James Caan as Axel Freed in The Gambler (1974)

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James Caan as Axel Freed, gambling-addicted English professor

New York City, Fall 1973

Film: The Gambler
Release Date: October 2, 1974
Director: Karel Reisz
Costume Designer: Albert Wolsky

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

A meditation on self-destruction, The Gambler was based on James Toback’s semi-autobiographical script that was the first to be produced from the soon-to-be-prolific screenwriter. Toback had incorporated his own gambling addiction that plagued him while he lectured at City College of New York. Robert De Niro was an early contender for the leading role of Axel Freed, but director Karel Reisz opted to cast another Corleone: James Caan, who explained the challenge of the role that would reportedly be one of his favorites from own his filmography: “It’s not easy to make people care about a guy who steals from his mother to pay gambling debts.”

We first meet Dr. Naomi Freed (Jacqueline Brookes) when Axel visits her clinic to invite her to play tennis before he’s picked up by the affable wiseguy Carmine (Burt Young), who gives him a ride in his sleek red Cadillac convertible to meet the loan shark Bernie (Allan Rich), whom Carmine describes as “a very personable human being.” Before they see Bernie, Carmine invites Axel to join him as he makes a collection from a three-time loser, calmly asking Axel to wait as he trashes the apartment and slugs the closet-hiding welcher. Out of curiosity, Axel takes Carmine’s wrist to feel his heartbeat, observing that he “haven’t missed a beat.”

The errand completed, Carmine finally takes Axel to meet the famed Bernie, the deadpan Marlboro-obsessed shark who asks “Alex Freed?” (“Close enough,” responds Axel) before offering his guest a plate of clams… though the two dozen Little Necks aren’t exactly the type of clams Axel came to request. Once the two get to talking turkey, they establish the terms of Axel’s vig—3% per week, every week—which all but establishes that Axel will find himself so far deep in the hole that he’ll need to make an unethical request of one of the star basketball students in his class.

What’d He Wear?

Axel Freed’s wardrobe covers a range of functionality of sports coats, leather jackets, casual shirts, cardigans, and jeans, with the occasional eye-catching print or pattern. Aside from some of his super-’70s sport shirts, this cardigan sweater may be one of the bolder-patterned statement pieces from Axel’s closet.

Axel greets his mother.

The cardigan has a navy-blue base, with the back, sleeves, and ribbed placket all presenting a solid navy. Six recessed navy 4-hole buttons are sewn through onto the placket; Axel usually wears the cardigan open, but on the rare occasion that he closes it, he fastens it to reflect the shirt with only the lower three buttons done.

The most visually distinctive aspect of the cardigan is the three-color houndstooth weave along the front panels, extending from the shoulders to waist hem, between the placket and the side seam running along the front of each sleeve and down the seam under it. Also known as “dogstooth” and “pied-de-poule” (French for “hen’s foot”, suggesting some confusion in what animal anatomy it resembles most), this repeating pattern is a tessellation of four-pointed shapes. Houndstooth is traditionally a two-color pattern, though exceptions can be made, such as Caan’s cardigan with its navy, tan, and brown check.

Axel bids adieu to Carmine.

Axel wears the cardigan over a light blue melange shirt, alternating between keeping the top two and three buttons undone on the placket. The shirt has a large collar, though not as exaggerated as some from the decade—including the off-white shirt seen lower in this post. The long-sleeved shirt has barrel cuffs that close through two buttons.

Brief pulse check after Axel gets a glimpse at how Bernie’s mooks treat guys who welch on their debts.

As he would a decade later in Thief, Caan’s character in The Gambler alternates between Lee and Levi’s jeans, excluding only Wrangler from the “Big Three” of American denim giants. For most of this sequence, he wears what appear to be Lee 101 Rider boot-cut jeans based on the cut, the styling, and the small black label sewn along the top seam of the back-right pocket, suggesting Lee’s signature branding.

The denim’s slightly warmer wash contrasts the jeans against the equally light blue shirt. The jeans have substantial belt loops, though which Axel wears a wide dark brown leather belt that closes through a squared brass single-prong buckle.

While waiting for Carmine on the street, Axel wears his two-eyelet chukka boots with sand-colored suede uppers, though a continuity error shows him wearing his favorite brown leather bit loafers as he strides into the bar to meet Bernie. His jeans when meeting Bernie also appear to be a slightly darker denim, likely his Levi’s from other scenes.

Axel on the street: cardigan half-buttoned, light Lee jeans, and suede chukka boots. Axel in the bar: cardigan open again, darker Levi’s jeans, and brown bit loafers.

The unique sweater makes its final appearance when Axel approaches Spencer (Carl W. Crudup) during basketball practice, making his pitch to buy the earnest and talented young player’s soul. He drapes the open cardigan over a pale ecru long-sleeved shirt with a soft jersey-knit body but a structured long point collar and placket that he wears characteristically unbuttoned to mid-chest.

Axel watches the honest student he’ll soon be asking to compromise his integrity in order to help him out of a jam.

The outfit is slightly dressier with the shirt tucked into gray flannel flat front trousers, held up by a smooth brown leather belt that closes through a polished silver three-sided rectangular buckle.

Axel then swaps out the cardigan for a tan suede jacket and wears this outfit with his regular brown leather bit loafers through the end of the movie.

How to Get the Look

James Caan as Axel Freed in The Gambler (1974)

A patterned cardigan can be a gamble itself, but James Caan illustrates why it can be worth rolling the dice on a button-front sweater that goes a step beyond the traditional single color. Dress it up with slacks and loafers or dress it down with jeans and boots.

• Navy cardigan sweater with tan-and-brown houndstooth-woven front panels and ribbed 6-button placket
• Light blue melange cotton shirt with long front collar, front placket, and two-button barrel cuffs
• Light blue denim Lee 101 Rider boot-cut jeans
• Dark brown wide leather belt with large brass squared single-prong buckle
• Sand suede 2-eyelet chukka boots

The Cardigan:

Houndstooth cardigans are still made in ranging degrees of quality, with a top option being Todd Snyder’s Houndstooth Merino Cardigan in Olive, though the colorway and all-over pattern differs from what we see in The Gambler. For that true Axel-esque look, you may need to scour vintage or secondhand sites like eBay.

If you’re looking for a comfortable cardigan with an eye-catching check, I strongly recommend Abercrombie & Fitch’s Oversized Checkered Cardigan, which offers a bulkier silhouette than Caan’s screen-worn sweater but arguably became one of the coziest garments I own when I received it as a Christmas gift last month. It’s already gotten plenty of wear, mostly as a warm layer for chilly mornings with a good book or late nights spent writing.

The Jeans:

Boot-cut jeans aren’t for everybody, but you can still pay tribute to the original manufacturer with an updated color and cut with the Lee “Luke” Tailored Slim Fit Tapered Jeans or the Lee “Extreme Motion” Bootcut Jeans.

The Boots:

Axel’s boots don’t appear to have the crepe soles that would distinguish them as desert boots, the unique style innovated by Clarks after World War II, though Clarks’ sand-colored desert boots would make a handsome alternative to Caan’s screen-worn kicks.

All prices and availability current as of January 22, 2022.

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

Hey, who’s lending and who’s borrowing?

The post The Gambler: James Caan’s Houndstooth Cardigan appeared first on BAMF Style.

Stephen Graham as Al Capone on Boardwalk Empire (Episode 1.01: “Boardwalk Empire”)

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Stephen Graham as Al Capone, ambitious but volatile mob enforcer

Chicago, Winter 1920

Series: Boardwalk Empire
Episodes:
– “Boardwalk Empire” (Episode 1.01, dir. Martin Scorsese, aired 9/19/2010)
– “Anastasia” (Episode 1.04, dir. Jeremy Podeswa, aired 10/10/2010)
Creator: Terence Winter
Costume Designer: John A. Dunn

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

On the 75th anniversary of Al Capone’s death, I wanted to take this blog’s first overdue look at Stephen Graham’s explosive performance as the infamous gangster on Boardwalk Empire. Capone features as an influential if tertiary character to the main drama in Atlantic City, introduced as a smart-talking enforcer to the old-fashioned—and ill-fated—”Big Jim” Colosimo during the series premiere, set in January 1920 when Prohibition became the unpopular law of the land.

Though the series ends in 1931 as Capone reaches his greatest amount of fame and power before he’s carted off to federal prison to serve his stretch for tax evasion, the first season spends considerable time with the ambitious Al while he’s still just a trigger-happy enforcer working for Johnny Torrio (Greg Antonacci), the pragmatic pimp who imported Al from Brooklyn and installed him at his opulent South Side brothel, the Four Deuces.

These basic facts are reflected in the series, introducing the fictional Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt) to the action as a war-scarred lackey on the run after he leaves his own boss, Enoch “Nucky” Thompson (Steve Buscemi), holding the bag in A.C. after the fallout from Jimmy and Al’s fumbled score. “You know who’s fuckin’ load this is?” one of the mooks asks during the deadly liquor hijacking that bookends the pilot episode.

“Pretty fuckin’ obvious now, ain’t it?” Capone replies as he whacks the man in the face with the butt of his shotgun.

Titled for the contemporary controversy surrounding an imposter claiming to be the Russian duchess murdered during the 1917 revolution, the fourth episode “Anastasia” begins with Capone trudging across a snowy street to the dissonant strains of Billy Murray inviting us to join him in the “very lively atmosphere” of C-U-B-A, perhaps foreshadowing Nucky’s own actions a decade later. Winter in Chicago is hardly Havana, though, and the only place Scarface Al is heading is directly up the stairs of the Four Deuces, to where his new pal Jimmy is sleeping aside the charming courtesan Pearl (Emily Meade). A restless Pearl catches sign of Al as he steps into the room, but Capone silences her with a playful finger to his lips as he pulls his six-shooter and approaches the slumbering Jimmy…

What’d He Wear?

Still a relatively small-time hoodlum at the start of the series, Al Capone has yet to fully embrace the tailored three-piece suits favored by his bosses Colosimo and Torrio, instead dressing for warmth and action in a belted fur-lined leather coat.

To supplement his shearling-lined coat’s warmth when making the snowy journey from Atlantic City to Chicago along the Lincoln Highway in an exposed truck, Capone wisely pulls on a pair of heavy brown leather work gloves.

Capone’s jacket fits the modern description of a car coat, though the term was more frequently used to describe a longer garment that offered fuller coverage during these earlier days of motoring. As automotive technology evolved over the 20th century, so did the definition of a car coat, which now typically describes a shorter jacket that falls to mid-thigh like what Capone wears in these early episodes. At the time these episodes are set in the winter of 1920, Capone’s coat may have been influenced by the double-breasted wool mackinaw that had emerged as a Canadian work jacket over a century earlier, incorporating the leather shell and fur lining that were found on many contemporary car coats.

The Boardwalk Empire coat has a dark seal brown leather shell, with a shawl collar finished in a natural-hued sheepskin fur that matches the lining. Unlike a traditional wool mackinaw, the coat has a single-breasted configuration with five dark brown buttons up the front; to ease the process of buttoning the coat, there is no fur lining behind the buttons or buttonholes on each side of the front. A belt matching the rest of the jacket pulls through a loop on each side, with the left side of the belt fastening over two buttons on the right.

Burlap and big coats are the designated uniforms for Jimmy and Al’s armed heist-turned-massacre in the pilot episode, with Capone’s shotgun blast illuminating the details of his shearling-lined belted jacket.

In addition to the flapped set-in pockets on each hip, there is a hand pocket on each side of the chest with a slitted vertical entry, jetted on the right and welted on the left.

Capone’s coat has set-in sleeves, each finished with a single button at the squared cuff. Two metal eyelets under each armpit ventilate the wearer to prevent overheating in the heavily insulated jacket, as there is no back or side vents. A horizontal yoke extends across the chest and back.

Frankie Yale (Joseph Riccobene) warmly embraces a returned Capone at the end of the pilot episode. Yale had been Capone’s underworld mentor back in Brooklyn, and the status division is clear between the tailored Yale in his fedora vs. the casually dressed Capone in his flat cap. Note the eyelets under the armpit of Capone’s coat.

In the pilot episode “Boardwalk Empire” (Episode 1.01) and the first scenes of “Anastasia” (Episode 1.04), Capone wears the coat over an appropriately dressed-down collarless shirt, made from rose pink cotton. The shirt has a front placket with off-white plastic buttons, which Capone fastens up to the neck. Given the shortness of the neckband and the fact that it closes with a button rather than a stud, this is presumably not the type of shirt that could be dressed up with a collar and tie, as was the custom in this era predating the widespread production of dress shirts with attached collars.

Capone prepares to give Jimmy Darmody a rude awakening in “Anastasia” (Episode 1.04).

Capone wears relatively neutral trousers, especially when compared to the bolder tailoring featured on the series. During the liquor hijacking and subsequent drive back to Chicago in the pilot episode, Capone wears warm gray flannel trousers. Throughout “Anastasia” (Episode 1.04), he wears brown plaid flat front trousers. Consistent with prevailing fashions, neither trousers are worn with a belt, held up with suspenders (braces) that remain generally unseen under Capone’s substantial coat.

Both are finished with turn-ups (cuffs) on the bottoms, which break over the tops of his black leather squared apron-toe derby shoes.

A night in the woods in the pilot episode and a night at the Four Deuces in “Anastasia” (Episode 1.04). In both occasions, Capone wears plain trousers held up with braces.

Boardwalk Empire makes a point to communicate how hats signified status in the underworld, from Nelson Van Alden (Michael Shannon) advising his Prohibition agents who was worth surveilling in the pilot episode to a Jewish elder commenting to Capone that “you’re a man, yet you wear the cap of a boy!” during a bar mitzvah ceremony later in the season.

Until that conversation leads to Capone adopting the fedoras and homburgs more associated with ’20s gangsterdom, he wears a broken-in brown checked tweed newsboy cap, a variant of the traditional flat cap characterized by its softer paneled construction and the self-covered button atop the center of the crown.

To disguise their faces during the Hammonton hijacking in the pilot episode, both Al and Jimmy cover their faces with a pair of burlap sacks fashioned as masks with eyeholes cut out. The additional burlap around the neck functions for additional warmth as a de facto scarf, particularly after the heist when the men pull down their masks.

While the CDC would likely not recommend these as adequate protection against viruses like Spanish flu or COVID-19, one could argue they’re reasonably effective for a Prohibition-era hijacking.

As “Anastasia” progresses and Capone visualizes his future in the Chicago Outfit, he dresses to match his ambition while intimidating a Greektown restauranteur by layering the coat over a shirt and tie, his brown plaid trousers, and a waistcoat—or “vest” to us Americans—presumably orphaned from a suit. The gray flannel vest has four welted pockets and six buttons that Capone wears fully fastened, including over the notched bottom.

Capone’s lilac striped shirt coordinates to his burgundy printed silk tie, but he unbuttons the neck of the shirt and loosens the tie, not yet at the level of sartorial sophistication illustrated by underworld superiors like Nucky, Torrio, Colosimo, Frankie Yale (Joseph Riccobene), and Arnold Rothstein (Michael Stuhlbarg).

By the episode’s end, both Al and Jimmy would be upgrading their wardrobes to look the part of the flashy and financially secure gangsters they aspire to be, and it’s nothing but three-piece suits from that point forward.

The Guns

Al Capone may conjure up thoughts of pinstripe-suited gangsters with barking Tommy guns, also known as “Chicago typewriters” due to their expensive use in the Beer Wars waged in the Windy City, but our first glimpse of an armed Capone kicks off the pilot episode as he and Jimmy Darmody storm into the scene with shotguns during their ill-advised hijacking in the outskirts of Hammonton, New Jersey.

Capone carries a Browning Auto-5, so named for its auto-loading operation and the original capacity of five 12-gauge shells (four in the tubular magazine, with an additional shell chambered.) Prolific firearms designer John Browning designed the Auto-5 around the turn of the century, and it broke ground as the first mass-produced semi-automatic shotgun when the Belgian firm Fabrique Nationale (FN) introduced it to the market in 1902. Over the fifty years to follow, the design would be licensed to Remington and Savage Arms, who each produced their own versions, though the Remington Model 11 lacked the Browning’s distinctive “humpback” where the receiver drops off before the stock.

Less encountered today, the Browning Auto-5 was a favorite among hunters, law enforcement, military, and—indeed—gangsters through the first half of the 20th century. The pilot episode of Boardwalk Empire features this shotgun in the hands of Prohibition agents and many gangsters, including some of the liquor shipment guards that Capone shoots with his own Auto-5.

Jimmy and Al arm themselves with shotguns when hijacking Rothstein’s liquor shipment. The battle-worn Jimmy remains steady, but anxious Al gets spooked by deer and kicks off a night of carnage.

For less heavy-duty work, Capone joins many of his fellow gangsters in carrying a Smith & Wesson Military & Police revolver. Known as the “Military & Police” model for the first half of the 20th century, this revolver built on Smith & Wesson’s medium (K) frame platform would be renamed the Model 10 when the company switched its nomenclature to numbered models in the 1950s.

This trusty double-action revolver had been introduced alongside the .38 Special cartridge that would quickly become the standard service revolver round for American law enforcement, though Boardwalk Empire accurately depicts its significant usage on both sides of the law.

In “Anastasia”, Capone uses his Smith & Wesson to deliver a hell of a wakeup call via a loud .38 Special round fired just inches from a sleeping Jimmy Darmody’s ear into his pillow.

How to Get the Look

Stephen Graham as Al Capone on Boardwalk Empire (Episode 1.04: “Anastasia”)

Stephen Graham’s leather and shearling-swathed apparel as a young Al Capone can bring a rugged Prohibition-era flair to your winter kit, rooted enough in timeless tradition that you wouldn’t look as anachronistic as his colleagues in their fedoras and stickpins. (If you want to update the styling for the 21st century while sticking to the same philosophy, consider a henley and dark jeans with well-built leather boots providing better harmony than derbies.)

• Dark brown leather 5-button car coat with shearling shawl collar, full belt with 2-button fastening, vertical-entry chest pockets, flapped set-in hip pockets, and single-button squared cuffs
• Rose pink cotton collarless button-up shirt
• Gray or brown plaid wool flat front trousers with turn-ups/cuffs
• Suspenders/braces
• Black leather apron-toe derby shoes
• Brown checked tweed newsboy cap
• Brown heavy leather work gloves

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the whole series.

