds a white cotton pocket square into the welted breast pocket.

Frank Slade’s well-tailored suits update the stylish silhouettes of the ’30s/’40s with an ’80s/’90s “power suit” sensibility.

The night that the boys arrive in the Big Apple, Frank changes out of the khaki brown sports coat he had worn on the plane and into this navy suit for dinner at the Oak Room, though he dresses it down (by Frank Slade’s well-manicured standards, of course) by foregoing the waistcoat and pocket square and pairing it with a non-white shirt.

The gray cotton shirt Frank wears to the Oak Room is a shade of slate that coordinates with the dark blue of the navy suiting. The point collar adds another degree of vertical dimension to Frank’s appearance as well as echoing the sharp angles of his peak lapels. The single white pearl button closing through the breast pocket matches those on the placket and the single button to close each rounded barrel cuff.

Frank’s tie is patterned in a balanced “uphill”-directional brown stripe with shadowed edges that alternates against a dark navy stripe, itself detailed with a single row of repeating small beige circles.

Frank Slade knows enough to wear a suit and tie for dinner at the Oak Room—leaving poor Charlie to swim in his poor-fitting borrowed blazer—but he still dresses “down” from his usual white tab-collar shirt.

When Frank dresses up his navy striped suit for Charlie’s inquiry, he chooses one of the white cotton shirts he wears with the glen plaid suit, characterized by its button-fastened tab collar. The shirt also has a front placket and single-button barrel cuffs; for all his fussy detailing, button cuffs are a wise choice for the blind Frank so he needn’t bother fumbling with cuff links, which can provide challenges for sighted men as well!

The sophisticated tab collar, popularized by the Prince of Wales during the roaring ’20s, pushes forward the tight four-in-hand knot of Frank’s dark navy silk tie with its taupe paisley print.

The formality of Charlie’s inquiry also calls for Frank to wear the suit to completion, that is with the addition of the matching waistcoat (vest) that he had foregone during dinner at the Oak Room. While the rest of Frank’s suit hearkens to styles of the interwar era, the waistcoat has a more contemporary rise rather than the higher-fastening pieces seen during the ’20s and ’30s. Despite this, Greenfield still managed to effectively rig the waistcoat with six buttons, with Pacino correctly wearing the lowest unbuttoned over the notched bottom.

As with the glen plaid suit, this waistcoat has four welted pockets—two on each side—and likely an adjustable strap in the back to tighten around the waist and echo the silhouette created by the jacket.

Frank commands respect when orating at Charlie’s inquiry, buttoned up with military rigidity in his tight tab collar and the suit’s matching waistcoat.

Frank’s suit trousers appear to be styled the same as those that are part of his glen plaid suit, double forward-pleated in the “golden era” tradition that was undergoing a revival through the ’80s and into the ’90s and rigged with belt loops that go unused in favor of suspenders that remain unseen as Frank never removes his navy suit jacket or waistcoat. There are likely also on-seam side pockets and jetted back pockets, and the bottoms are finished with turn-ups (cuffs).

Frank’s dark brown leather oxfords appear to be his usual same chestnut wingtip brogues, worn here with dark navy socks that effectively continue the leg line from his trousers.

In addition to the elegant fawn-colored double-breasted overcoat that Frank wears over his glen plaid suit, the colonel also has a more functional trench coat to keep him dry in inclement weather, a wise layer for spending an autumn weekend in New York. The trench coat’s origins as a lightweight, water-resistant layer for British officers during World War I make it an appropriate choice for Frank, a man greatly shaped by his 26 years in the service.

Made from an olive gabardine that suggests the classic drab green Army uniform, Frank’s trench coat has the traditional storm flap across the back and over the right side of the chest, layered over each shoulder with a long shoulder strap (epaulette) that buttons at the neck where the seam of each raglan sleeve begins. The sleeves end with belted cuffs, echoing the full belt around the waist that Frank typically wears unfastened. The ten large mixed olive-and-white four-hole buttons are arranged in a double-breasted layout of five rows of two buttons.

Frank returns to his Waldorf-Astoria suite, where the in-room bar is unfortunately still well-stocked of anything but his desired wall-to-wall “John Daniel’s”.

Frank’s only piece of jewelry is a sterling silver chain-link ID bracelet on his right wrist, likely engraved with his name and rank in the spirit of the military identification bracelets associated with American servicemen.

Frank’s retro-inspired sunglasses are appropriate for a gentleman with classic sartorial sensibilities. The light tortoise frames support a pair of gently rounded dark lenses, recalling the shapes of early sunglasses before the popularity of aviator, browline, and Wayfarer frame styles.

Frank Slade sees the world through Frances Conroy-tinted lenses.

A Spotern contributor suggested that Pacino wore Matsuda 2808H sunglasses, though—while there are similarities in the overall frame and shape—the temple details and bridge structure differ too greatly between the screen-worn shades and the Matsudas for this to be the likely answer.

What to Imbibe

“Bring us a menu and a double Jack Daniel’s on the rocks,” Frank requests as he’s seated at the Oak Room for his first night in New York City. This time-honored Tennessee whiskey has been publicly associated with no-nonsense men of style and swagger from Frank Sinatra to Keith Richards, so it makes sense that Frank Slade would choose Jack for everything from mid-flight refreshments to family Thanksgiving dinners.

“Where’s the booze? Flowin’ like mud around here,” Frank complains when he doesn’t receive his drink within a minute of ordering it.

How to Get the Look

Al Pacino as Lt. Col. Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman (1992)

Frank Slade’s glenurquhart three-piece suit may command most of Scent of a Woman‘s sartorial attention, but Al Pacino looks just as debonair and domineering in this navy self-striped three-piece suit, also tailored to perfection by Martin Greenfield with its “golden era”-inspired cut that adds a touch of contemporary “power suit” sensibilities without sacrificing its ultimately timeless nature.

• Navy tonal track-striped wool three-piece tailored suit:
  • Single-breasted 3/2.5-roll jacket with peak lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 4-button cuffs, and double vents
  • Single-breasted 6-button waistcoat with four welted pockets, notched bottom, and adjustable back strap
  • Double forward-pleated trousers with belt loops, straight/on-seam side pockets, jetted back pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• White cotton shirt with tab collar, front placket, and single-button cuffs
• Navy paisley-printed silk tie
• Brown calf leather wingtip oxford brogues
• Dark navy cotton lisle socks
• White cotton short-sleeve undershirt
• Sterling silver military ID bracelet
• Olive gabardine trench coat with storm flaps, 10-button double-breasted front, slanted side pockets, full belt, raglan sleeves with belted cuffs, and single vent

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie. If you’re interested in learning more about style and supporting the talented tailors who have dressed some of the most fashionable gents of the silver screen—including Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman—I recommend Martin Greenfield’s Measure of a Man and Alan Flusser’s Dressing the Man.

The Quote

As I came in here, I heard those words, “Cradle of Leadership”. Well, when the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. And it has fallen here, it has fallen. Makers of men, creators of leaders. Be careful what kind of leaders you’re producing here. I don’t know if Charlie’s silence here today is right or wrong. I’m not a judge or jury, but I can tell you this: he won’t sell anybody out to buy his future! And that, my friends, is called integrity. That’s called courage. Now that’s the stuff leaders should be made of. Now I have come to the crossroads in my life. I always knew what the right path was. Without exception, I knew. But I never took it. You know why? It was too damn hard. Now, here’s Charlie. He’s come to the crossroads. He has chosen a path. It’s the right path. It’s a path made of principle that leads to character. Let him continue on his journey. You hold this boy’s future in your hands, committee. It’s a valuable future. Believe me. Don’t destroy it. Protect it. Embrace it. It’s gonna make you proud one day, I promise you.

The post Scent of a Woman: Al Pacino’s Navy Striped Suit appeared first on BAMF Style.

Robert Redford as Hubbell Gardner in The Way We Were (1973)

Vitals

Robert Redford as Hubbell Gardiner, Hollywood screenwriter

Malibu, California, September 1947

Film: The Way We Were
Release Date: October 19, 1973
Director: Sydney Pollack
Costume Design: Dorothy Jeakins & Moss Mabry

Background

Don’t take any crap…to the both of us… and all the absent friends, class of ’37.

Navy pals-turned-Tinseltown teammates Hubbell (Robert Redford) and J.J. (Bradford Dillman) cynically reflect on the decade since they graduated from college together, one world war and sold-out script later.

I always liked this brief scene in Hubbell’s office as the erstwhile novelist struggles with the changes he needs to make to his magnum opus in order to satisfy the whims of his Hollywood superiors, but it took on a new resonance for me during my most recent rewatch as this weekend will mark ten years since my own college graduation. What would that insecurely confident 21-year-old in 2011 think of the confidently insecure 31-year-old I am today?

While I’m over here thinking about the way I was, let’s turn back to The Way We Were. In a plot inspired by the plight of the real-life “Hollywood Ten”, the cautious J.J. tries to warn Hubbell about Katie (Barbra Streisand, who celebrated her 79th birthday last week) and her radical coterie planning to challenge the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), but Hubbell tries to seem unaffected, instead concerned with everyone from the director to the actors weighing in on the screenplay he’s adapting from his own debut novel, A Country Made of Ice Cream. The conversation takes a nostalgic turn as Hubbell and J.J. recall their “glory days” of athletic scholarships and service in the South Pacific, before the stress of spouses and scripts.

What’d He Wear?

Playing a well-to-do Ivy leaguer-turned-Hollywood hotshot, the always-stylish Robert Redford waltzes through The Way We Were in a parade of fashionable fits that straddle the line between “golden age” accuracy and contemporary trends of the early 1970s. Among his celebrated sweaters and service uniforms, Hubbell slips in some more subdued styles like this navy long-sleeve shirt layered under a tweed jacket that stands out as a comfortable template for dressing casually at the office.

Hubbell’s navy pullover shirt has a stretchy cotton construction, likely made with some synthetic fibers that add extra cling to flatter Redford’s athletic frame. The long-pointed collar presides over the V-neck opening, devoid of buttons unlike the traditional polo shirt and similar to the style colloquialized as the “Johnny collar”. Though the neckline is relatively conservative, it’s just deep enough to show the chain of Hubbell’s gold necklace that he wears under his shirt.

Hollywood Hubbell leaves his shirts and ties in New York, favoring a more casual approach when dressing for work. The following year, Redford’s would star in The Great Gatsby which, as many high school essays would tell you, delves even deeper into the relative values of the west versus the east.

Though he tucks in the shirt by the time he gets home, Hubbell relaxes around the office with the shirt’s straight hem untucked over the waist line of his gray flat front trousers, which have slanted front pockets and are finished with turn-ups (cuffs) that were fashionable in the postwar years.

The boys of “Wentworth College” recall their glory years… and just how disappointed they are with how things have turned out in the decade since.

Wearing the shirt untucked covers his black leather belt, hiding the fact that the leather doesn’t match his gleaming smooth brown leather monk-strap loafers. He wears these with a pair of gray ribbed socks that, while a few shades lighter than his trousers, still effectively continue the leg line.

Hubbell wears a trio of jewelry and accessories on his hands. The sterling silver curb-chain ID bracelet on his left wrist was likely issued to him during his Navy service, and he continues to wear it in civilian life after the war. Famously a southpaw, Robert Redford typically wears watches on his right wrist, from which Hubbell’s all-gold watch flashes on a gold bracelet. On the third finger of his right hand, Redford also wears his own etched silver ring, which he had received as a gift from a Hopi tribe in 1966 and has worn in almost all his movies since then.

It’s 5:00 somewhere!

As he returns home at dusk, Hubbell balances a pair of silver-framed aviator sunglasses on the bridge of his nose. American Optical and Bausch & Lomb (as Ray-Ban) had been producing these distinctive frames for U.S. military pilots for a decade by the time World War II ended, so it’s likely that Hubbell had been introduced to this style during his war service.

Hubbell also now wears the black-and-white twill-weave tweed sports coat that had been slung over the back of his office chair. Though excess was in during this postwar age when Esquire gleefully ushered in the “Bold Look”, the shape and style of Hubbell’s wide, welted-edge notch lapels suggests a trend that would have been more fashionable during the ’70s than the ’40s, similar to the famous tweed jacket the actor would wear two years later in Three Days of the Condor. Under the lapels, the three black woven leather buttons present in a “3/2-roll” with two vestigial buttons adorning the cuff of each sleeve.

JACKET – he’s also wearing the black-and-white twill-weave tweed 3/2.5-roll sports coat that had been slung over the back of his chair, w/ its 3 black woven leather buttons, 2-button cuffs + flapped patch hip pockets, long single vent (very ’70s), welted/swelled edges, welted breast pocket

Hubbell dresses up the jacket when he wears it again for a disappointing screening of his movie, made all the more disappointing when the evening devolves into an argument between Hubbell and Katie about his infidelity with his former college fling, Carol Ann (Lois Chiles)… perhaps taking his earlier-seen sense of nostalgia a bit too far.

For the screening, he wears a red polka-dotted tie loosened under the open collar of his beige shirt. The long point collar may be meant to represent the extreme “spearpoint”-style collars that were briefly fashionable during this era in the late ’40s, though it’s more likely a contemporary shirt from the ’70s, perhaps made for Redford by his usual shirtmaker Nat Wise (now Anto Beverly Hills.)

Hubbell: Katie, the day you die, you’ll still be a Nice Jewish Girl.
Katie: Are you still a nice gentile boy?
Hubbell: I never was… I only looked it to you.

What to Imbibe

Hubbell fuels his and J.J.’s trip down memory lane with pours from his office bottle of rye labelled “Atlantic”, rather than the I.W. Harper that he had so definitively declared “best bourbon” during one of their many rounds a decade earlier. I’m not sure if “Atlantic” was an actual whiskey brand or a prop label made for the production, as Googling “Atlantic rye whiskey” merely yields images of the admittedly excellent WhistlePig rye as well as a 2014 article that appeared in The Atlantic about the rye-naissance.

Hubbell continues imbibing after returning home, pouring himself a glass of Seagram’s Seven Crown on the rocks. Introduced after Prohibition to help Seagram’s regain its American foothold, this budget-priced blended whiskey was bolstered in the 1970s by Seagram’s marketing it as the more intoxicating half of the simple 7 & 7 highball.

No 7Up needed for Hubbell Gardiner, who drinks his Seagram’s Seven Crown straight.

What to Write With

Hubbell battles writer’s block with a period-appropriate Royal typewriter in his office. While I recognized the model as one from the era, I asked my friend Eric Tidd—the Magic City superfan and typewriter enthusiast who runs the marvelous @MiramarPlaya Twitter account—to provide a little more background about the model and contextualize it in the scene:

The Royal KMM was produced from 1939 through 1948 and was a workhorse of a desktop machine. The cool little portable typewriter that Katie gave Hubbell would be much more accommodating to a lifestyle of living in the sunshine and driving around in a convertible because the KMM weighs over 30 pounds, although it looks perfectly at home on the desk of a successful screenwriter.

More great insight from Eric:

Now Hubbell is not the only war hero in the film; Royal halted production from around 1942-1945 when they re-tooled their factories to build aircraft parts, bullets, machine guns and rifles for World War II. Ironically, this coincided with the years when their product was most in demand due to the constant communication required for the war effort.  Because of this, there was a significant push to get citizens to donate their typewriters to the U.S. government to support the war.  This article by Robert Messenger has some great photos of actress Maureen O’Hara collecting typewriters from Hollywood screenwriters to add to the 600,000 that were needed to help the U.S. win the war.  I’ve attached an advertisement from Royal from the article showing a Royal KMM and pronouncing it as an Engine of War!  The ad goes on to say how important typewriters were for the Navy… perhaps Hubbell used a KMM during his war service and kept it during his civilian life.

How to Get the Look

Robert Redford as Hubbell Gardner in The Way We Were (1973)

From the Ivy-inspired tweed sports coat to the “California casual” pullover shirt, slacks, and strap loafers as well as his military-inspired accessories, Hubbell’s laidback attire for a day at the office communicates his life story as a privileged college student now working in Hollywood after his Navy service.

• Black-and-white twill-weave woolen tweed single-breasted 3/2-roll sport jacket with wide notch lapels, welted breast pocket, flapped patch hip pockets, 2-button cuffs, and long single vent
• Navy cotton-blend long-sleeve “Johnny collar” pullover shirt
• Gray wool flat front trousers with belt loops, slanted side pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• Black leather belt with squared silver single-prong buckle
• Brown smooth leather single monk-strap loafers
• Light gray ribbed socks
• Silver-framed aviator sunglasses
• Silver tribal ring
• Gold watch with round case, gold dial, and gold bracelet
• Sterling silver curb-chain ID bracelet
• Gold necklace

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

Do you realize this is the first job we’ve ever had?

The post Robert Redford’s Tweed Jacket and Navy Polo in The Way We Were appeared first on BAMF Style.

Jerry Seinfeld on Seinfeld (Episode 2.03: “The Jacket”)

Vitals

Jerry Seinfeld, observational comedian

New York City, Winter 1990

Series: Seinfeld
Episode: “The Jacket” (Episode 2.03)
Air Date: February 6, 1991
Director: Tom Cherones
Creator: Larry David & Jerry Seinfeld
Costume Designer: Llandys Williams

Background

Happy birthday, Jerry Seinfeld! Admittedly, the comedian typically doesn’t come to mind as a style icon; in fact, he may have been consistently the worst-dressed of the four leads on his eponymous ’90s sitcom, swimming in oversized sport jackets often paired with the incongruous combination of printed neckties, “dad jeans”, and white sneakers.

Having been a fan of the series since it was still airing new episodes (despite most of the jokes likely going over my head at that age), it wasn’t until rewatching the series beginning-to-end with my fiancée during one of my our many quarantine-inspired “comfort TV” marathons that I noticed just how frequently clothing drove the plot of the “show about nothing”, a series always propelled by the minutiae of everyday life.

In fact, the third episode of the groundbreaking series’ second season even begins with Jerry pontificating about clothing during his trademark opening monologue:

I hate clothes, okay? I hate buying them. I hate picking them out of my closet. I can’t stand every day trying to come up with little outfits for myself. I think eventually fashion won’t even exist. It won’t. I think eventually we’ll all be wearing the same thing. ‘Cause anytime I see a movie or a TV show where there’s people from the future of another planet, they’re all wearing the same thing. Somehow they decided “This is going to be our outfit. One-piece silver jumpsuit, V-stripe, and boots. That’s it.” We should come up for an outfit for earth. An earth outfit. We should vote on it. Candidates propose different outfits, no speeches. They walk out, twirl, walk off. We just sit in the audience and go, “That was nice. I could wear that.”

As its title implies, “The Jacket” is one of the first of several Seinfeld episodes to explore the challenges of everyday outerwear, which would range from fur coats and beltless trench coats to Gore-tex and technicolor dreamcoats over the series’ nine-season run. The episode was one of many to be based on co-creator Larry David’s own experiences, in this case the incident when he was to meet his then-girlfriend Monica Yates’ father, the irascible novelist Richard Yates, who had penned Revolutionary Road. David wore his new suede jacket to meet Yates at the Algonquin Hotel, only to be dismayed when it began snowing outside. Rather than risk the embarrassment of Yates seeing the jacket’s garish lining, David exposed the jacket’s suede shell to the falling snow… leading to its ruin.

What’d He Wear?

“The Jacket” begins with Jerry and his ex-turned-confidante Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) shopping at Beau Brummell Sport, the now-closed clothier on Columbus Avenue, just a few blocks south of Jerry’s Upper West Side apartment. As Jerry works his way through the racks, a luxurious brown suede waist-length jacket catches his eye.

Jerry: This is beautiful.. but these jackets never fit me right.
Elaine: Try it on. Wow, this is soft suede.
Jerry: This may be the most perfect jacket I have ever put on. How much is it?
Elaine: (checking the tag) Oh my God.
Jerry: Bad? (off her nod) Very bad?
Elaine: You have no idea.
Jerry: I have some idea.
Elaine: No idea.
Jerry: I’ve got a ballpark.
Elaine: There is no park, and the team has relocated.
Jerry: (checking the tag) That is high.
Elaine: Oh man, that is a beautiful jacket, though.
Jerry: What’s with the pink lining and the candy stripes?
Elaine: Well, it’s just a lining. You can always have it changed.
Jerry: Should I get it? I hate these moments. I’m hearing the dual voices now, you know. “What about the money?” “What’s money?”
Salesman: It looks wonderful on you.

Jerry won’t let the exorbitant price tag—or obnoxious lining—stop him from buying a new suede jacket.

The eponymous jacket does have a timeless quality that elevates it above much of the rest of Jerry’s clothing, a somewhat retro styling suggestive of early flight jackets from a half-century prior. Rather than a zipper, it closes with six dark buttons on the front—including two closely spaced at the waistband—up to the neck under a shirt-style collar. The fit around the waist adjusts with short tabs that slide through a single brass-finished buckle on each side of the back, rigged about an inch above the hem. The shoulder of each set-in sleeve falls about an inch off of each shoulder, with the cuff of each sleeve left plain with no buttons, snaps, zips, or other fastenings. The two flapped pockets positioned at hand level slant backward for easier access.

Only a few days after buying it, Jerry proudly debuts the jacket when his buddy George Costanza (Jason Alexander) arrives to join him for the daunting dinner ahead of them with Elaine’s father, the gruff author Alton Benes (Lawrence Tierney).

Jerry: This jacket has completely changed my life. When I leave the house in this, it’s with a whole different confidence. Like tonight, I might’ve been a little nervous. But, inside this jacket, I am composed, grounded, secure that I can meet any social challenge.
George: Can I say one thing to you? And I say this with an unblemished record of staunch heterosexuality.
Jerry: Of course.
George: It’s fabulous.

Of course, George being George, it’s only a matter of seconds before he begins obsessing about the price, despite the fact that “I’m not even going to ask you… I want to know, but I’m not going to ask, You’ll tell me when you feel comfortable.” Jerry wordlessly lets George continue obsessing, raising the price in his mind like an auctioneer from four hundred dollars to more than a thousand:

I wanna know what you paid for this jacket! Oh my God! A thousand dollars?! You paid a thousand dollars for this jacket?! Alright, fine. I’m walking out of here right now thinking you paid a thousand dollars for this jacket, unless you tell me different. Oh, ho! Alright! I’ll tell you what, if you don’t say anything in the next five seconds, I’ll know it was over a thousand.

George gets a glance at the pink-striped lining, but it’s not garish enough to distract him from dwelling on how much his friend paid for the new jacket.

“The Jacket” scared me off of suede for a long time, especially as I live in Pittsburgh, where the skies are prone to bringing rain at a moment’s notice. (Luckily, “veggie suede” now exists to counter these anxieties, but I’m still Seinfeld-conditioned to be wary of suede outerwear.)

The controversy begins when Elaine marvels at the snow falling as she, Jerry, George, and Alton are getting ready to leave the Westbury Hotel for the restaurant. “Snow, that can’t be good for suede, can it?” Jerry panics to George. As the macho Alton refuses to take a cab to a restaurant only five blocks away, George brainstorms that Jerry can protect his new jacket’s supple leather by turning it inside-out… unfortunately revealing the hot pink and white balanced stripes of the satin-finished lining.