The Quote

You’d piss your pants, if you were wearin’ any!

The post Boardwalk Empire: Al Capone’s 1920s Leather Car Coat appeared first on BAMF Style.

Johnny Depp as George Jung in Blow (2001)

Vitals

Johnny Depp as George Jung, fugitive pot dealer

Weymouth, Massachusetts, Fall 1973

Film: Blow
Release Date: April 6, 2001
Director: Ted Demme
Costume Designer: Mark Bridges

Background

Blow chronicles the chaotic career of real-life drug dealer George Jung, who evolved his marijuana-dealing enterprise into a dangerously successful cocaine-smuggling operation with the Medellín cartel until it all came crashing down around him.

The first act focuses on George’s halcyon days as a popular southern California pot dealer, living a dream life on the beach with a steady—if illegitimate—income and a beautiful stewardess girlfriend, Barbara (Franka Potente). Unfortunately, the end of the free-lovin’, swingin’ ’60s also marks the end of the relative innocence in George’s criminal ventures as everything changes in the wake of Barbara’s terminal illness and a bust in Chicago that has him looking at serious jail time.

Following Barbara’s death, the fugitive “Boston George” is left with little prospects and skips bail, retreating home to his parents’ home in Weymouth, just a twenty-minute drive south around the bay from Beantown. Despite the late hour and, uh, George’s growing criminal record, his father Frederick (Ray Liotta) warmly greets him… unlike his mother, Ermine (Rachel Griffiths), who covertly invites the FBI to crash the intimate welcome party.

The arrest lands George at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, where he shares a cell with Colombian car thief Carlos Lehder—renamed Diego Delgado (Jordi Mollà) for the movie—who enlists George in his ambitions to corner the high-demand American cocaine market. Thus, federal prison becomes something of a crime school for George, who narrates that he “went in with a bachelor of marijuana… and came out with a doctorate of cocaine.”

What’d He Wear?

Between the bright hippie-influenced trends of the late ’60s and his safari-styled leisure suits of the ’70s, George retreats out of fashion and into more timeless workwear as he goes on the lam, serving the dual purpose of avoiding the eye-catching qualities of floral and paisley-printed garb while also relying on the durability of these time-tested cloths while running and hiding from law enforcement.

George steps through the shadows into the Jung family kitchen, layered in a fleece-lined jacket over his denim. Inspired by sheepskin outerwear that dates back to the Stone Age, “sherpa” jackets made with artificial fleece lining became popular through the 1960s as companies like Levi’s began adapting their casual jackets with denim, corduroy, and suede shells with an extra layer of pile-lined insulation. George’s jacket has a dark navy blue shell, likely constructed from a narrow “pinwale” corduroy or canvas. Many men’s outfitters have since warmed up to this classic style, including Gap, Levi’s (via Kohl’s), and Patagonia (via REI), as of January 2022.

Depp spends much of the sequence photographed in the shadows and primarily from the chest up, so we don’t see much of his jacket aside from the characteristic white piled fleece over the collar and lining. The silver-toned snaps along the left side and lack of button-threading on the right reinforces that the jacket has a snap-up front, a traditional style for sherpa jackets as it’s easier to fasten a snap than to try pushing a button through the thick fleece. Like a trucker jacket, the coat has horizontal chest yokes that align with the top of each chest pocket, which close with snap-down flaps.

BLOW

George wears the fleece-lined coat over a standard blue denim trucker jacket, which resembles the contemporary Levi’s “Type III” trucker jacket… aside from the lack of the telltale branded red tab that would normally be sewn into the right-side seam of the left pocket flap. The tab may have been removed by the costume team, or it may have been the victim of the same abuse that cost the jacket its second rivet button. (Or it may be a non-Levi’s copycat!)

The waist-length jacket otherwise reflects all the hallmarks of the traditional Type III, with a horizontal chest yoke that aligns with the top of each pocket flap, from under which the “V”-shaped seams taper down over the pockets to the waistband. Each cuff closes through a copper rivet button echoing the five—er, four—up the front. It appears to be an era-correct jacket as it only has chest pockets and not the hand pockets that were added a decade later in the early 1980s.

George shares a drink with his father.

George’s blue shirt has a denim-like texture echoing his jacket and jeans, suggesting the dense cambric cotton known as “chambray” that has been a fixture of American work shirts since they were standardized as part of a U.S. Navy working uniform in the early 20th century. George is no stranger to chambray shirting, as he’d already worn two by this point in Blow: one in 1968 when conceiving his idea to smuggle a Winnebago full of pot across the country, and again in 1970 when buying his and Barbara’s honeymoon home in Puerto Vallarta.

The collar shape and placket suggests that the shirt layered under his denim jacket is the former, which was styled with a long, flared point collar and a substantial front placket detailed with long vertical buttonholes threaded in the same white thread that provided a contrast stitch along the shirt’s edges, including the collar, placket, and pocket flaps. Both chest pockets have mitred lower corners and are each covered with a pointed flap that closes through a single white pearl button matching the seven buttons up the placket. Each cuff closes with two buttons.

The subtle differences between George’s blue chambray shirts: the 1968 shirt has a shaped collar, Western-style pointed yokes, pointed pocket flaps, and front placket with pearl-like buttons, while the 1970 shirt in Puerto Vallarta has a straight collar, horizontal yokes, rounded pocket flaps, and either a plain front or de-emphasized placket with white plastic buttons. He appears to be rewearing the former when swathed in denim to visit his parents in the fall of 1973.

Depp on set, filming scenes set after George’s 1976 release from prison.

George wears the top few buttons of the chambray shirt placket undone, showing the crew-neck top of his white cotton short-sleeved undershirt.

Since George gets arrested while wearing this outfit, he has the same clothes when he’s released from prison into his parents’ custody approximately three years later in 1976. By that point, he has seemingly abandoned the chambray shirt and now just wears the denim trucker jacket over his untucked white T-shirt.

The sun shining on George’s first day of freedom highlights the contrast between his medium-wash denim jacket and the darker indigo wash of his jeans, which are held up with a black leather belt and are finished on the bottoms with a then-fashionable flare suggesting a “boot cut”. The cut is an appropriate choice, as George’s mother does order him to “take off your boots,” only for an FBI agent to have to put them back on him when he’s arrested later that night.

“That’s where you belong, you son-of-a-bitch. Putting on Georgie’s boots,” George amusedly recalls his father having told the agent.

Not prominently seen on screen, the boots appear to be light brown suede two-eyelet desert boots with the distinctive crepe soles that were a distinguishing characteristic when the style was introduced by British footwear brand Clarks shortly after World War II.

After his release, George is back in the jacket, jeans, and T-shirt he’d been wearing when he was arrested, with the untucked hem of the undershirt contributing to his unkempt appearance.

How to Get the Look

Johnny Depp as George Jung in Blow (2001)

George eschews his typically trendy wardrobe when he goes on the lam, favoring the relative anonymity of a timeless denim jacket and jeans, layered for his return to New England with a chambray shirt and sherpa jacket.

• Dark navy corduroy “sherpa” jacket with white piled fleece lining, snap-up front, and pointed-flap chest pockets
• Blue denim Levi’s Type III trucker jacket with button-down flap chest pockets
• Blue chambray cotton work shirt with long shaped point collar, pointed Western-style yokes, front placket, two chest pockets with pointed flaps, and two-button cuffs
• White cotton crew-neck short-sleeve undershirt
• Dark blue denim boot-cut jeans
• Black leather belt with silver-toned square single-prong buckle
• Light brown suede two-eyelet desert boots

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie and read the book too!

The Quote

I’m great at what I do, Dad. I mean, I’m really great at what I do.

The post Blow: Johnny Depp’s Layered Denim on the Run appeared first on BAMF Style.

Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, filming Paris Blues (1961)

Vitals

Paul Newman as Ram Bowen, temperamental jazz trombonist

Paris, Fall 1960

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

Background

On this day in 1958, one of the most legendary marriages in Hollywood history began when Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward tied the knot in Las Vegas, three days after his 33rd birthday. The two had met earlier that decade during a Broadway production of Picnic and reunited while filming The Long, Hot Summer for director Martin Ritt. Newman and Woodward would co-star in several subsequent movies together, but their next collaboration with their ostensible “matchmaker” Ritt was Paris Blues, adapted from Harold Flender’s 1957 novel of the same name.

Sidney Poitier and Diahann Carroll rounded out the top billing, establishing a top-notch cast at the core of a stylish musical drama that featured Christian Matras’s excellent black-and-white cinematography of mid-century Paris and an outstanding Oscar-nominated score by Duke Ellington with guest appearances by Louis Armstrong, who also appeared on screen as “Wild Man” Moore, a veiled version of himself.

Newman stars as expatriate trombonist Ram Bowen, who headlines jazz band alongside saxophonist Eddie Cook (Poitier) at a Paris nightclub, where the two begin romancing a pair of American tourists they spy in the audience. Following the plot of Flender’s novel, Newman was originally supposed to court Carroll’s character, but United Artists feared the audience backlash of romantically pairing actors of different races, so Poitier was teamed with Carroll while the husband-and-wife team of Newman and Woodward again starred as an on-screen couple.

What’d He Wear?

Ram Bowen and Eddie Cook dress in accordance with their lives as expatriate jazzmen, both clad in more individualistic styles than the stereotypical American in Paris. While Eddie cycles through stylish suits and ties, Ram favors a more casual dressing style consisting of sport shirts and knitwear layered under a reliable raincoat and sport jacket.

Late at night, Ram stands before a poster promoting his idol, Wild Man Moore.

Ram’s cramped apartment barely has room for his record collection, let alone an extensive closet. As he re-uses and re-layers to make the versatility most of his limited wardrobe, Ram’s costuming emerges as a study in the “capsule wardrobe” concept. This phrase dates back to the 1940s before it was revived in the ’70s and ’80s, its meaning evolving throughout the decades but ultimately referring to limiting one’s wardrobe to coordinated, high-quality, and relatively timeless style staples.

For Ram, this means a half-dozen shirts, a sweater vest and heavier jumper, a go-to sports coat, a well-made raincoat, three pairs of trousers, and two sets of shoes. Let’s start at the beginning: our first glimpse of Ram as his blaring trombone kicks off an arrangement of the Billy Strayhorn-penned standard “Take the ‘A’ Train” with Eddie and the band to the delight of a diverse group of Parisians drinking, dancing, and flirting at Club 33.

The Shirts

Shirt #1: Throughout the sequence and late into the night cooking stew and pitching woo with the club’s owner and vocalist Marie Séoul (Barbara Laage), Ram wears a loose black knit long-sleeved shirt, styled like a “Johnny collar” shirt with its open V-neck, though there is a loop ahead of the left collar leaf that could fasten the shirt at the neck. The sleeves have rounded barrel cuffs that each close with a button as well. Ram wears the shirt untucked over dark tapered-leg trousers, likely made from charcoal gray wool. The untucked hem has a split vent on each side.

Ram pitches woo to Marie over a boiling pot of chicken stew.

Shirt #2 and Sweater Vest: We’re introduced to Ram’s habit for layering on the second day, when he meets Lillian and Connie at the train station while picking up Wild Man Moore, performs for them at Club 33, and then joins them and Eddie for late breakfasts after the show.

Ram wears a dark silk shirt with a sporty one-piece collar and stacked two-button barrel cuffs, layered under a dark mixed wool V-neck sweater vest and worn with medium-dark pleated slacks.

Playing “Mood Indigo”, Eddie and Ram entertain a crowd that includes Lillian and Connie.

Shirt #3 and Sweater: As Ram and Eddie escalate their respective relationships with Lillian and Connie, we follow them on a series of double dates, including a riverboat expedition. Ram’s attire echoes his apparel from the day they met, layering his sport jacket over a dark button-up shirt and sweater.

This time, he wears a black shirt with a plain front (no placket) that he buttons up to the neck, layered under a hefty dark fuzzy wool sweater that would provide additional warmth while on the water. The sweater has a deep V-neck and full-length sleeves that cover the shirt’s mitred barrel cuffs. The hem covers the top of his dark gun club check trousers.

A warmly layered Ram joins Connie on the stern of the riverboat.

Shirt #3 alone: When Ram takes his meeting with the influential René Bernard (André Luguet), he dresses in his most “professional” attire, repurposing the black button-up shirt, now worn open at the neck and without the intermediate layer of a sweater, thus revealing the shirt’s breast pocket.

In the spirit of the business meeting, that begins his day Ram wears this shirt with his usual sport jacket, tucking the shirt into a pair of black forward-pleated trousers held up with a black leather belt. Following the meeting, Ram accompanies Lillian to a party with Eddie and Connie that evening.

Still dressed from his meeting, Ram brings Lillian to a party of friends and fellow musicians.

Shirt #4: The next time we see Ram taking the stage in a pullover shirt, he’s newly single again and wrapping up a set with Eddie at Club 33 when Wild Man Moore joins them for a surprise appearance and an impromptu performance with the band.

Ram wears a more conventionally styled long-sleeved polo shirt with a three-button top and set-in sleeves with elasticized cuffs. Color photography from the production informs us that this soft knitted shirt is dark gray, worn with black darted-front trousers.

Ram warmly welcomes a surprise appearance from Wild Man Moore.

Shirt #5: Ram wears another long-sleeved polo shirt another night at Club 33, this time when Maria gets a call for Ram that M. Bernard wants to see him the next day about his composition. This shirt is a light-colored jersey-knit, styled like the dark gray shirt with its three-button top and elasticized cuffs, worn folded back. He wears medium-dark pleated slacks with side pockets.

Ram lounges with his band after a show.

Sport Jacket

Ram wears a trusty sports coat made from a dark woolen tweed, woven in an even twill weave with a fuzzy napped finish.

The full fit recalls the “updated American” cut, a variation of the classic sack jacket that adds darts for subtle shape, blending “[Savile] Row’s trademark smartness with the understated comfort of the sack suit,” according to Alan Flusser in Dressing the Man. Flusser attributes the 1954 introduction of the “updated American” cut to Madison Avenue retailer Paul Stuart. In addition to the execution of this philosophy, the updated American silhouette features higher armholes and vents that could either lean Americanized with a single center dart or Anglicized with side vents, and the short double vents on Ram’s jacket suggest he’s favored the latter approach. (You can read more about the updated American suit at Film Noir Buff.)

Ram’s jacket isn’t quite an archetypal example of the updated American silhouette, particularly given the high three-button fastening that shortens the notch lapels especially when buttoned to the top. Even with the darts that extend up from toward the front of each sporty patch pocket over the hips, the sports coat still has the boxy fit characteristic of sack jackets. The jacket also has a welted breast pocket and two-button cuffs.

A buttoned-up Ram begins his relationship with Lillian following a night at Club 33.

Raincoat

If you’re only going to have one outerwear garment, I’d prioritize selecting something water-resistant, well-made, and neutral in color and formality so it can be dressed up or down. For this purpose, Ram wisely chooses a gabardine raincoat from Burberry, the venerated British fashion house that innovated water-proofed gabardine in the late 19th century.

I had assumed the coat was colored on the beige to khaki scale, but color photography from location shows that the coat clearly has a light gray gabardine shell. The photo was evidently taken while filming a brief vignette of Ram, Lillian, Connie, and Eddie touring Paris, when Ram wears it buttoned over a gray-on-white striped knit shirt with the large collar laid flat over the neckline of his slate-blue wool sweater.

Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Diahann Carroll, and Sidney Poitier on location while filming Paris Blues. Ram’s all gray tones—anchored by his raincoat—suggest that he adheres strictly to this color scheme when building his limited but versatile wardrobe.

The gray gabardine coat has a double edge-stitched ulster collar that rolls to three clear plastic sew-through buttons, with an additional button at the neck. The sleeves are set-in at the shoulders and finished with plain cuffs, sans any straps, snaps, or buttons. The coat extends to just above Newman’s knees, with gently slanting vertical welted side pockets at the hand level. The back has a single vent and a unique belt-like strap that extends across the back of the waist, secured with two stacked buttons on each squared end.

Ram almost always wears his coat layered over the sport jacket, but he makes an exception when accompanying the drug-addicted Django-esque Gypsy guitarist Michel Devigne (Serge Reggiani) to a bird market, wearing the coat fully buttoned over a plain white cotton crew-neck undershirt and a black crocheted wool scarf.

Ram buttons up his raincoat while navigating the bird market with Michel.

A subtle continuity error actually shows Ram first wearing a different Burberry raincoat, worn when he arrives at the train station to greet Wild Man Moore and ends up signing autographs for fans. (By the time he actually gets on the train, he’s wearing the gray raincoat we see through the rest of the movie.)

The most obvious visual difference is that, while this earlier-seen “train station” raincoat also has a three-button front, the buttons are darker, semi-spherical shank buttons rather than the gray coat’s clear sew-through buttons. The “train station” coat also has an ulster collar, but the gorges are higher and sharper. The sleeves are raglan, rather than set-in, and finished with a single button dangling from each cuff. The side pockets are positioned straight along each hip line—likely with flaps tucked into the pockets themselves—and there are short side vents rather than the longer single vent.

Ram arrives at the Paris train station wearing a notably different raincoat than he wears through the rest of the movie… not to mention different from after he boards the train. When he returns to Club 33 with the coat slung over his shoulder, we see not only the Burberry house tartan but also short vents that suggest he’s holding the “train station” coat rather than his usual gray raincoat.

Trousers

Ram cycles through at least three pairs of wool trousers, all seen through the above screenshots: solid black, a medium-dark shade likely on the gray spectrum, and the gun club check trousers that he most significantly wears while joining Lillian, Connie, and Eddie on the riverboat.

His penchant for wearing untucked knitwear tends to cover the tops of these trousers, but we at least see that the black trousers have single forward-facing pleats, slanted front pockets, and belt loops for his black leather belt. All of his trousers fit straight through the legs and have plain-hemmed bottoms.

Shoes

One benefit of the “capsule wardrobe” approach is that it can limit a gent to only needing one pair of shoes, specifically chosen to coordinate with his clothing and be appropriate for his daily life. For this, Ram wisely opts for the black leather penny loafers that he seems to wear exclusively, as the style is informal enough to coordinate with his regularly casual attire while the black leather uppers allow him to “dress them up” as needed.

Nicknamed for the slot in the saddle across the vamp where students used to reportedly tuck pennies, this slip-on shoe was introduced as the “Weejun” by G.H. Bass in the 1930s and swiftly caught on as an Ivy style staple, including as a real-life favorite of Paul Newman as prominently seen throughout a spring 1962 shoot of Newman and Woodward at their Hollywood home.

Ram’s penny loafers absorb the rain as he and Lillian embrace during a downpour.

Accessories

On his right wrist, Ram wears a sterling silver chain-link ID bracelet that was likely Newman’s own, given that he’s seen wearing it off-screen throughout candid and personal photos taken in the early 1960s. A gold ring with a raised diamond setting shines from Ram’s right pinky.

Ram’s bracelet and ring shine from his right hand as he begins “Take the ‘A’ Train”.

Newman’s horological enthusiasm would eventually become so famous that the $17.8 million sale of his Rolex Daytona set auction records. Nearly a decade before he would begin wearing the Daytona, he sported another Rolex in the form of an elegantly simple dress watch seen on his left wrist throughout Paris Blues. The brand was suggested by Jamie Weiss in his DMARGE article “You Know, Paul Newman Didn’t Always Wear A Rolex Daytona”, published in January 2022.

Likely stainless steel rather than gold, this handsome watch has a round white dial with non-numeric hour markers, secured around to his left wrist on a black leather strap.

Lillian wears Ram’s silk robe as she snuggles up to him in bed the morning after they met.

Sleepwear

Ram’s nightly sleepwear is a set of light-colored cotton pajamas, supplemented with a dark silk shawl-collar robe that both he and Lillian wear.

The pajama pants have elastic-waisted sides and two buttons to fasten at the top. The top has dark-piped edges, with four flat clear plastic buttons up the front to the top that tapers out to a short, shawl-style collar. The patch pockets over the left breast and hips are trimmed with the same dark piping across the top.

Lillian’s Burberry trench coat—lined with a windowpane-style grid check rather than the familiar house tartan—hangs in Ram’s closet as he ends their relationship, though it’s only a temporary setback as nothing can stand in the way of these two Burberry enthusiasts!

How to Get the Look

Diahann Carroll with Paul Newman, filming Paris Blues (1961). Ram wears his usual tweed sports coat over a heavy wool long-sleeved sweater, black shirt buttoned to the neck, gun club check trousers, and black penny loafers.

Ram Bowen makes the most of his limited wardrobe, anchored by a core sport jacket, raincoat, and pair of shoes while cycling through tonally coordinated shirts, sweaters, and slacks that fit his image and lifestyle as a hip expatriate jazzman in Paris.

• Charcoal woolen tweed single-breasted 3-button quasi-“updated American” sport jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, patch hip pockets, 2-button cuffs, and short double vents
• Dark button-up or knitted pullover long-sleeve shirt with 1- or 2-button barrel cuffs
• Dark solid or gun club check wool single forward-pleated trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Black leather belt with single-prong buckle
• Black leather penny loafers
• Black dress socks
• Gray gabardine Burberry single-breasted 3-button raincoat with narrow ulster collar, slanted welted-entry side pockets, set-in sleeves with plain cuffs, and single vent
• Sterling silver chain-link ID bracelet
• Gold diamond ring
• Rolex stainless steel dress watch with round white dial and black leather strap

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

Honey, I live music. The morning, noon, the whole night. Everything else is just icing on the cake, ya dig?

The post Paul Newman in Paris Blues appeared first on BAMF Style.

Tom Hanks as CDR Ernest Krause in Greyhound (2020)

Vitals

Tom Hanks as CDR Ernest Krause, USN, commanding officer of USS Keeling

North Atlantic Ocean, February 1942

Film: Greyhound
Release Date: July 10, 2020
Director: Aaron Schneider
Costume Designer: Julie Weiss
Military Costume Consultant: Steve McColgan

Background

…the goods will be delivered by this nation, whose Navy believes in the tradition of “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”

— Franklin Delano Roosevelt, October 27, 1941

Greyhound begins just over three months after the United States entered World War II and nearly five months after FDR’s address for Navy and Total Defense Day, in which he reinforced with the above words the protection that the U.S. Navy would offer merchant ships carrying supplies to support the Allied war effort. The eponymous “Greyhound” is the codename for USS Keeling, one of the American destroyers assigned to protect a 37-ship convoy on its way to Liverpool.

We join up with the multi-national convoy HX-25 as it enters its first of two days traveling through the “Black Pit”, the area of the North Atlantic considered most vulnerable as it was beyond the range of air cover. Leading the convoy’s military escort from the bridge of USS Keeling is straight-laced Commander Ernest Krause, played by Tom Hanks.

Adapted by Hanks himself from C.S. Forester’s 1955 novel The Good Shepherd, the story may be fictionalized but offers a terse and tense chronicle of naval combat and a nuanced meditation on high-stakes leadership as the polite, pious, and principled Krause shepherds his first wartime command through increasingly treacherous waters.

What’d He Wear?

Set in the early months of American participation in the Battle of the Atlantic, Greyhound differs sartorially from the usual World War II naval dramas by outfitting its American crewmen in the winter uniforms more appropriate for crossing the chilly North Atlantic Ocean in February.

“What’s interesting about this is it’s an Atlantic film,” costume designer Julie Weiss explained to Variety. “We are so familiar with Pacific uniforms but it’s a cold winter.”

Additional insights are shared at the U.S. Militaria Forum by a contributor who shared that they served as the film’s military costume consultant, identifying that it was planned early on to dress most of the USS Keeling crew in a variation of the winter working uniform with many, including Commander Krause, dressed in the midnight-blue woolen shirt and trousers. (When referencing this contributor going forward, I’ll use his forum username “PQD” to avoid incorrect speculation regarding his identity.)

While the trousers are consistent with the traditional blue service dress uniform, the near-matching shirt was buried in the U.S. Navy’s 1941 uniform regulations, where section 1-9(f) allows that “Chief petty officers’ blue flannel shirts may be worn when prescribed by the senior officer present,” an option often taken in cold weather environments. Given that this shirt was first authorized in 1939 for chief petty officers, it became colloquialized as the “CPO shirt”.

Krause addresses a disciplinary issue in his shirt sleeves and tie during the first of many meals interrupted. His wearing the CPO shirt would set an example establishing its authorization among the rest of his officers.

Made from the “dark navy blue flannel” outlined in 4-31(c), Krause’s shirt has a front placket, barrel cuffs, and a scallop-flapped chest pocket that all fasten with dark blue plastic buttons. According to a J. Cosmo listing, CPO shirts were originally made with this single pocket as worn by Krause on screen before an additional pocket was added on the right side later in the 1940s. PQD explained that Hanks’ screen-worn shirts were pulled from his inventory of Buzz Rickson’s Genuine Wear reproduction first-pattern CPO shirts, cut to the original military specifications.

The Buzz Rickson’s 1st Model CPO Shirt is still available via History Preservation Associates, though you can find more civilian-oriented CPO shirts—typically with the more frequently seen double-pocket configuration—offered from retailers like RVCA and Schott.

When we flashed-back to Krause and Evelyn in San Francisco around Christmas, he’d been wearing the insignia of a Lieutenant Commander (O-4), but the silver oak leafs pinned to the shirt’s point collar inform us that he’s since been promoted to full Commander (O-5).

“Neckties are to be of plain black woven silk, satin, rayon, or wool,” state the 1941 uniform regulations. Krause likely wears the latter, based both on how it appears on screen as well as its contextual and textual appropriateness when worn against a woolen flannel shirt for rough conditions at sea.

Krause’s silver oak leaf devices shine from the point collar of his CPO shirt, buttoned to the neck to accommodate his black tie.

Krause presumably wears the same dark navy blue serge wool trousers that would have been authorized for service dress, styled with a flat front, side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms.

Though I believe black leather belts were predominantly authorized for commissioned officers, at least Commander Krause and his executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Charlie Cole (Stephen Graham), both appear to wear the black woven cotton web belts “fitted with a nontarnishable metal slip buckle and end tip” that was designated for enlisted men.

Krause keeps his service blue trousers on while changing out of his CPO shirt into a white shirt to look appropriately formal for a burial at sea.

The Navy authorized “black shoes, high or low oxford,” for officers, with Krause evidently favoring the former for the additional ankle-high coverage provided while commanding his ship in through the wintry weather of the north Atlantic. These plain-toe service shoes have black bullneck leather uppers with Goodyear welting attaching them to the black rubber soles that would provide sturdier traction aboard USS Keeling‘s wet decks. The boots are derby-laced with flat black cross-woven cotton laces through eight sets of eyelets.

You can see images of similar Navy-issued boots from that era at Stewarts Military Antiques and purchase a pair of mil-spec repros from SM Wholesale USA, the outfitter run by Steve McColgan, who served as military costume consultant on Greyhound.

Although Navy regs prescribed black socks with black shoes and white socks with white shoes, Krause wears plain white socks, likely to visually heighten the drama when we see his feet have bled through his socks.

Krause laces up his high black service shoes.

When Krause receives the U-boat report that interrupts his morning coffee and the first of several abandoned meals, he pulls on a dark blue heavy cotton Navy-issue deck jacket with a distinctive hook-front closure.

The Navy had started authorizing blue deck jackets in 1942, albeit with front zippers that were often difficult to operate with gloved hands or if water had frozen over the zippers. A solution was introduced the following year, borrowing the heavy-duty hook fastening mechanism from fireman’s coats and arranging a column of six blackened metal hooks rigged against the right side of the jacket, with a wide “placket” overlapping a wind flap up the front to fully insulate the wearer.

Krause’s deck jacket remains unhooked up the front as he takes a call on the bridge.

As this hook-style closure was actually introduced as a 1943 revision, it’s technically anachronistic for Greyhound‘s setting in early 1942 but still great to see on screen. According to “PQD”, there had been a limited stock of the setting-correct zip-front jackets, but Hanks favored the hook-front and the increased inventory also deemed it to be suitable. PQD also implies that Hanks’ screen-worn jackets were provided from Buzz Rickson stock; these Rickson deck jackets are still available from History Preservation Associates, which describe the construction as “waterproof, windproof celluloid plastic inner liner sandwiched between warm wool inside lining and hard-wearing corded shell exterior.” You can read more about these hook-front deck jackets from Eastman Leather Clothing Blog and International Military Antiques.

Krause’s deck jacket follows the 1943 specifications, including the midnight-blue knitted standing collar, cuffs, and hem and the large, broadcloth-lined “D-style” hand pockets on the sides. The back is stenciled with “U.S. NAVY” in large gray print, a late 1942 addition meant to signal to allied branches and Army servicemen that the crews arriving in port wearing these potentially unfamiliar uniforms were friendly forces.

The practice of prominently stenciling “U.S. NAVY” across the back of naval deck jackets wouldn’t be standardized until several months after Greyhound was set.

As USS Keeling engages the U-boat, Krause prepares for combat by pulling a life vest over his deck jacket and swapping out his peaked cap for an M1 helmet, white-stenciled “CAPT” to denote Krause’s leadership. These steel helmets had been approved for the U.S. Army as the nation prepared for the inevitability of entry into World War II, though my understanding is that Navy crews would have still been primarily wearing the wider-brimmed “doughboy” or “Brodie” M1917 helmets in the early months of 1942. Once M1s were shipped to sea, they were generally left in their olive drab (OD) factory paint, though an Mk II “talker helmet” would be authorized later in ’42 to accommodate sailors whose work required communicating by telephone.

The blue-gray “kapok” life vest has a wide flotation collar around the back of the neck and three straps that tie up the front. The earlier kapoks that would have been in use during Greyhound‘s February 1942 setting secured around the waist with tied webbing tape, but Krause wears a later version authorized after mid-1943 that has an adjustable narrow OD webbed belt around the waist that closes through a metal hook. You can read more about World War II-era kapok life vests from repro supplier The Canvas Shack.

Krause somewhat conspicuously forgets to remove his helmet and life preserver after the other men have, until he’s prompted by one of his command.

Krause is reminded that he no longer needs to wear his M1 helmet and kapok life vest.

“Messenger… come to my cabin and bring my sheepskin coat,” Krause requests, prompting the delivery of his heavy leather jacket that had first drawn my sartorial eye to Greyhound in the first place. From what I could tell, Krause’s jacket has no actual military provenance, though its details may overlap with some of the unauthorized precursors to the officially designated B-3, B-6, and D-1 sheepskin flight jackets issued during World War II.

For some insight into the screen-worn jacket, I again turn with gratitude to the background shared by “PQD” at the U.S. Militaria Forum:

Outfitting Tom Hanks continued to be a challenge: a hero jacket authentic to the ambiguous timeframe and his character left few options. The character development was left on the editor’s desk, unfortunately, but the skipper was an an academy grad, very religious, and very much a by-the-book type, and this led me to protest any proposed ideas that he could be wearing a sheepskin flying jacket in the scenes of extreme cold. I offered the M-69D as a compromise, as it was a flying coat of sorts and was indeed worn by officers of surface vessels, so they tried this on Hanks, but he said “I look like Superfly,” so that ended that option. The next consideration was one of the mackinaw-styles of sheepskin coats used by the USN, but these were deemed too pedestrian and given to other officers in the crew. Next came some hideous beast of a roadkill coat made from what I can only describe as Yeti fur. This was made for Hanks and it was intended to solve the problem of a hero coat and move well in wind.

Ultimately, this “roadkill coat” didn’t make it to the screen as Hanks ended up wearing a handsome sheepskin coat made by Steve McColgan. As the garment doesn’t specifically match any authorized U.S. military dress of the era, the coat may be intended to be Krause’s personal coat, though—as “PQD” outlined—the straight-laced Commander hardly seems the type to buck regulations. Either way, Hanks totally sells his immediate relief once he pulls on the warm coat.

You can almost feel the warmth of Krause’s sheepskin coat as he pulls it on.

The jacket’s outer shell is a dark brown, echoing the shades of contemporary B-3 and B-6 bomber jackets, albeit with darker leather accents on the pockets and cuffs. The collar presents the same golden-hued woolly fleece used to line the body of the jacket, including through the sleeves and extending around the ends of each cuff. The five-button single-breasted front and full, thigh-length cut defy classification as a bomber jacket, more aligned with a car coat, though the arrangement of slit-entry chest pockets and straight hip pockets echo those of naval pea jackets.

Krause takes command in his sheepskin “hero jacket”, differentiating him from the rest of the crew in their deck jackets and pea coats. While an actual commanding officer may not have worn something so contrary to authorized uniform regulations, the coat visually differentiates our captain for the audience to track during action-heavy sequences.

Krause later also informs his messenger that he needs the gloves from his cabin, specifying “the fur, not the knit,” though I’m not see we actually ever see the commander with covered hands.

A piece of his uniform that we do see prominently is Krause’s peaked combination cap, which gets prominently screen time at the beginning of the action on Wednesday and after all has resolved following Keeling traversing the pit. According to PQD, the on-screen caps were all made by Ray Meldrum.

Krause wears the navy blue wool serge cover above the black ribbed mohair band with its gold chin strap. Having attained the rank of Commander, Krause’s visor is decorated with gold-embroidered oak leaves and acorns—colloquially referred to as “scrambled eggs”—against a navy serge backing and bound with black patent leather edges echoing the standard officer’s cap brim. USWW2Uniforms.com describes the embroidered wire officer’s cap device as “a spread-winged eagle in silver, perched on a silver shield, superimposed on a pair of gold, crossed anchors,” secured to the backing via two screw posts and nuts. The eagle had been redirected to face to the right in mid-1941, aligning with the sword arm to be consistent with “the heraldic position of honor.”

Krause reaches for his navy serge-covered combination cap on Wednesday morning.

Also seen as Krause is getting dressed and undressed are the two Monel metal round disc-style dog tags that he wears on a beaded chain over his white cotton short-sleeved undershirt, which matches his white cotton boxer shorts. This oval shape differentiated USN and USMC dog tags from the more elongated Army dog tags. The Navy had introduced these identification tags in 1917, reviving them prior to World War II though the “P1940” variant can be differentiated from the earlier versions by its second additional hole perforated on the bottom. You can read more about the history and usage of naval dog tags at Naval History and Heritage Command.

Each set of tags were stamped on one side with the wearer’s full name (last, first, middle initial), service number, the month and year they were vaccinated against tetanus, branch of service (e.g., USN, USMC), blood type, and religion; the reverse side was etched with their right index fingerprint.

Krause buttons his dark blue flannel CPO shirt over his dog tags.

On the ring finger of his right hand, Krause wears a substantial gold class ring with a recessed black setting. He seems like the type of officer who would have graduated from a military academy, so the ring is almost likely representative of this education.

Krause wears a steel watch with a round white dial on a well-worn olive vinyl strap that closes with a single-prong buckle through silver-toned grommets.

After three crewmen are fatally wounded, Krause dresses up for their burial at sea in his “reefer” pea coat over a white cotton shirt with a point collar and squared button cuffs, worn with his usual black tie.

I can’t tell if Krause is meant to be wearing his double-breasted service uniform jacket under the reefer coat, but—if not—he wears no insignia identifying his rank. The heavy navy blue wool pea coat dates to pre-war, with the ten stock buttons replaced with gilt buttons, per occasional practices of senior officers. The coat follows clean, simple lines with the only pockets being two chest pockets with vertical slit entries.

An assortment of naval outerwear for a burial at sea, including a khaki mackinaw-style coat, Krause’s gilt-buttoned peacoat, LCDR Charlie Cole (Stephen Graham) in his dark blue N-1 deck jacket, and a correct 1942-issue dark blue zip-up deck jacket over a sailor’s blue chambray work shirt.

Sensing some discomfort in his feet, made clearer by the blood coming through his white socks, Krause later requests that someone bring his sleepers from his cabin. The messenger returns with his monogrammed golden leather slippers, which Krause had received as a Christmas gift from his girlfriend Evelyn (Elisabeth Shue) at the start of the movie, prior to taking command of USS Keeling.

Custom-made for the movie, each slipper is embroidered in navy blue thread with the initials “E.K.” tightly enclosed in an octagon over the instep.

Krause follows the Curt Schilling method of breaking in his new slippers.

Costume designer Julie Weiss explained to Deadline that the color depicted in the San Francisco hotel scenes around Christmastime was intentional, “to show that level where you saw the last time of happiness, where as a costume designer you could have the people dressed in their glory.”