Alton: Wait a minute. What the hell do you call this?
Jerry: Oh, I turned my jacket inside out.
Alton: Well, you look like a damn fool!
Jerry: Well, it’s a new suede jacket. It might get ruined.
Alton: Well, you’re not going to walk down the street with me and my daughter dressed like that! That’s for damn sure!

Jerry refers to the pattern as “candy stripes”, though the extreme width would actually suggest that the lining is comprised of what’s known as “awning stripes”. It’s likely that Jerry was influenced by the saccharine, candy-like color or possibly the feminine association of pink candy-striped uniforms worn decades earlier by hospital nurses.

Admonished by the macho Alton Benes, Jerry has to face the consequences of not being as weather-prepared as the raincoat-wearing George.

Before it would all be undone by the mix of the surprise snow and the embarrassing lining, Jerry fusses over his dinner outfit a little more than usual, out of respectful deference to—and not a small mount of intimidation by—Alton Benes. I typically don’t like wearing anything but a tailored jacket—think suit jacket, sports coat, or blazer—with a shirt and tie, but the dressier nature of Jerry’s fine suede button-up jacket qualifies the look a little more, in my opinion.

Despite wearing a tie, Jerry doesn’t fasten the button under the point collar of his white cotton shirt, which is also detailed with front placket, button cuffs, and a button-through breast pocket. The red, tan, navy, and green “painted”-pattern silk tie reflects the busier neckwear of the late ’80s and early ’90s.

Like the tie, Jerry’s khaki cotton trousers date outfit to the early ’90s with their double reverse pleats and baggy fit. The side pockets slant gently toward the front from each side seam, and there are two jetted back pockets with a button to close the left. He holds them up with a smooth brown leather belt that has a gold-finished single-prong buckle.

The generously fitting trousers have a full break over Jerry’s shoes, which appear to be cap-toe derbies with dark brown suede uppers that also wouldn’t have fared well in the snow.

Jerry wisely left his sneakers in the closet with this outfit, though his suede shoes battling the snow doesn’t seem to concern him as much as the new jacket.

Jerry Seinfeld’s horological collection may be the most celebrated aspect of his style, as first seen on Seinfeld and continued decades later on his web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

Breitling watches are arguably Jerry’s favorite, appearing on his wrist frequently in real life and in almost every episode of Seinfeld from the second season through the finale. If my recollection (and notes) serve correctly, he wore a Cartier Santos for all but the pilot episode of the first season; in the second season premiere, he introduced a Breitling Chronomat on the Rouleaux “bullet” bracelet that would be his regular watch for much of the series—save for a quickly abandoned gift watch from his parents in the fourth season—before switching to a leather-banded Breitling Navitimer and ultimately a Breitling Blackbird in the final seasons.

“The Jacket” was only the third episode to feature Jerry’s soon-to-be-familiar Breitling Chronomat, a hefty but stylish chronograph that was a relatively new model at the time, introduced in 1984 to commemorate the Swiss matchmaker’s 100th anniversary. Jerry’s Chronomat is secured on Breitling’s distinctive stainless steel Rouleaux bracelet, colloquially known as the “bullet” bracelet for its narrow, cylindrical-shaped links. The large round dial is detailed in the “reverse panda” colorway of three white sub-registers against a black dial, configured at the 6, 9, and 12 o’clock positions suggesting the Valjoux 7750 chronograph movement, according to to Bob’s Watches. The Chronomat’s bezel incorporates a circular slide rule similar to the one introduced on the original Navitimer three decades earlier.

Neither George nor Jerry can charm or disarm the unflappable Alton Benes.

As usual, it’s Kramer who benefits the most by the end of the episode, ending up not only with Jerry’s first leather jacket—a brown A2-style flight jacket—as well as the ruined suede jacket which, to his credit, he revitalizes and wears once again in “The Heart Attack” (Episode 2.08) when escorting George in the ambulance after an unfortunate misadventure with a holistic healer.

Kramer wasn’t lying when he told Jerry he preferred the suede jacket in its water-damaged state, putting his money where his mouth is when he wears it five episodes later in “The Heart Attack.

“Boy, it’s too bad you gave me this one too,” Kramer comments to Jerry, now that he’s in possession of Jerry’s two prized jackets. When I next saw Jerry wearing a brown leather flight jacket while shopping for Elaine’s birthday present in “The Deal” (Episode 2.09), I assumed that Kramer had seen fit to return Jerry’s original jacket to him, but comparing the jackets side by side reveals differences—specifically in the color, shoulder straps, and pocket flaps—that suggest Jerry picked up a replacement flight jacket.

A tale of two flight jackets: Kramer talks Jerry into giving him his older flight jacket (which we, the audience, never saw Jerry wear anyway). Six episodes later, Jerry seems to have supplemented his collection with another of these timeless dark brown leather jackets, worn only once on screen.

Though Seinfeld tends to excel at costume continuity, depicting realistic character wardrobes with many costume pieces appearing across all seasons of the series, neither the plot-driving suede jacket nor either of Jerry’s pair of brown leather flight jackets appear again after the second season, as Jerry would switch almost exclusively to a black leather flight jacket in regular rotation with his colorful series of bomber-style blouson jackets, including several in camel-hued suede.

How to Get the Look

Jerry Seinfeld on Seinfeld (Episode 2.03: “The Jacket”)

Find a jacket that makes you feel like Superman… but make sure you read the weather report before wearing it on a snowy day!

• Dark brown suede button-up jacket with shirt-style collar, flapped slanted hand pockets, plain cuffs, and buckle-tab sied adjusters
• White cotton shirt with point collar, front placket, button-through breast pocket, and button cuffs
• Red, tan, green, and blue “painted” silk tie
• Khaki cotton double reverse-pleated trousers with belt loops, side pockets, jetted back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Brown leather belt with gold-finished single-prong buckle
• Dark brown suede cap-toe derby shoes
• Breitling Chronomat stainless steel chronograph watch with round black dial (and three white sub-registers) on steel Rouleaux cylindrical “bullet”-link bracelet

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the series, now streaming on Hulu though I understand it’s scheduled to move to Netflix (for American users) later in 2021.

The Quote

I had a leather jacket that got ruined. Now, why does moisture ruin leather? I don’t get this. Aren’t cows outside most of the time? I don’t understand it. When it’s raining, do cows go up to the farmhouse, “Let us in, we’re all wearing leather.. Open the door! We’re gonna ruin the whole outfit here..” “Is it suede?” “I am suede, the whole thing is suede, I can’t have this cleaned. It’s all I got!”

The post The Seinfeld Suede Jacket appeared first on BAMF Style.

Sidney Poitier as Eddie Cook in Paris Blues (1961)

Vitals

Sidney Poitier as Eddie Cook, expatriate jazz saxophonist

Paris, Fall 1960

Film: Paris Blues
Release Date: September 27, 1961
Director: Martin Ritt

Background

Ten years ago, the United Nations established April 30 as International Jazz Day, a global celebration envisioned by Grammy-winning musician and UNESCO Goodwill ambassador Herbie Hancock “to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe.” The observance feels ideal for taking a first look at the sleek style in Martin Ritt’s cooler-than-ice 1961 drama, Paris Blues, starring Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier as yankee jazzmen making their living in a French nightclub and romancing a pair of American tourists played by Joanne Woodward and Diahann Carroll. 

Paris Blues sourced its material from Harold Flender’s 1957 novel of the same name, which highlighted France’s more accepting racial attitudes as opposed to the United States… though this specific plot point was ironically inverted when United Artists insist that the movie diverge from Flender’s plotline celebrating the interracial romance by instead pairing the couples within their races, a decision that Poitier later said “took the spark out of it.”

Luckily, there’s still plenty of spark contributed by the involvement of real-life jazz stars, including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and pianist Aaron Bridgers. Bridgers appeared on screen as did Satchmo, whose cameo as “Wild Man” Moore was a thinly veiled characterization of his own persona.

Ellington’s Oscar-nominated score included some of his own classic works, including “Mood Indigo” and Billy Strayhorn’s “Take the ‘A’ Train”. The composer’s career had been in decline at the start of the decade, revived after his orchestra’s landmark set during the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival that led to a wave of renewed popularity including soundtracks for movies like Otto Preminger’s Anatomy of a Murder (1959), which preceded Paris Blues.

Paul Gonsalves, whose 27-chorus solo on the exuberant “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue” during the July ’56 festival had a direct role in reviving interest in Ellington, performed the tenor sax work “played” by Poitier on screen as Eddie Cook, while Murray McEachern provided Newman’s trombone work as Ram Bowen. (Unfortunately, none of the professional musicians on set bothered to turn Poitier’s Otto Link saxophone mouthpiece in the correct direction!)

Though saturated, this Paris Blues production photo suggests possible colors for Eddie’s on-stage suit, shirt, and tie.

What’d He Wear?

Photographed by the veteran French cinematographer, Paris Blues‘ stylish black-and-white photography prevents any chromatic identification beyond color stills taken on set, but paying attention to the details and shades indicate that Sidney Poitier cycles through three suits as Eddie: a light two-button worsted, a charcoal flannel, and this more medium-colored flannel suit that I’ll focus on for today’s post. Not only does it seem to be Eddie’s most frequently worn suit, he wears it for some of the jazziest scenes in the movie, from joining Ram on stage to kick off an Ellington-centric set that includes “Sophisticated Lady” and “Mood Indigo” to hosting an impromptu performance by Louis Armstrong as “Wild Man” Moore.

One of the few color photos of Poitier wearing this suit still makes it difficult to discern the color due to the degree of saturation, though it appears to be either dark gray or taupe with a brownish tint. The napped finish of the wool suggests a medium-weight flannel, a smart suiting for Paris’ cooler transitional seasons.

This suit is one of two from Eddie’s closet with a three-button jacket, often worn with both top two buttons fastened. Standing at 6’2″, Poitier’s height is more compatible with the balance that a full three-button front provides.

Flannel suits and raincoats are Ram and Eddie’s uniforms, though Ram’s dark, open-necked shirts are a more casual approach than Eddie’s usual shirts and ties.

Eddie’s suit jacket is tailored and detailed consistent with the era’s trends, with notch lapels, padded shoulders, welted breast pocket, jetted hip pockets, and short double vents.

The unique gauntlet cuff—or “turnback” cuff—is a neo-Edwardian detail that underwent a renaissance on men’s tailoring in the early ’60s, as seen in movies like Breakfast at Tiffany’s and on Sean Connery’s dinner jackets as James Bond; thus, you can read more about how 007 sported them at Bond Suits. Poitier’s suit jacket sleeves are finished with just a single button in addition to the turned-back cuff.

During the early scenes where Eddie and Ram first meet Lillian and Connie during a set at Club 33, Eddie wears a light tonal shirt and tie, suggested by color photography to be a cream-colored combination with the tie a gently darker and warmer shade of yellow than the shirt.

The shirt has a semi-spread collar with double (French) cuffs fastened with a set of gold oblong links, each accented with a long dark stone. His skinny tie is textured with subtle imperfect slubbing suggesting shantung silk, and he holds it in place with an askew tie clip.

When Wild Man arrives at the club several days later, Eddie is dressed to jam in a dark monochromatic shirt-and-tie combination decades before Regis took it mainstream. The black shirt has more of a point collar than its spread-collared predecessor, though the sleeves are also rigged with French cuffs. The tie is likely also black.

Eddie and Ram welcome “Wild Man” Moore to Club 33.

Eddie removes his jacket for much of this performance, showing us more of the suit’s matching single forward-pleated trousers. Finished with plain-hemmed bottoms, these trousers have straight pockets along the side seams and jetted back pockets, with a button to close the right-side pocket.

Despite the loops, he wears them without a belt, relying on the excellent tailoring and the button-closed pointed tab on his waistband to keep them up during his energetic stage performances. (Many musicians have also made a habit of eschewing belts, lest the metal buckles scratch the backs of their instruments.)

Eddie and Wild Man’s jazz-off.

Eddie’s shoes appear to be black leather cap-toe derbies, worn with dark—again, likely black—socks.

Diahann Carroll and Sidney Poitier grace the cover of this August 1961 issue of Ebony. Note that his clothing echoes his costume from this scene.

Outside the club, Eddie still takes a jazzy approach to this suit with a starkly contrasting black shirt and a tie so light it can only be white, worn during a daytime date with Connie as the couple discusses the possibilities of a romantic future, she wanting to return to the United States while he hopes to remain in France.

Poitier was photographed wearing this shirt, tie, and suit under his raincoat in color images used for contemporary covers of Ebony magazine, first to promote the movie in August 1961 and then again four years later to chronicle when the real-life Poitier/Carroll romance began.

Whether slung over his shoulder or buttoned up against the weather, Eddie’s go-to outer layer is a khaki-hued knee-length raincoat made from a water-resistant gabardine. The three-button coat has raglan sleeves with plain cuffs but a short jetted slot at the end, perhaps for straps he had removed.

Rather than a single back vent, the coat has side vents that extend as high as the bottom back corner of each hip-positioned patch pocket; these pockets are covered with rectangular two-button flaps.

The maker of Eddie’s raincoat should be easy to identify, given the glimpse we see of the patches sewn along the inside when he drapes the coat over his lap while taking Connie on a date for some much-acclaimed French onion soup. The larger top patch reads “STORM” while the patch below it carries the name “BARCLAY”, though my cursory research hasn’t yielded any results suggesting if either of these suggest a brand that would have competed with English giants Aquascutum and Burberry for rainwear supremacy during the era.

French Onion soup is a daring choice for a date, but I applaud Connie and Eddie’s bravery.

Tucked under his left sleeve, Eddie wears a round metal-cased watch with a light-colored dial on a dark leather strap.

How to Get the Look

Sidney Poitier as Eddie Cook in Paris Blues (1961)

At its core, Sidney Poitier’s wardrobe in Paris Blues doesn’t differ much from most stylish tailoring from this timeless mid-century period, though he incorporates a few jazzy details like the neo-Edwardian gauntlet cuffs on his jacket and the monochromatic shirts and ties better suited to the club than the conference room, communicating the power of how little character-adding details can go a long way.

• Dark gray flannel wool tailored suit:
  • Single-breasted 3-button jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, 1-button turnback/”gauntlet” cuffs, and short double vents
  • Single forward-pleated trousers with belt loops, straight/on-seam side pockets, jetted back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Cream shirt with spread collar and double/French cuffs
  • Gold oblong cuff links with dark narrow stones
• Cream shantung silk tie
• Black leather cap-toe derby shoes
• Black socks
• Watch with a light-colored dial on a dark leather strap
• Khaki gabardine 3-button raincoat with raglan sleeves, patch hip pockets (with 2-button flaps), and double vents

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

I like to walk and I like the way you walk, and Paris is a city to walk in.

The post Paris Blues: Sidney Poitier’s Jazzy Flannel Suit appeared first on BAMF Style.

Mike Myers in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

Vitals

Mike Myers as Austin Powers, swingin’ secret agent

Las Vegas, Summer 1997

Film: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Release Date: May 2, 1997
Director: Jay Roach
Costume Designer: Deena Appel
Tailor: Tommy Velasco

Background

Several weeks ago, I delighted in the opportunity to rejoin the estimable Pete Brooker and Matt Spaiser of Bond Suits on the From Tailors with Love podcast, this time talking with Deena Appel, the prolific costume designer who created the shagadelic looks of all three Austin Powers movies. (You can find the episode split into two parts—Part 1 and Part 2—as well as Pete’s “show notes” here.)

Pete concluded our conversation by asking each participant which costume resonated most with us, and my answer—which surprised Deena at least—was the red velvet double-breasted suit that the cryogenically frozen Austin wears when re-entering the world by way of late ’90s Las Vegas in the first movie, which was released 24(!) years ago today on May 2, 1997.

One thing that pleasantly surprised me as I revisited the trilogy in advance of the podcast recording was how gleefully effective the Austin Powers movies—particularly the first installment—was at deconstructing and essentially neutralizing some of the more tired tropes of the James Bond franchise, whether it’s the supposedly “secret” agent who borders on being a global celebrity or the unnecessarily intricate and relatively escapable death mechanisms said agent is subjected to.

Our reigning 007, Daniel Craig, even called this out in a 2012 interview with MI6 Confidential, explaining that the more serious nature of his rebooted series was a direct result of how Austin Powers had so mercilessly satirized the tropes of early Bond that “we had to destroy the myth because Mike Myers fucked us!”

Austin Powers’ big screen debut, subtitled International Man of Mystery, wisely hinges its plot on that most mockable of early Bonds, Diamonds are Forever, which was almost a self-parody as we followed an uninterested Sean Connery sauntering past cartoonish villains on his way to collect a paycheck (which, to Sir Sean’s credit, was then almost entirely donated to Scottish International Education Trust.) Of course, Austin Powers targets the Bond franchise as a whole, with this sequence alone satirizing Thunderball (Number Two as a quasi-Largo), You Only Live Twice (Alotta Fagina quoting “in Japan, men come first and women come second), and a twist of Roger Moore between the Moonraker-esque mini spy camera and the straight-outta-A View to a Kill hot tub seduction.

Even when not deconstructing 007, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery swung into theaters at just the right time with its lighthearted mix of stylish fun and easy quotability… perhaps too quotable, as anyone who knew 10-year-old me can confirm!

What’d He Wear?

Austin Powers’ signature blue velvet suit is the only one of the international man of mystery’s suits to actually appear in all three films — and Deena Appel had suggested that, if he could have, Mike Myers would have almost exclusively worn that suit! Luckily for the viewer, Deena envisioned a colorful wardrobe for Austin Powers, specifically designed to differentiate his vivid world from the drab gray of Dr. Evil’s domain.

Among the dozens of suits and jackets built for the series, Austin always had a red velvet suit that differed by pattern and style between the movies. The first was this self-striped suit with a high-fastening double-breasted jacket, followed in The Spy Who Shagged Me by a solid red single-breasted suit, and finally a two-toned striped suit for Austin’s trip to Tokyo in Goldmember.

“In terms of overall silhouette, Mike had wanted… whatever that visual was to be iconic,” Deena explained to us of her approach. “For the most part, I stuck to a very specific silhouette and changed the color or the fabrication or the pattern. There were occasions where I would do a different shape, like—in Las Vegas—there was the double-breasted.”

“Hey, there you are!”
“Hi… do I know you?”
“No, but that’s where you are! You’re there!”
Apologies in retrospect to all I encountered in the hallways of my middle school trying to recreate this moment.

While I’d like to eventually highlight more of Austin Powers’ distinctive wardrobe, this first self-striped red velvet suit has always been a highlight for me, and—given that we see it in various stages of dress from his struggle in a toilet stall to an assignation with Alotta Fagina—it felt like the perfect place to begin when discussing how Austin dressed in the ’60s… and how he has no interest in updating his wardrobe for the ’90s.

Though the costume obviously differs in its execution, the effect of Austin arriving in Las Vegas echoes Sean Connery’s 007 strolling through the casino in Diamonds are Forever, wearing a tasteful but anachronistic white dinner jacket that contrasts against the sea of Ban-Lon and leisure suits. Like Bond, Austin Powers doesn’t seem to care if no one else is dressed like him. Even when his curious costume is called out (“Hey, are you in the show?” “No, actually, I’m English”), he looks just as comfortable and confident in his bright velvet suit and jabot as you may in a polo and jeans… and that’s what gives him his mojo, baby.

Austin may not be as traditionally dashing as the dinner jacket-clad Number Two—nor does fellow agent Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley) seem too impressed—but, despite his fussy dress, he appears to lack any pretensions or self-consciousness about his unique style.

Crushed velvet is stated to be Austin’s suit fabric of choice when his clothes are returned to him after being unfrozen. Deena recalled that, in addition to the fabric swatches provided from all over the country, many of Austin’s suits were made from upholstery fabric as these were both vibrant and period-appropriate while also friendlier to her limited budget. Crafting these heavy fabrics into Austin’s stylish suits was a task for the legendary Universal Studios tailor Tommy Velasco. “Tommy was truly a remarkable craftsman,” Deena recalled of Velasco, who died in 2009 after working for six decades as a Hollywood tailor and receiving the Costume Designers Guild President’s Award.

Austin’s suit in Las Vegas is cut from a bright red velvet, patterned with bold awning-width self-stripes bordered by a narrower stripe on each side. Lined in a black, white, and gray paisley silk, the suit jacket has the conventional welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, and long double vents, though these are among the few aspects of traditional tailoring present.

Deena described Austin’s specific “stand-and-fold” collar that resembles an exaggerated Ulster-style lapel, an old-fashioned detail that underwent a renaissance during the Regency revival of the late ’60s. The double-breasted arrangement on this suit diverges from the silhouette Deena had envisioned for most of Austin’s suits, high-fastening with two parallel columns of four cloth-covered buttons.

The sleeves are finished with a unique configuration of a single button on each side of where the cuff joins together, unlike the overlapping sleeve-ends of a traditional suit jacket. Though vestigial, these cuff buttons appear to be “linked” under the sleeve (like the cuff links on a French-cuffed shirt), similar to the flared cuffs on the sleeves of Roger Moore’s early Cyril Castle-tailored suits as James Bond.

Illuminated by the Las Vegas Strip, Austin enjoys a flute of Moët during his rooftop—er, bus-top—date with Vanessa, serenaded by Mr. Burt Bacharach!

The lower rise of Austin’s flat front trousers follow the fashions of the late ’60s, as do the Western-style “frogmouth” front pockets that were trendiest during this period of falling waistlines and tighter hips. The trousers also have two jetted back pockets and taper through the leg to the unique quasi-equestrian detail of three vestigial buttons stacked along the side seam of each plain-hemmed bottom.

Austin holds his trousers up with a wide white patent leather belt, contrast-stitched along the edges and closed through a bright silver squared single-prong buckle.

Do tighter-fitting trousers provide a strategic advantage—or disadvantage—when playing Twister? Also, note the paisley lining of Austin’s suit jacket, slung over the couch arm.

Austin happily greets the “one pair of Italian boots” returned to him after he’s unfrozen, and these vintage boots would be his go-to footwear regardless of the rest of his outfit for the duration of the series.

Despite the style being nearly a century old, Chelsea boots grew increasingly fashionable throughout the late 1960s, aided by their popularity among mods as well as The Beatles, whom Deena Appel had cited as an example of a major influence on her costume design for Austin Powers. Austin’s boots blend the dramatic details of Beatle boots—specifically the pointed toes and over-the-ankle height—with the elastic side gussets of traditional Chelsea boots.

Though the height of his boots generally meet the bottoms of his trousers, Austin wears tonally appropriate dress socks in thin burgundy silk that are glimpsed during more physical activities like a game of Twister or climbing into Alotta Fagina’s penthouse window.

The fembots’ boots may be made for walking, but Austin’s vintage boots are made for infiltrating Alotta’s Asian-decorated penthouse… and eventually her hot tub. Buongiorno, boys!