Krause waits in the lobby, resplendent in the Navy’s famous blue service dress uniform that dates back to 1919, complete with double-breasted jacket and trousers in matching dark navy wool serge, plus white shirt, black tie, and well-shined black oxfords. Krause’s sleeve insignia of two half-inch gold braids flanking a quarter-inch gold braid in the center informs us that he’s still a Lieutenant Commander at this point in the story, and he would be promoted to full Commander over the next two months.

I didn’t expect Greyhound to be a Christmas movie! Following the classic tradition of Christmas in Connecticut and It’s a Wonderful Life of featuring a character wearing the dashing Service Dress Blue uniform during the holiday season.

How to Get the Look

Without stealing valor or cribbing naval uniforms by pinning on collar devices denoting a rank you haven’t attained, you can follow Commander Krause’s template for keeping stylishly warm whether you’re in the north Atlantic or the north woods, anchored by a reliable sheepskin jacket so insulated that you can go relatively light on the layers beneath it.

Tom Hanks as CDR Ernest Krause in Greyhound (2020)

• Dark brown sheepskin leather car coat with fleece-lined collar and lining, five-button front, slit-entry chest pockets, and straight hip pockets
• Dark blue woolen flannel long-sleeved U.S. Navy “CPO shirt” with point collar, chest pocket with scalloped button-down flap, front placket, and button cuffs
• Black rayon tie
• Dark blue wool flat front service uniform trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Black leather plain-toe derby-laced ankle boots
• White socks
• White cotton crew-neck short-sleeve undershirt
• White cotton boxer shorts
• Navy serge-covered peaked officer’s cap
• Gold ring with concave black setting
• Steel wristwatch with round white dial on olive vinyl strap

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

Additional sources:

• Uniform Regulations, U.S. Navy (1941)
• U.S. Militaria Forum: “Greyhound (2019)”
• Deadline: “‘Greyhound’ Production Designer & Costume Designer On Challenges Of Tom Hanks’ WWII Drama – Contenders Film” by Dominic Patten
• Variety: “‘Greyhound’ Costume Designer Julie Weiss Talks Authenticity of War Uniforms” by Jazz Tangcay

The Quote

Repetition will bring hell down from on high.

The post Tom Hanks in Greyhound appeared first on BAMF Style.

Jeffrey Wright and Riley Keough in Hold the Dark (2018)

Vitals

Jeffrey Wright as Russell Core, thoughtful and grizzled wolf expert

Alaska, December 2004

Film: Hold the Dark
Release Date: September 28, 2018
Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Costume Designer: Antoinette Messam

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

With another snowstorm predicted for this weekend, I tend to find strange comfort in dark, brooding winter-set tales. A recent search to replenish my cinematic catalog led me to the moody Hold the Dark, an under-promoted Netflix release starring Jeffrey Wright as a wolf expert summoned to a remote Alaskan town by a quietly distressed mother, Medora Slone (Riley Keough), who hopes he can use his skills to hunt the wolf she believes responsible for the disappearance of three local children, including her own six-year-old son.

Despite his doubts that the activity can be attributed to wolf behavior, Core investigates and finds himself enveloped in a bleak and brutal mystery appropriately dark for a grim place that gets less than six hours of sunlight each day.

What’d He Wear?

Russell Core pulls up to the Slone household, where Medora awaits, holding a much-read copy of his book, A Year Among Them. He emerges from the car, dressed almost identically as in the photo on the book’s back cover in possibly the same cap and coat, though his grayer hair prompts Medora to observe: “Oh! You’re old.”

Perhaps wearing the same clothing has only heightened the visual dissonance of Russell Core’s age progression since his book was published.

Core dresses for the long winter in a beige hooded parka with a water-resistant outer shell likely made from polyester or a blend of treated cotton and synthetic fibers. Regarding terminology, an “anorak” typically refers to a waterproof hooded pullover jacket, while a “parka” has evolved to typically refer to a hip-length coat that’s been reinforced against the cold weather from the fur-lined hood to the down- or synthetic-stuffed insulation.

Core’s parka has a double-fastened front, consisting of a beige heavy-duty plastic two-way zipper that extends up to the neck, covered by an additional four-button fly “placket” for added snugness. The waist can be cinched with a drawstring rigged along the inside of the coat. The jacket has four pockets: a gently slanted hand pocket on each side of the chest, accented with a small brown leather triangle sewn into the top and bottom, and large flapped bellows pockets over the hips.

Core’s well-traveled parka informs us that he came prepared… with the traditional fur trim around the hood suggesting a familiarity and comfort among the wolves he’s been summoned to hunt.

The style echoes the military-style parkas that had been authorized as the N-3B for USAF service in the 1950s and became a civilian favorite in the decades to follow. These earned the moniker of “snorkel parkas” as the effect made by fastening the front of the hood left only a short “snorkel” of vision for the wearer.

As the front buttons and zips fasten only to the neck, the front of the fur-lined hood has two silver-finished snaps to fasten—thus creating the “snorkel” effect—and is lined in a dark brown piled fur. The rest of the jacket is lined in a quilted beige polyester, appearing a shade warmer and lighter than the outer shell, though it may also just look cleaner as it hasn’t been regularly exposed to the elements.

A unique visual detail of Core’s parka is the printed band around the bottom, consisting of two white-bordered strips that appear to be olive tribal-like “X” shapes embroidered against a dark blue ground.

Core generally wears the same clothing throughout the duration of Hold the Dark, which seems to be set over a few days—if not weeks—leading up to Christmas. Given this context, Core wisely restricts to durable layers made from strong fabrics and all tonally coordinated, not just to ensure coordination but also to subtly communicate his grounded nature to the audience. As he is so connected to the natural world, it makes sense that Core would wear all earthy shades along the brown spectrum, suggesting soil.

Under his parka, Core wears the intermediate layer of a dark brown mixed wool cardigan sweater with patch pockets over the hips. The sweater offers full chest coverage with a ribbed “placket” that buttons up to the neck, tapering to a short ribbed standing collar that could ostensibly be folded over like a shawl collar.

Core makes a startling discovery.

Core’s everyday shirt is a taupe-brown field shirt in a lightweight yet durable cotton canvas, as popularized by outdoor outfitters like L.L. Bean. The seams are double-stitched, including over the edges and along the button-down collar, front placket, and the two narrow pocket flaps that button closed over the patch-style chest pockets. The long sleeves close with a single button through each barrel cuff.

Stripped down to shirt-sleeves over undershirts, Core and the affable Detective Donald Marium (James Badge Dale) consider the violence around them over some late night whisky.

Wearing the top few buttons of his shirt undone exposes what appears to be a off-white henley that Core wears as an undershirt… until we see him waking up in his motel room, revealing that we were just seeing the top of a full-length union suit!

After its heyday through the latter half of the 19th century, the union suit generally fell out of usage, save for rural working men or those located in extremely cold environments… an apt description for Keelut, Alaska.

Core’s cream-colored union suit appears to be made from a very thin ribbed-knit cotton, though it shows signs of pilling from frequent wear. The top half has at least six white plastic buttons up a front placket that extends from the waist to the rounded neck. As Core remains either under his bed covers or seated through the entirety of his screen-time stripped down to his union suit, we can’t see if it has the characteristic “fireman’s flap” (or “crap flap”, if you’re so crudely inclined) that would unbutton over the seat to allow Core to relieve himself without getting fully undressed.

Core rotates through a few pairs of brown pants before finally settling on the blue denim jeans he wears for the climactic sequence joining Mariam as they pursue the Slones to the hot springs. The most prominently seen trousers he wears before this sequence as the dark brown corduroy jeans that he wears during the confrontation against Cheeon, who brutally defends himself against the siege with a belt-fed M60 machine gun.

The plain-hemmed bottoms are tucked into his big fur boots—more on those later!—but his rolling through the snow reveals the distinctive ridges of medium-wale corduroy, an appropriate cloth for keeping warm in the wintry outdoors given corduroy’s fabled origins as a sporting fabric among European hunters. The closed parka generally covers the top of these trousers, but his post-gunfight drink with Mariam shows that they’re styled like jeans and held up with a brown leather belt.

Core takes cover behind a squad car as Cheeon lays heavy fire from his M60.

Core regularly wears his knitted cap and gloves, two must-haves for extended time outdoors in the winter. (I know I always keep a backup beanie and gloves in my car!)

Given its ubiquity and longevity, the simple but sturdy knitted cap is known by a variety of names, ranging from “beanie” to “toque” as well as militarized terms like “watch cap” for its role warming the heads of service members standing watch. The hat has also been known as a “skull cap” for its naturally conforming to the shape of the wearer’s head. Due to its original construction, many still call it a “wool hat” or “woolly hat” though many modern beanies are constructed from less-itchy synthetic fibers.

Core’s brown ribbed-knit beanie coordinates with the rest of his apparel, with differently colored threads mixed into the material as well. His knitted gloves are black, a rare departure from the earthy shades dominating the rest of his gear, and may be lined for greater warmth than the standard knitted glove style provides.

Core’s knitted cap and gloves provide him with a base level of protection against the bitter Alaskan chill… while it may be enough to protect him from the cold, he’s soon wise enough to know it won’t be enough to stop one of the 7.62mm rounds from Cheeon’s spitting M60.

“You’re gonna need better boots,” Medora Slone immediately observes, outfitting Core in her husband’s distinctive fur boots, which he pulls over his thick off-white wool socks and which Vernon (Alexander Skarsgård) recognizes after his return. The boots emerge as crucial imagery through Hold the Dark, establishing both the Slones’ and Core’s lupine characteristics.

Given their importance on screen, costume designer Antoinette Messam and her team took special care to craft them as described by CAFTCAD: “The lead character’s boots were made by covering an extreme weather rubber boot with fur. They were sewn and glued to resemble boots worn by Inuit men when hunting for game in the Arctic. Eventually, the snow started to melt and the fur on the boots were getting wet and started to disintegrate. The costume team had to find creative ways to keep the continuity look of boots. It became a patchwork quilt of pieces of fur glued on top of the rubber.” These fur uppers are secured by a single rawhide lace tied around the base of each boot shaft.

Promotional production photo of Jeffrey Wright in Hold the Dark.

The boots aren’t Medora’s only contribution to Core’s wardrobe, as she also provides him with a massive fur coat when she instructs him to: “Find it. Kill it.” The coat was likely issued not just for warmth but also to further blend Core in amongst the wolves.

Though Core only wears the fur coat for this wolf-hunting sequence, it understandably received special attention from the costume team, who—as explained by CAFTCAD—developed the coats “from scratch using traditional materials and techniques that would have been used by the Inuit community,” including caribou and ring seal fur that had been shaved and pieced together.

While Core’s beige polyester jacket qualifies as a modern parka, this large fur coat better fits its original definition as a staple of Inuit clothing. Distinguishing features of Inuit parkas range so greatly in style, cut, and usage, that the only defining feature they all seem to share is the construction from animal hide; in fact, the word “parka” means simply “animal skin” in the Aleutian Islands. Core’s hooded men’s parka with the fur side out would likely classify it as Qulittuq in Canadian Inuktitut terminology.

Core’s borrowed fur parka is essentially a long-sleeved wrap with a full hood and an uneven hem. As there appears to be no integrated closure, Core secures it around his waist with a wide tan leather belt that fastens through a large squared steel single-prong buckle.

Core treks into the snowy woods, swathed in fur in a traditional Inuit parka borrowed from the Slones.

Core reinforces his gear when he travels into the wilderness in search of the wolves, with snow goggles strapped onto his head. His two-piece heavy duty mittens have forest-green backs and golden-yellow rawhide palms, with a strap to adjust the fit over the back of each wrist.

CORE

Core wears a watch on his left wrist that goes generally unseen due to his long-sleeved layers, so we rarely ever see more than the dark leather strap that closes through a single-prong buckle. He also wears a gold wedding ring on his left hand.

Core occasionally relies on a pair of reading glasses with small round silver-toned frames.

On his flight to Alaska, Core reconsiders the curious letter he had received from Medora Slone.

The Guns

Core is given a Ruger Mini-14 rifle by Medora, who duct-tapes over the muzzle to keep snow and other debris from entering the barrel. (Though some dramatic tension is provided from Core struggling to remove the tape from the barrel, it’s been suggested that the bullet’s 3,240 ft/sec. velocity would have rendered such potentially fatal efforts to be unnecessary as the round would have ripped through the tape without it obstructing his shot to a significant effect.)

A popular rifle among civilians, hunters, and law enforcement, the Ruger Mini-14 was introduced in 1973 as a downscaled variation on the already-obsolete M14 battle rifle, though with mechanical similarities to the older M1 Garand. The Mini-14 has been made available in a variety of configurations and chambered for different types of ammunition, though the predominant loads are the dimensionally similar 5.56x45mm NATO military round and its commercial .223 Remington counterpart.

In addition to the full-stock Mini-14 “Ranch Rifle”, Ruger’s Mini-14 variations can include blackened furniture, a folding stock, and a “GB”-designated “government barrel” that incorporates a bayonet lug. The Slone family’s Mini-14 taken by Core has a blackened side-folding stock (which he carries extended), a black pistol grip, a stainless non-GB barrel, and a thirty-round magazine.

Core wears the Ruger Mini-14 slung over his shoulder, with the barrel taped to keep out snow while he leaves the side-folding stock fully extended.

During the police gunfight with Cheeon, Core debates whether or not he should leave his relatively safe position to assist a wounded rookie officer. His desire to help getting the best of him, he takes a Remington Model 870 Police Magnum pump-action shotgun from a downed policeman and fires at Cheeon, creating just enough of a surprise distraction that he’s able to pull the wounded officer out of harm’s way.

Remington has produced more than 11 million Model 870 shotguns since the design’s introduction in 1950. Like the Mini-14, it has been offered in nearly every configuration imaginable, with varying barrel lengths, stock and grip options, wooden and synthetic furniture, and shells, though 12-gauge remains the most popular. Also like the Mini-14, the Model 870 has proven popular with civilians, hunters, and law enforcement, as well as having been authorized for military usage around the world.

Given the context of the scene, Core’s commandeered Model 870 is a classic Police Magnum variant with blued finish, hardwood stock and slide, and 12-gauge shells.

A determined Core takes action with a Remington Model 870 Police Magnum.

In the final act, Core accompanies Detective Marium by air to the Alaskan hot springs as the hunt for Vernon Slone intensifies. Marium’s bolt-action rifle, rigged with a scope, has been identified on IMFDB as a Tikka T3 which eventually ends up in Core’s hands.

Sako introduced the T3 rifle in 2003 as a product of its Finnish-made Tikka brand. Barrels range from 16 to 24 inches long, with variations in fixed and folding stocks, wooden or synthetic finish, and a range of calibers from small rounds like .204 Ruger and .223 Remington up to big-game ammunition like .338 Winchester Magnum and 9x3x62mm.

Marium’s Tikka T3 has a black synthetic stock and a long blued barrel that appears to be compensated with an integrated muzzle brake.

Core aims Marium’s black Tikka T3 bolt-action rifle.

What to Imbibe

Following the massacre, Core joins Detective Marium (James Badge Dale) and his wife for a home-cooked spaghetti dinner, accompanied by red wine with a fictional “Coteaux d’Etienne” label. As the men clean the dishes and meditate on the increasing violence of the situation, Marium pours both he and Core several much-needed drams of The Glenlivet 21 Year Old single malt Scotch whisky.

If any situation calls for 21-year-old Scotch, Core and Marium encountered it earlier on that bloody December day.

While my experience with The Glenlivet has yet to include any of its offerings aged more than 18 years, I can provide some additional context from the official website:

Meticulously crafted over its 21 years, this whisky is put through a combination of hand-selected American oak and ex-sherry casks, which impart the distinctive flavor of dried fruits and a bold richness, vibrant intensity and long finish.

Each cask is hand-selected and individually nosed and approved, and every batch has its own special nuances, making it a rare and unique liquid indeed. Aromas are beautifully melted, resonant with dried fruit from the sherry cask, but with spicy hints of cinnamon and ginger.

Colored enticingly of rich amber, with shimmering shades of copper, the finish of this prestigious expression is long and warm.

How to Get the Look

Jeffrey Wright in Hold the Dark (2018), having swapped out his corduroys for blue jeans but wearing otherwise the same as we’ve seen him wearing when not wrapped in fur.

Jeffrey Wright models a functional and modernized alternative to the Jeremiah Johnson aesthetic for wintry layering in the snow, relying on tonally coordinated, tried-and-true military-informed pieces like his well-traveled knitted cap and insulated parka, supplemented with fur boots and a massive fur coat when he needs additional warmth… or to blend in with the wolves.

• Beige waterproof polyester “snorkel” parka with fur-trimmed/lined hood (with two-snap front closure), four-button/zip-fastened front, slanted chest pockets, large flapped bellows hip pockets, and tribal-style bottom band
• Dark brown mixed wool short shawl-collar cardigan sweater with patch hip pockets
• Taupe-brown cotton canvas field shirt with button-down collar, front placket, two flapped chest pockets (with button-down flaps), and button cuffs
• Dark brown corduroy cotton jeans with belt loops, five-pocket layout, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Brown leather belt
• Inuit-style fur-patchworked rubber boots
• Ivory wool socks
• Cream-colored thin ribbed-knit cotton union suit
• Brown ribbed-knit “beanie” cap
• Black knitted gloves
• Gold wedding ring
• Wristwatch on dark leather strap

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie… and then read Elena Nicolaou’s explanation of the ending for Refinery29.

The movie was based on William Giraldi’s novel, which sounds like it’s also worth reading!

The Quote

The natural order doesn’t warrant revenge.

The post Jeffrey Wright in Hold the Dark appeared first on BAMF Style.

Robert Redford as David Chappellet in Downhill Racer (1969)

Vitals

Robert Redford as Dave Chappellet, U.S. Olympic ski team star

Switzerland, Winter 1968

Film: Downhill Racer
Release Date: November 6, 1969
Director: Michael Ritchie
Costume Designer: Edith Head (uncredited!)
Wardrobe Credit: Cynthia May

Background

In the spirit of the 2022 Winter Olympics that opened last night in Beijing, I wanted to revisit one of my favorite movies around the winter games, Downhill Racer.

Released just a month after his breakthrough performance in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Robert Redford stars as the cocky skier Dave Chappellet, whose well-honed talent on the slopes lands him on the U.S. Olympic team. His only internal competition had been the promising talent Johnny Creech (Jim McMullan), whose own hopes for the gold were dashed after he was badly injured just weeks before the games. The resentful team and their passionate coach, Eugene Claire (Gene Hackman), find themselves looking to Chappellet as their best hope fo securing a gold medal.

What’d He Wear?

Chappellet and his American teammates have all been issued dark navy blue ski sweaters, likely woven in acrylic fiber, a strong synthetic material that offers both warmth and a degree of weather-resilience. These jumpers are typically layered over a skin-tight turtleneck—usually white when on the slopes—though some of the teammates wear them over open-neck button-up shirts, and Chappellet wears his over a navy turtleneck when visiting Creech in the hospital and meditating on the “justice of sport”.

Representing the national colors of red, white, and blue, the striping consists of a red band around the chest, bordered by a pale-gray bar stripe directly under it. Each shoulder echoes this with a double-width red stripe extending out from the sides of the ribbed crew-neck to the set-in seams at the top of each sleeve, bordered on each side by a pale-gray bar stripe. An embroidered crest of two gold laurels encircling a red “G” decorates the upper left sleeve.

It’s suitable that we don’t see much of Chappellet wearing his team’s sweater, given the deserved criticism that he isn’t much of a “team player”. Even in scenes featuring most of the team wearing their matching sweaters, he differentiates himself by either sporting different knitwear or avoiding the scene altogether. The most prominent appearance of Chappellet’s team sweater is the early scene where he impresses Claire with his 28.8 second run.

Chappellet prepares to wow Team USA with his 28.8-second run.

Visiting Creech in the hospital calls for unity, so Chappellet pulls the sweater on over his base layer of a lightweight turtleneck that clings to his frame, adding warmth without adding bulk under the heavier team sweater. This turtleneck is dark navy, unlike the white that he and the team typically wear while skiing.

Claire chastises Chappellet for his cavalier attitude and lack of “consideration for the sport”. Though Chappellet wears dark corduroys that differ from his jeans during the scene at the hospital, he wears the same navy turtleneck and pulls on his regular dark blue ski jacket.

Chappellet cycles through a rotation of functional winter outerwear through Downhill Racer, including a heavy and stylish shearling coat and this more utilitarian shell jacket, made from a light-wearing dark blue nylon and stuffed with insulating down material. Like the striped sweater, this jacket appears to be authorized for everyone on Team USA, from Chappellet’s fellow skiers to coach Claire.

Worn on and off the slopes, this waist-length jacket has a double closure with both a silver-toned zipper and five squared snap-buttons up the waist to the neck, where an additional snap closes the tab on the standing collar (which is lined in a soft dark navy felt). A straight yoke extends across the shoulders. A low-rigged pocket on each side closes with a double-snapped flap, and each set-in sleeve has a squared cuff that closes with a snap. The “action back” is pleated behind each shoulder to provide more freedom of movement when skiing, while also giving Chappellet some added flexibility when he wears the jacket over two pieces of knitwear.

Under his own down jacket, Chappellet layers his striped crew-neck team sweater over his base turtleneck, though the lack of contrast between the two dark navy garments creates the effect of one.

Chappellet wears his usual indigo-blue denim Wrangler jeans, discerned by the jagged “W” contrast stitching across each of the black pockets in addition to the light brown “Wrangler”-branded patch stitched against the top of the back-right pocket. These zip-fly jeans are styled with belt loops and the traditional five-pocket layout of two straight diagonal front pockets, an additional coin pocket inset on the right side, and the two patch pockets on the back. (Classic Wrangler 13MWZ jeans are still available decades later via outfitters like Amazon, Walmart, and Wrangler.)

As Wrangler jeans were specifically marketed toward rodeo riders upon their introduction in the late 1940s, their 13MWZ model remains characterized by the “Cowboy Cut” of a long rise and straight legs designed to fit over riding boots, suitable for Chappellet’s usual tan napped leather cowboy boots.

Chappellet strides through the hospital toward Creech’s room in his ski jacket and sweater, Wranglers, and boots.

Downhill Racer was among the first films where Redford debuted the small silver ring on his right hand, which he explained to The Hollywood Reporter was “given to me by Hopi Indians in 1966” and had appeared in nearly all of his movies to follow. In addition to the ring on his right hand, he also wears a plain stainless steel wristwatch with a round silver dial on a steel expanding bracelet.

How to Get the Look

Robert Redford as David Chappellet in Downhill Racer (1969)

As the swaggering Olympic skier Dave Chappellet, Robert Redford models comfortable winter sportswear with his trim down jacket layered over knitwear with jeans and boots.

• Dark blue nylon waist-length down jacket with standing collar, zip/snap front, hip pockets (with double-snap flaps), set-in sleeves (with single-snap cuffs), and pleated “action back”
• Dark navy-blue acrylic crew-neck ski sweater with red/pale-gray chest and shoulder striping
• Dark navy-blue turtleneck
• Indigo-blue denim Wrangler 13MWZ “Cowboy Cut” five-pocket jeans
• Tan napped leather cowboy boots
• Silver tribal ring
• Steel wristwatch with round silver dial on steel expanding bracelet

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

I’m here because I ski, and I ski fast, that’s all there is to it.

The post Downhill Racer: Redford’s Ski Jacket and Olympic Team Sweater appeared first on BAMF Style.

Jack Lemmon as Stanley Ford in How to Murder Your Wife (1965)

Vitals

Jack Lemmon as Stanley Ford, comic strip artist and dedicated bachelor

New York City, Summer 1964

Film: How to Murder Your Wife
Release Date: September 20, 1965
Director: Richard Quine
Wardrobe: Izzy Berne & Marie Osborne

Background

On what would have been the birthday of one of my favorite actors—Jack Lemmon, born February 8, 1925—I want to revisit his style in the first of his filmography that I had ever seen, the swingin’ ’60s comedy How to Murder Your Wife which, as the title implies, balances black comedy with classic screwball elements.

Lemmon stars as Stanley Ford, a successful newspaper cartoonist whose spun his success writing the daily adventures of super-spy “Bash Brannigan” into an enviable bachelor lifestyle, complete with a swanky Lenox Hill townhouse and his devoted valet Charles (Terry-Thomas), whose daily duties include cleaning up after Stanley’s latest romantic conquests, providing reassurance and advice, and ensuring that a “properly chilled” vodka martini awaits Stanley at the end of each day.

Stanley remains committed to the fruits of bachelordom, so any impending marriage among his circle of male friends presents like a funeral, scored by a mournful dirge right up until the moment that the stag party’s bella donna della giornata pops out of a cake. On this particular evening, the latter is a beautiful Venetian-born stripper (Virna Lisi) who so impresses the inebriated Stanley that she wakes up beside him the next morning… as the new Mrs. Ford. As a hungover Stanley realizes what has happened, he tries to unstick the sticky situation, which is made all the worse as he learns that his new wife can’t understand any language except for her native Italian.

Charles: Good God. Doesn’t speak English? And yet, on the other hand, if one will go around marrying persons who pop out of cakes, it’s bound to be, well, rather catch as catch can, isn’t it, sir?

Stanley attempts to adjust to marital bliss, much to Charles’ dismay, as the one-time bachelor pad shows increasing evidence of Mrs. Ford’s feminine touch… and Stanley’s waistline shows increasing evidence of her Italian cooking. Amidst all this, Stanley has maintained his usual pattern of incorporating his real life into the comic strip—now renamed The Brannigans in reference to Bash following his creator’s example—but the time has come to “kill” Mrs. Brannigan. Of course, Stanley can’t write anything that he hasn’t already proven he can act out himself, so he sets out to procure the “goofballs” and the access to the “gloppita-gloppita machine” that Bash would need to drug and then dispose of his wife.

The new Mrs. Ford is understandably alarmed after spotting her husband’s very public depiction of her demise.

The scene is set during a wild cocktail party at the Fords’ home, where the real Mrs. Ford—we never do learn her name!—passes out after Stanley spikes her champagne with barbiturates. As his wife sleeps, Stanley assumes his Bash Brannigan persona, dresses a mannequin to resemble his wife, and indeed discards her into the concrete mixer on a construction site behind their home. Once the real Mrs. Ford wakes, she finds her sleeping husband hunched over a comic strip that disturbingly details and celebrates her demise, so she leaves that night… inspiring a wave of suspicion to fall on Stanley once friends and neighbors realize his wife has seemingly vanished while his plan for her perfect murder has been distributed in 463 newspapers across the country.

What’d He Wear?

Stanley dresses for social evenings in a fashionably appointed midnight-blue dinner suit with a subtle sheen suggesting mohair or silk woven with the wool construction. As Bash Brannigan’s contemporary-in-espionage James Bond was illustrating on the big screen, a well-tailored tuxedo was considered a must for a slick ’60s secret agent.

Stanley’s single-breasted dinner jacket has a narrow shawl collar, self-faced and detailed with ornate black neo-Edwardian embroidery along the edges.

Note the unique detailing of Stanley’s dinner jacket, from the embroidery along the edges of his self-faced lapels to the narrow velvet gauntlets turned back from each sleeve cuff.

The ventless jacket has straight flapped hip pockets but no breast pocket. The straight, padded shoulders are heavily roped at the heads, and the cuffs are finished with narrow velvet “turnback” gauntlets and two black two-hole horn buttons that match the single button on the front.

Stanley joins Judge Blackstone (Sidney Blackmer) at their mutual friend’s bachelor party. Note the judge’s traditional black tie kit—with silk-faced shawl collar and pocket square—contrasting against the younger Stanley’s more fashion-informed variation.

Stanley’s white cotton evening shirt has a point collar, a pleated front bib, and squared double (French) cuffs, fastening the placket and cuffs with squared gold studs and links, respectively. He enlists Charles’ help to finish dressing, including knotting his black self-tying bow tie, which presents a perfect butterfly—or “thistle”—shape.

Stanley’s preferred waist covering is a black silk cummerbund that departs from tradition by lacking pleats, instead resembling a solid sash that closes over itself on the right side. Based particularly on this later detail, I believe the cummerbund is integral to the trouser design, built into the top of the trousers rather than being a separate piece worn atop them.

Stanley finishes tying his bow tie as his dutiful valet awaits behind him with his dinner jacket.

The rest of the matching midnight-blue flat front formal trousers coordinate with the jacket, specifically with the black velvet trim dressing it down more than the traditional silk. The side pockets slant gently forward, with a thin black velvet braid following the line of the pocket opening down to the side seam, extending down each straight leg to the plain-hemmed bottoms.

Though he doesn’t wear them for the stag party, Stanley holds up his trousers during the cocktail party at his home with a set of charcoal tic-checked suspenders (braces) that passes through brass-toned adjuster hardware and connects to buttons inside the trouser waistband via black leather hooks.

After a long night of cartooning and quasi-murdering, Stanley strips down to his shirt sleeves and untied bow tie, but the state of his cummerbund suggests that it’s built into the top of his trousers.

Stanley appoints his dinner suit with black patent leather derby shoes, fastened with short lace panels that appear to be tied with black ribbon-like tassel through two sets of lace eyelets. Derbies are less formal than oxfords, but the patent leather uppers, plain-toe style, and celebratory lacing make these particular shoes’ case as the appropriate footwear with Stanley’s creative black tie. His thin black dress socks reveal that Stanley knows when to playfully experiment with black tie tradition and when to restrict himself to classic taste.

Stanley’s patent leather shoes have sturdy enough soles to help the inebriated cartoonist maintain some balance during the wild stag party… at least until he tries stepping away from the wall.

Strapped to his left wrist on a black leather strap, Stanley wears a handsome gold dress watch with a round silver dial sparsely detailed with non-numeric hour markers.

Stanley’s friend and lawyer, Harold Lampson (Eddie Mayehoff), observes the effect that “goofballs” have on his own wife.

Stanley takes a break from the cocktail party to slip into his Bash Brannigan persona, donning a black felt short-brimmed trilby and black leather gloves. The hat serves the dual duty of providing a villainous characterization for his subsequent comic strip… and shielding the wearer’s face so that the audience can’t tell as easily when it is or isn’t Jack Lemmon who’s scaling the side of his building with a mannequin of his wife or dropping her off from the bucket of the gloppita-gloppita machine.

A hat and gloves transform Stanley Ford into Bash Brannigan.

What to Listen to

The movie’s score, composed by Neal Hefti, consists of smooth bossa nova-infused instrumentals that set the scene for cocktail parties and evenings of quiet hedonism. Cy Coleman’s 1960 album Playboy’s Penthouse also seems apropos for Stanley Ford’s bachelor lifestyle. Enjoy a sampling of both albums!

How to Get the Look

Jack Lemmon as Stanley Ford in How to Murder Your Wife (1965)

Stanley Ford’s creative-informed approach to black tie suggests a man familiar enough with the “rules” of evening dress to find tasteful ways of bending them, whether through alternative trim or uniquely integrated detailing.

• Midnight-blue wool-blend single-button dinner jacket with embroidery-trimmed shawl collar, straight flapped hip pockets, 2-button cuffs with narrow velvet gauntlets, and ventless back
• White cotton evening shirt with point collar, pleated front bib, and square double/French cuffs, worn with squared gold studs/cuff links
• Black silk butterfly/thistle-shaped bow tie
• Midnight-blue wool-blend flat front formal trousers with integrated black silk cummerbund, gently slanted side pockets, black velvet side braiding, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Black patent leather tassel-laced derby shoes
• Black dress socks
• Gold dress watch with round silver dial on black leather strap

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie. Much of the comedy is dated—to say the least—but Lemmon is always watchable, in my opinion. YMMV.

The post Jack Lemmon’s Bachelor Tuxedo in How to Murder Your Wife appeared first on BAMF Style.

Robert Wagner and Capucine in The Pink Panther (1963)

Vitals

Robert Wagner as George Lytton, smooth con artist and aspiring jewel thief

Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Winter 1963

Film: The Pink Panther
Release Date: December 19, 1963
Director: Blake Edwards
Wardrobe Supervisor: Annalisa Nasalli-Rocca

Background

Given the ridiculous nature of the later entries that focus more heavily on the madcap misadventures of Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers), it may surprise first-time viewers to see The Pink Panther so fashionably depict the elegance of winter jet-setters as they take to the Alpine ski resorts of Cortina d’Ampezzo in northern Italy, spending days on the slopes and evenings by the fire.

As February extends into the Olympic games and ski-trip season, I had wanted to revisit the stylish skiwear seen in The Pink Panther, only to realize that Robert Wagner’s 92nd birthday today coincides with the timing of the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Wagner appeared in The Pink Panther as George Lytton, a small-time con man and nephew of the suave Sir Charles Lytton (David Niven). After George discovers his urbane uncle is actually a master jewel thief known as “The Phantom”, he sets out to learn from Sir Charles… even attempting to seduce his mistress, Simone Clouseau (Capucine), who just happens to be the wife of the bumbling Sûreté inspector on their trail.

Simone: You should be ashamed of yourself!
George: I’m planning on it!

Of course, if you’re going to call yourself David Niven’s apprentice in anything, you’d better dress the part. Whether he’s in a tailored suit or turtleneck, George displays a fashion sense signaling that he’s more than ready to follow in his larcenous uncle’s footsteps.

Robert Wagner on snowy location in Cortina d’Ampezzo.

What’d He Wear?

Shortly after making her acquaintance, George joins Simone on the mountain for an intended ski lesson… though he quickly reveals that he has seduction on his mind instead.

George dresses appropriately for skiing in a down jacket layered over dual knitwear, consistent with Sir Hardy Amies’ guidance the following year in ABCs of Men’s Fashion that “it should be noted that two thin sweaters are warmer and far less cumbersome than one thick one.” The base layer is a thin-ribbed chocolate brown turtleneck, worn under a gray wool cardigan, of which all we see is the top of the wide-ribbed placket under George’s jacket.

The puffer jacket’s outer shell is dark charcoal-gray quilted nylon, insulated with down feathers arranged in the grid-like quilting to create pockets retaining the warm air in a relatively lightweight package. The hip-length jacket has a front zipper extending all the way from the hem to the top of the funnel-neck, though George wears the top unzipped so the soft gray lining around the neck lays flat like a conventional collar. The set-in sleeves are un-quilted with knitted cuffs that close with a single button. Each side of the jacket has a hand pocket with a vertical opening that zips closed.

The novice and his fashionable instructor take to their slopes in their respective ski jackets.

George wears fawn-colored flat front ski pants, made from a tight stretchy material, likely treated to resist water. The plain-hemmed bottoms are tucked into his hefty black lace-up ski boots.

“That’s me, the abominable snowman!” George laughs when Simone calls him “abominable.”

George also wears all-black leather winter gloves with insulated lining, reinforced backs, and elasticized ribbed-knit cuffs to keep them snug and prevent snow from getting inside. Each glove has a small silver-toned hook on the inside of the wrist to connect them to each other.

Grasping a dog—even a small one—with both hands is hardly ideal for an amateur skier’s first run of the day, but George holds his own while making his way down the mountain.

After his run-turned-dog rescue down the mountain, George joins his uncle and the rest of the ensemble for a Fran-tastic evening in the main hotel lodge, where the group is serenaded by Fran Jeffries performing “It Had Better Be Tonight” in the tradition of many a ’60s comedy requiring a random musical interlude. As the parties relax around the fire, resplendent in eye-catching sweaters with warm libations in hand, we’re looking at the epitome of après-ski culture… quite literally in George’s case, as we’re seeing him after he was skiing.

George wears the same brown turtleneck and fawn-colored ski pants, though we see significantly more of the latter, specifically the zip-closure up each of the vertical side pockets and across the two back pockets.

George greets Princess Dala (Claudia Cardinale) during an evening by the fire. Note Sir Charles (David Niven) behind them, looking somewhat sinister in the shadows while wearing his leather-paneled black sweater.

Most significantly, George has changed out of his puffer jacket and cardigan into a bold mustard-yellow shaker-stitch ribbed sweater with a wide-ribbed neckline, hem, and cuffs, which he turns back once over each wrist. The deep V-neck shows plenty of the brown turtleneck that he continues wearing as his base layer.

George lays it on thick with Simone.

George and Simone’s screwball antics to hide both him and his uncle throughout the Clouseau suite during the inspector’s return land George in the full bathtub, keeping his sweater submerged for more than a few minutes, giving the water time to weigh down the fabric until it has stretched the entire garment out to comical proportions. By the time George sprints from the bath and tries to make his escape, the sweater has been elongated to Wagner’s calves, clinging to his frame like a dress.