“One silver medallion with male symbol,” representing Austin’s proud embrace of his swinging sexuality, would become the agent’s trademark and eventually incorporated into everything from his silk dressing gown to his wetsuit in Goldmember. Angled about 60° (), the silver pendant hangs from a ball-chain necklace, typically worn outside both Austin’s jabot and jacket, and is retconned in Goldmember to be a prize from Austin’s school awarded to the graduate most worthy of the title “International Man of Mystery”.

Deena Appel shared with Clothes on Film how the specific screen-worn necklace was found and developed:

I was shopping on Melrose Avenue and happened on these male symbol necklace charms on classic silver ball chain. I had the holes filled and re-drilled to the 2:00 position, certainly a phallic suggestion, something that would appeal to Austin.

Despite the on-screen reference to Austin’s “frilly lace cravat”, that distinctive Regency-era neckwear ruffling down Austin Powers’ chest is actually a jabot, a unique piece of neckwear that Alan Flusser defines in Dressing the Man as having originated as “a ruffle on the bosom of a man’s shirt” before it evolved into a specific “style of neckwear for formalwear with a neckband and ruffles below it.”

Matt Spaiser has written eloquently and extensively for Bond Suits about the many intentional parallels between Austin Powers’ costume design and the 007 series, and Deena herself suggested that George Lazenby’s Scottish Highland dress in his sole film as James Bond, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), influenced Mike Myers’ wish to incorporate the jabot into his attire, in addition to her usual influences of George Harrison, the Beatles, and other sartorial symbols of the Peacock Revolution in the late ’60s. (While not a direct influence by any means, this flowery top was also revived in pop culture consciousness during the ’90s as the eponymous garment at the center of “The Puffy Shirt”, a famous episode from the fifth season of Seinfeld.)

Given its historical significance and associations with Beau Brummell-type dandies, jabots are frequently offered by period costume outfitters like Historical Emporium.

Austin’s lacy jabot is not integrated with the rest of his white cotton shirt, instead fastened to one of two looped buttonholes on the neckband that allows him to swing the actual jabot over his shoulder when undressing for one of his many swingin’ rendezvous. When worn correctly over the front of the shirt, the jabot cascades in four frilly layers that gently taper down over the navel. Under this, the button-up bib is lace-trimmed to echo the jabot with loop-style buttonholes spaced up the chest to close the shirt. The set-in sleeves fall a few inches off the shoulder, where they puff out over the arms before they’re gathered at a single-button closure over the wrist that then blousons out with more extensive lace trim enveloping each hand.

Austin tries to keep his cool while struggling out of his jabot-trimmed frilly shirt in order to quickly join Alotta Fagina in her penthouse hot tub.

Austin completes his look with his signature eyeglasses, a pair of black plastic Cutler & Gross glasses with rectangular frames, echoing the style popularized by Michael Caine as English spy Harry Palmer in The Ipcress File (1965). One of Mike Myers’ screen-worn pairs was auctioned by Christie’s, which described that this specific set of specs had been “given to a crew member by the prop master who predicted the film would be a flop.”

What to Imbibe

Determining that Vanessa deserves a classy night on the town, Austin books a date atop a double-decker tour bus with no less than “Mr. Burt Bacharach!” serenading them, with plenty of champagne from Moët & Chandon on the bus to a continued celebration in their hotel room fueled by Perrier-Jouët “Belle Époque”.

That much champagne is liable to land anyone in a bloody big nutshell!

The “Belle Époque” brut can be easily distinguished by its floral-painted bottle, first designed by Emile Gallé in 1902… indeed, during the era of French history known as “Belle Époque”. Gallé’s design of Japanese white anemones was deemed too expensive for mass production, and the bottles would be stored away in Perrier-Jouët’s cellars for more than sixty years. The design was rediscovered in 1964 when then-cellar master André Baveret literally dusted off the four hand-painted magnums. Five years later, Perrier-Jouët introduced its first “Belle Époque” cuvée for Duke Ellington’s 70th birthday celebration in April 1969 at Alcazar restaurant in Paris.

Read more about Perrier-Jouët, including the Belle Époque variety, in Caroline Henry’s 2014 article for Wine Searcher.

How to Get the Look

Mike Myers in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

Austin Powers’ distinctive look of velvet suits, lace jabot, thick specs, and Italian boots was inspired by many of his contemporary pop culture figures from the late ’60s, with costume designer Deena Appel citing The Beatles (specifically George Harrison), Michael Caine, Peter Sellers, and indeed 007 as the major influences of our international man of mystery’s swingin’ style.

• Red self-striped velvet tailored suit:
  • Double-breasted jacket with extended ulster-style collar, 8×4 self-covered buttons, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, single link-button cuffs, and double vents
  • Flat front trousers with tall belt loops, “frogmouth”-style front pockets, jetted back pockets, and tapered 3-button bottoms
• White cotton pullover shirt with four-layered lace jabot, loop-button bib, and single-button frilly lace cuffs
• White patent leather belt with bright silver squared steel single-prong buckle
• Black vintage leather pointed-toe Chelsea boots
• Burgundy silk socks
• Black plastic rectangular-framed Cutler & Gross glasses
• Silver ball-chain necklace with 60°-angled male symbol pendant ()

Of course, rather than just copying any of these figures, Austin’s style blends the elements that resonate most with his personality and adds his own twists of individuality. Wearing a red velvet suit, lace jabot, and necklace emblazoned with the male symbol will undoubtedly invite comparisons to Austin Powers, but you can take a lesson from him in how to pay homage to your favorite style icons while still dressing in a manner that expresses your own individuality.

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

Allow myself to introduce… myself. My name is Richie Cunningham, and this is my wife, Oprah.

The post Austin Powers’ Red Suit in Las Vegas appeared first on BAMF Style.

Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor in A Place in the Sun (1951)

Vitals

Montgomery Clift as George Eastman, dangerously ambitious factory executive

Carthage, Missouri to “Loon Lake”, Spring to Summer 1950

Film: A Place in the Sun
Release Date: August 14, 1951
Director: George Stevens
Costume Designer: Edith Head

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

April showers bring May flowers… and hopefully some floral shirts from the back of your closet!

Decades after Ellery J. Chun established his flowery-printed shirts as the signature garb of the Hawaiian islands, aloha shirts went mainstream on the mainland thanks in part to the American servicemen dazzled by the bright colors after being stationed in the Pacific. This postwar boom was felt at home in Hawaii, as Josh Sims wrote in Icons of Men’s Style that “by 1947, employees of Hawaii’s city councils were allowed to wear Hawaiian shirts to work and, in 1948, Aloha Wednesday, a precursor to dress-down Friday was introduced across the islands.”

Aloha style received an added boost from the on-screen advocacy of Montgomery Clift, first as the ambitious George Eastman in A Place in the Sun and then perhaps most famously as the conflicted rifleman at the heart of From Here to Eternity, both performances that earned Monty two of his four Academy Award nominations.

Adapted from Theodore Dreiser’s 1925 novel An American Tragedy, itself based on Chester Gillette’s 1906 murder of his pregnant girlfriend Grace Brown, A Place in the Sun marked the first of three on-screen collaborations between Clift and Elizabeth Taylor, who would become his lifelong friend after portraying the glamorous socialite Angela Vickers.

Hitchhiking through the midwest, George Eastman first catches sight of Angela in her luxurious white Cadillac convertible as she speeds past a billboard for his uncle’s company where he seeks employment. She doesn’t stop, but this has no damaging effect on his long-term attraction to her, and he eventually finds a less elegant ride in a chicken truck.

“Not much education, but ambitious,” Uncle Charles (Herbert Heyes) describes George, who continually proves his ambition by being the last to leave his menial job at the Eastman factory… well, he and the shy Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters), of course, spawning a doomed romance between the two co-workers. Once Angela enters his life romantically, poor Alice—now pregnant with George’s baby—is thrust to the side as George spends every occasion that he can with Angela, joining her family for a lake vacation over Labor Day weekend.

What’d He Wear?

George Eastman cycles through a rotation of suits and casual staples throughout A Place in the Sun, but there are two garments that best reflect his dual identities: the well-traveled leather police jacket he wears over his white undershirt when arriving in Carthage and meeting Alice and the aloha shirt representing his free-spirited life with Angela and her coterie of Loon Lake socialites. Both pieces are introduced separately in their respective environments, essentially sealing George’s fate when he wears them together, representing his separate worlds “colliding”.

Part I: The Leather Police Jacket

George’s story begins and ends with him wearing a deconstructed leather police jacket, establishing who he is: a man destined to run afoul of the law.

Almost certainly made from black horsehide, this zip-up leather blouson has a badge placeholder over the left side of the chest that establishes it as a surplus police jacket, as the wearer would ostensibly pin his badge through the two punched holes designated for it. The jacket otherwise follows the style of contemporary motorcycle jackets with zippers to close the slanted hand pockets, a single black-finished button at the end of each set-in sleeve, and tall belt loops around the waist them that are each fastened in place with a button. (These may appear to resemble a snap, but looking closer at the loops reveals that these are black-finished shank buttons fastened through vertical buttonholes.)

Wisely concerned that his hard-worn jacket would look out of place when visiting his rich uncle’s home that night, George picks up a secondhand tweed suit for $35 before his visit. The laborious nature of his work initially makes his tweed suit superfluous, so he’s back in his white undershirt as he works through March and April at the factory, layering on his leather police jacket at the end of each hard day.

Not yet dressed for the C-suite, the leather-clad George checks out his uncle’s wood-paneled executive office.

Many associate the image of a jacket half-zipped over a plain white undershirt with countercultural icons Marlon Brando or James Dean, but A Place in the Sun shows that Clift did it first. George Eastman spends his days at the factory wearing no more than a white lightweight cotton crew-neck undershirt tucked into his high-waisted trousers. Like traditional undershirts of the era, the set-in sleeves are very short, just the few inches long enough to cover his shoulder and provide a sweat-catching layer between his armpit and whatever shirt or jacket he may wear over it.

These dark flat front trousers are made from a coarse woolen flannel, made to withstand hard-living days and styled with gently slanted side pockets. Clift holds them up around his natural waistline with a wide leather belt that closes through a squared single-prong buckle.

Alice and George quietly begin their relationship from the factory floor, where he works each day in his undershirt and trousers.

George’s trousers are slightly flared at the plain-hemmed bottoms, cut to provide room for the black leather engineer boots that are consistent with both his image and lifestyle at this point in the story. The trousers cover his boot shafts, but we do see a strap across each vamp with a buckle on the outside; we can assume that these also have the characteristic strap across the top of each shaft.

Rugged, well-built boots are advised when your day-to-day hitchhiking life involves dilapidated chicken trucks.

As George begins establishing himself in Carthage, balancing his humbler dates with Alice and the glamorous promise of life with Angela, his upgraded style includes a dark—likely black—polo shirt that, when worn with the leather jacket and trousers, creates a sinister, all-dark effect suggesting that this unsustainable love triangle won’t end well.

Clift wears the same black polo-style shirt with his leather jacket in a promotional portrait with Elizabeth Taylor, though his heavy medium-hued tweed trousers differ from the darker flannel slacks worn with this shirt on screen.

When George returns to Loon Lake after Alice’s death, his jacket reappears as a subtle sartorial reminder that he can’t shake his fate. He wears it with dressier clothes than he had formerly, now tucking an off-white button-down shirt into dark forward-pleated trousers, cuffed at the bottoms and held up with a slim leather belt.

Welcoming George’s return with open arms, Angela encourages him to change out of his leather jacket and slacks into more summer-friendly garb.

Part II: The Aloha Shirt

If a leather jacket signifies ruggedness and action, the aloha shirt—aside from how Tom Selleck wore them on Magnum, P.I., perhaps—suggests the opposite, a relaxed mood. Indeed, this Hawaiian staple is the perfect to wear for spending the day at… well, a place in the sun.

A few years before Montgomery Clift popularized aloha shirts in the Hawaiian-set World War II drama From Here to Eternity, George Eastman spent a Labor Day weekend on Loon Lake wearing this short-sleeved sport shirt patterned in a two-toned tropical all-over print of palm trees and island motifs. The shirt follows contemporary postwar trends with its long-pointed loop collar and a matching breast pocket.

George debuts his festive aloha shirt.

The aloha shirt is George’s attempt to conform to Angela’s world that encourages leisure rather than labor, an image completed by the white trousers and shoes she provides before spending a day on the water. The lightweight trouser material is prone to wrinkling in a manner suggestive of linen, with a generous enough fit that allows the breeze to blow coolly through the fabric.

George’s white socks maintain the harmonious flow between the white trousers and shoes, which appear to be the celebrated “white bucks”, so known for their buckskin uppers. “No article of footwear better typified the postwar trend toward relaxed style than American white bucks,” observes Alan Flusser in his sartorial volume, Dressing the Man, of these suede-like oxfords with their signature brick red rubber outsoles.

After an afternoon spent boating and having a serious talk with Angela’s father about marrying her, George tries to distract himself from his overwhelming guilt by stealing away with Angela for a fast ride in her white Cadillac convertible. A bit of a leadfoot, Angela’s speeding attracts the attention of a motorcycle cop, who she initially outruns(!) before he issues her third speeding ticket of the summer.

George dresses in much darker—almost black—trousers with turn-ups (cuffs), likely the same pleated slacks he had worn with the off-white button-down shirt when he returned the previous day. To avoid the disharmony of black pants with white shoes, George wears a pair of dark leather moc-toe penny loafers, still a more leisure-friendly alternative than the engineer boots he had worn earlier. He wears light-colored socks in promotional photos featuring this outfit, but the on-screen socks appear to be black.

Moody Monty.

Part III: Putting Them Together

As the walls close in around George Eastman, he finds that his true nature (represented by the leather jacket) cannot exist in harmony with the person he wants to be with Angela (represented by the aloha shirt), and it may be no coincidence that it’s only after his fatal fashion decision to wear both that his own life implodes when he’s ultimately arrested for Alice’s murder.

Though prominently featured in A Place in the Sun‘s promotional material, the curious combination of George’s leather jacket and aloha shirt is only briefly seen on screen.

Maybe Montgomery Clift just makes it look cool, but I always liked the offbeat combination of the leather jacket over an aloha shirt, even if wearing one with the other does seemingly defeat the purpose of the other. Shrouding and neutralizing the festive shirt that symbolized his hope for an escape from his fate, the reappearance of the police jacket coordinates with the law enforcement officers waiting at the Vickers lake house to arrest him.

Sensing that his time is up, George allows himself one more idyllic conversation with Angela, full of love and passionate kisses, before literally going on the run… his attempt to lam quelled by a laconic old-timer who turns him in. Now, George’s time truly is up.

…ah, yes—time! On his left wrist, Monty wears a simple but attractive metal watch with a round, light-colored dial on a dark leather strap.

What to Imbibe

After Alice’s death, George drives back to the Vickers lake house, heading directly to the bar to brace himself with a dram of Scotch.

The blissfully oblivious Angela greets George as he drowns his sorrows following Alice’s accidental drowning.

George tries to distract himself by socializing with Angela’s friends, but the quasi-Murderinos’ obsession with the drowning at Loon Lake has him aching to break away from the group, eventually falling into a serious conversation with Angela’s father Tony (Shepperd Strudwick), a discussion lubricated by martinis.

Angela keeps an eye on her martini-swilling father talking with her boyfriend.

Vodka was just gaining its foothold among American drinkers during the postwar years, with gin still the prevailing spirit expected to be used for martinis. Cocktails like the Bloody Mary and Moscow Mule helped popularize vodka among mainstream drinkers, though Cold War sentiments still prejudiced some Americans against this Russian-associated spirit. Vodka had some help from Hollywood, but it wasn’t until the next decade and the first James Bond film, Dr. No, when audiences watched western hero 007 confidently mixing and ordering his famous vodka martinis—”shaken, not stirred”—that gin found its serious competition in the grain-based vodka.

It’s not clearly established if the Vickers family prefers serving martinis with gin or vodka, though I imagine the older Tony would maintain loyalty to the established gin while some of the more cosmopolitan drinkers among Angela’s friends could have been early vodka adopters.

How to Get the Look

Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor in A Place in the Sun (1951)

Montgomery Clift exemplifies increasingly relaxed postwar casual fashions in A Place in the Sun, from George Eastman’s black leather police jacket to the festive aloha shirt he incongruously pairs with it during the final act.

• Black horsehide leather zip-up police jacket with slanted zip-closure hand pockets, single-button cuffs, and button-fastened waist-hem loops
• Two-color tropical-printed short-sleeve aloha shirt with long-pointed loop collar, plain “French placket” front, and matching breast pocket
• Dark forward-pleated trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• Dark leather belt
• Black leather moc-toe penny loafers
• Black or light gray ribbed socks
• Wristwatch with round light-colored dial on dark leather strap

The Honolulu-based Aloha FunWear offers a line of retro silk Hawaiian shirts, inspired by an era where aloha apparel “was more like wearable art,” similar to those that Monty wore in A Place in the Sun and From Here to Eternity.

Any waist-length leather jacket would create the same effect, though if you want to channel Clift’s police jacket, Taylor’s Leatherwear includes more than a dozen in the styles of departments around the United States, including a few with the pre-drilled nameplate holes as seen on George Eastman’s chest.

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie and Theodore Dreiser’s 1925 novel An American Tragedy that served as source material. The novel had also received a more straightforward adaptation with Josef von Sternberg’s pre-Code drama An American Tragedy (1931) starring Phillips Holmes, Sylvia Sidney, and Frances Dee in the roles that would be played by Clift, Winters, and Taylor, respectively.

If you’re interested in learning more about the actual Gillette-Brown case, I would suggest Craig Brandon’s Murder in the Adirondacks as a well-reviewed and recent volume.

The Quote

Love me for as long as I have left. Then forget me.

The post A Place in the Sun: Montgomery Clift’s Leather Jacket and Aloha Shirt appeared first on BAMF Style.

On George Clooney’s 60th birthday, I’m delighted to present a guest post contributed by my new friend, Ken Stauffer, featuring one of Clooney’s most stylish roles to date.

George Clooney as Jack Foley in Out of Sight (1998)
Photo credit: Merrick Morton

Vitals

George Clooney as Jack Foley, charismatic bank robber

Miami, Summer 1998

Film: Out of Sight
Release Date: June 26, 1998
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Costume Designer: Betsy Heimann

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Happy Birthday, George Clooney! Today, the actor/director/writer/producer/activist/Italian villa owner/father of twins turns 60, and to celebrate we’ll be looking at his first costume in Steven Soderbergh’s underrated 1998 crime comedy, Out of Sight.

Following the success of Get Shorty, screenwriter Scott Frank and producer Danny DeVito set out to bring another recent Elmore Leonard novel to life. The resulting film sees our birthday boy as the ever-charming Jack Foley, a thrice-incarcerated bank robber who “robbed more than anyone in the computer.” Eventually sentenced to 30 years, Foley cleverly breaks out of a Florida prison with the help of his best friend, Buddy (Ving Rhames), planning to pull one last job and retire, though quietly doubting his chances of success. He falls in love with a shotgun-wielding U.S. Marshal (Jennifer Lopez in her pre-J.Lo days) at literally the most inconvenient time… and that’s just the first 20 minutes!

Coming off the disappointing Batman & Robin and nearing the end of his tenure on ER, Clooney was looking for a meatier film role that would play to his strengths, and Foley fit the bill. Leonard’s novel described the character as 45 years old (with a newspaper seen on screen describing him as 41), requiring the 36-year-old actor to physically “age” himself by actually shaving back his hairline, including his prominent widow’s peak. The illusion works well until you learn that fact, after which you can’t un-see the 5 o’clock shadow at the top of his forehead. Nevertheless, it shows his commitment to the role!

The film begins as Foley descends the steps of a Miami office building, rips off his tie, and angrily spikes it to the ground. Within moments, he spots a SunTrust Bank branch across the street and immediately sets out to rob it. Everything goes smoothly as Jack exits with a few thousand in a manila envelope, until his aging orange Honda POS refuses to start, and a pair of cops flank him with their weapons drawn.

As flashbacks build Out of Sight‘s story, we eventually learn that Foley was in Miami to interview for a job with weaselly corporate raider Richard Ripley (Albert Brooks in one of his many overlooked performances), whom he previously protected in prison. Offered only a lowly security guard position, Jack blows a gasket, storming into Ripley’s office before getting the bum’s rush from a pair of uniformed goons. Moments after getting thrown out of the building, we watch him rip off his tie and straighten his hair… and we’re back where we started.

What’d He Wear?

For his interview-turned-impromptu bank robbery, Jack Foley dresses in a one-button, unvented suit in a crisp black-and-white glen plaid that produces an overall light gray effect. Consistent with the ’90s trend of more fabric signaling a more luxurious fit, the suit fits Clooney generously. In fact, Jack even notes to one of Ripley’s employees that he’s a size 42R… while Clooney himself was recorded as a 40R at the time Out of Sight was made.

The jacket’s gently slanted hip and breast pockets are all finished with a thin welt, a very rare sight. The shoulders have some puckering at the seam, traditionally a sign of being hand sewn, and are built with padding that allow them to extend a bit past Clooney’s own shoulders, nicely complementing his frame. The sleeves are finished with three black buttons on each cuff.

If your bank is going to be robbed, you could do worse than to have a charming crook like Jack Foley encouraging you through the ordeal.

The suit jacket has some truly unique lapels that harken back to the heyday of fashionable Carnaby Street. At the top, an ultra-slim collar angles downward (almost like an Ulster) instead of up, met at the gorge by an equally skinny and very round lapel that tapers to the single black button positioned at his natural waist. The shape created looks almost like a shawl lapel with a divot, a very offbeat design that oozes a ’60s mod sensibility.

Note the bank calendar establishing the date of Wednesday, August 12, thus the sequence was set during the summer of 1998, almost two months after the film’s release.

As she explained to Pete Brooker and Chris Laverty during a recent episode of From Tailors with Love, costume designer Betsy Heimann imagined that Jack—like the gang she dressed five years earlier in Reservoir Dogs—would have limited funds as he frequently cycled in and out of prison. Thus, the character would shop secondhand at thrift stores, where he would have come across this novel vintage suit. Of course, in reality, Heimann designed the suit and had it custom made specifically for Clooney. In what she called “a tribute to tailors everywhere,” the designer furnished the suit jacket with a bright red lining that really catches the eye when Clooney struts with it open.

The suit’s matching flat front trousers have an extended waist tab that threads through a single loop and fastens with a single black button. Continuing the minimalistic mod approach, there are no belt loops or side adjusters, and the bottoms are plain-hemmed. The side pockets are angled, and the buttonless back pockets have thin welts mimicking those on the jacket.

From job interview to bank job, in one easy—but unceremonious—step.

As Jack struggles to start his jalopy of a getaway car, we get a good look at his feet. He wears a pair of vertically ribbed black socks that sag to his ankle, and his black leather shoes are simple, five-eyelet plain-toe derbies with black rubber soles.