Would fully submerging a sweater in water really have that effect? Inset photo of Wagner during production, now wearing his ski boots rather than the zip-top boots clearly featured during the scene in the Clouseau suite.

No longer wearing ski boots, George has changed into black suede ankle boots that—appropriately enough, given his lifestyle and aspirations—appear to have the heavy charcoal crepe soles characteristic of the “playboy”-style boots that Steve McQueen famously wore around the same time, albeit with a long zipper up the front rather than laces. George wears black socks with these boots.

George scrambles to hide, flashing the top zipper and heavy crepe sole of his left boot.

George wears a smooth large gold pinky ring on his right hand, with a small amber stone shining from its indented setting.

A pinched nose is all George needs to adequately disguise his voice when sending the hapless Inspector Clouseau chasing his tail to Brunico.

As noted in an earlier post looking at Niven’s style on the slopes, Sir Charles had also worn a yellow ribbed V-neck sweater while skiing, albeit in a heavier cloth and a brighter neon than the golden hue of George’s sweater.

What to Imbibe

George brings a bottle of Martini & Rossi sparkling wine to Simone’s hotel room after luring Clouseau away, chasing the Phantom on a false lead to Brunico. The choice is regionally appropriate, as Martini & Rossi is headquartered on the other side of northern Italy in Turin, where it originated in the mid-19th century in a Pessione vermouth bottling plant.

Though Martini & Rossi is widely known for its vermouths, it also offers a limited range of northern Italian sparkling wines including Prosecco from Veneto and Asti Spumante from Piedmont; it’s the latter variety that George brings to Simone’s room.

Note the distinctive “MARTINI” branding on the neck label and front label as George struts through the suite with his Asti and two glasses.

How to Get the Look

Robert Wagner as George Lytton in The Pink Panther (1963)

The Pink Panther stylishly depicts the après-ski culture of the mid-century “jet set”, with George Lytton living up to the term by actually coming in from the slopes of Cortina d’Ampezzo, adapting his functional skiwear of a tight turtleneck and ski pants into a fashionable fireside fit by swapping out his puffer jacket and gloves for a warm sweater and playboy-soled boots.

• Chocolate-brown lightweight turtleneck
• Mustard-yellow shaker-stitch V-neck sweater with ribbed neckline, cuffs, and hem
• Charcoal-gray quilted nylon “puffer jacket” with zip-up front, funnel-neck, zip-up side pockets, and single-button knit cuffs
• Fawn-colored stretchy flat front ski pants with waist adjuster tabs, zippered vertical side pockets, zippered horizontal back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Black suede top-zip crepe-soled ankle boots
• Black socks
• Gold pinky ring with amber stone

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

I never make plans, I just sort of follow my instincts.

The post The Pink Panther: Robert Wagner’s Après-ski Style appeared first on BAMF Style.

Simon MacCorkindale as Simon Doyle in Death on the Nile (1978)

Vitals

Simon MacCorkindale as Simon Doyle, newlywed honeymooner

Egypt, September 1937

Film: Death on the Nile
Release Date: September 29, 1978
Director: John Guillermin
Costume Designer: Anthony Powell

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Today would have been the 70th birthday of Simon MacCorkindale, the English actor whose breakthrough role was in Death on the Nile, the 1978 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s murder mystery of the same name.

The novel has been adapted again, this time by Kenneth Branagh, who directed and starred as eccentric Belgian detective Hercule Poirot in the movie that was finally released yesterday after years of delay due to COVID-19 and allegations against Armie Hammer, who played the same role originated by MacCorkindale.

The story follows a love triangle from England to Egypt, where the glamorous Linnet Ridgeway (Lois Chiles) spends her honeymoon with the charming, if simple, Simon Doyle (MacCorkindale). The duo’s union wasn’t quite so simple, as Simon had been first engaged to Linnet’s erstwhile friend Jacqueline de Bellefort (Mia Farrow), who made up for her lack of wealth with boundless energy. (Casting Chiles and Farrow as best friends may have been a nod to their characters in The Great Gatsby four years earlier.)

The Doyles’ idyllic honeymoon is soon ruined by Jackie stalking them through Egypt’s ancient landmarks, though she’s hardly Linnet’s only enemy as the paddle steamer gliding up the Nile seems to consist almost exclusively of people with their own reasons to despise the haughty heiress. It’s hardly a surprise when Linnet is found dead in her cabin, and all evidence points to Jackie as the shooter… though her former friend has an airtight alibi after she was witnessed shooting Simon in the leg during a drunken argument the prior evening, seemingly incapacitating him and rendering her into constant supervision until the following morning.

Unluckily for our murderer—or murderers—famed detective Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov) and the dapper British agent Colonel Race (David Niven) are among the many suspects aboard the Karnak and are prepared to use their combined “little gray cells” to solve the case in this lavish mystery that won the late Anthony Powell his second of three Academy Awards for Best Costume Design.

What’d He Wear?

After we meet “Simple Simon”, the new Mrs. Doyle evidently went to some extent to expand his wardrobe into something more befitting the husband of a cereal heiress with Corn Crisp/Choo-Chew merger money to burn. Simon thus embarks on their honeymoon with a full complement of lightweight casual-wear, summer suits, and evening attire to stylishly meet any occasion while celebrating his new marriage.

Agatha Christie’s novel provides little description of Simon’s evening attire at sea that gets ruined by blood and nail polish (not necessarily in that order), aside from the fact that he was indeed wearing trousers, socks, and shoes, so costume designer Anthony Powell stretched his creative muscles to dress Simon in the semi-formal style as eye-catching as it was short-lived: the white mess jacket.

Jackie continues pestering Simon in the ship’s lounge.

The evening mess jacket evolved in the early 1930s as American gentlemen—traditionally more inclined toward informality than their English counterparts—sought a comfortable alternative to conventional black tie in tropical settings and borrowed the cropped comfort of military mess dress. Similar waist-length jackets had already been long in use, such as the shortened “spencer” developed during the Regency period or the single-breasted coat known as the “Eton jacket” as part of the underclassmen’s uniform at Eton College.

“The white mess jacket represented the first radical change in male evening wear and received such broad national acceptance that it was immediately adopted for the uniforms and orchestra members,” wrote Alan Flusser in Dressing the Man, highlighting how the mess jacket soon fell out of vogue as class-conscious gents sought to separate their appearance from those that served them. It was likely this desire for differentiation as well as the search of a more universally flattering fit that led to the introduction of the white dinner jacket shortly after the mess jacket had debuted in Palm Beach. (You can read more about the history and how to correctly fashion a mess jacket at Gentleman’s Gazette.)

Evening mess jackets typically follow the styling of dinner jackets with peak lapels or shawl collars, but Simon’s cream tropical wool mess jacket bucks this tradition with its broad notch lapels. With all respect to Anthony Powell and his deservedly Oscar-winning costume design, this detail more suggests the influence of late ’70s trends than interwar fashion, but it could also suggest that Simon Doyle—as nouveau riche as it gets—wouldn’t be as well-versed in tasteful evening attire, even with a socialite like Linnet on his arm.

Simon’s mess jacket has a single link-button closure, consisting of a traditional flat pearl button on the right side that’s sewn to a second identical button connected to a short white thread shank on the inside. This unique fastening was indeed a fixture of single-breasted mess jackets, meant to be either fastened normally through the outward-facing button or with the inside link button through the left buttonhole to symmetrically present two buttons where the jacket closes. Consistent with his inexperience dressing so formally, Simon forgoes both methods of fastening by wearing the mess jacket open, showing the inner button hanging freely.

The happy honeymooner. Note the double-ended link-button.

The mess jacket’s defining trait was also its downfall, as Apparel Arts bemoaned in 1934 that it required wearers to have “the figure of an Adonis” to truly flatter. Luckily, the lean, 5’11” Simon MacCorkindale possessed the physical characteristics most ideal for mess jacket adoption.

Simon’s jacket is shaped with front and back darts that taper the lines toward a pointed hem on the front and back; the front darts begin at mid-torso and extend to the bottom, while the back darts curve in from each sleeve, nearly matching the seams along the back of each sleeve. The sleeves are roped at the heads and finished with a “swelled” band around each otherwise unadorned cuff.

Shots from around the lounge, showing the pointed hem of Simon’s mess jacket and the seams that shape the back.

Simon wears the same type of evening shirt as he had with his full dinner suit, constructed of cotton with a starched piqué (marcella) bib and squared single cuffs, rather than double (French) cuffs, fastened with silver hexagonal diamond-faced links that match the three smaller diamond studs up the placket. Simon attaches a stiff wing collar to the shirt, worn with the wings behind his black silk self-tied thistle-shaped bow tie.

As Simon attempts to resist getting pulled into an argument with his former fiancée, note the contrast between his “pure white” evening shirt and the creamier cast of his off-white mess jacket.

Although mess jackets were essentially to be treated as shorter dinner jackets, Simon’s black formal trousers curiously lack the black satin side braid that characterizes formal trousers. He nonetheless wears the traditional black silk cummerbund, triple-pleated with the pleats opening upward. The full width of the cummerbund, which appears to close over itself toward the back of the left side, provides generally adequate coverage of Simon’s waist line to provide an elegant transition between the jacket’s short bottom and the top of the trousers without showing his shirt.

Simon’s trousers have double forward pleats, plain-hemmed bottoms, and side pockets. A gold chain loops from under the left side of the cummerbund and into Simon’s left pocket, where it presumably connects to a key. Simon keeps a handkerchief in his right-hand pocket, which he uses to clutch his leg after Jackie fires at him. (Highlight for spoiler: After he actually shoots himself in the leg, he pulls the white kerchief that he’d been wearing as a pocket square to catch the now-genuine blood, having discarded the gun with the previous hankie.) In the novel, this is described as a “coarse” white handkerchief from Woolworth.

Simon holds his trousers up with a set of white silk suspenders, which pass through gold-toned adjusters  and have white leather double “ears” that hook them onto buttons along the inside of the trouser waistband.

Dr. Bessner (Jack Warden) recruits Jim Ferguson (Jon Finch) as his reluctant nurse while tending to Simon’s wound. With the patient dressed down to this degree, we can see the relationship between his shirt, suspenders, cummerbund, and trousers.

Though low opera pumps (court shoes) remained considered the most formal footwear with any evening dress, they were increasingly being eclipsed by lace-up oxfords, particularly with black patent leather uppers that bridged the formality cap between business oxfords and evening shoes. Simon wears black patent leather oxfords with a cap toe and five sets of eyelets for the round laces.

Simon re-ties his patent leather oxfords. Normally going barefoot in a public lounge would be gauche, but… IYKYK.

Simon’s thin black dress socks appear to be a widely ribbed silk, held up with a set of black garters. Though often considered old-fashioned or associated more with women (thanks in part to an enduring wedding tradition), sock garters had indeed been widely integrated in men’s under-garmenture around this time, both self-supported—like Simon’s—or as a more involved system that traversed much of the wearer’s lower half to maintain order.

Simon’s simpler self-supporting sock garters consist of a white-trimmed black fabric strap worn around the calf, adjusted through a gold-toned buckle and secured to a black leather patch that buttons onto the tops of his socks. (The increased advent of elastic in socks and other garments reduced the need for men’s garters as the 20th century went on.)

Sock garters!

What to Imbibe

“I’m dying for a Manhattan! Aren’t you?” Simon asks Linnet, who cautiously responds: “All right… seeing we’re on our honeymoon.”

We never do see if Simon gets his Manhattan, but the following evening finds Jackie throwing back shot after shot of Gordon’s gin while telling a captive Rosalie Otterbourne (Olivia Hussey) the “three-hanky story” of her life before reaching into her purse to confront her former fiancé once and for all…

The Gun

Jackie makes a considerable display of the fact that she’s traveling armed, showing Poirot that she carries “a mere tiny thing, but it’s lethal.” The firearm in question is an almost miniature Sharps Pepperbox pistol, chambered in .22 Short as established by dialogue and the imprinted text atop the quad-barreled frame.

Both Jackie and Rosalie react with shock and horror as Jackie fires her .22 in Simon’s direction.

“Pepperbox” is a generalized firearms term for a weapon—usually a handgun—with multiple barrels, resembling early pepper shakers. The weapons grew popularity throughout the early 19th century as an alternative to single-shot handgun technology, allowing shooters to carry sidearms loaded with more than a single round. Following the development and standardization of revolvers, the “pepperbox” philosophy was revived as a sturdy design for pocket pistols, echoing earlier derringers.

A particularly popular model was the four-barreled Sharps Pepperbox, introduced in 1859 by the same inventor of the legendary Sharps rifle. These pistols are loaded by sliding the four-barrel mechanism forward, inserting a rimfire cartridge into each barrel, and sliding it closed. The single-action operation functions by pulling the hammer before each shot with a revolving firing pin that rotates to fire each shot. The barrels could be slid open to unload at any time, as seen when Poirot is explaining how Simon opened the weapon to replace a spent cartridge with an unfired one before tossing it into the Nile.

Simon works the sliding four-barrel mechanism of Jackie’s Sharps Pepperbox, replacing a spent cartridge with an unfired .22 Short round.

Colonel Race explains that Jackie’s pistol is a .22-caliber which—combined with the brass frame—establishes it as a Sharps Model 1A, the first series of pepperbox pistols produced after the model was introduced in 1859. The Sharps Pepperbox would evolve through .30- and .32-caliber models before it was discontinued in 1874.

Though both are chambered for .22-caliber ammunition, the screen-used Sharps Pepperbox differs from Jackie’s pair of “dainty” pistols described in the novel, where each is described as “a small pearl-handled pistol… a kind of toy,” distinguished by “ornamental work” and the engraved initials J.B… as well as a “clip” that refers to the magazines used to feed ammunition in a semi-automatic pistol.

How to Get the Look

Simon MacCorkindale in Death on the Nile (1978)

The white mess jacket may have only been en vogue for gents vacationing in warm locales through the early 1930s, so—unless you want to be mistaken for a waiter—it may be best to preserve that style for the history books. Of course, if you have a time machine, a fashionable restaurant gig, or merely a desire to channel that elegant bygone era, feel free to consider the mess jacket for your summer evening soiree!

• Cream tropical wool mess jacket with wide notch lapels, single link-button closure, welted breast pocket, banded cuffs, and pointed front and back hem
• White cotton formal shirt with detachable stiff wing collar, marcella/piqué bib with front placket, and marcella/piqué single cuffs
  • Silver hexagonal diamond studs and cuff links
• Black silk self-tied butterfly/thistle-shaped bow tie
• Black double forward-pleated trousers with side pockets and plain-hemmed bottoms
• White silk suspenders with gold hardwaree and white leather double-ears
• Black silk pleated cummerbund
• Black patent leather cap-toe oxford shoes
• Black silk dress socks
• Black sock garters

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie and read Agatha Christie’s original novel. I’ve rarely seen this movie streaming in full quality across any services, so I was delighted to see it had arrived on the Criterion Channel this month!

The post Death on the Nile: Simon MacCorkindale’s White Mess Jacket appeared first on BAMF Style.

Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette in True Romance (1993)

Vitals

Christian Slater as Clarence Worley, comic store clerk and rockabilly enthusiast

Detroit, Winter 1992

Film: True Romance
Release Date: September 10, 1993
Director: Tony Scott
Costume Designer: Susan Becker

Background

Happy Valentine’s Day! In the spirit of today’s love-centered holiday, it felt like the right time to start exploring the style of True Romance, specifically the slapdash quasi-rockabilly wardrobe worn by its leading character, the energetic comic enthusiast-turned-killer Clarence Worley (Christian Slater).

True Romance begins with Clarence striking out at a bar before celebrating his birthday in solitude at a local cineplex with a Sonny Chiba triple feature… instantly signaling writer Quentin Tarantino’s involvement to the informed viewer. Among the scattered audience, Clarence makes the acquaintance of the bleach-haired amateur call girl Alabama Whitman (Patricia Arquette). Despite Alabama’s post-coital admission that Clarence’s boss hired her to assuage Clarence’s birthday loneliness, the two almost immediately fall in love and impulsively marry, appropriately scored by Billy Idol’s “White Wedding”.

Following tattoos of each other, Clarence and Alabama spend their “honeymoon” drinking champagne and watching kung fu movies, though Clarence’s frustration about the mistreatment that Alabama and her friends received from her ruthless and sleazy ex-pimp Drexl Spivey (Gary Oldman) boils into rage. Resolving to address the situation, Clarence retreats to the bathroom, where his spiritual guide—a hallucination of Elvis Presley (Val Kilmer!)—advises Clarence to confront Drexl and “shoot him in the face.”

What’d He Wear?

Clarence’s most famous attire from True Romance may be the red tropical-printed aloha shirt he wears with jeans and Elvis-style sunglasses upon his arrival in L.A.—and with my fondness for Hawaiian shirts, you know I’ll be writing about that soon—but it felt appropriate to kick things off on this chilly Valentine’s Day with the wintry layers he wears for his impromptu wedding to Alabama.

Clarence typically blends elements of retro rockabilly fashion with then-contemporary ’90s grunge, though his soon-deconstructed wedding day outfit may be one of the few examples most rooted in the ’50s-inspired former style. The lone exception may be his military field jacket as, while the U.S. Army had issued field jackets since the early years of World War II, the style hadn’t particularly caught on until the Vietnam era. Even more significantly, Clarence wears an M-65 field jacket which, as its designation implies, wasn’t introduced until 1965 as a replacement for the earlier M-1951 model.

The newlyweds.

Made from 9-ounce olive green (OG-107) cotton sateen cloth, the M-65 field jacket retained the M-1951’s combination of a snap-fastened fly over a zipper as well as the four-pocket layout, but the convertible revere collar of the earlier jacket was replaced with a more continuous collar that contained a built-in hood stored behind a zipper. The four bellows pockets—two on the chest, two on the hips—have flaps that close through a single covered snap. The waist is cinched by an internal drawcord, and an epaulette strap is sewn into the set-in seam at the top of each shoulder, buttoned to the body of the coat toward the neck. Pleats behind each armhole give the wearer a greater range of movement, particularly when layered over heavy uniform elements… or a sport jacket and bowling shirt.