In addition to setting a fine sartorial example, Jack Foley also teaches a lesson to any aspiring bank robbers by one of his less-inspired choices: don’t rely on an ’82 Civic for your getaway car.

Jack’s white cotton shirt was also designed by Heimann and made specifically for Clooney, styled with a modest button-down collar, round button cuffs, and a lower-slung chest pocket. The plain (or French) front fastens with white plastic buttons. Like the suit, the shirt has a fuller fit than what’s typically seen today, as seen with the cuffs so wide that they can slide down Clooney’s hands even when buttoned.

“Hey, you wanna hear a funny story?”

While at Ripley’s office building, Jack completes the outfit with a navy repp tie in a traditional width with balanced sets of repeating red and white “downhill” diagonal stripes. The fact that he rips it off within seconds of his unceremonious exit tells us that the character views it as a symbol of corporate constraint, part of an unfulfilled compromise he’s made to avoid spending the rest of his life in prison. As soon as he’s rid of it, he’s back to living life on his own terms… at least for his next 10 minutes of freedom.

Jack’s about one poor-fitting uniform—including a striped tie of its own—away from ending his interview at Ripley Enterprises.

George Clooney arrives at the Full Frontal premiere in July 2002. Note that one of the cuff buttons appears to be missing from the right sleeve. This may not have been Clooney’s most refined red carpet look, but considering it was 2002, let’s just be happy he wasn’t sporting frosted tips. (Photo by Steve Granitz.)

According to Betsy Heimann, George Clooney was a joy to collaborate with in the costume design process and ended up loving the gray glen plaid suits she created for him.

This definitely seems the case as it appears the actor took this suit home with him when shooting wrapped and wore it in his personal life. Shortly after filming Solaris with Steven Soderbergh—their third collaboration—Clooney came out to support his director friend at the premiere of his film, Full Frontal, in Los Angeles on July 23, 2002.

Maybe out of a sense of nostalgia, he wore the same gray glen plaid jacket from this first movie of theirs. This time, he paired it with an un-tucked, un-ironed, light blue pleated shirt and a pair of loose-fitting faded jeans.

Given its relatively small audience during its theatrical run, Out of Sight didn’t yet establish Clooney as one of Hollywood’s A-list. However, it did show just how well George could wear a custom suit, particularly in a later scene when he seduces Karen Sisco. The film also helped establish Clooney’s on- and off-screen persona, one that would be cemented in his next collaboration with Soderbergh, Ocean’s Eleven: a well-tailored, smooth-talking rake with a heart of gold!

Go Big or Go Home

During the bank scene, Foley carries a classic brushed chrome Zippo lighter with polished sides. As the film progresses, his predilection for Zippo tricks actually becomes a defining character trait, and Jack is introduced into a later scene with the lighter’s signature click.

Jack plays with his Zippo as he considers which ruse he’ll employ to add this SunTrust branch to the fraternity of more than 200 banks he’s robbed.

How to Get the Look

George Clooney as Jack Foley in Out of Sight (1998)

Tailored for the ’90s but inspired by mod ’60s minimalism, Jack Foley’s attire for the opening bank robbery in Out of Sight illustrates how small details like a unique lapel shape, unusual pocket openings, and self-suspended trousers can add complexity to an otherwise conventional outfit like a two-piece glen plaid suit, white button-down shirt, and repp tie.

• Black-and-white glen plaid suit:
  • Single-button suit jacket with narrow dog-eared rounded lapels, thin-welted breast pocket, slanted welted hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, ventless back, and bright red lining
  • Flat front self-suspended trousers with extended single-button waistband tab, slanted side pockets, thin-welted back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• White cotton shirt with button-down collar, plain front, breast pocket, and 1-button rounded cuffs
• Navy (with red and white diagonal stripes) silk repp tie
• Black leather 5-eyelet plain-toe derby shoes with thick rubber soles
• Black ribbed socks

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Take a time out, watch the movie, and teach yourself some Zippo tricks. Just leave your hairline alone!

The Quote

This your first time being robbed?… You’re doing great. Just smile, Loretta, so you don’t look like you’re being held up.

The post Out of Sight: George Clooney’s Glen Plaid Suit appeared first on BAMF Style.

Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates in Psycho (1960)

Vitals

Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates, mother-obsessed motel proprietor and amateur bird taxidermist

Fairvale, California, Fall 1959

Film: Psycho
Release Date: September 8, 1960
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Costume Designer: Rita Riggs (uncredited)
Costume Supervisor: Helen Colvig

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

A boy’s best friend is his mother…

Alfred Hitchcock would probably find some dark humor in choosing Mother’s Day to focus on Psycho, the story of a young man’s complicated relationship with his mother.

Hitch had intentionally departed from his then-established style of high-budget thrillers of major stars in glamorous location, exemplified by To Catch a Thief, Vertigo, and North by Northwest. Paramount Pictures had already balked at the controversial content, but the Master of Suspense was convinced he needed to make Psycho after Robert Bloch’s 1959 novel of the same name was brought to his attention by long-time assistant Peggy Robertson. To satisfy Paramount’s demands—as well as to explore his own curiosity—Hitch agreed to make the film on a low-budget, in black-and-white, using his crew from the television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Though controversial at the time for its unyielding depictions of murder and sexuality, Psycho earned four Academy Award nominations and broke box-office records around the world. It forever changed the lives of its stars, Janet Leigh paying for her Oscar nomination and Golden Globe win with a newly instilled lifelong fear of showers (which she would share with many of the film’s audience!) Anthony Perkins established his still-burgeoning image to be forever associated with Norman Bates, the creepy killer inspired by the real-life Ed Gein, a mother-obsessed body snatcher who murdered at least two women in his small Wisconsin hometown.

“I refuse to speak of disgusting things, because they disgust me!” we hear the infamous Mrs. Bates barking off camera, perhaps lampshading the restrictions of the infamous Motion Picture Production Code that Hitch so delightfully flouted. Psycho defied convention in many ways, from being the first mainstream movie to present a toilet flushing to the surprising dispatch of its top-billed protagonist by the end of its first act… and in the shower, no less!

Panicked after a confrontation with a California Highway Patrol officer on the Golden State Highway outside Gorman, newly minted thief Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) gives herself a crash course in perfecting a getaway by swapping out her black four-year-old Ford for a newer white sedan and getting back on the road and planning to register at a motel—of course, using an alias—after sleeping in her car attracted the unwanted police attention in the first place.

We all know Jim and Pam spent a terrifying night at Schrute Farms, but who knew Michael Scott had been a guest at Bates Motel?

“There are plenty of motels in this area, you should’ve… just to be safe,” Marion had been advised by the suspicious patrolman (Mort Mills), indirectly leading to the fateful decision that finds her pulling up to the cryptic Bates Motel on that rainy Saturday evening in December. Little does she realize she’s not far from her destination of Fairvale, where she intends to surprise her indebted boyfriend Sam Loomis (John Gavin). Before she can get to Sam, she makes the acquaintance of the motel’s mild-mannered proprietor, Norman Bates…

What’d He Wear?

A curious set photo depicting a scene that doesn’t quite represent the Psycho we know… could Anthony Perkins’ gray jacket be the same corduroy jacket Norman wears when Marion arrives at the Bates Motel?

Norman Bates’ unassuming yet upright manner of dress helps soften his image, presenting him as an affable—if somewhat anxious—young man, not lacking charm as he gives Marion Crane a self-deprecating tour of her room, allowing his seemingly offhand mention of “the stationery with Bates Motel printed on it in case you want to make you friends back home feel envious” distract from the fact that her room shares a wall—with a little hole drilled into it—with his un-officious parlor and its various taxidermy. (In fact, there’s even a disturbing amount of Letterboxd reviewers who frequently comment on their attraction to Norman Bates… which we can just chalk up to Perkins’ screen presence.)

When he’s feeling most like himself, Norman cycles through a rotation of comfortable and timelines menswear staples, always anchored by a light cotton button-down collar shirt with roomy corduroy trousers. At first, I’d thought these trousers to be part of a matching suit given the single-breasted corduroy jacket that Norman wears for his introduction, though the jacket appears to be a shade darker than the trousers, with some color photography even suggesting that the jacket is gray.

No matter its color, the jacket is made from a pinwale corduroy (also known as “needlecord”) with three dark woven leather buttons. At 6’2″, Anthony Perkins has the height to effectively balance a three-button jacket, but Norman wears the jacket more insouciantly than flatteringly, the notch lapels turned up by the collar in the back. The jacket has wide, padded shoulders, a single vent, two-button cuffs, a welted breast pocket, and flapped pockets positioned straight along each hip.

I may be reading too much into this—which would surprise approximately 0% of my readers—but I like the decision to dress Norman Bates in corduroy, a deceptively resilient cloth that gained a surprisingly genteel reputation for its professorial associations while it’s, in fact, a hard-wearing material that had been originally woven for outdoor pursuits. Just as Marion Crane may be initially amused by the nervous Norman, hesitating to bring his tray of sandwiches and milk into her room, we too may consider him merely a harmless young clerk, perhaps working a late shift after a class at a local college.

Norman is shocked by what his mother has done. Surely, such a dastardly crime could never have been committed by a nice young man who wears corduroy and oxford button-downs!

Norman Bates illustrates just how mainstream the Ivy League look had gone by mid-century. Here we have a “boy” born into his “private trap” in small-town California, sporting worn-in corduroys and baggy button-down shirts like a Princetonian beginning his fall semester across the country.

Of course, Psycho never makes any attempt to communicate that Norman is anything more than he is, demographically speaking. The obsession with avian taxidermy—not to mention his mother—don’t suggest a well-traveled man, and the glimpse we get of the label inside his jacket’s right breast isn’t clear enough to discern a maker, but we can tell it’s not from vaunted Ivy luminaries like Brooks Brothers, Chipp, or J. Press.

Norman likely wanted to look respectable to please his mother, perhaps having seen photos of respectable young men in magazines, and went into Fairvale to pick out the closest approximations he could afford.

Norman’s preferred oxford cotton shirts all have button-down collars, a detail dating to the turn-of-the-century when Brooks Brothers president John E. Brooks—inspired by English polo players pinning down their shirt collars—introduced the elegantly rolled button-down collar to the United States. “Worn by movie stars, artists and politicians alike, it became a signature staple of American fashion in the twentieth century,” Brooks Brothers describes the oxford cloth button-down shirt, shorthanded to “OCBD” in some pockets of the menswear community.

Norman Bates is arguably Psycho‘s primarily antagonist, but OCBDs are also the shirt of choice for many a Hitchcockian hero at this time, from Marion’s own all-American boyfriend Sam Loomis to Hitch’s previous protagonist in the final act of North by Northwest as Cary Grant scales a mid-century modern estate in an off-the-rack—and oversized—Brooks button-down shirt.

The first of Norman’s oxford button-down shirts is non-white, possibly the classic light blue created by basket-woven blue and white cotton yarns. Indeed, there would be some hidden significance to Norman wearing the same “periwinkle blue” as the dress he picked out with Mrs. Chambers to bury his mother in.

A week after Marion’s murder, Norman now wears a white oxford shirt, detailed with the rolled button-down collar as well as plain “French placket” front, breast pocket, and button cuffs.

Norman casts a suspicious eye on Lila Crane and his fellow OCBD enthusiast, Sam Loomis, as they check into—and check out—the Bates Motel.

Norman exclusively wears corduroy flat front trousers, held up with a worn-in brown leather belt that closes through a squared single-prong buckle. The first and final trousers are a pinwale corduroy—likely tan— and detailed with a button-up fly, side pockets, jetted back pockets, and turn-ups (cuffs).

Hands in his pockets, Norman pairs his unassuming clothes with an unassuming demeanor.

Norman wears classic chukka boots made from a dark suede leather—likely chocolate brown—with two derby-style eyelets. The dark leather soles differentiate Norman’s chukkas from crepe-soled desert boots. His ribbed socks are also dark-colored.

Like Norman’s preferred button-down shirts, chukka boots are also rumored to have reached the United States by way of polo players, in this case reportedly the trend-setting Edward VIII, then Prince of Wales and later Duke of Windsor. Edward had likely encountered the shoe while playing polo with British officers in India, introducing this new comfortable footwear to the United States during his 1924 visit, during which Men’s Wear magazine observed that “The average young man in America is more interested in the clothes of the Prince of Wales than in any other individual on earth.”

While there’s little that’s “average” about Norman Bates, it’s reasonable that he would adopt the popular shoe of his peers in an attempt to aesthetically fit in.

Shoes with suede uppers aren’t ideal when cleaning up chocolate syrup blood, but Norman remains evidently unconcerned enough with the science of trade evidence that he continues to wear his dark suede chukka boots.

When private detective Milt Arbogast (Martin Balsam) drives up to investigate one evening a week after Marion’s murder, Norman is layered in a dark sweater and darker, heavier trousers made from a wider-waled corduroy and finished with plain-hemmed bottoms that Norman keeps uncuffed.

Norman’s childish obsession with candy corn was reportedly an idea contributed by Anthony Perkins himself.

The dark merino wool sweater has a ribbed roll-neck that’s wide enough for him to show the top of his shirt’s button-down collar. This style bridges the traditional high-necked turtleneck and crew-neck jumper, similar to some military-issued sweaters like those authorized for the RAF that are sized to be comfortably and effectively worn over a pilot’s uniform.

We never see if Norman brings his “trusty umbrella” when Marion Crane meets her watery, Bosco-flavored demise, but Norman’s, er- mother, dons the extra layer of a mini paisley-printed belted housecoat when confronting the patron occupying the first cabin. (Interestingly, the pattern of the murderer’s coat is not dissimilar to Marion’s own silk robe which she discards in the seconds before her murder.)

Moments after Marion Crane removes her silk robe patterned with a repeating all-over mini-paisley print, she’s stabbed to death in the shower by Norman[‘s mother] wearing a housecoat in a similar pattern.

My mother… what is the phrase? She isn’t quite herself today.

How to Get the Look

Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates in Psycho (1960)

Norman Bates covers his dangerous personality with the mild-mannered costume of a casual collegiate, pulling from his wardrobe of corduroys, button-downs, suede boots, and comfortable sweaters… when not layered in the trappings of his mother’s legacy.

• Gray pinwale corduroy single-breasted 3-button sport jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 2-button cuffs, and single vent
• White or light blue oxford cloth cottons shirt with button-down collar, plain front, breast pocket, and button cuffs
• Dark merino wool wide-necked roll-neck sweater
• Tan pinwale corduroy flat front trousers with belt loops, side pockets, jetted back pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• Brown leather belt with squared single-prong buckle
• Dark brown suede 2-eyelet chukka boots
• Dark ribbed socks

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie and Robert Bloch’s novel.

I understand the cinematic sequels may be better left unvisited, and I can speak from experience to say that the 1998 shot-for-shot remake is hardly worthy of its title, unless you think Vince Vaughn noisily gratifying himself or Julianne Moore referencing her Walkman are necessary updates to Hitch’s masterpiece.

The Quote

We all go a little mad sometimes… haven’t you?

The post Psycho: Norman Bates in Corduroy appeared first on BAMF Style.

Gustaf Gründgens in M (1931)

Vitals

Gustaf Gründgens as “The Safecracker”, criminal community leader

Berlin, Fall 1930

Film: M
(German title: M – Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder)
Release Date: May 11, 1931
Director: Fritz Lang

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Fritz Lang’s groundbreaking masterpiece M was released 90 years ago. Self-described by the director as his magnum opus, M drew on the wave of sadistic child-murderers that had terrorized Germany through the previous decade—monsters like Carl Großmann, Fritz Haarmann, and Peter Kürten—to create a fictionalized cautionary tale centered around the crimes of Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre), a creepy little killer who signals his presence by whistling “In the Hall of the Mountain King”, one of the first leitmotifs on screen as Lang experimented with the capabilities of sound in his first non-silent film.

As the increased police attention has disrupted Berlin’s underworld, the ruthless master criminal known only as “Der Schränker” (The Safecracker) calls together the city’s crime lords to form a united front against the killer. Lang deftly cuts between The Safecracker’s crime “commission” determining how they can capture the killer and the police and city officials having the same discussion, though it’s the crooks who land on a solution first: using their network of beggars to constantly surveil the city. The plan works, and Beckert is captured and brought to a kangaroo court in front of the entire Berlin underworld.

Much as Tarantino would recently do with Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Lang provided a revisionist catharsis to the German public by bringing the desperate, pitiful Beckert in front of the mob—and even some of his victims’ families—to face justice, presided over by The Safecracker.

What’d He Wear?

The Safecracker’s daily garb of a leather trench coat over his suit portends what would become a long-associated costume of the Gestapo. The long dark leather coat has a tall collar similar to what’s known as a Prussian collar—appropriately enough—with a throat latch buttoned under the left side of the collar. The raglan sleeves are finished at the cuffs with short pointed half-tabs that each close through a single button.

The single-breasted coat has five buttons up the front, rigged with two more on each side of the chest, though The Safecracker foregoes buttoning any of these in favor of just fastening the coat’s pointed-end belt through the tall rectangular single-prong buckle. On each side of the coat, below the belt, a slanted pocket at hand level is covered with a single-button gently pointed flap.

The Safecracker’s dark wool suit is woven in a manner that creates a self-striped texture. The trousers are finished with turn-ups (cuffs) on the bottoms, which break cleanly over his dark leather lace-up oxfords.

Consistent with the era’s trends, the single-breasted suit jacket has padded shoulders and wide, pointed peak lapels build up the chest to give the crime lord an even more imposing silhouette. Tailored with a suppressed waist, the two-button jacket also has a welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, and three-button cuffs.

The white shirt has a point collar and double (French) cuffs, linked with a set of off-white cuff-buttons. His tie is a dark cloth.

We never see The Safecracker’s hands without his dark leather three-point gloves over them, even after he’s removed his coat and hat.

The dark felt bowler hat is another key part of The Safecracker’s image. Also known as the derby hat—particularly in the United States—this round-crowned topper was first designed by London hatmakers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849, eventually establishing a reputation as the favored hat of London professionals for more than a century.

Three decades after M, the estimable Sir Hardy Amies would be rather possessive of his country’s development of the bowler, describing it as “the only truly smart headgear for a man, but it can only be worn in London or at a race-meeting.”

How to Get the Look

Gustaf Gründgens in M (1931)

The Safecracker’s signature look in M is certainly distinctive, though be wary that wearing your dark leather coat over a suit and tie doesn’t look too much like you’re cosplaying as a Gestapo agent!

• Dark textured self-stripe woven wool suit:
  • Single-breasted 2-button jacket with wide peak lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, and 3-button cuffs
  • Trousers with turn-ups/cuffs
• White shirt with point collar and double/French cuffs
• Dark cloth tie
• Dark leather oxford shoes
• Dark leather three-point gloves
• Dark felt bowler hat
• Dark leather coat with Prussian collar, 5-button front, self-belt with single-prong buckle, raglan sleeves with pointed button-tab cuffs, and slanted hand pockets with single-button flaps

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

We have to catch him ourselves.

The post M: The Safecracker appeared first on BAMF Style.

Walter Matthau as Henry Graham in A New Leaf (1971)

Vitals

Walter Matthau as Henry Graham, self-serving profligate

New York City, Summer 1969

Film: A New Leaf
Release Date: March 11, 1971
Director: Elaine May
Costume Designer: Anthea Sylbert
Tailor: Roland Meledandri

Background

I’d long been intrigued by Elaine May’s directorial debut A New Leaf, released 50 years ago this spring, but it was an Instagram story posted by my friend Jonathan (@berkeley_breathes) showcasing Walter Matthau’s dapper wardrobe that finally prompted me to watch this offbeat classic.

Matthau brings his characteristically cantankerous charisma to to role of Henry Graham, a wasteful heir gradually blowing his family fortune on capricious spending from his immaculately tailored wardrobe to weekly maintenance for his Ferrari. The wry family lawyer Beckett (William Redfield) is tasked with managing the unmanageable Graham, who ducks Beckett’s calls of cautions as long as he can… until his last check bounces.

Despite his extravagant lifestyle, Graham is shocked by the dishonored check, prompting Beckett to patiently explain the basic principles of finance: “Your expenses have exceeded your income to such a point that you have exhausted your capital. Now, you have no capital, no income, and therefore no funds for the check, you see.” Beckett even reverts to plain English (“you have no money”) to explain his “financial downfall”, though Graham chooses to remain ignorant of the decisions leading to his current indigence, concluding their business relationship by gifting the layer a gold cigarette case, ostensibly to cover the $550 overdraft that Beckett has personally covered for him. “You may have these, too,” Graham declares as he spills the remaining cigarettes out onto Beckett’s desk.

“They’re non-filtered. Smoke them in good health.”

Graham parts ways with his lavish lifestyle as he makes the rounds of Manhattan in his abused Ferrari, including visits to Lutèce, the polo stables, and the tailor who has so attentively cut him for his rotation of stylish suits. Arriving home, he admits his situation to his butler, Harold (George Rose), who quickly puts the idea in Graham’s mind that he could find money in marriage… “the only way to acquire property without labor.” Confirmed bachelor Graham hates the idea but Harold—acting from a sense of self-preservation as he’s all too aware of the scant demand for a “gentleman’s gentleman”—reminds him: “If you do not commit suicide, sir, you will be poor… poor in the only real sense of the word, sir, in that you will not be rich. You will have a little after you’ve sold everything, but in a country where every man is what he has, he who has very little is nobody very much. There’s no such thing as genteel poverty here.”

Graham increasingly adjusts to the idea of marrying for money, securing a loan from his despotic uncle Harry (James Coco) and choosing a bride in the awkward form of wealthy botanist Henrietta Lowell (Elaine May). On the eve of their wedding, Henrietta’s larcenous and suspiciously lovestruck lawyer Andrew McPherson (Jack Weston) brings the couple together at Graham’s apartment to confront them with the terms of the loan, which stipulated that he had six weeks to marry or he’d forfeit all of his remaining property to his uncle. Just when McPherson thinks he has Henry trapped with his signature on the loan, Graham saves his hide—and his butler’s job—by claiming that he was going to use the $50,000 to tide up his affairs before ending his life, deciding only to continue living after he met Henrietta.

What’d He Wear?

Henry Graham takes particular pride in his wardrobe—and for good reason—with one of his sentimental stops during his nostalgic tour of New York being to visit his tailor. Matthau’s on-screen wardrobe was tailored by Roland Meledandri, the esteemed cutter whose East 56th Street shop catered to celebrities like Paul Newman and Robert Redford. The shop door names Graham’s on-screen tailor as “Silvestri”, played by an uncredited actor who I read was portrayed by Meledandri himself, though the photos I’ve seen of Meledandri don’t match the actor we see on screen.

Graham cycles through more than a dozen suits and sport jackets on screen, though this dark gray pinstripe wool suit appears in some of A New Leaf‘s most pivotal scenes, cut and detailed in Meledandri’s signature manner as described in Bernardine Morris’ profile of the tailor that appeared in The New York Times in November 1971, seven months after the release of A New Leaf:

When [Meledandri] opened his men’s shop in 1961, the fashion‐conscious males were all clad in “New Haven Ivy League Brooks Brothers clothes,” he recalled. “Even the custom tailors were doing the Brooks Brothers look.” As a partner in another men’s clothing store, where the customers were overwhelmingly conservative, he decided to play his hunch and do a different type of suit in a shop of his own. “I always admired old‐fashioned British tailored clothing,” said Mr. Meledandri, whose heritage is Italian. He consequently introduced the shaped suit with wide lapels, and to emphasize its bravado added wide ties and dark patterned shirts. It served as a prototype for the men’s fashion revolution that came a few years later.

Dressed in one of the cutter’s sharp wares, Graham can’t bring himself to end his association with his tailor.

The silhouette of Graham’s suit recalls “golden era” tailoring of the interwar era, the ventless double-breasted jacket rigged with broad, full-bellied peak lapels and configured in the traditional 6×2-button arrangement. The shoulders are padded and roped at the sleeveheads, the end of each sleeve finished with four buttons at the cuff. Jetted pockets are positioned straight along each hip, and Graham dresses the welted breast pocket with a scarlet red silk pocket square folded to show three points.

While not yet dressed the part, Graham comes to terms with the fact that… “I’m poor.”

Graham’s desperation reaches new heights when his mirror reflects his image no longer clad in his well-cut pinstripe suit but a poorly fitting version of the same. “You can’t top Hart Schaffner and Marx!” he hears a tacky salesman pitch him, offering “the best suit you can find in ready-to-wear!” Those last three words are anathema to Graham, who can’t stand the sight of himself dressed in anything that wasn’t crafted by his tailor.

Henry Graham gets a horrific preview of life without a tailor.

Graham’s tie is patterned in a small-scaled black-and-white houndstooth check, often colloquialized as “puppytooth”.

Graham considers if his lawyer would really go to the length of having one of his checks bounce in order to prompt him to call him back.

As part of Graham’s old-fashioned approach to dressing, he favors the contrast-collar dress shirts often marketed as “Winchester shirts” in commemoration of Oliver Fisher Winchester, the 19th century haberdasher-turned-rifle producer, according to Gentleman’s Gazette.

Graham takes this formal shirt a step further with a white point collar that not only contrasts against the body of the shirt but can be attached to the collarless shirt neckband via gold stud-buttons. Detached collars had been falling from popularity ever since the advent of shirts with attached collars during the roaring ’20s, with all but the most formal classes adopting this more convenient style by mid-century. Even though they were practically passe by the time he was born, Graham maintains a persistent preference for detachable collars as their fastidious appearance and upper-class associations befit his haughty personality.

The fussy detached collar is best maintained with the help of a loyal “gentleman’s gentleman” like Harold.

The first shirt Graham wears with this suit is patterned in thin gray and white stripes, detailed with a front placket and double (French) cuffs that fasten through rounded metal links.

The suit’s matching flat front trousers have straight side pockets, jetted back pockets, and turn-ups (cuffs), as well as loops for the black leather belt with its polished silver rectangular single-prong buckle.

Stripped down to neckband shirt and trousers, Graham prepares to advance from the suit-and-tie portion of his day into the dressing gown-and-scarf portion of his evening.

Part of Graham’s nightly routine includes Harold helping his master into his more leisure-oriented evening-wear, including replacing his shoes with more comfortable velvet slippers. With this suit, he wears black calf derby shoes and black socks.

Despite learning of his employer’s financial situation, Harold dutifully pulls off Henry’s black leather lace-ups and replaces them with black velvet slippers.

Once Graham’s comfortably in his slippers, Harold helps him off with his jacket, tie, and collar, replacing all with a dark shawl-collar belted dressing gown in green, burgundy, and navy paisley, completing the look with a bright scarlet red scarf and a white pocket square before “respectfully” giving Graham his two weeks notice.

Harold finishes dressing Graham for the evening by folding a white display kerchief into the breast pocket of his dressing gown.

When McPherson confronts Graham and Henrietta with Uncle Harry’s loan, Graham wears the same suit and tie, though he’s wearing a different Winchester shirt with a solid light blue cotton body.

As a fastidious dresser, Henry Graham was likely more offended by Andy McPherson’s garish suit and tie than he was by his attempts to prevent his marriage to Henrietta.

Given how rigorously Graham drives his Ferrari, he was well-advised to equip himself with the appropriate racing gear from his black perforated leather driving gloves to that plain white racing helmet with black leather padding and chinstrap.

The closing credits cite all jewelry was “courtesy of Cartier, Inc.,” which likely also extends to Graham’s gold tank watch with its white rectangular dial, secured to his left wrist on a black leather strap.

What to Imbibe

As Henry Graham admits his new financial situation to his straight-talking butler, Harold, Harold pours him a carefully measured highball of whiskey and water, evidently another part of Graham’s beloved evening routine.

Harold pours Graham a much-needed drink.

Despite A Night to Remember being one of my favorite movies, I hardly recognized actor George Rose as Harold, a little more cautiously measuring the components for his master’s highball than he was when swilling Johnnie Walker as Charles Joughin, Titanic‘s chief baker whose inebriated state may have fortified him against hours in the freezing Atlantic Ocean, possibly saving his life.

More than a decade before he played Henry Graham’s butler, George Rose showed he knew a thing or two about tippling as Titanic‘s chief baker, Charles Joughin, resigning himself to a fate full of whisky and water in A Night to Remember.

Harold serves Graham’s spirits from a glass decanter, so it’s not certain what he’s drinking, but—assuming it’s whisky—we know Graham approves of the Ballantine’s 21-Year-Old variety of blended Scotch as we see him funneling into his flasks to prepare for a canoe trip with Henrietta in the Adirondacks.

How to Get the Look

Walter Matthau as Henry Graham in A New Leaf (1971)

Turn over “a new leaf” in your style this spring, embracing a re-opening world by dressing up a classic gray pinstripe double-breasted business suit with a contrast collar shirt and colorful pocket square.

• Gray pinstripe wool tailored suit:
  • Double-breasted 6×2-button jacket with wide peak lapels, welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, 4-button cuffs, ventless back
  • Flat front trousers with belt loops, straight/on-seam side pockets, jetted back pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• Gray-and-white striped cotton shirt with neckband, front placket, and double/French cuffs
  • White detachable point collar with gold stud fastening
  • Round metal cuff links
• Black-and-white houndstooth silk tie
• Black leather belt with polished silver rectangular single-prong buckle
• Black calf leather cap-toe derby shoes
• Black socks
• Cartier Tank gold dress watch with white rectangular dial on black leather strap

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

I have no skill, no resources, no ambition. All I am—or was—is rich, and that’s all I ever wanted to be.

The post A New Leaf: Walter Matthau’s Gray Pinstripe Suit appeared first on BAMF Style.

Janie Bryant, photographed by Inherent Clothier.

I recently had the pleasure to speak to Janie Bryant, the talented and prolific costume designer whose credits include Mad Men, Deadwood, The Last Tycoon, and most recently Why Women Kill… in other words, some of the most stylish and entertaining shows in recent decades. Ms. Bryant recently teamed with Taylor Draper of Inherent Clothier to launch her new menswear label, Bryant/Draper, a classically inspired line of luxurious yet versatile items from jackets to jodhpur boots that would deliver more than a touch of elegance to any modern gent’s wardrobe.

I’ve transcribed my notes from our interview, during which Ms. Bryant was very generous with her time and insights (and very patient with my repeated admiration for her work!)

Congratulations on the launch of your Bryant/Draper line with Inherent Clothier, it looks like it really incorporates the elegant styles of mid-century and earlier, like the golden age we see in The Last Tycoon.

It’s so true, those were two huge points of inspiration for us. We really wanted to incorporate the glamour of Hollywood in a very masculine way, so that was definitely our inspiration from mid-century to the ’30s and ’40s.

The Braxton topcoat, part of the Bryant/Draper collection.

There’s a lot of specific pieces that really recall that era. In particular, the Braxton topcoat reminds me of something you would have seen in a James Cagney or Clark Gable movie, and you really don’t see anything like that from any other manufacturers these days. Did anything specifically inspire pieces like that?

I love a great topcoat. I think that’s the ultimate in style for a man, especially a camelhair coat. That’s a big influence from my dad, who always had the best camelhair coats. It goes without saying that he was an impeccable dresser. For me, that piece is the marriage of great style and classic dressing. At the same time, it’s very modern, because you can wear a topcoat with a T-shirt and jeans, you can wear a topcoat with a suit, you can wear a topcoat with a dress shirt and jeans with boots or loafers. You can even wear a topcoat with joggers and sneakers! That piece is so versatile with every single thing in a man’s wardrobe… so I really felt like that was such an important piece to incorporate and just add a bit of flash with the velvet collar.

I’m noticing it seems like a lot of the jackets have this really beautiful ocean scene on the lining. To me, it also evokes some significant moments on Mad Men, especially in the California episodes, featuring Don either in the water or looking at the water.

I think that adds such an interesting detail that, even if only the wearer knows it’s there, it really takes it to the next level so I was curious about the story behind that.

That lining was actually created specifically for the Bryant/Draper collection from a photograph taken by Inherent Clothier’s photographer. It’s a significant part of Inherent Clothier’s branding and connection to wellbeing and mental health and so the lining incorporates those elements of serenity, masculinity, mental health, and inner peace.

A lot of the colors in the collection are these really rich browns, greens, and camel, it’s so much about celebrating masculinity and embracing these elements of strength, peacefulness, and control of your style.

The Olivier suit jacket, part of the Bryant/Draper collection.

Another one of my favorite pieces in the collection is the green double-breasted Oliver suit. The dark green color makes it a really stand-out suit without looking jokey or comical, it’s a serious, masculine green, and I love double-breasted jackets anyway.

I also love pinstripe, and we did that chocolate brown pinstripe suit, the Hudson suit.

I love the detail on that, like the ticket pocket and those straight gorges on the lapels. I feel like that’s something right off the streets of ’30s Manhattan or Hollywood.

All my favorite things!

While clearly a luxury line, there’s clearly an affordable element. You’re paying for top-quality materials and unique styles but not at a very prohibitive cost. Was it important going into this to try to keep the line accessible for anyone who wanted to take their style to the next level?

That’s one of the things I love about Inherent Clothier and why I wanted to work with Taylor because I feel like style should be accessible to every man. With Inherent Clothier, you’re really getting this amazing garment that would last you a lifetime and not at an exorbitant price.

The Fitzgerald Contrasting Club Collar Shirt, part of the Bryant/Draper collection.

One of the things about COVID is that people kind of forgot about how to dress… and I just thing that knowing and learning how to dress is so important. It is an art that can totally affect your mental health and how you feel about yourself. And I know this from designing and dressing men my whole career. When they have that moment realizing “this jacket fits my body perfectly!” you start to see actors stand up straighter, looking prouder. It really has such an incredible effect on how men feel in their clothing.

Everything in the line stands out in its elegance, with a lot of more one-of-a-kind pieces with detailing like you wouldn’t necessarily find off-the-rack anywhere.

I agree. I just wore my Fitzgerald shirt to work the other day—the blue-and-white striped shirt with the club collar and the French cuffs—and everybody was asking where I got that shirt… men and women!

I bet you probably had one of the coolest answers to someone asking “Where did you get that?” when you can respond “I designed it!”

I love that, and I was like, “You can get one too!”

Taylor Draper

Are there plans to expand the collection? What does the future look like for Bryant/Draper?

It’s an ongoing collection. We’ll do another, which is really exciting because I love menswear and tailored garments for men and for women, and I’ve wanted to design a menswear collection ever since I started Mad Men, so it’s been an amazing dream come true. Taylor Draper is such an incredible partner, and our creative collaboration has been a wonderful experience.

So not only can you stand behind the values of a brand like Inherent Clothier, but how fortuitous to collaborate with someone named Taylor Draper whose own name evokes Mad Men?

It’s funny, but one of the reasons I had connected with Taylor was his name! My agent had actually seen Taylor’s collection when his company sent her a lookbook. She called me and said, “Janie, wouldn’t this be amazing? The CEO of this company’s name is Taylor Draper!” And I said “oh my gosh, maybe we can do a menswear collection!”

The Last Tycoon actually inspired the first custom suit I had made, as I had been enamored with the style of that show.

I loved designing that show. I have to rewatch that, as I haven’t seen it since it came out.

I love to rewatch Mad Men too. As the designer, when I’m working on a show, I’m so close to it; it’s a different experience to actually watch the show for the story, and it’s nice to take a little time and see it over and over again, with a different experience each time.

Matt Bomer on The Last Tycoon

People talked a lot about rewatching Mad Men during the pandemic, but it seems like Mad Men fever hit when the first episode aired and hasn’t gone away since, even six years after the last episode. There are so many Instagram accounts alone celebrating the show and its style. What’s it like to be part of something where you can’t even log onto Instagram without seeing your work everywhere?

I love it! I’m so happy that it’s still so popular. I think that’s a testament to the show and all creative aspects of it, including the writing, acting, hair, makeup, production design, and the costume design. That show was—and is still—a magical piece of history and television. It’s pretty remarkable and stands the test of time, and I think that Mad Men is one of those shows that’s really still a part of people’s lives… it’s really amazing. Maybe I’m biased, but I still say it’s the best TV show ever made! I feel so truly blessed to have been a part of it.

How did your participation on Mad Men begin?

The producer, Scott Hornbacher, knew me from when I lived in New York. They had shot the pilot in New York at the time I was designing Deadwood. When the show came to Los Angeles a year later after it was bought by AMC, Scott called me to meet Matthew Weiner. We had a great meeting, and they hired me later that day! Matt and I really had a great creative collaboration from the very beginning. I started designing with season one, episode two.

How much did you feel that the pilot had set a template you needed to follow, or did you start fresh with the second episode?

John Dunn, who designed the pilot, did an amazing job, but when I started the second episode, I started fresh as I start each show: reading the episode, creating my design board, creating my color palettes. It was all new.

January Jones and Jon Hamm on Mad Men, Episode 1.02: “Ladies Room”, the first episode featuring Janie Bryant’s costume design.

Does your initial vision come from reading the script or seeing what an actor looks like?

As a costume designer, it is my responsibility to help tell the story of the character visually, and that’s really taken from what’s written on the page. It’s like reading a great book, you’re imagining what these characters will look like.

For Don Draper, I felt like one of the most consistent elements of his character was that his suits were like armor, so I really loved the idea of incorporating super masculine colors, especially the gray suit… many shades of gray.

Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men, Episode 1.10: “Long Weekend”

Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men, Episode 7.10: “The Forecast”

I did try to count one time how many suits Don wears, and I think the figure was around 90. Do you have an idea how many he wore?

You’re probably right! I usually had about 10 to 12 suits in Don’s closet each season, which would be more than any man would have in their closet at that time, but it was good for the costume design of the show. I always loved that idea that Don Draper’s suits were really his shield and armor because of the mystery and secrecy of his character and how he could never reveal himself. I loved the idea of him even having super-masculine colors even in his ties.

More than most other characters, it seemed like Don really stuck to those crisp white shirts with the French cuffs right up until the last season when we see him in stripes and blues. What guided the decision first to keep him in exclusively white shirts for so long, then what went into the decision that he would finally update a bit for 1970?

The white shirt is a part of the “uniform” while also being the most formal shirt color a man can wear, so it felt like Don would just maintain that. As he slowly, slowly evolves in the last few seasons centered around self-discovery, I felt like those stripes and the light blue shirts were more about a loosening of his character.

We also see him in his denim-on-denim costume and those plaid shirts in the last season, and we really see him go back to dressing almost like he would have as a child. The flannel shirt and denim were really important for him to go back to his roots.

Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men, Episode 7.14: “Person to Person”

I love how intentional it all is! I always thought it was interesting that we have this character so well-established for his beautiful suits and then, in the last episode, the closest thing he wears to a suit is the denim-on-denim jacket and jeans. I was always fascinated by his “road closet” that he rotates through: the plaid shirts, the Arnold Palmer polo… how were these conceptualized as what he would be wearing? We see he has that J.C. Penney bag, I imagine he would have stopped along the way.

Yes! He would’ve gone to J.C. Penney or Sears, actually that was taken right out of the Sears catalog, which was so fun to do as well! That was more about him being incognito, dressing in the “everyman” look.

Then, when he gets into the flannels and the denim, that’s more significant to going back to his roots and his childhood.

Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men, Episode 7.14: “Person to Person”

Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men, Episode 7.05: “The Runaways”

That makes me feel a little less crazy, I’m always looking at the colors.

So when I see Don in brown, even a brown suit like for the Carousel pitch, taking Sally to his old house, exposing his story to the Hershey team…

Yes, brown! Chocolate.

So that’s all intentional then?

Of course! That’s my job as a costume designer is to help to tell that story.

I love chocolate brown, I think it looks stunning on a man. That was a big influence in the Bryant/Draper collection for Inherent Clothier. Chocolate brown is so strong, masculine, and flattering. I love chocolate brown and pale blue together.

That windowpane Gael sports coat in the collection that ties it all together.

Also in the collection, that Bonny Blue Linen sports coat reminds me of one of my favorite costumes from the show: the silk jacket we first see Don wearing in Palm Springs that he then brings to Italy.

That’s exactly the reason I designed that jacket for the collection! First of all, I think blue is the most flattering color for a man. That jacket is a linen jacket and, yes, I did design Don Draper’s blue jacket in a raw silk—as opposed to linen—but this linen is so impeccable that we had to do it. The color is almost the same color as Don Draper’s jacket, and I really wanted to have that in the first collection because it reminds me so much of the show and that “California moment”. It’s a jaunty sport coat and so versatile, a must-have piece you could wear for any occasion.

Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men, Episode 2.11: “The Jet Set”, and the Bryant/Draper Collection Bonny Blue Linen Sport Coat inspired by his costume.

Hearing how intentional that was, how was it different designing costumes in New York as opposed to other locations like California, Italy, or even Hawaii? I love that we see Don wearing a Hawaiian shirt.

I love those moments in the show where Don gets out of his comfort zone and gets out of New York. I feel like those are always breakout moments. We see little glimmers of his returning to his true self through the pale blue sport coat, the Hawaiian shirt, or the flannel shirts… all those elements out of his “suit of armor” are really telling the story that he’s slowly making his way back.

I did want to talk about Deadwood too, which I know you mentioned as your job right before Mad Men. What strikes me about the style from that show is that it seems to depict a realistic sense of how people would have dressed in an 1870s frontier town, rather than just defaulting to the stereotyped look from old Westerns. We see more people dressing for their job, their place, their status, and I feel like that’s not as accessible an era as the ’60s, so I’m curious about your process and the research that went into bringing that to life so effectively.

At that time, in Deadwood, the cowboys had not reached South Dakota, so the way people dressed was more inspired by Victorian era fashions. The 1870s was still a time of formality, so frock coats with shirts and ties was still more casual wear, and I wanted to incorporate this visual information. It was more about being accurate in what the time period really looked like as opposed to creating a “cowboy show” which would have really been more southwestern. Here, we see more gamblers, businessmen, prospectors, and proprietors.

Ian McShane as Al Swearengen on Deadwood

Like Ian McShane as Al Swearengen, who had his own daily uniform of that striped three-piece suit and what looks like a gold nugget as a button on his waistcoat.

Al only wore that suit. It was actually fabric from England that I found, and I loved the idea that he was wearing his English suit. I built about five of those suits that he wore for all seasons.

I found these gold buttons that looked like gold nuggets and thought, “oh, he has to have that on his vest too!” to symbolize how Deadwood was this gold-mining town. With the back of his vest, I did this red brocade that symbolized the bloodshed that he created.

And he almost always wore that just over his union suit, basically his underwear! Now, that would be an interesting look to see come back… a little more in line with pandemic fashion.

Kind of like the 1870s Miami Vice with a T-shirt and a suit!

I also want to talk about Why Women Kill, which I know you’re working on right now.

It’s so fun… Marc Cherry is just such a wonderful writer. The characters that he creates are amazing. Lucy Liu is just a blast and so is Ginnifer Goodwin—my fellow Tennessean—and, of course, Jack Davenport, who was the husband of Lucy Liu in the 1980s, and he just cracked up every time we would have a fitting in these 1980s suits.

What was it like to design the first season, which was set across three different decades, while still building a cohesive look for the show?

That was probably the biggest challenge of the first season, because it is designing three different shows at one time. It’s a lot… but so fun to be able to switch back and forth between different periods. I loved it and being able to go back to the ’60s and the ’80s while also designing for the contemporary story line as well. Let’s just say there was never a dull moment, I can tell you that! It was intense and so fun at the same time.

I know we were celebrating the ticket pocket earlier, are there any underrated fabrics or style details that not enough men are really incorporating into their clothing?

Definitely the ticket pocket! I also love a peak lapel on a jacket. I think, in general, I think we just need to see more well-tailored suits on men. I know I have fantasies about wearing a suit everyday!

You can wear a suit and you can have a lot of suits and look different every day. You can use those pieces of a jacket and a pair of trousers in so many different ways; I think the versatility of a suit is really incredible.

Mad Men seemed to do so much to revive the suit and have younger men embracing suits and interested in dressing well in general. Even when we see Don for one episode set on Memorial Day, we see Don in that slate knitted polo shirt — it’s simple, but it’s classic — and I think that approach has replaced a lot of T-shirts and go-tos.

Yes, let’s have a suit revival!

Are there any sartorial lessons you think men should take away from the sharp dressers of shows like The Last Tycoon or Mad Men?

Great tailoring matters. It doesn’t really matter how expensive the garment is, if it’s not tailored properly, it doesn’t look good. So it’s all about tailoring, tailoring, tailoring.

And, of course, getting something from the Bryant/Draper collection… but that’s my two cents!

BAMF Style readers can enjoy a discount of 10% off when shopping via the Inherent Clothier website using the coupon code “BAMFSTYLE” or 15% off for visits to the store or through appointments made online.

The post An Interview with Costume Designer Janie Bryant appeared first on BAMF Style.

Ryan Gosling as Holland March in The Nice Guys (2016)

Vitals

Ryan Gosling as Holland March, unscrupulous private detective and single dad

Los Angeles, Fall 1977

Film: The Nice Guys
Release Date: May 20, 2016
Director: Shane Black
Costume Designer: Kym Barrett

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Released five years ago this, week, The Nice Guys has been long overdue for some appreciation on here for its depiction of disco-era style and refreshing sense of humor.

The Nice Guys was directed and co-written by action cinema vet Shane Black, who explained to IndieWire that he wanted to make a playful tribute to the hardboiled detective thrillers he had grown up, choosing the ’70s to capitalize on the exuberance of the era and the “sense that we are all in it together… instead of all this divisiveness that we see now.” Anthony Bagarozzi, who co-wrote the script with Black, explained the irony of its title to Variety: “You know they’re two not-very-nice guys. One breaks arms for a living and the other cons old ladies out of money. It was literally the two worst people that we could think of and then trying to make that fun.”