Clarence’s jacket may have been passed down from one of his uncles who he stated had served in Vietnam, as the jacket shows plenty of wear with frayed edges. Unlike the more “decorated” jacket that he would later wear when confronting Drexl, this field jacket is adorned only with the double chevrons on each upper sleeve indicating the non-commissioned Army rank of Corporal (E-4), with an olive “AIRBORNE” arc-shaped tab higher up on his left sleeve.

As the newlywed Clarence leaves the courthouse, he pulls the field jacket over his red sports coat, which appears to be patterned a tonal example of the “atomic fleck” that had been most popular during the fabulous fifites. The jacket follows ’50s styling cues with narrow notch lapels that roll to two white buttons on the front. The breast pocket and hip pockets appear to be patch pockets. We see the light teal satin-finished lining, though I can’t discern if the jacket is ventless or has a short single vent. We see little of the jacket after Clarence layers the field jacket over it.

Note that the sport jacket manufacturer’s branding patch is visible sewn just below the inside left breast pocket.

Clarence’s wedding calls for dressier trousers than his usual blue jeans, so he wears a pair of black—or dark navy—trousers with single reverse-facing pleats that enhance their ample fit through his legs. The trousers are held up by a narrow dark brown leather belt that closes through a brushed steel or silver-toned single-prong buckle.

The bottoms are finished with turn-ups (cuffs) that break fully over the tops of his blue suede shoes, likely chosen in tribute to his idol’s famous 1956 hit single. In fact, both Clarence and Alabama sport blue footwear, as her baby-blue boots may be a nod to the traditional “something blue” suggested among the quartet of what brides should wear for good luck. These derby-laced shoes have heavy black crepe soles and black eyelet tabs that contrast against the blue suede vamps.

Assuming that Clarence’s field jacket is “something borrowed” from one of his uncles, his shoes are the obvious “something blue” and his retro-informed style suggests the obvious “something old”. Perhaps his boxers are “something new”?

Patricia Arquette and Christian Slater, in costume from True Romance as featured in a contemporary Teen Beat.

Since their ’50s heyday, bowling shirts have retained a retro rockabilly association that would have appealed to Clarence Worley, hence the range of these short-sleeved camp-collar shirts in his wardrobe.

On his wedding day, he wears a white-bodied bowling shirt with a black camp collar, detailed with a contrasting white running stitch about a quarter-inch from the edge. This black portion continues along the inside on both sides, suggesting that the shirt may be reversible. The short sleeves are banded at the ends.

The shirt has five plastic buttons sewn up the right side of the plain (non-placket) front, connecting to four horizontal buttonholes and a short white loop at the neck. Both chest pockets close through a single button positioned at the center of the horizontal-yoked top of each patch pocket.

The left pocket is decorated with a small embroidered crest, suggestive of a European sports car logo with its yellow exotic animal embroidered against a black ground and encapsulated by a gold-threaded shield shape.

Given the shirt’s intended purpose, there are long back pleats that run the length of the shirt behind each arm from shoulder to hem, gathered at the waist but open above and below it to allow the bowler a greater range of arm movement.

Hunched over the sink in his unbuttoned bowling shirt—note the back pleats—a desperate Clarence Worley receives some words of wisdom from his shiny-suited mentor, the King himself.

In addition to the matching diamond-studded gold horseshoe rings that he and Alabama acquired as wedding rings, Clarence’s usual jewelry consists of a silver necklace and a chunky silver-toned chain-link ID bracelet worn on his left wrist.

Clarence provides moral—and physical—support as Alabama gets his name tattooed.

From the tattoo parlor to the hours spent in front of their TV at his home, Clarence wears his shirt unbuttoned and the top of his trousers undone, showing the top of his powder blue cotton boxer shorts, bedecked with large white polka dots.

How to Get the Look

Christian Slater as Clarence Worley in True Romance (1993)

Clarence Worley’s slapdash style on his wedding day may be too chaotic to be worth endorsing, but I respect his dedication to his preferred aesthetics, with a retro-informed rockabilly foundation of flecked sports coat, bowling shirt, pleated trousers, and blue suede shoes layered under an M-65 field jacket.

• Olive-green (OD-107) cotton sateen M-1965 Army-issued field jacket with integrated hood, zip/snap front closure, four flapped pockets, shoulder straps (epaulettes), and back shoulder pleats
• Red “atomic fleck” single-breasted 2-button sports coat with patch breast pocket and patch hip pockets
• White short-sleeved bowling shirt with black camp collar, plain front, and two button-through chest pockets (with embroidered left pocket)
• Black single reverse-pleated trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• Dark brown narrow leather belt with small silver-toned single-prong buckle
• Blue suede derby shoes with black eyelet tabs and black outsoles
• Silver necklace
• Silver chain-link ID bracelet
• Gold diamond-horseshoe ring

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The post True Romance: Clarence’s Rockabilly Wedding Style appeared first on BAMF Style.

Bradley Cooper as Stanton “Stan” Carlisle in Nightmare Alley (2021)

Vitals

Bradley Cooper as Stanton “Stan” Carlisle, opportunistic drifter-turned-carny

Rural Kentucky, Summer into fall 1939

Film: Nightmare Alley
Release Date: December 17, 2021
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Costume Designer: Luis Sequeira

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

William Lindsay Gresham’s novel Nightmare Alley was first adapted to the screen in 1947, just a year after its initial publication, via Edmund Goulding’s classic noir starring Tyrone Power. Guillermo del Toro’s newly released version is a less a remake of Goulding’s movie and more a reimagining of the source material from a screenplay he co-wrote with Kim Morgan, presented as a vividly stylish Gothic quasi-horror that landed a quartet of worthy Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, and Best Costume Design.

Our journey is baptized in flame as we meet our protagonist in the process of lighting a fire that consumes a ramshackle hilltop home… and a yet-unidentified body loosely mummified beneath its floorboards. With only a small suitcase and a radio to his name, Stan Carlisle hits the road to his next opportunity on a Greyhound bus that lands him in the middle of a neon-lit nowhere—a sheriff’s badge would later inform us that we’re likely in the vicinity of Jessamine County, Kentucky, though we’re not there yet.

Stan catches sight of a mustached man of small stature and follows him to the commotion of a carnival, where he learns the man is “Major Mosquito” (Mark Povinelli), an entertainer at the ten-in-one that includes a range of attractions like the lovely Molly (Rooney Mara), who immediately draws Stan’s eye and draws the audience by her electrifying act. Stan finagles his way into a job working for strongman Bruno (Ron Perlman) and learns the ropes through first-hand lessons provided by Clem (Willem Dafoe), who specializes in handling the sideshow’s resident geek… thus allowing our protagonist a more prescient look at his future than any of the false prophecies he would later grow famous for expounding.

What’d He Wear?

Stan Carlisle’s sartorial journey follows him from rags to riches (and back to rags), but before we see the well-tailored suits and elegant white tie and tails dressing his successful life in Buffalo, we begin with our protagonist with little more than the oversized clothes on his back.

“Everything he wears at the carnival is sagging and threadbare,” costume Luis Sequeira explained to Vogue of Stan’s earliest-seen costumes. “He has a finite wardrobe, so we wanted to create a kind of capsule collection for that first part of the film: a couple of pairs of pants, some shirts, and a jacket.”

Sequeira has frequently worked with del Toro, including his Oscar-nominated work in The Shape of Water, so the two were well-equipped for a conducive collaboration in what has been described as 242 costume changes among its principal characters that ranged the scrappy sideshow atmosphere to the sophisticated city life.

“At the beginning, the fit was looser, saggier, very well worn; which gave him a foundation of character,” Sequeira elaborated in conversation with Slash Film. Indeed, Stan’s distressed and baggy clothing seems to reinforce his poverty as he alights from that bus in the unidentified berg, inadequately clothed and underfed.

Much as the carnival’s red and yellow neon lights blaze against a night sky, the red and yellow shadow plaid emerge against the dark ground of Stan’s mackinaw coat.

Luis Sequeira’s costume concept for Stan’s initial carnival outfit, as sketched by Greg Hopwood. (Source: Vogue)

Sequiera mentioned during his appearance on The Art of Costume Blogcast that the “quintessential plaid jacket” was among the items included in Bradley Cooper’s initial costume fitting. This multi-colored plaid double-breasted coat that anchors Stan’s first screen-worn costume shares similarities with the traditional mackinaw jacket.

Named for the French pronunciation of the Mackinac region of present-day Michigan, the mackinaw jacket was developed to fulfill British Army Captain Charles Roberts’ request in late 1811 for heavy wool blankets to be reconfigured as outerwear for his soldiers at Fort St. Joseph to combat the cold, wet winter along the St. Mary’s River. Fur trader John Askin Jr. enlisted his wife Madeleine and a group of local Métis women to sew the coats. The design was intentional, as the long skirts of classic great coats were incompatible with snow so they were cut to a pea jacket-length, but the classic colors evolved by accident as there wasn’t enough material to support the request for blue coats so the majority of those eventually produced for the troops were either red or red-and-black plaid, establishing the pattern that would follow for centuries.

The mackinaw coat soon spread from its military origins and became a favorite among loggers, hunters, and outdoorsmen on both sides of the Canadian-American border, spreading through the Midwest as a workwear staple and even embraced as “lumberjack chic” sportswear over the latter half of the 20th century. In a 1912 issue of Hunter-Trader-Trapper magazine, A.F. Wallace opined that “in no other garment is there so much all-around common sense for outdoor work in cold weather.”

The jacket’s Canadian origins are consistent with the Ontario production, suggesting that Stan’s story may begin somewhere in the Midwest before he travels to the carnival. Wherever he is, a mackinaw would hardly be an ideal jacket for summer, which we can assume this is since Clem makes specific reference to learning about Hitler’s September 1939 invasion of Poland when he and Stan drop the geek off outside the Salvation Army shelter which, as it happens, is also the last time we see this coat on screen.

“Mackinaw cloth” specifically refers to the dense, heavy wool used for these blankets and jackets, typically treated to be water-repellent, as depicted on screen as Stan pulls on the coat for protection during stormy nights at work.

“Wools were much thicker back then, so I searched the world for great fabrics that would represent that,” Sequiera explained to Slash Film. Consistent with his initial concept, the thick wool coat that Stan wore on screen was patterned in a black, red, and yellow shadow plaid.

Stan’s plaid mackinaw reflects the dusty reds and yellows of the carnival, visually communicating the degree of ease to which he’ll be able to fit into this world.

The coats were made by Sequiera’s team, as illustrated by a photo at WWD featuring a completed jacket and a bolt of the plaid fabric used to make them. The thigh-length cut follows the mackinaw tradition but also resembles contemporary car coats and pea jackets.

The ulster-style lapels recall the mackinaw’s original development as a shortened military greatcoat, with a 6×3-button double-breasted wrap that—when closed—allows more insulation and warmth. The jacket has two columns of three large recessed black sew-through buttons, with another set of buttons at the neck should Stan choose to fold up the lapels and close the jacket over his chest.

In addition to the slanted welt-entry hand pockets over each side of the chest, there is a straight pocket over each hip covered with a squared flap.

Stan slips in among the crowd to observe the geek show.

Perhaps picked up secondhand or “borrowed” from his father like the old man’s gold watch, Stan’s mackinaw jacket is clearly oversized with the tops of each set-in sleeve falling off his shoulders. Each sleeve is finished with a pointed semi-strap that closes through a single button. The back has a belt that secures to a button on each side of the waist, with a buckle that can cinch how tightly the jacket fits, particularly when worn closed in the front.

Radio and suitcase in hand, gold watch on his wrist, and mackinaw coat on his back, Stan leaves his old life—and his old man—behind in flames.

Stan arrives wearing a stone-colored shirt that appears to be made from a lightweight cotton rather than the heavier-weight cottons and flannels he would wear once he’s more integrated with the carnival crew. The shirt has tan buttons fastened up the plain front with a light reinforced stitch to create the effect of a placket. The barrel cuffs close through a single button, and he wears the point collar open at the neck to show the top of his sleeveless undershirt.

Apropos any brooding noir hero, our protagonist’s face is shadowed by the brim of his hat. At the outset, this is a dark brown felt self-edged fedora with a tonally coordinated brown grosgrain ribbon. Sequeira explained to Below the Line that Cooper’s hats were purchased from Milano Hat Company.

Stan’s gray flannel trousers rise to Bradley Cooper’s natural waist, with double forward-facing pleats that are era-correct while also providing a bagginess consistent with the oversized jacket, presented through the loose-fitting legs down to the full break of the bottoms, finished with turn-ups (cuffs) that gather over his shoes.

Stan rotates through a few sets of suspenders (braces) with his carny garb in Nightmare Alley, and this first set echoes the colors of his jacket with the tan base, dark edges, and burgundy bar stripe down the center. The hardware is a dulled brass, with tan leather hooks connecting to the waistband in the front and back and a matching tan leather back patch where the two shoulder straps intersect over a single strap extending down the center back.

In addition to his suspenders hooked onto buttons along the inside of his waistband, the trousers have buckle-type side-adjusters rigged toward the back of each side of the waist. There have side pockets and set-in back pockets covered with narrow scalloped flaps.

The carnival’s accommodations aren’t quite deluxe, but Stan Carlisle isn’t exactly a silk dressing gown and monogrammed pajamas type of guy… yet.

Stan wears russet brown leather cap-toe ankle boots, derby-laced through four sets of eyelets. These boots are appropriately sturdy, with the leather uppers showing plenty of patina from working in the dirt and rain but without losing their durability. (For some of the carnival labor, Stan also pulls on a pair of dark russet leather three-point gloves.)

The carny life is hardly a glamorous one.

One of the most crucial pieces of Stan’s wardrobe is his wristwatch, which we learn he stole from his dying father and would be the only piece from his carnival kit that he would continue wearing after finding success as a mustached mentalist among the Buffalo elite.

Property master Maria Simonelli confirmed to Hodinkee that the watch was a vintage Hamilton Hastings that would have been around a decade old by the time the first act was set in 1939. GQ shared that Cooper had personally chosen the watch, and his interest was validated in a story that Simonelli shared with Hodinkee when the actor recognized when he was given one of the three backup watches after the original watch’s crystal was cracked during a cleaning accident.

Despite Pete (David Strathairn) reading that the case is “brass, not gold,” the screen-worn Hamilton was indeed plated in 14-karat gold. The squared off-white dial has gold-filled numeric hour markers, except for the 6:00 position where the dial is inset with a large square sub-register. Pete does correctly deduce that the watch has a “leather band”, as Stan wears it strapped to his left wrist on a textured brown leather bracelet.

Our first significant look at Stan’s gold watch.

The plaid mackinaw jacket makes its final appearance when Clem recruits Stan to help him dispose of their despairing geek, followed by a late meal of steak and eggs washed down with beer at a local diner. Stan wears the plaid coat over a pair of undershirts, with his off-white crew-neck T-shirt providing the base layer under a heathered ecru cotton long-sleeved henley that has a round banded neck and a short three-button placket.

Clem treats Stan to a late steak and eggs… and considerably less appetizing conversation, focused on how to convince desperate drunks to bite off chicken heads for a living. Given the trajectory of Stan’s life, it seems that the egg comes before the chicken in this case.

Sequeira has theorized in several interviews that, following Stan and Molly’s decision to leave the sideshow life behind, Stan likely burned all of his clothing and effects—aside from that watch, of course—as he adopted a more smoothly tailored wardrobe that signified his success in the city.

How to Get the Look

Bradley Cooper as Stanton “Stan” Carlisle in Nightmare Alley (2021)

Stanton Carlisle has nowhere to go but up at the outset of Nightmare Alley, with his attire indicating his readiness to work as needed to get ahead in his plaid mackinaw coat that signals Midwestern hardiness, simply but ably worn with a neutral-toned shirt, flannel slacks, sturdy leather boots, and the dark fedora that was de rigueur a noirish anti-hero.

• Black, red, and yellow shadow plaid wool mackinaw coat with ulster-style lapels, double-breasted 6×3-button front, slanted chest pockets, straight flapped hip pockets, single-button semi-strap cuffs, and belted back
• Stone-colored lightweight cotton shirt with point collar, plain front, and button cuffs
• Gray flannel double forward-pleated trousers with buckle-style side-adjusters, side pockets, scallop-flapped back pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• Tan (with dark navy edges and burgundy stripe) cloth suspenders with brass hardware and tan leather accents
• Russet-brown leather cap-toe derby-laced ankle boots
• Dark brown felt fedora with brown grosgrain band
• Off-white cotton sleeveless undershirt
• Hamilton Hastings 14-karat gold wristwatch with round tan dial (with gold-filled numeric hour markers and square 6:00 sub-dial) on textured brown leather strap

As costume designer Luis Sequiera’s team specifically made Stan’s jacket for the movie, you’d likely have the most luck searching for true vintage pieces from the era like this similarly shaded and styled coat featured at Vintage-Haberdashers. Older jackets like this are often appearing online, but you may need to search for “plaid pea coats” in addition to the more accurate “mackinaw” moniker.

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie, now streaming on Hulu and HBO Max as of February 2022. You can also check out the 1947 movie and 1946 source novel.

Given Nightmare Alley‘s star-studded prominence, emphasis on style, and Oscar buzz, there are plenty of outlets where you can read more about the costume design, most of which were sourced in some extent for this post:

• The Art of Costume Blogcast — “Nightmare Alley with Luis Sequeira” by Spencer Williams
• Below the Line — “Nightmare Alley Costume Designer Creates Period Dress for Guillermo del Toro Again” by J. Don Birnam
• Grazia — “Nightmare Alley: 242 Costume Changes, ONE Production Shut Down and an All-Star Cast” by Rebekah Clark
• GQ UK — “Bradley Cooper’s vintage Hamilton Hastings watch steals the show in Nightmare Alley” by Alfred Tong
• Hodinkee — “Bradley Cooper Wears A Hypnotic Gold Hamilton In Guillermo Del Toro’s ‘Nightmare Alley'” by Danny Milton
• The Hollywood Reporter — “How ‘Nightmare Alley’ Production Designer Created a Traveling Carnival and The Elite World of High Society” by Carolyn Giardina
• L’OFFICIEL — “Costume designer Luis Sequeira speaks to L’OFFICIEL about outfitting Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, and more in this period thriller” by Sophie Shaw
• New York Post — “Bad dream couture: How noir ‘Nightmare Alley’ got its carnival look” by Raquel Laneri
• Slash Film — “How Nightmare Alley Costume Designer Luis Sequeira Brought Vintage Fashion Back To Life” by Hannah Shaw-Williams
• Variety — “Crafting a Noirish ‘Nightmare Alley’ Through Costume and Production Design” by Jazz Tangcay
• Vogue — “Creating the Costumes for the Charlatans, Hustlers, and Con Artists of Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley” by Keaton Bell
• WWD — “Costume Designer Luis Sequeira on Creating the Sartorial World of ‘Nightmare Alley’” by Kristen Tauer

The Quote

Poor soul.