The “guys” in question are down-and-out private eye Holland March and burly enforcer-with-a-heart-of-gold Jackson Healy—played by Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe, respectively—who team up in late ’70s L.A. in the wake of the death of porn star Misty Mountains (Murielle Telio).

The pair’s reluctant partnership begins in a bowling alley bathroom, where Healy confronts March in media cacatus. The .38-wielding March is hardly eager to join forces with the brute who broke his arm, but the new teammates follow their first leads from an anti-pollution protest group to a burnt-down house, eventually learning that Misty had been working on “a porno where the plot is the point?” as a bewildered March asks. That night, March’s precocious daughter Holly (Angourie Rice) follows the duo to a party at the porn financier’s home, which turns up the dial of debauchery, disco, and deceit.

What’d He Wear?

Holland March begins the day dressed not for crime-solving but instead his daughter’s birthday party at a bowling alley… though it may speak to the nature of his character that the same outfit is just as appropriate—if not more-so—for that evening’s more adult-themed party full of drugs, drinking, and disco.

March’s short-sleeved sport shirt is patterned in brick-red, off-white, and sage-green, swirling together all over the shirt like melted ice cream. Likely made by Anto Beverly Hills, this shirt’s slimmer fit further flatters Gosling’s celebrated physique, pulled in at the waist and accented at the chest and shoulders thanks in part to the long point collar that was consistent with the trendiest—and tackiest—fashions of the ’70s. The shirt also has a breast pocket for March’s cigarettes (the fictional “Island Reds” brand, if you were curious), and the front placket closes with faux-wood four-hole buttons up the front.

The cut of March’s shirt maintains a flattering silhouette even when Gosling wears it mostly unbuttoned.

Dressing for the evening party, March pulls on a hip-length ivory leather jacket with a collar of even more exaggerated width. The silhouette echoes his shirt beneath it, the waist pulled in and detailed with a half-belted back similar to some “action back” sport jackets of the ’30s, a decade often revisited by fashions of the ’70s.

March debriefs with Healy and Tally (Yaya DaCosta) after yet another death.

Large rectangular flaps cover each of the two patch pockets over the breast, with a long pleated strip running from the top of each pocket under the flap down to the waist hem. An additional hand pocket is set-in along each side, the entry hidden by the vertical pleat. The sleeves are finished with a short tab to close through a single mixed tan-and-cream plastic four-hole button that matches the four large buttons on the front of the jacket.

Expecting some danger at the party, March packs his nickel Smith & Wesson snub-nose revolver in a brown leather shoulder rig, holstered just under his left armpit.

March’s empty holster.

March’s beige polyester twill pants appear to be a contemporary evolution of the Westerner-branded “Lee-Sure” suit that Lee had introduced at the end of the ’50s.

Styled like jeans, these have belt loops, slanted front pockets, and back pockets detailed with Lee’s signature “lazy S” arcuate stitch in a low-contrast beige thread as well as the yellow-on-black “Lee” brand embroidered patch sewn onto the top of the back right pocket.

Beige pants may work comfortably for a daytime investigation in sunny L.A., but they’re a bit less friendly to a drunken stumble through the woods later that night.

March holds his trousers up with a unique belt, comprised of rectangular pieces of well-worn brown leather that are laced together like a corset through six sets of holes lined up along the end of each piece. Despite this offbeat construction, the belt’s gunmetal buckle is the traditional squared single-prong style.

The plain-hemmed trouser bottoms have a long, full break, often bunching over the instep of March’s boots. These light brown leather plain-toe boots have a vertical-zip closure along the inside of each, and the soles are brown hard leather.

March steps through the environmental protest in his weathered boots.

March keeps most of his shirt unbuttoned to show his undershirt, a white ribbed cotton sleeveless “A-shirt”. Wearing his undershirt so exposed communicates a degree of sleaze we know to be consistent with March’s character, though this also shows off the thin gold ring he wears on a thin gold necklace.

This necklace isn’t March’s only prominent jewelry, as he also flashes a filigreed gold signet ring from his right pinky. On the same hand, he wears a plain gold watch with a round white dial—detailed with non-numeric hour markers—on a gold-plated expanding band.

Healy and March work out the terms of their unholy alliance.

Thanks to flamboyant stars like Elvis Presley and Elton John, sunglasses transcended from functional eyewear to fashionable face accessories during the ’70s. For example, Holland March’s 23-karat gold square-framed Randolph Engineering aviators may have originated as a mid-century style for military pilots, but the pink-tinted lenses are purely an eye-catching detail… perhaps to communicate to his gullible clients that March is the type of guy who sees the world through rose-colored lenses.

The Gun

When the Smith & Wesson Model 36 was originally introduced as the Smith & Wesson “Chiefs Special”—so named by a vote held at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) convention in 1950—it was hailed for its celebrated balance of concealment, power, and reliability. The concept wasn’t exactly novel, as Colt had introduced its Detective Special a quarter-century earlier, but the five-round cylinder made the Model 36 (as it would be eventually designated) even smaller and thus easier to conceal, its standard two-inch “snub-nose” barrel cementing it as the ideal backup “belly gun” for cops and crooks alike.

Enter Holland March, an unscrupulous private detective with his feet straddling the worlds of larceny and law enforcement. For the kind of guy who may need to draw his .38 while on the can without even having time to stub out his cigarette, the easily concealed Smith & Wesson Model 36 is a wise choice.

A gentle reminder to always be courteous when asking a stall neighbor to spare a square of their toilet paper.

The steel-framed Model 36 has been available in both blued and nickel finishes throughout its decades of production. The Smith & Wesson catalog from 1976 (the year before The Nice Guys was set) lists prices for the Model 36 as $110 for the blued model and $121 for nickel, suggesting that even a cheapskate like March was willing to dish out an extra Hamilton for a flashier revolver.

Ryan Gosling as Holland March in The Nice Guys (2016)

How to Get the Look

Dressing exactly like Holland March will likely make you look more like a sleazy ’70s private eye than it would make you look like Ryan Gosling. That said, there could be some lessons (in moderation) from March’s wardrobe for your transitional spring-to-summer fits, such as embracing atypical leather jackets, loud-printed shirts, and pink-tinted shades… though perhaps not all at the same time.

• Ivory leather jacket with wide collar, four-button front, large-flapped breast pockets, set-in side pockets, 1-button cuffs, and half-belted back
• Brick-red, off-white, and sage-green swirled short-sleeve shirt with long point collar, front placket, and breast pocket
• Beige polyester twill Lee “Westerner” jeans with belt loops, slanted front pockets, patch back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Brown leather laced-piece belt with gunmetal squared single-prong buckle
• Brown leather shoulder holster, for 2″-barrel revolver (right-handed draw)
• Light brown leather plain-toe zip-up boots
• White ribbed cotton sleeveless “A-shirt” undershirt
• Gold square-framed aviator sunglasses with rose-tinted lenses
• Thin gold necklace with thin gold ring
• Gold signet pinky ring with filigreed band
• Gold watch with round white dial on gold expanding bracelet

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

I’m not buying this nice guy act, pal.

The post The Nice Guys: Ryan Gosling’s ’70s Sportswear appeared first on BAMF Style.

James Stewart as agent John “Chip” Hardesty in The FBI Story (1959)

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James Stewart as John “Chip” Hardesty, earnest FBI agent

Oklahoma, June 1930

Film: The FBI Story
Release Date: October 1959
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Costume Designer: Adele Palmer

Background

One of the greatest stars of the 20th century, James Stewart—known to friends and fans as “Jimmy”—was born on this day in 1908 in Indiana, Pennsylvania, just about an hour west of Pittsburgh.

Among the less celebrated titles in the actor’s extensive filmography is The FBI Story, a J. Edgar Hoover-influenced epic exploring the early successes of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Jimmy plays our fictional all-American agent John “Chip” Hardesty, whose Forrest Gump-like decades-long career with the Bureau includes a role in nearly every major investigation from tracking down the bank-robbing “Public Enemies” of the Depression and World War II spies to the bombing of United Flight 629 in 1955.

An interesting chapter of The FBI Story sends Chip to Oklahoma in the summer of 1930 to investigate the “Reign of Terror” in Osage County, Oklahoma, represented on screen as the obsoletely named “Wade County”. These murders of dozens of Osage Native Americans throughout the ’20s were recently explored by David Grann in his fascinating book, Killers of the Flower Moon, which provided the basis for a Martin Scorsese film of the same name currently in production starring Jesse Plemons, Robert De Niro, and Leonardo DiCaprio. Last month, production began in Oklahoma with cities like Pawhuska, the seat of Osage County, transformed to look as they did a century ago, and an official production photo has already been publicized featuring Lily Gladstone and DiCaprio as Mollie and Ernest Burkhart, two of the central figures in the real-life case.

What’d He Wear?

Posing as a cattle dealer, Chip keeps his seersucker and serge suits hung up as he ambles through the town clad in hard-wearing denim and khaki as he smokes his Cubanola cigars.

Chip’s undercover denim jacket shares some style details with the then-contemporary Levi’s 506XX, particularly the single breast pocket with its button-down flap and the double forward-facing “knife”-pleated front, though the rest of the jacket differs from the Levi design now known as the “Type I” trucker jacket.

The body of the jacket is constructed from a rich indigo blue denim, though the collar is a lighter slate-shaded blue. When Stewart cuffs back the end of each sleeve, this too reveals a similar lighter blue on the reverse side.

Rather than the metal rivet buttons associated with this style of jacket, Stewart’s screen-worn coat has dark blue 4-hole plastic buttons. The front and back are detailed with horizontal yokes, and there’s no additional waist fastening—neither cinch-back nor side-tabs—at the hem.

Chip wears a khaki gabardine work shirt, a quasi-military style with two chest pockets, each closing with a single-button flap detailed with mitred corners. The shirt also has a wide front placket, single-button barrel cuffs, and a point collar that Stewart wears in an open-neck style.

Chip’s two-pocket khaki shirt reflects the shirt being adopted across the U.S. armed forces during the interwar period.

Chip’s beige trousers also suit his cover, styled with pointed belt loops, Western-style slanted front pockets, and back pockets covered with Western-pointed single-button flaps. Likely made from the same “chino” cotton popularized in the U.S. following the warm-weather uniforms appropriated for the Spanish-American War, these lightweight yet durable trousers would help establish Chip as an expert as his investigation stretched from the spring into summer.

Through the wide, pointed loops, Chip wears a tan tooled leather belt in the Western tradition, rigged to a large engraved silver belt buckle with a gold-inlaid center.

The straight legs of Chip’s beige trousers are finished with plain-hemmed bottoms that nearly cover the decoratively stitched shafts of his light brown cowboy boots.

Chip consults with his wife Lucy Ann (Vera Miles).

Chip wisely appoints his “cattle dealer” look with the appropriate cowboy hat, in this case made from a light stone-gray felt with a narrow stone-colored band, echoed by the same fabric edging the brim. Rather than the classic cattleman’s shape with three parallel creases across the top of the crown, Chip wears a pinch-front style that shares its shape with the more urban-friendly fedora.

How to Get the Look

James Stewart as agent John “Chip” Hardesty in The FBI Story (1959)

Agent Hardesty’s dressed-down undercover outfit of a denim trucker jacket, work shirt, and chinos takes a generally timeless approach, contemporary to both the ’20s setting and the ’50s production as well as something that could be translated to a modern wardrobe, with or without his Western touches of hat, belt buckle, and boots.

• Indigo blue denim Type I-style trucker jacket with light-colored collar, dark blue plastic buttons, flapped breast pocket, and double “knife”-pleated front
• Khaki gabardine work shirt with point collar, front placket, two flapped chest pockets, and single-button cuffs
• Beige chino cotton flat front trousers with pointed belt loops, slanted Western-style front pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Light brown leather cowboy boots with tan-stitched shafts
• Light stone-gray felt pinch-front cowboy hat with narrow stone-colored band and edges

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie, though it’s a heavily sanitized dramatization that perpetuates widely disproven mythologies of American history, such as the rationalization of Japanese-American internment camps and “Ma” Barker supposedly being a criminal mastermind.

To really learn more about the story that inspired this chapter of The FBI Story, I highly recommend David Grann’s 2017 book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. Osage writer John Joseph Matthews also fictionalized the story for his novel Sundown, published in 1934, just a few years after the sentencing of many of the ruthless figures behind the murders.

The Quote

Oh, by the way, Mr. McCutcheon, you owe me a dollar on that bet we made… the FBI did come to Wade County.

The post Jimmy Stewart’s Undercover Denim Jacket in The FBI Story appeared first on BAMF Style.

Richard Benjamin as Neil Klugman in Goodbye, Columbus (1969)

Vitals

Richard Benjamin as Neil Klugman, listless library employee and Army veteran

Westchester, New York, Summer 1968

Film: Goodbye, Columbus
Release Date: April 3, 1969
Director: Larry Peerce
Costume Designer: Gene Coffin

Background

In addition to today being the birthday of star Richard Benjamin—born on this day in 1938—today also marks three years since the death of Philip Roth, who died of congestive heart failure on May 22, 2018. Roth’s novella Goodbye, Columbus provided the source material for Ali MacGraw’s major screen debut acting opposite Benjamin.

Goodbye, Columbus has been favorably compared to The Graduate, inviting parallels with its similar-looking leads: a somewhat awkward, naive, and listless young man romancing a dark-haired “princess” against her parents’ wishes (though for a dramatically different reason than the Robinsons had), scored against the backdrop of a hip band from the late ’60s, in this case The Association as opposed to Simon & Garfunkel’s famous soundtrack for The Graduate.

Unlike the West Coast-set saga of Benjamin Braddock, Goodbye, Columbus centers around New York City, as the Bronx-born Neil meets the Westchester-dwelling Brenda during a summer day at the pool. The two arrange a date for that evening following her tennis match, which evolves into a test of Neil’s patience as he watches the sun setting from the bleaches while Brenda finishes the game.

What’d He Wear?

Among the many parallels drawn between Goodbye, Columbus and The Graduate, Neil Klugman and Dustin Hoffman’s Benjamin Braddock also seem to share pieces from the same Ivy-inspired closet, including this narrow-striped seersucker jacket that both men press into service for respective date nights. Neil gets frequent use of his, dressing it down for his first date with Brenda and then dressing it up when reluctantly escorting her to a party.

Neil’s single-breasted jacket has three widely spaced mother-of-pearl sew-through buttons, the notch lapels folding over the top to present the classic 3/2-roll popularized in the United States by Ivy icons Brooks Brothers and J. Press. The jacket also has a welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, a single vent, and two-button cuffs. 

Traditionally associated with the wider “railroad stripe”, seersucker progressed to include variants like the hairline-width stripes on Neil’s sport coat as it evolved from warm-weather workwear into a more universally worn summer style staple. Crafted from a lightweight cotton that would be comfortable for the summer evenings, these ultra-thin blue and white puckered stripes present as a mottled light blue when not seen close up.

In the spirit of Brenda’s tennis match, Neil dons a short-sleeved polo shirt made from a royal blue jersey-knit cotton. The shirt has two dark blue buttons that barely contrast against the color of the shirt, and Neil keeps them both undone.

Neil tucks the polo shirt into charcoal flat front trousers with side pockets, button-through back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms, held up by a black leather belt with a curved gold-finished single-prong buckle. Apropos the informality of his dress, Neil slips into a pair of comfortable penny loafers made from very dark brown leather uppers, with black socks.

Clearly not everyone from Neil’s neighborhood dresses like he does, but he’s clued in enough to know how to present himself when fitting in with the wealthier Westchester set.

For a day working at the library, Neil appropriates a classic trad look layered under his seersucker jacket, consisting of a light blue oxford cloth button-down (OCBD) shirt, striped repp tie, and beige chinos.

The shirt has the elegantly rolled button-down collar that Brooks Brothers introduced to the United States around the turn-of-the-century as well as a front placket, breast pocket, and single-button barrel cuffs, and the tie is bar-striped in burgundy and navy-blue following the American “downhill” stripe direction. His flat front chinos have gently slanted “quarter top” side pockets, jetted back pockets, and tapered legs down to the plain-hemmed bottoms. The dark brown leather belt with its gunmetal single-prong buckle coordinates with the same dark brown weejuns he wore earlier, again with black socks.

Neil removes his jacket for working at the library.

The jacket makes its final appearance as Neil accompanies Brenda to a fraternity-esque summer soiree, combining the pieces he’d previously worn with it: the charcoal gray trousers and black belt return for yet another evening function, while the light blue OCBD signals his recognition that this is a dressier event, worn here with a dark navy knitted tie. (This outfit most directly echoes The Graduate‘s style, as Dustin Hoffman wore a nearly identical kit for Benjamin’s almost-doomed date with Elaine.)

Scotch-and-water in hand, Neil takes in the blue-blazered bluebloods of Brenda’s social set.

Despite Neil’s embrace of this Ivy-associated style, he mocks the collegiate-obsessed lifestyle of the sweaty graduates surrounding them, referring to each other only by their alma maters (“Dartmouth? Dartmouth!”) that leads to an argument when Neil criticizes the pursuit of wealth at the expense of all else that seems to drive Brenda’s network of family and friends. The honesty and passion results in more intimacy, including shared declarations of love and Brenda’s impulsive desire to go skinny-dipping.

Neil warms Brenda after her free-spirited dive into the pool by wrapping her in his sport jacket.

Neil wears a stainless steel watch with a round black dial, secured to his left wrist on a steel expanding bracelet.

The Car

Before their first date, Neil tells Brenda he’ll be picking her up in a “blue convertible”, motoring to the tennis court in his 1960 Chevrolet Impala, painted the icy “horizon blue metallic” offered by GM.

Neil pulls his aging Impala convertible into the parking lot of Brenda’s tennis court.

Neil’s ten-year-old Impala was from early in the model’s run, before it became a flagship for Chevrolet across the late 20th century into the 21st. Chevy had introduced the Impala as a top-of-the-line trim level for the two-door Bel Air to coincide with General Motors’ 50th anniversary in 1958, though it was redesigned as its own full-size model for the 1959 and 1960 model years with a longer wheelbase, wider body, and lower profile.

Now its own model, the Impala added a four-door sedan and hardtop to its lineup, retaining the Sport Coupe and Convertible models from its introduction as a Bel Air trim line. The “Blue Flame” straight-six engine came standard, with two V8 size options available for more performance-oriented drivers.

With no exterior cosmetic differences between each engine option and no related dialogue or shots of the engine, we can only speculate whether Neil was driving a 235 cubic-inch straight-six, a 283 “Turbo Fire” V8, or the 348 “Turbo-Thrust” V8. Even the transmission is up for debate, as one can glean that it’s likely an automatic transmission, but that could be either the two-speed Powerglide or three-speed Turboglide. Based on Neil’s personality and the degree of upkeep on the car, I’d suspect he has a middle-of-the-road option, possibly powered by the 283 cubic-inch “Economy Turbo Fire” V8 and an automatic transmission, with the below specs sourced from the excellent Automobile Catalog.

1960 Chevrolet Impala

Body Style: 2-door convertible

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

Engine: 283 cu. in. (4.6 L) Chevrolet “Economy Turbo Fire” V8 with single Rochester 2-barrel carburetor

Power: 170 hp (126.5 kW; 172 PS) @ 4200 RPM

Torque: 275 lb·ft (373 N·m) @ 2400 RPM

Transmission: 2- or 3-speed automatic

Wheelbase: 108.1 inches (2746 mm)

Length: 210.8 inches (5354 mm)

Width: 80.8 inches (2052 mm)

Height: 54 inches (1372 mm)

Nearly 500,000 of this second Impala series were produced in 1959 and 1960 before the car would again be restyled in ’61.

How to Get the Look

Richard Benjamin and Ali MacGraw—both clad in Ivy staples—in Goodbye, Columbus (1969)

Neil’s approach to dressing for his date is rooted in practicality and comfort, the light-wearing seersucker jacket a reasonable top layer for a summer night with the open-necked polo and penny loafers suggesting a respectful informality that’s fittingly echoed when Brenda remains dressed for tennis after his arrival.

• Blue-and-white narrow-striped seersucker cotton single-breasted 3/2-roll sport jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 2-button cuffs, and single vent
• Blue jersey-knit cotton 2-button polo shirt
• Charcoal gray flat front trousers with belt loops, on-seam side pockets, button-through back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Black leather belt with gold-finished curved single-prong buckle
• Dark brown leather penny loafers
• Black cotton lisle socks
• Steel watch with round black dial on steel expanding bracelet

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie and read Philip Roth’s source novella.

The Quote

I don’t wanna leave! I came here to make ten new friends, now I’ve only made seven so far!

The post Goodbye, Columbus: Neil’s Date Night Seersucker appeared first on BAMF Style.

James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano on The Sopranos (Episode 3.02: “Proshai, Livushka”)

Vitals

James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, New Jersey mob boss

New Jersey, Fall 2000 and Spring 2002

Series: The Sopranos
Episodes:
– “Proshai, Livushka” (Episode 3.02, dir. Tim Van Patten, aired 3/4/2001)
– “Whitecaps” (Episode 4.13, dir. John Patterson, aired 12/8/2002)
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

As spring gets warmer during the march toward summer, I wanted to revisit some of the festive fashions worn by TV’s favorite mob boss on #MafiaMonday with the help of my friend Gabe, who curates the must-follow Instagram account @tonysopranostyle.

Thanks in part to Gabe’s tenacious work tracking down the specific brands and patterns that constitute much of Tony Soprano’s closet, there’s been a revived wave of interest in the Skip’s shirts—as cited by Drew Schwartz for Vice—particularly those bold printed button-ups that costume designer Juliet Polcsa explained to Christopher Hooton that she progressively chose James Gandolfini in as the actor’s size increased over the series (source: The Independent.)

Gabe of @TonySopranoStyle sports his own version of the Burma Bibas shirt featured in two episodes of The Sopranos.

Given the variety of these eye-catching shirts, as well as the depth of Tony’s wardrobe given his wealth as don of New Jersey, Gandolfini was rarely seen wearing the same print in more than one scene, let alone more than one episode. Thus, this Burma Bibas shirt that appears in both “Proshai, Livushka” and the fourth season finale “Whitecaps” became a particularly holy grail for Gabe.

What’d He Wear?

Not only is the shirt notable for featuring across two different episodes, but Tony also wears it as two significant eras in his personal life come to an end, first with his mother’s unexpected—but not unwelcome—death in “Proshai, Livushka” (Episode 3.02) and again when his marriage comes to an abrupt end in “Whitecaps” (Episode 4.13).

Tony Soprano isn’t one to be demonstrative of any emotion aside from anger, but in this case the shirt cries tears for him, each rounded rhombus not unlike a field of teardrops reflecting the dissolution of his family as he knows it. After all, the pilot episode had established an early breakthrough in Tony’s therapy as he tearfully realized that he’s constantly “full of dread” about losing his family.

Constructed of 100% silk with a subtle broken twill weave, this shirt was made by Burma Bibas, the luxury outfitter based in New York City that made more than a dozen of the jauntily printed shirts that Gandolfini wore throughout the series. The taupe ground is patterned with an all-over print of large rhombi that alternate in color between shades of beige, sage, and mint. These rhombus shapes have softly rounded corners, presenting more like teardrops than diamonds, and are detailed with “atomic” retro-inspired black embroidery over each that range from a single, straight vertical line or two interwoven vertical lines with a colored circle at each end to a single horizontal line crossing the vertical line perpendicularly or a series of irregular horizontal lines against the single vertical line for a “grated” effect.

Christopher (Michael Imperioli) reclines in the sun behind him as Tony negotiates to fast-track the purchase of the eponymous beach house in “Whitecaps” (Episode 4.13).

The shirt is styled like a classic warm-weather casual shirt with its elbow-length sleeves, straight hem meant to be worn untucked, and the camp collar rigged with a loop for the smaller button under the right collar leaf. In addition to this smaller button that goes unused, there are six white recessed two-hole buttons up the plain “French placket” front, matched by the button that closes the matching patch pocket positioned over the left breast.

Tony argues through one last confrontation with his mother in “Proshai, Livushka” (Episode 3.02).

In both episodes, Tony wears the shirt with black pleated trousers—probably his favorite style of triple-pleated chinos by Zanella—styled with slanted side pockets, jetted back pockets, turn-ups (cuffs), and belt loops to be used with the black leather belt that goes mostly unseen under the untucked shirt hem.

He continues the funereal black into his shoes and socks, wearing a pair of leather apron-toe derbies that are likely Allen-Edmonds.

Just because Tony and his crew master the art of leisure in their tracksuits doesn’t mean that the Skip’s always in velour and elastic in front of the tube. When he sits down to watch The Public Enemy in “Proshai, Livushka”, Tony not only keeps his pleated slacks on, he also wears his leather lace-ups.

Tony wears his usual assortment of gold jewelry, including the thin gold open-link necklace with a gold St. Jerome pendant. A gold ring sparkles from his right pinky with its diamond and ruby bypass stones, and he wears a gold bracelet that @tonysopranostyle describes as resembling “a Cuban curbed link chain and an Italian Figaro link chain with a twist” on his right wrist.

Rolex had introduced its unique “President” bracelet in tandem with the self-winding Day-Date chronometer in the 1950s, quickly living up to its moniker as the favored watch of national leaders like JFK and LBJ over the decades to follow.

From the second episode of The Sopranos onward, Tony asserted his leadership with his timepiece, an 18-karat yellow gold Rolex Day-Date “President” with the signature three-piece semi-rounded link bracelet. BAMF Style readers have pinpointed the Skip’s exact model to ref. 18238, its champagne gold dial bedecked with the day of the week in a curved window across the top, the date under a window at 3:00, and non-numeric hour markers inside the fixed fluted bezel.

“From the moment that Tony reenters the kitchen after readjusting the backyard sprinkler (the water droplets on his face and shirt standing in for the tears he can’t cry yet), ‘Proshai, Livushka’ captures the awkwardness of publicly processing the death of a loved one you wanted to die,” write Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall in The Soprano Sessions. Indeed, the rhombi themselves could be argued to stand in for these delayed teardrops as Tony processes the news from his kitchen table.

After learning of Livia’s death in “Proshai, Livushka”, Tony and Carmela (Edie Falco) drive a few minutes south to Livia’s home in Verona. Tony layers for the trip in a black leather jacket, one of several similar zip-up blouson jackets he would wear during the series. I believe this is the first appearance of this particular jacket, characterized by its double rows of edge stitching along the collar and zipper.

Assuming he was dressing for the day when his confrontation with Meadow’s “friend” Noah Tannenbaum (Patrick Tully) led to another food-induced panic attack in “Proshai, Livushka”, Tony’s underwear consisted of his usual white ribbed cotton sleeveless A-shirt and light blue cotton boxer shorts.

Earlier that day, Carmela nurses Tony, clad in his underwear after his panic attack that resulted in a broken glass and a trail of blood from the kitchen to the breakfast nook.

What to Imbibe

Livia’s one-legged nurse, Svetlana Kirilenko (Alla Kliouka Schaffer), makes her second appearance in “Proshai, Livushka” as she pours some Stolichnaya for Tony and Carmela to join her in the eponymous toast.

Having been born in Russia like her cousin—Tony’s one-time comare Irina—Svetlana would undoubtedly be familiar with Stoli as the state vodka produced by the erstwhile USSR, where it was first manufactured during the years following World War II. Stoli was one of the first Russian products available in the West during the Cold War following a much-publicized 1972 trade deal with PepsiCo, and its popularity only expanded after the dissolution of the Soviet Union with the expansion of its offerings to more than a dozen different flavors as well as the stalwart 80-proof “Red Label” and 100-proof “Blue Label”.

Interestingly enough, it would be Tony’s eventual one-time dalliance with Svetlana that leads to the end of his marriage to Carmela… as seen in the next episode where he wears this shirt!

What to Watch

“Proshai, Livushka” is framed by interludes to William A. Wellman’s classic The Public Enemy, first watched by Meadow and Noah and then revisited four times by Tony throughout the hour as he handles the impact of Livia’s unexpected passing.

“Public Enemy… this is a great movie” Tony comments on the movie Meadow and Noah have been assigned for class.

A cornerstone in establishing the subgenre of the American gangster film, this pre-Code crime drama from Warner Brothers catapulted James Cagney to stardom as the violent hoodlum who spills plenty of blood and beer during his ruthless quest to the top of the underworld in Prohibition-era Chicago. Despite his countless crimes and indiscretions, he never loses the love of his adoring mother… stirring tears from Tony as he mourns the mother he never had.

“It’s never clear whether Tony is obsessively rewatching the entire film while dealing with his mother’s death, or if it just takes him forever to get through it,” write Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall in the definitive The Sopranos Sessions. “Either way, it gains a talismanic power as this hour unreels, until by the end it transcends its plot function, illustrating a truth about how movies can explain us to ourseelves even when we weren’t looking for insight.”

How to Get the Look

James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano on The Sopranos (Episode 4.13: “Whitecaps”)

When not in his elegant tailored suits or sport jackets or lounging at home in a velvet tracksuit, Tony Soprano’s daily attire frequently consists of a retro-inspired printed camp shirt with understated trousers—pleated to comfortably accommodate his size—and his gold jewelry and accessories including his luxury Rolex watch and that gangland style staple, a sparkling pinky ring.

• Taupe silk (with beige, mint, and sage rounded rhombus all-over print with black “atomic”-overlaid embroidery) short-sleeve camp shirt with loop collar, plain front, and button-through breast pocket
• Black pleated trousers with belt loops, slanted side pockets, jetted back pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• Black leather belt
• Black leather apron-toe derby shoes
• Black cotton lisle socks
• White ribbed cotton sleeveless undershirt
• Light blue cotton boxer shorts
• Rolex Day-Date “President” ref. 18238 self-winding chronometer watch in 18-karat yellow gold with champagne-colored dial and Presidential link bracelet
• Gold open-link chain bracelet
• Gold pinky ring with ruby and diamond bypass stones
• Gold open-link chain necklace with round St. Jerome pendant

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the entire series and follow my friend Gabe’s Instagram accounts: @TonySopranoStyle and @Don_Gabe_Marfisi.

You should also watch The Public Enemy!

The Quote

What are you gonna do?

The post The Sopranos: Tony’s Taupe Rhombus-Print Shirt appeared first on BAMF Style.

Nick Nolte as David Sanders in The Deep (1977)

Vitals

Nick Nolte as David Sanders, vacationing scuba diver

Off the Bermuda coast, Summer 1976

Film: The Deep
Release Date: June 17, 1977
Director: Peter Yates
Costume Designer: Ron Talsky

Background

Okay, yes, I acknowledge that one of the few reasons anyone might still be talking about The Deep more than 40 years later is… well, the same reason anyone talked about it when it was released.

The Deep‘s enduring cultural significance indeed resulted from a costuming decision, though not related to anything Nick Nolte wore but rather Jacqueline Bisset’s simple but oh-so-memorable white tee during the underwater opening sequence.

Costume designer Ron Talsky’s on-screen credit appeared next to arguably his most famous wardrobe choice.

Once I registered what all the fuss was about, I also observed that Nolte—playing Bisset’s partner, David Sanders—begins the movie wearing an aquatic-adjacent outfit appropriate for gents developing their spring-to-summer transitional wardrobe or dressing for any seagoing getaways over Memorial Day weekend.

What’d He Wear?

David’s blue chambray cotton shirt echoes the hard-wearing work shirts that had been a U.S. Navy staple for much of the 20th century, though details like the long pointed collar indicate that David is clearly wearing a commercially marketed shirt designed with an eye toward then-fashionable ’70s trends. The long-sleeved shirt has rounded cuffs that each close with a single button, matching the white mother-of-pearl buttons up the front placket as well as to close each gently scalloped flap over the two squared chest pockets.

They say the longer you’re with someone, the more you start to look—or dress—alike. After three years together, Gail and David both dress for days in Bermuda in their respective barely-buttoned two-pocket shirts.

White trousers are most welcome by the sea, with David’s cream-colored cotton canvas pants nodding to his nationality as they incorporate the styling details of all-American jeans, from the curved front pockets to the patch back pockets. He foregoes a belt, despite the presence of loops.

Gail and David enlist the services of Romer Treece (Robert Shaw) and Adam Coffin (Eli Wallach).

Consistent with the outfit’s utilitarian approach of a work shirt and jeans, David wears white sneakers, detailed with navy leather side trim and gray heel counters that resemble Puma models of the era. (David evidently values athletic shoes, as Gail jokes that “I’ve known him for three years and all he’s ever given me is a sweater and a pair of sneakers!”)

David’s Puma trainers allow him to pedal like hell when Cloche’s henchmen chase them, though it’s amazing that Gail’s still able to speed past him in her high-heeled sandals.

After he and Gail partner with the hearty treasure-hunter Romer Treece (Robert Shaw), David eventually abandons his full diving suits and follows Romer’s example of diving with whatever button-up shirt he was already wearing with his shorts, in this case a pair of navy-blue nylon trunks with a short inseam.

As long as you’ve got the right equipment, David learns from Romer that any shirt can be a diving shirt.

While I don’t believe David’s profession is ever expressly mentioned in the film—though Peter Benchley’s 1976 source novel likely tells us more—he’s properly equipped for these recreational dives with his Rolex Submariner watch. Though the iconic watch had been gaining prestige thanks in part to three James Bond actors wearing them across the popular 007 series, the Submariner was originally intended for diving and gets a chance to show off this utility on Nick Nolte’s wrist in The Deep.

Powered by Rolex’s 26-jewel, self-winding cal. 1570 movement, Nolte’s screen-worn Submariner follows the traditional colorway of a stainless steel 40mm case and Oyster-style link bracelet with folding clasp, a black rotating bezel, and round black dial with luminous indices. The white date window at 3:00 reinforces that this particular Submariner is a ref. 1680 Date model, introduced in 1966. The actual watch was auctioned by Sotheby’s, whose listing shares more detail such as the 1975 manufacture date and case number 4’163’403.

David’s Rolex Submariner fulfills its intended duty as a reliable dive watch.

To protect his hands while treasure-hunting underwear, David wears creamy yellow knitted gloves, printed with the Edmont logo on the dorsal side, with wide white ribbed wrists and prominent seams running across the sides and tops of the gloves.

Nick Nolte as David Sanders in The Deep (1977)

How to Get the Look

Nick Nolte’s seaside kit in The Deep suggests a comfortable look more compatible with labor than leisure.

• Blue chambray cotton work shirt with long point collar, two button-flapped chest pockets, front placket, and 1-button rounded cuffs
• White cotton canvas jeans with belt loops, curved front pockets, and patch back pockets
• White leather Puma sneakers with navy side trim and gray counters
• Rolex Submariner Date ref. 1680 automatic dive watch with stainless steel 40mm case, black rotating bezel, black round dial (with 3:00 date window), and stainless steel Oyster-style link bracelet

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The post The Deep: Nick Nolte’s Chambray Shirt at Sea appeared first on BAMF Style.

Bob Hope as Harold Gridley in Road to Bali (1952)

Vitals

Bob Hope as Harold Gridley, traveling comedian, “sportsman, raconteur, polo player, and all-around good egg”

South Pacific, Spring 1952

Film: Road to Bali
Release Date: November 19, 1952
Director: Hal Walker
Costume Designer: Edith Head

Background

I always associate summer with Tiki culture, spending sunny days wearing aloha shirts while enjoying tropical cocktails at Polynesian-themed watering holes. To combat a case of the winter blues earlier this year, I hoped to watch a Tiki-themed movie and was given the recommendation of Road to Bali, the only full-color entry of the seven “Road to…” comedies starring Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, and Bob Hope, the prolific entertainer born on this day in 1903.

Like the rest of the “Road to…” movies, Road to Bali never takes itself too seriously, its loose central plot primarily a rod for draping the constant gags, puns, and breaking the fourth wall such as when Bob warns us of his partner: “He’s gonna sing, folks… now’s the time to go out and get the popcorn.”

Bing and Bob play a pair of entertainers who need to find work that gets them out of Australia—and their myriad romantic entanglements—so they take on jobs as deep sea divers in a tropical paradise. Having evidently not learned their lesson, the two tomcats ask about local women and are answered with: “Could it be a paradise without girls?”

This Road to Bali promotional photo suggests that it follows the same plot of the other “Road to…” comedies, with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby competing for the affections of Dorothy Lamour.

Their toothbrushes packed in their breast pockets, the boys arrive at the promised South Seas paradise, where a bevy of native women give them the star treatment and give Road to Bali a swift kick into the territory of male fantasy as one of the young beauties comments “too bad there’s only two of them!” Despite taking an oath to avoid involvements with women, the sight of a saronged Dorothy Lamour has both eating their words as they begin competing for her affections.

Dorothy: Do you always fight over girls?
Bob: Well, what else can we fight over? We never had any money… (looks at the camera) That’s for Washington.

What’d He Wear?

“Well, these threads are a little beat! If we’re shoving off to paradise, we better slip into our linens, eh?” declares Bing, and the next we see, the boys are decked out in their crisp island-wear: Bing in his trademark captain’s hat and a plain blue camp shirt, and Bob a little wilder in an purple printed sport shirt with his own mariner’s cap that matches his powder blue slacks… presumably dressed by prolific costume designer Edith Head.

Bob and Bing each embark on their journey with a borrowed jacket that they never wear and appear to be abandoned after arriving at the princess’ palace. Bing hoists an English-detailed navy blazer, possibly one of the actor’s own, while Bob slings a pale blue gabardine zip-up windbreaker over his arm.

Bing and Bob, dressed for adventures in the South Seas.

The rosy mulberry-hued shirt’s complex all-over medallion-like print consists of purple stenciled “X” shapes, each with a small beige dot at the center and arranged to create a quasi-grid. Filling the “grid” space between the corners of each “X” is a busy purple square, itself split into four smaller quadrants by a tonal “X” at the center with small yellow clusters at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock positions, echoing larger yellow clusters at each corner.

Bob pitches woo to Dot.

Bob’s long-sleeved shirt has a soft, long-pointed collar, shaped more like Billy Eckstine’s signature “Mr. B” collar than Bing’s sporty camp collar. The shirt’s straight hem allows Bob to more freely wear it untucked, and it has five buttons up the plain “French placket” front, with an additional button to close each squared cuff.

Bob’s shirt takes some damage after an incident with a bear, revealing that his low-slung white cotton undershirt is sleeveless.

Bob and Bing wear nearly identical pale blue slacks, possibly made from gabardine or a linen blend, given the proneness to wrinkling after their rough adventures. Bob’s reverse-facing pleats contribute to the fashionably full fit, loose through the legs down to the bottoms finished with turn-ups (cuffs). He holds the trousers up with a stone-colored cotton belt with a polished silver D-shaped buckle.

The pale blue uppers of Bob’s derby-laced cap-toe shoes match his trousers, with the substantial crepe soles giving the 5’10” Hope even more of a lift over his 5’7″ co-star Crosby.

This surprising combination is still available nearly 70 years later, thanks to Clarks offering its classic crepe-soled desert boots in light blue leather, though Sperry CVO deck sneakers like the affordable oxford cotton-upper Striper II could provide a similar effect.

Bob takes more than a few tumbles on the road to Bali.

“Get your shoes off, you’re in a palace!” Bing instructs Bob as he makes himself at home in their assigned bedroom in the princess’ palace. Bob slips off his shoes, revealing a big hole in his black sock that prompts him to quip, “I better get some black polish, this may be formal tonight.” (Indeed it is, and the boys are outfitted in Scottish kilts patterned in the princess’ family tartan!)

cc: wikifeet.com

By the time they’re back at sea, Bob has replaced his holy black socks with tan socks, though this is far less a glaring continuity error as with Bing’s hosiery, as the crooner’s socks alternate between red and yellow within the same scene!

Bob tops his look with a mariner’s peaked cap, detailed with a black band, a short black patent leather brim, and a powder blue cloth cover.

The final detail is Bob’s gold pinky ring, shining from the little finger of his left hand and likely the actor’s own affectation as he was frequently photographed in real life wearing such a ring.

The Gun

“Hey, I found a gun!” Harold reports on the desert island, to which Princess Lala delights that now one of the men can hunt for their dinner. “Say here, Annie Oakley,” Harold hands off the rifle to George, adding, “run out and shoot us a filet mignon, medium rare.”

In addition to the decades-old rifle Bob finds, the trio’s exploration of the island would also yield a bear, Humphrey Bogart, and Bing’s own brother Bob Crosby, armed with a rifle of his own as Bing had offered him “a shot in the picture.”

The breech-loading rifle with its two-pin receiver and fore-end barrel band appears to be a sporterized variant of the Remington Rolling Block, a single-shot American battle rifle that saw extensive military use around the world following its development after the Civil War. Princess Lala was keen to observe that the Rolling Block would have been a favorable hunting weapon, as it was favored by Scandinavian moose hunters and was reportedly second only to the Sharps among American buffalo hunters in the late 19th century.

How to Get the Look

Bob Hope as Harold Gridley in Road to Bali (1952)

Once they change out of their grimy performance suits, Bob and Bing appear in more appropriate gear for traveling through the tropics in their nautical caps, untucked sport shirts, and loose gabardine slacks, with Bob’s complex-patterned purple shirt and matching powder blue slacks and shoes consistent with trends in ’50s casual wear.

• Purple complex medallion-patterned long-sleeve sport shirt with long-pointed collar, two flapped chest pockets, plain front, and 1-button squared cuffs
• Pale-blue gabardine reverse-pleated trousers with belt loops, slanted side pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• Stone cotton belt with silver D-shaped buckle
• Pale-blue cap-toe derby shoes with crepe soles
• Black socks
• White cotton sleeveless undershirt
• Mariner’s peaked cap with pale-blue cloth cover and black patent leather brim
• Gold pinky ring

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie, available on Blu-ray and free to stream from Prime and many other places due to its copyright expiry landing it in the public domain.

The Quote

What happened, is the picture over?!

The post Bob Hope in Road to Bali appeared first on BAMF Style.

Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men (Episode 2.06: “Maidenform”)

Vitals

Jon Hamm as Don Draper, mysterious ad man and Korean War veteran

Ossining, New York, Spring 1962

Series: Mad Men
Episode: “Maidenform” (Episode 2.06)
Air Date: August 31, 2008
Director: Phil Abraham
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

It’s Memorial Day weekend on Mad Men, and the Drapers and their Ossining neighbors gather at the Willow Oaks Golf Club’s annual Ribs and Fashion Show to bemoan their self-described “high-class problems” ranging from the sticky summer from when the Rosenbergs were murdered to taking the fall for the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Among the elite in their tennis whites and the veterans in their aging uniforms, Don’s simple and timeless knit shirt and trousers has been frequently requested as a popular look from the fashion series, despite only appearing in this one episode.

Typically the more incorrigible of the couple, Don finds himself on the other end of the Draper marriage’s jealous wagon as he spies Betty (January Jones) deflecting an awkward apology from the young equestrian Arthur Case (Gabriel Mann). He hardly has time to absorb the baffling situation, instead deep in conversation with the curiously named “Crab” Colson (Matt McKenzie), a one-time PR flack for Lem Jones Associates. This now-defunct firm had been hired by the CIA in real life to represent the Cuban Revolutionary Council and, as Crab puts it, “inspire the Cuban people to a coordinated wave of sabotage and rebellion.

In his excellent critical volume Mad Men Carousel, Matt Zoller Seitz analyzes the layers of fear and loathing at the fashion show, “one of the Waspiest places in a very waspy show… a place where the clothes are white and the servants are black, and where the country’s fate is decided, often in cavalier language that makes it sound like a bigger, graver ad campaign.”

The black ops adman tells Don, with evident sadness, that John F. Kennedy’s “vigor disappeared when he realized he couldn’t get anything done” (such is the case with most presidents, it seems.) “Jackie’s smiling all over the world; he’s chasing starlets,” he says. “Everybody’s happy,” Don says, even though nobody is really…

Before the “ribs and fashion show” starts, a ruddy-faced, well-fed man (practically a Thomas Nast caricature of a fat cat) asks all the veterans in the room to stand up and be applauded, starting with one of the last living members of Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders (part of the first wave of Yankee imperialists tear-assing through Cuba). Don stands up, but is understandably uncomfortable because he’s not actually Don, and because he killed his commanding officer by accident. He gets even more upset when he sees Sally gazing up at him, beaming.

In character with his sense of guilt and self-destruction, Don impulsively gets up to leave during the fashion show portion of the event… much to Betty’s surprise, as she likely assumes (by the nature of her passive-aggressive response) that her womanizing husband wouldn’t want to miss the club wives modeling the latest swimwear. Of course, she couldn’t possibly yet that the man she’s been sitting with is the erstwhile Private Dick Whitman, who unknowingly but inarguably engineered the death of Lieutenant Donald Draper more than a decade earlier.

Indeed, Don seems to be one of the few in attendance who understands that Memorial Day wasn’t established to celebrate by gorging on barbecued meats but rather to remember those Americans killed in the performance of their military duties. As someone directly responsible for one of those deaths, Don—er, Dick—must feel overwhelming guilt and shame at the applause he receives not only from fellow veterans in attendance, but particularly his own daughter as it’s the authentically adoring eyes of eight-year-old Sally (Kiernan Shipka) that affect him the most.

Don’s discomfort aside, the luncheon is one of the last moments of relative happiness for the Draper family, as Don unknowingly moves the pieces into place that would lead to the end of his marriage: first, arranging the business relationship with Crab Colson that would result in Betty’s straw-breaking humiliation over dinner in “A Night to Remember” and—most significantly—continuing his affair with Bobbie Barrett (Melinda McGraw) that would be thrown in Betty’s face at the end of the following episode, “The Gold Violin”.

What’d He Wear?

Among the field of cricket sweaters and undersized service uniforms, Don stands fashionably tall in his blue knitted polo shirt and glen plaid trousers, a simple and briefly seen outfit that has stood out as a favorite for fans of Mad Men style.

Don’s short-sleeved shirt is finely knitted in a slate blue yarn, its steely shade suggesting the gray “suits of armor” that costume designer Janie Bryant chose for Don’s office-wear. (Read my full interview with Ms. Bryant here!) The raglan sleeves are banded at the ends, just over an inch above where the forearm meets the elbow, echoed by the banded waist hem. The ribbed placket has three smoke-gray plastic four-hole sew-through buttons, the top button worn undone to allow the soft collar to lay elegantly on Don’s shoulders.

As is the case for most Draper family social occasions, Don’s still on the clock, using the Ribs and Fashion Show cocktail hour as an opportunity to make inroads with the well-connected Crab Colson.

After Mad Men wrapped in 2015, a blue knitted polyester short-sleeved polo with a three-button placket was auctioned as one of Jon Hamm’s screen-worn shirts, but the bright turquoise shade, white buttons (including one through the back of the collar), and short side vents indicated that this vintage shirt by Mr. John Sportswear was not the same item worn in “Maidenform”.

Crab: Glad to be in shorts. (spotting Don’s trousers) You don’t play?
Don: I don’t mind watching.

Crab is clearly dressed for tennis in his layered whites and shorts, but Don’s weekend-ready rig doesn’t limit him specifically to athletic endeavors at the club, even though his two-tone cleats suggest golf. This makes Don’s choice of words even more curious, as there’s nothing to say he wasn’t freshly off the green.

Jon Hamm’s screen-worn black-and-white leather Brooks Brothers golf shoes were auctioned by ScreenBid following the series finale.

“Spectator shoes” are a long-time colloquial shorthand for duo-toned footwear, appropriate here not only for the man who “[doesn’t] mind watching” but also in reference to the style’s other nickname as “correspondent shoes”. In early 20th century England, these sporty shoes were considered too loud for tasteful gentlemen to wear and thus often associated with the cads named as third party correspondents in divorce cases; Don would certainly fit that description, given his doubly adulterous role cheating on Betty and cuckolding Jimmy Barrett.

In the more liberally minded world of 1960s America, few would think twice of seeing a gent in two-toned shoes—particularly when dressed for golf—but the footwear’s history remains significant given the history of the scene.

According to the post-production ScreenBid auction, Brooks Brothers made Don’s black-and-white leather tasseled brogues. The white uppers are overlaid with black medallion perforated wingtips, black oxford-style lace panels layered under a black tassel, and black collars around the backs of the foot openings. These Goodyear-welted shoes are finished with hard leather soles that have eleven green cleats: four on each heel and seven in a “V” formation toward the toes.

Don’s worsted wool flat front trousers are a fine-woven Prince of Wales check in black-and-white with a subtle pink overcheck that presents as a gray semi-solid from a distance. These are detailed with straight vertical pockets along the side seams, jetted back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms.

Through the second and third seasons of Mad Men, Don wears a yellow gold Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Classique dress watch with a sentimental inscription from Betty. JLC pioneered the Reverso Classique in 1931, specifically targeting its reversible hard steel case toward polo players who would want to protect their watch faces during play without having to remove their timepieces.

According to an AMC interview with Mad Men‘s property master Gay Perello, Jon Hamm was initially reluctant to switch from the watch he wore during the first season:

Showing it to Jon on the first day… he said, “I’m kind of a round watch face guy.” And I said, “Well, we talked about that, but let’s look at this cool little feature that you can play with.” Then he said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, this will work,” and he started to really like it… And then [Matthew Weiner] had wrote in an episode that Betty takes his watch to have it engraved, so it got to have a little more play than we thought it would.

Don’s Reverso Classique has a rectangular white dial and secures to his left wrist on a brown leather strap.

Don returns home wearing a tan gabardine golf jacket, thematically appropriate following his day on the green. The waist-length windbreaker has a two-button standing collar that he wears flat, set-in sleeves with a button-fastened pointed tab at each cuff, and slanted hand pockets. The hem is semi-elasticized around the back only, and the plain back (devoid of yoke or shirring) indicates that this is not the same jacket—in a similar style and collar—that we briefly saw when the Draper family returned from their Mother’s Day outing in “Babylon” (Episode 1.06).

Though Baracuta pioneered this type of windbreaker with the G4 (“G” for “golf”), Don’s jacket has a horizontal chest seam not present on the Baracuta while also lacking that British brand’s signature tartan lining. By mid-century, the Baracuta had inspired scores of imitations on both sides of the pond from brands like London Fog, Van Heusen, and McGregor, the latter responsible for James Dean’s famous red jacket in Rebel Without a Cause.

Don also carries his go-to summer hat, a dark gray paper straw Pinzano short-brimmed trilby with a lavender-on-black multi-striped band.

What to Imbibe

Don departs from his usual tippling tendencies during the Memorial Day barbecue, foregoing his trademark whiskey drink in favor of something clear and served with lime, possibly a Gin & Tonic or a Vodka Tonic, the former being a more likely possibility given the bottle of Hiram Walker’s gin spied on the bar between he and Crab.

Arriving home, Don breaks another of his “rules” by drinking milk, despite declaring among his oyster-and-martini confessions in “Red in the Face” (Episode 1.07) a season earlier that:

Drinking milk… I never liked it. I hate cows.

Of course, this being Mad Men, nothing is unintentional, and Redditors have even dissected the show’s symbolism of milk as representative of childhood and specifically the mother’s love that Don never had. Exploring this in context of “Maidenform”, Don had just learned the curiously significant fact that Bobbie has an 18-year-old son and must forego a rendezvous to spend time with him. In the wake of this, Don’s first action upon arriving to an empty home is to pull the glass milk bottle from the Draper family fridge, drinking to replenish himself after yet another mother’s rejection of him.

How to Get the Look

Jon Hamm and January Jones on Mad Men (Episode 2.06: “Maidenform”)

Don Draper dresses smartly for Memorial Day at the country club, affecting a casual dignity in his blue knitted shirt, Prince of Wales check trousers, and golf shoes.

• Blue-slate knitted short-sleeve polo shirt with 3-button placket, banded raglan sleeves, and banded hem
• Tan gabardine golf windbreaker with 2-button standing collar, slanted hand pockets, button-fastened pointed-tab cuffs, and elasticized back hem
• Black-and-white Prince of Wales check worsted wool flat front trousers with belt loops, straight/on-seam side pockets, jetted back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Black-and-white leather wingtip tasseled oxford golf brogues
• White cotton crew-neck short-sleeve undershirt
• Dark gray paper straw short-brimmed trilby with lavender-on-black multi-striped band
• Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Classique wristwatch with a gold case, square white dial, and brown alligator leather strap

Knitwear like this found its heyday during the Mad Men era of the early ’60s (think Goodfellas), though the style has recently been enjoying a retro-inspired renaissance with most menswear outfitters including knitted polos and button-ups among its lineups for summer 2021. If you’re looking to channel that Draper-approved look this year, the closest examples I’ve seen include:

• H&M — Fine-knit Polo Shirt in “Pale blue” cotton
• Mango Man — Knit Cotton Polo Shirt in “Sky blue”
• Paul Fredrick — Silk Cotton and Cashmere Three Button Polo in “Medium blue”
• Sunspel — Sea Island Cotton Knit Polo in “Washed denim”

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the whole series.

The Quote

Everybody’s happy.

The post Mad Men: Don’s Blue Knit Golf Shirt for Memorial Day appeared first on BAMF Style.

Richard Jenkins as Nathaniel Fisher Sr. in the Six Feet Under pilot episode

Vitals

Richard Jenkins as Nathaniel Fisher, Sr., recently deceased funeral director

Los Angeles, December 2000

Series: Six Feet Under
Episode: “Pilot” (Episode 1.01)
Air Date: June 3, 2001
Director: Alan Ball
Creator: Alan Ball
Set Costumer: Josephine Willes

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

The pilot episode of Six Feet Under aired 20 years ago today on HBO, introducing viewers to the Fisher family. The first episode begins with the death of the family patriarch, funeral director Nathaniel Fisher.

Cigarette in hand as he cruises through L.A. to pick up his son on Christmas Eve, Nathaniel fields a phone call from his concerned wife Ruth (Frances Conroy), specifically warning him against smoking so that he may avoid “a slow and horrible death” from cancer. With an eye-roll, he hangs up, flicks his Zippo to light another… and is promptly killed when a bus rams into his hearse, setting the tone for a series that would unflinchingly navigate dark issues—specifically death—through a darkly comic lens.

Despite being one of my favorite shows, Six Feet Under doesn’t present many opportunities for style writing as it centers around an ordinary—if extraordinarily dysfunctional—middle-class family that lives a far from glamorous lifestyle, the men typically clad in off-the-peg suits, worn-in T-shirts and button-ups, and digital watches as they balance the drama of their personal lives with running the Fisher and Sons Funeral Home.

All that considered, it wasn’t hard to determine which outfit from the show I was most compelled to write about after a long-overdue revisit…

What’d He Wear?

Presumably clad in his signature black three-piece suit throughout life as a funeral director, Nathaniel awakens his more lively side when “visiting” family members after his death, most spectacularly in this summer-ready ensemble when he appears to his conflicted daughter Claire (Lauren Ambrose) during his own funeral.

Claire: You’re really lucky, you know that?
Nathaniel: You kidding? It was over in a second. I didn’t have to be afraid of it, I didn’t even have to think about it!

Few garments communicate leisure as instantly as a Hawaiian shirt and sandals, and Claire’s vision of her father suggests a man “enjoying death”—to crib a phrase from 007—no longer bound by the responsibilities of a business owner and father of three. Indeed, his lifeless spectral form seems more full of life than she’s ever seen him as he raises that pineapple-garnished coconut cocktail for another sip.

Nathaniel’s short-sleeved shirt consists of a frantic all-over pattern of red duo-tone leaves and blue pineapples with brown crowns against a sage-green field. The cut and style suggest vintage, from the wide, flat camp collar to the twin flaps over the chest pockets.

Nathaniel illustrates that rules are meant to be broken in the afterlife by wearing socks with sandals, in this case a pair of calf-high stone-gray socks with a pair of brown leather multi-strap walking sandals. His short-inseam navy shorts may indeed be swim trunks.

Nathaniel happily demonstrates his post-mortem ethos of “no more responsibility… no more boredom!”

He tops the look with a short-brimmed dark gray paper straw trilby with a black, beige, and black block-striped band with a series of thin black, white, navy, and rust stripes through the beige stripe.

What to Listen to

Several flashbacks from Nathaniel’s life feature Peggy Lee’s 1961 recording of “I Love Being Here With You”, the kind of hedonistic anthem that may be best associated with the apparition of his afterlife of leisure.

Lee originated the song, which she co-wrote with Bill Schluger, and it would eventually become a jazz standard performed by Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall, and Bette Midler, to name a few.

How to Get the Look

Richard Jenkins as Nathaniel Fisher Sr. in the Six Feet Under pilot episode

I just can’t advocate for socks and sandals together, but I’ll always advocate for a retro-themed tropical-print shirt and shorts whether you’re looking to beat the summertime blues or bring a festive spirit to enjoying the afterlife.

• Sage-green (with red floral and blue pineapple print) short-sleeved Aloha shirt with wide camp collar, plain front, and two flapped chest pockets
• Navy blue short-inseam shorts
• Dark brown leather walking sandals
• Stone-gray socks (eek!)
• Dark gray paper straw short-brimmed trilby with multi-striped black band

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the series.

The Quote

No more boredom!

The post Six Feet Under: Nathaniel’s Afterlife Aloha Shirt appeared first on BAMF Style.

Sidney Poitier’s tropical shirt in Lilies of the Field (1963) takes his style to the next level behind the wheel of his road-ready station wagon.

With this summer looking like more of a realistic travel season than last year for those looking to safely get away, I wanted to round up some of what I’ve learned in nearly a decade of paying attention to and writing about style and apply it realistically to how I dress for summer travel!

These guidelines may not work for everyone’s sense of taste, style, or comfort—and I’d always advocate for individuality over blindly adhering to what some non-expert on the internet (yours truly) has to say—but I thought it could be helpful to develop a guide based on what has worked for me, particularly in the wake of takes reporting that some are having trouble rediscovering the purpose of their clothing after spending much of the pandemic locked down in leisure-wear.

Of course, leisure-wear might be all you need to pack for summer vacations this year, but it still helps to have something a little practical for the journey, whether by air or on the road…

In the Air

Much is informed by TSA restrictions, your personal anxiety over losing luggage, and the nature of your trip—dressing for a one-day business trip differs from the free-wheeling bachelor weekend or family vacation—but, for the purpose of argument, I’m writing from the perspective of someone dressing for the typical multi-day getaway.

John McClane may be a less confident air traveler than Mr. “Fists-with-your-toes”, but Bruce Willis’ attire in the air looks ultimately more comfortable than his traveling companion. If only he had kept his shoes on after reaching his destination!
Read more about McClane’s famously deconstructed style in Die Hard in this 2012 post.

Jacket: Ideally, this would be light enough to store easily aboard the plane with plenty of secured pockets that can hold all of your personal items when sending your jacket through the TSA security checkpoint (without having to individually collect them all from a tray). Spending much of your time in an airport or plane means worrying less about a weather-resilient top layer, but I think it’s wise to wear something water-resilient enough to avoid needing to bring an additional jacket for incidental rain you may encounter at your destination.

As an air marshal in the 2014 thriller Non-Stop, Liam Neeson’s character incorporates his frequent flying experience into a practical, layered outfit that would suit him well even on a flight that didn’t have some degree of mid-air combat.

For this stylish and light yet weather-flexible outerwear, I recommend either a classic Harrington jacket with button-flapped pockets or a waxed coat similar to the Barbour Beacon Sports Jacket that Daniel Craig famously wore in Skyfall, as it has plenty of pockets and the treated waxed cotton shell will keep you dry while still looking stylish either at the airport bar or your favorite vacation hot spot.

Shirt: Comfort and general presentability are my keys. I like a collared shirt that guarantees I’ll still have the ability to be relatively “dressy” as needed, should my luggage get lost or flight delayed before a dinner reservation. Air safety experts advocate for wearing long pants and long sleeves on a flight (and avoiding more flammable synthetic fabrics), adding a layer that protects the skin should you find yourself needing to escape in an emergency situation. Given all this, I recommend a long-sleeved cotton polo shirt or button-up.

Trousers: As with the shirt, I opt for comfort and presentability as well as flexibility, as they’ll need to be comfortable for sitting (and maybe even sleeping!) for hours but then may be pressed into service for dinner or whatever plans await you at your destination. A darker color can hide any potential sweat-stains, spilled drinks, or other calamities of travel, so I like dark gray chinos, again constructed primarily from cotton.

Belt: Depending on your airport regulations or the level of TSA screening you’re subjected to, it’s a safe bet to assume that belt-wearers will need to remove them before moving through security. This in itself could make a good argument for wearing beltless trousers, such as those tailored with side-adjusters or fitted with the hybrid belt loop/side-adjuster style offered by some manufacturers.

Keeping this in mind, you’re probably still fine to wear a belt that you planned on wearing for you trip and just make sure your trousers fit well enough that you won’t be exposing any more of yourself than you should when removing said belt in the security line!

Shoes: Be kind to yourself—and those behind you in the TSA line—and opt for footwear that can be easily taken off or put back on when passing through security while still stylish enough to serve you well at your destination. I like Chelsea boots for travel, as their ankle height is compatible with the prescribed long trousers, and their elastic side gussets and lack of laces ensure an easy on/off experience whether going through security or daring to relax in your socks (which you shouldn’t take off!) on the plane. Depending on the nature of your trip, Chelsea boots should be appropriate for the more formal situations you encounter, mitigating the need to pack any more formal shoes. Whatever shoes you wear, remember to walk around barefoot on a rug once you get to your destination, making fists with your toes… “better than a shower and hot cup of coffee.”

My personal preference are my “antique brown” leather Blundstone Super 500 boots, still available from Amazon and Blundstone as of May 2021.

Even for a less conventional method of air travel, piloting a glider through the skies over Massachusetts in The Thomas Crown Affair, Steve McQueen dresses practically in his navy Harrington jacket, Persol sunglasses, side-adjuster chinos, and suede boots.
Read more about this outfit—based on the King of Cool’s real-life sartorial sensibilities—here.

Watch: While there’s little trouble adjusting any mechanical watch to the time zone of your destination, choosing which watch to wear for air travel could be a fun opportunity to celebrate the theme of your adventure with a classic pilot’s watch (think the Rolex GMT Master… or a more budget-friendly alternative) as well as making sure the bracelet of said watch can be easily unbuckled can slipped into that jacket pocket—or luggage pocket—to pass through security without worrying that your watch will be damaged.

A steel pilot’s watch on a metal bracelet would be stylish and sporty but still dressy enough for universal wear during your trip.

“Assuming one has a convenient pocket…”

Many a style writer seem to underestimate the value of pockets, and situations like air travel particularly shine a light on the importance of having accessible and ample pocket space (without walking around dressed like John Milius.) I would make sure your jacket, trousers, and shirt allow you to keep handy:

• Phone
• Wallet (for presenting your ID… and presenting your credit card for in-flight drinks!)
• Printed travel items
• Chewing gum (for countering ear pops and freshening breath after an in-flight nap)
• Earbuds or AirPods (to avoid having to dig around your carry-on once you’re aboard)

I don’t think your air travel attire needs to accommodate space for glasses or keys, which can be packed away in your carry-on luggage. I also like to keep a device charger either in my jacket or carry-on.

Read more about skyway style in the BAMF Style archives.

On the Road

It’s easier to have a little more fun with this one and, assuming the rest of your luggage is in more accessible reach than for air travel, you don’t need to be dressed quite as much for contingencies. That said, I still take a more strategic approach to dressing for a few hours on the road.

Don Draper (Jon Hamm) frees himself of his corporate lifestyle in Mad Men‘s final season, dressing for an extended drive through middle America in a blue Derby-style jacket, plaid sports shirt, undershirt, slacks, and his signature American Optical aviator sunglasses as seen in the penultimate episode, “The Milk and Honey Route”. Read more about Don’s road layers as he drifts back toward his blue-collar Dick Whitman identity in this 2018 post.

Jacket: Depending on how you manage your car’s internal temperature, you may not be wearing a jacket for most—if any—of your time behind the wheel, but I like having an outer layer handy should you encounter inclement weather… or a passenger who takes a little too much ownership over the A/C knob.

For me, the ideal road trip jacket is a nylon bomber jacket, typically a lighter-weight alternative to the fully insulated Alpha Industries MA-1 (though those are recommended for any man’s closet!)

Shirt: Layers are my go-to for road trips, specifically a short-sleeved button-up over a T-shirt. Sure, going sans undershirt avoids the unfashionable “T-shirt triangle” over the chest, but wearing one provides some climate-informed flexibility while also allowing the overshirt to stay clean if it needs to be removed for unexpected situations like changing a tire or de-layering to catch a few winks.

Shirt pockets are rarely efficient storage, but I find them to be useful in these situations for glasses and toll passes, as needed. These are also items that can be kept somewhere in the car’s console, of course, but storing them in your pockets assures that they won’t fly out of place after taking a hard turn while also avoiding the risk of leaving them in view of any opportunistic passersby with larceny on their minds while you’re at a rest stop.

While not as sleek as his famous style behind the wheel in Bullitt (1968), Steve McQueen’s nylon bomber jacket, dive watch, jeans, and sneakers for his final role in The Hunter (1980) set a template for comfortable and practical road gear.

Trousers: Summer vacations may be the only time some men bring out their shorts, but I still like to avoid these for road trips. For me, there’s a personal presentability factor (though I doubt anyone in the roadside rest stop outside of Terre Haute would judge), but long pants also allow you to blast your car’s A/C without your legs freezing. As with air travel, I like darker colors for trousers, and the rigors of the road are also a welcome opportunity for more rugged cloths like good old, reliable denim.

My go-to pants for road trips are trusty dark blue jeans—my preference are Levi’s 541 “Athletic Fit” in marbled “desperado” wash—which feel like a relatively fashionable and contextually appropriate choice.

Belt: Hunching over a steering wheel for hours on end can be uncomfortable enough on its own that the last thing you need to add to the mix is stiff leather or metal digging at your mid-section. While some of BAMF Style’s more athletic readers may not encounter this issue, your—uh… curvy?—author often finds that regular belts have a way of finding and assaulting fatty parts of my torso during road trips… an issue not helped by said author’s preference for incorporating Arby’s, Taco Bell, and Waffle House stops onto the journey.

To combat this discomfort, I’ve found myself favoring the flexibility of a surcingle belt or web belt when I know I’ll be driving for a distance, often picking ones echoing the colors or themes of the rest of my outfit and accessories for a touch of character. It helps that I also like wearing belts like these when I’m on vacation so they’re not at odds with summery destinations.

Shoes: Keeping comfort in mind, I like wearing shoes that are ready to withstand—and survive—any unexpected roadside calamity, be it a roadside tire change, trekking for gas, or needing to stop in a rainy, muddy area… or just navigating the waters of a poorly maintained gas station bathroom.

Unfortunately, the sleek, comfortable, and appropriately named suede moc-toe drivers are rarely up to these tasks, so I like solidly built sneakers with cushioned insoles, though Chelsea boots or chukka boots would also be a more stylish alternative for those gents who don’t like sneakers.

The dearth of pockets isn’t quite my style, but Barry Newman’s classic and minimalist outfit for Kowalski’s iconic journey behind the wheel of a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T in Vanishing Point (1971) blends several wardrobe staples for an ultimately timeless road rig.

Watch: This is a little more of a form-driven choice than function given that your phone, GPS, and car clock are all reliable ways to serve any purpose. Depending on where I’m going, I’ve found my favored road trip watches to be either a steel dive watch on a nylon NATO strap that absorbs sweat and can be changed out with other bands (for beach trips) or a gunmetal field watch on a brown leather strap (for more adventurous getaways.)

“Assuming one has a convenient pocket…”

• Phone
• Wallet
• Cash and currency (for paying tolls, parking, or nabbing quickie rest stop items)
• Sunglasses or other glasses
• Car keys (obviously not while driving, but consider where you’ll be pocketing them at rest stops)
• Pocket knife or multi-tool (as legally permissable)

Read more about dressing for the road in the BAMF Style archives, or take a closer look at some of my favorite examples:

• Jack Nicholson in Five Easy Pieces
• Steve McQueen in The Hunter
• Jon Hamm in the penultimate episode of Mad Men
• Robert De Niro in Midnight Run
• Robert Mitchum in Thunder Road
• Barry Newman in Vanishing Point

How to dress once you’ve reached your destination is a different story, but if you want to take some 007-approved tips for the beach, check out my updated post looking at what’s in James Bond’s Beach Suitcase, recently updated for summer 2021 with affordable finds from modern outfitters!

Looking for even more recommendations from yours truly? Check out this Spotify playlist I curated of some favorite summer travel tracks, transcending genres and decades for a kinetic, feel-good experience that makes the journey as exciting as the destination.

The post Dressing for Summer Travel: Road Trips and Airplanes appeared first on BAMF Style.