The post Nightmare Alley: Bradley Cooper’s Plaid Mackinaw Jacket appeared first on BAMF Style.

Lee Marvin as Walker in Point Blank (1967)

Vitals

Lee Marvin as Walker, drunken sailor and future thief

San Francisco, early 1960s

Film: Point Blank
Release Date: August 30, 1967
Director: John Boorman
Costume Designer: Margo Weintz

Background

Lee Marvin, Academy Award-winning actor and U.S. Marine Corps veteran of World War II, was born 98 years ago today on February 19, 1924. Marvin would be established as one of the most charismatic tough guys of the screen, particularly due to movies like The Killers (1964), The Professionals (1966), The Dirty Dozen (1967), and Point Blank (1967).

Adapted from Donald E. Westlake’s pulp crime novel The Hunter (published under the pseudonym Richard Stark), Point Blank stars Marvin as the mononymous Walker, a thief left for dead by his wife Lynne (Sharon Acker) and his double-crossing partner-in-crime Mal Reese (John Vernon) after a dangerous heist.

Marvin reportedly had an active role in developing the movie, having been given creative control… which he then handed off to director John Boorman, working closely with Boorman to bring his vision to the screen and inspiring dynamic choices from his fellow actors.

I was inspired by Iconic Alternatives‘ great rundown of the famous N-1 naval deck jacket (and where to get it!) to revisit Point Blank‘s early flashback scenes where Lynne recounts the rainy day that they met on the San Francisco docks, evidently before he followed a criminal path and was just a carefree drunken sailor. As has been pointed out on IMDB and elsewhere, this flashback is the only time we actually see Walker smiling on screen.

What’d He Wear?

Not yet clad in the stylish and oft-colorful suits and sport jackets that he wore through his revenge mission, Walker is dressed humbly yet ruggedly for the single-shot vignette depicting his introduction to Lynne.

N-1 deck jackets are rarely seen in movies, even in naval-themed war movies, as it wasn’t until later in World War II that they had been widely issued. The N-1’s fame could arguably be linked to its appearance in photographs of classic actors, specifically a young Paul Newman, who may have been introduced to the style during his own three years of U.S. Navy service overlapping the end of World War II.

We don’t know much of Walker’s backstory, but given the context of the location, his half-dozen equally briny colleagues, and their attire, we can assume he was working as a seaman of some capacity. He’s likely a Navy vet, suggested by his “USN”-stenciled deck jacket as well as the familiarity with firearms.

Walker puts the moves on Lynne.

The N-1 uniform system was developed in 1943 for Navy deck crews to wear in rainy weather, complete with overalls, soft helmet, and the now-famous deck jacket. The Bedford cord-style cotton “jungle cloth” shell was initially navy blue until the familiar khaki option was authorized in 1945. As it was designed primarily to keep wearers warm and dry against the elements, the already densely woven cloth was insulated with a thickly piled alpaca wool fleece that showed on the collar, which could be turned up and secured with a throat latch for added protection.

One of the more simply structured pieces of contemporary military outerwear, the waist-length jacket closes with a zipper layered under a button fly. (Most mil-spec coats I’ve seen from the era have six buttons, though Walker’s deck jacket appears to only have five… suggesting that this may have varied based on the contractor who actually made each jacket.) Additionally, the waist can be cinched with an internal drawcord, which Walker clearly hasn’t fastened as the end of each string hangs down below the jacket hem. The only external pockets are slanted welt-entry hand pockets positioned at mid-torso on each side.

Mil-spec deck jackets were rigged with knitted cuffs that were concealed up the ends of each set-in sleeve to prevent snags, though this feature isn’t readily apparent on Walker’s jacket. Some of these variations might suggest that Walker is wearing a commercial variant, but it’s obvious that the jacket was meant to look like it had been authorized fro Navy service from the “USN” stencil over the left breast to the “432” stenciled inside the top of a semi-circle on the back.

Continuing the naval theme, Walker echoes one of his colleagues who also wears a blue chambray cotton shirt, an enduring workwear staple ever since it had been standardized as part of the Navy working uniform in the early 20th century. Though only faint glimpses of the top of the collar and the ends of the buttoned barrel cuffs are seen on screen, set photography confirms that the shirt has two open patch pockets over the chest and a front placket with white buttons.

Does the back stencil on Walker’s deck jacket indicate service on a ship like the minesweeper USS Dynamic (AM-432) or the WWII-era destroyer USS Kearny (DD-432)?

Lee Marvin and Sharon Acker while filming the flashback scene where Walker met Lynne.

Walker wears dark indigo pinwale-corduroy jeans with a straight fit that flatters Lee Marvin’s lean silhouette. As he flirtatiously circles Lynne upon their initial meeting, we catch sight of a small white tab sewn along the right back patch pocket. Given the era and its placement, this likely indicates that these are Levi’s jeans as the venerated denim brand had used white tabs through the ’60s and ’70s to designate their corduroy products or—as is obviously not the case here—their “Levi’s for Gals” line. (Read more about the significance of red and non-red tabs used by Levi’s throughout the decades at Beyond Retro.)

We never see below Walker’s thighs on screen, but set photography shows Marvin wearing a pair of simple slip-on loafers with weathered, light-colored uppers, possibly tan leather but something along the lines of canvas would be more fitting the nature of his suggested labor. While likely comfortable, I would have thought Walker would wear boondocker boots or even deck sneakers with this sort of outfit.

The flash of white on each side of the opening suggests that he’s wearing plain white crew socks.

As seen at the top of this post, select set photography from Point Blank shows Marvin wearing his N-1 deck jacket at Alcatraz during the scenes depicting the aftermath of his heist with Mal and Lynne, layered over a gray-collared charcoal windbreaker with a black sweater, gray jeans, and black lace-up boots. The finished film abandons the deck jacket for these scenes, and Walker wears just the windbreaker and jeans when Mal shoots him twice with his .38.

How to Get the Look

Lee Marvin as Walker in Point Blank (1967)

As the N-1 deck jacket seems to be undergoing a renaissance nearly 80 years after the U.S. Navy authorized it to keep deck crews warm and dry, take some queues from one of the classic cinematic tough guys to wear it with panache and swagger, appropriately paired with sturdy staples like a chambray work shirt and dark corduroy trousers.

• Khaki “jungle cloth” Bedford-cord cotton N-1 deck jacket with alpaca fleece-lined collar, button-fly/zip-up front, slanted hand pockets, and inset knit cuffs
• Blue chambray cotton long-sleeve work shirt with front placket, two chest pockets, and button cuffs
• Dark indigo corduroy jeans
• Tan leather Venetian loafers
• White crew socks

You can read more about the N-1 deck jacket from Iconic Alternatives, Heddels, Son of a Stag, and Standard & Strange.

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The post Point Blank: Lee Marvin’s Flashback N-1 Deck Jacket appeared first on BAMF Style.

Daniel Craig as James Bond in Skyfall (2012). Adapted from an image sourced at thunderballs.org.

Vitals

Daniel Craig as James Bond, “resurrected” British secret agent

London, Spring 2012

Film: Skyfall
Release Date: November 9, 2012
Director: Sam Mendes
Costume Designer: Jany Temime

Background

Having been assumed dead after taking friendly fire in the field, James Bond returns from self-imposed exile. However, before he can go from “resurrection” to active duty, the British Secret Service needs to make sure their most famous secret agent can still shoot straight.

Following the attack on their Vauxhall Cross headquarters, SIS has set up temporary shop in the concrete bowels of the Old Vic tunnels under London, and it’s here that Bond runs through a variety of exercises from treadmills to crash drills. The service’s ever-affable chief of staff, Bill Tanner (Rory Kinnear), attempts to save time by bringing 007 up to speed on his new assignment, but months on a Greek beach fueled by Heineken and vintage Macallan haven’t made it easy for Mr. Bond to catch his breath.

Tanner: We can always do this later.
Bond: You know what? Let’s.

Although Daniel Craig’s 007 was often referred to by his Royal Navy rank, Commander Bond never actually appeared in uniform on film during Craig’s era. In fact, the closest we saw to Craig’s James Bond in any sort of uniform—aside from when the actor himself received his honorary commission in 2021—was when he was put to these tests in Skyfall, resurrected and ready to be retrained by his superiors… and dressed the part in an SIS-marked track jacket and training shirt.

SIS Training Gear recognized the opportunity for Bond fans to borrow from our favorite secret agent’s style, not with a tailored suit or trim navy polo but through an increasingly growing selection of activewear that started with just a pair of T-shirts and joggers, designed to resemble Craig’s screen-worn apparel. Since then, the collection has grown to a wide and exciting lineup of a range of casual styles that reference Bond films across the franchise’s 60 years. I’m pleased to announce that BAMF Style readers can save 10% at SIS Training Gear purchases by clicking here or adding the promo code “BAMF” at checkout.

Formally known as SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) or—more colloquially—MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6), the United Kingdom’s foreign intelligence division was formed on July 4, 1909, as the foreign section of what was then known as the Secret Service Bureau. Following Ian Fleming’s work with SIS during World War II, the author enlisted his famous literary creation into the service of his former employer, establishing James Bond as arguably the most notable fictional SIS agent of all time.

What’d He Wear?

As with all of 007’s clothing, a breakdown of the outfit can be read in perfect detail as written by Matt Spaiser at Bond Suits. You can also learn more about this and see photos of the screen-worn pieces at James Bond Lifestyle. Almost the entire outfit—jacket, pants, shirt, and shoes—were auctioned by Prop Store in December 2020, selling for £18,750… just about £4,000 less than his influential midnight blue tuxedo worn several scenes later.

Craig’s long-sleeved navy-blue “muscle shirt” isn’t your average T-shirt, instead made from a tight performance-oriented cloth finely waffle-knit to cling to his athletic frame. The shirt’s narrow crew-neck is ribbed, likely echoed on the cuffs of the sleeves that he pushes up his forearms. The set-in sleeves are detailed with exposed stitching around the armholes. The left breast is decorated with the silver-embroidered SIS logo, a variation of the UK’s Royal Coat of Arms with a crowned English lion and a unicorn (representing Scotland) flanking a royal crown above the letters “SIS”.

When the SIS Training Gear collection was being developed, the founder started with a version of the long-sleeved shirt that Craig had worn on screen which remains the brand’s best-selling item.

Bond takes a break from retraining himself for active duty.

SIS evidently co-opted the royal blue track jacket from the British Army’s Physical Training Instructor (PTI) kit, claiming it for their own service by again embroidering their crest in silver thread over the left breast. According to James Bond Lifestyle and the Prop Store auction, the screen-worn jacket was made by German athleisure giant PUMA, though the branding on the left sleeve is a dark blue that blends against the rest of the jacket.

With a tightly woven cotton-blend shell and fleece lining, the track jacket has a round, narrowly banded crew-neck that echoes the base layer shirt beneath it. Both the front zipper extending from the hem to neck and the horizontal set-in pocket over the left breast zip closed with a blue-painted PUMA-branded pull tab. The set-in sleeves have elasticized cuffs.

Bond approaches the perforated target, empty PPK in hand.

Bond’s blue track pants match the jacket, albeit without SIS adding their crest anywhere visible. (SIS Training Gear explained that there was such demand for logos on their repro pants that the company forewent screen accurate in order to satisfy the wishes of customers by creating the Training Logo Joggers.)

These pants have a clean-presenting yet elasticized waistband that hold them up without a visible drawcord. Each side has a vertical zippered pocket, and the bottoms are elasticized like “joggers” with a foot-long zipper up the outside of each leg. In his Bond Suits writeup, Matt Spaiser notes the rib sewn down the center of each leg, noting that the resulting crease provides “a more military-like look” appropriate for Commander Bond… even if he’s a Royal Navy officer dressed in the garb of a different branch.

Did Bond’s discomfort with the closely observed, stiff-armed shooting remind anyone else of The Sundance Kid asking Percy Garris “…can I move?”

Bond’s Adidas Gazelle 2 sneakers are the first we see of his training apparel, worn with the functional—if uncool—white athletic crew socks, likely made from a breathable cotton blend. Adidas took inspiration from soccer shoes to design the Gazelle, which was introduced in 1968 and remains one of the most recognized sneakers more than a half-century later.

Bond’s Gazelle uppers are a rich dark blue nubuck that Adidas calls “dark indigo”, configured with a T-toe and detailed with the brand’s signature triple leather stripes on each side, tonally colored in a paler shade that Adidas calls “Argentina blue”. James Bond Lifestyle observed that commercial Gazelle 2 sneakers would have Argentina blue-colored heels as well, though these were likely blackened for production to better conceal the conspicuous “Trefoil” logo. (Evidently, Adidas didn’t have the sweet terms of Heineken’s product placement deal.)

Bond’s Gazelles are laced with flat dark blue woven cotton laces through seven sets of eyelets, and the outsoles are white rubber.

Don’t you step on Bond’s blue suede shoes!

While the Gazelle 2 has been discontinued as of February 2022, Adidas has reissued an earlier version in a “collegiate navy”-and-white colorway, available via Adidas and Amazon.

It’s perhaps worth noting that this is one of the few scenes across Craig’s tenure where Bond does not wear a wristwatch, let alone any of the attractive Omega watches he’s contractually obligated to sport on screen.

My SIS Training Gear Shirt

After learning about SIS Training Gear's offerings, I picked up a Basic Training T-shirt in the Bond-approved navy color. I chose this particular short-sleeved T-shirt in part because I wasn't confident how a muscle-fit shirt would look on my, uh, lumpier-than-Daniel-Craig frame, as well as being drawn to the fact that the SIS logo was embroidered on.

Made from 100% cotton, the tee is comfortable and flattering (if I may say so myself) and adds a subtle but meaningful incorporation of one of my favorite screen characters into my wardrobe without being either too esoteric or too obvious. I'll certainly be buying more from SIS Training Gear in the future, whether it's building up my training gear with jacket and joggers or browsing the "Spy Collection" for shirts, caps, and mugs that add a twist of 007 to my life.

My T-shirt from SIS Training Gear, modeled in my basement to try to replicate the Old Vic Tunnels as seen during Bond's training montage in Skyfall. (The watch is an inexpensive but rather reliable Casio MDV106-1A diver on a black resin strap.)

The Gun

Our hero hasn’t yet been assigned his unique palm-reading PPK/S, so Bond shows off his skill—or perhaps his rustiness—with a trusty older-model Walther PPK, with a blued steel frame and presumably chambered for the smaller .32 ACP round.

Bond takes aim with his Walther PPK.

The first shot hits about a foot too far to the left for Bond’s intended headshot. He makes a second attempt, now taking more time to steady his aim rather than firing from a draw, but he still hits low, now a few inches to the right of his target’s neck. With a frustrated look behind him at the recorder taping the session, he grits his teeth and charges the target at a steady pace, firing as he does and coming closer to emptying the PPK’s remaining seven rounds. (The fact that Bond’s PPK is shown to be loaded with nine rounds suggests a potential continuity error as the PPK can only be loaded with a total of eight rounds—seven in the magazine, one in the chamber—and even one less if it’s .380 ACP model.)

The results aren’t perfect but it shows that, however he needs to do it, 007 can still get the job done.

How to Get the Look

Daniel Craig as James Bond in Skyfall (2012)

Thanks to SIS Training Gear, you can easily build a look to work out like England’s top super-spy… or just accent your wardrobe with a few nods to 007 without needing to break the bank on too many tailored suits.

• Navy-blue waffle-knit crew-neck long-sleeve “performance” T-shirt with exposed armhole stitching
  • Long Sleeve Training Shirt from SIS Training Gear
• Royal-blue cotton-blend zip-up crew-neck track jacket with zippered-breast-pocket and set-in-sleeves with elasticized cuffs
  • Lightweight Jacket from SIS Training Gear
• Royal-blue cotton-blend “jogger”-style track pants with zip-up side pockets and zip-up elasticized bottoms
  • Training Logo Joggers from SIS Training Gear
• Dark-blue nubuck leather Adidas Gazelle 2 sneakers with triple light-blue leather side stripes, white rubber outsoles, and dark-blue laces
• White cotton-blend athletic crew socks

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie and be sure to browse SIS Training Gear, using promo code “BAMF” for 10% off your purchase!

The Quote

After the day proves to be less than promising, Bond arrives at his final evaluation, this time a mental exam that begins with a tweedy psychologist asking for word associations. Naturally, the laconic Bond is dismissive but plays along until he’s prompted with… “Skyfall.” Receiving no response to the dig at the skeletons in Bond’s closet—or priest hole, more accurately—the doctor asks again, to which Bond replies before walking out of the room:

Done.

The post Skyfall: James Bond’s SIS Training Gear appeared first on BAMF Style.

Jake Gyllenhaal as Robert Graysmith in Zodiac (2007)

Vitals

Jake Gyllenhaal as Robert Graysmith, newspaper cartoonist and crusading crime investigator

San Francisco Bay Area, Fall 1975 thorough summer 1979

Film: Zodiac
Release Date: March 2, 2007
Director: David Fincher
Costume Designer: Casey Storm

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

By the mid-1970s, active investigations for the infamous Zodiac Killer had cooled; the intrepid San Francisco detective Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) had been urged to refocus his efforts, his partner Bill Armstrong (Anthony Edwards) had requested to move on, and investigative reporter Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.) was no longer writing about the case… leaving the burden of investigation in the surprising hands of San Francisco Chronicle cartoonist Robert Graysmith.

Knowing that David Fincher’s 2007 movie Zodiac was based on his non-fiction book of the same name informs audiences that, to some degree, Graysmith found success in his relentless private investigation, though the film also depicts the personal toll of Graysmith’s obsessive hunt for the truth, marred by paranoia and frustrating dead ends.

What’d He Wear?

Zodiac introduces Robert Graysmith to audiences as a soft-spoken, detail-oriented cartoonist who presents himself neatly in the casual environment of the San Francisco Chronicle newsroom, favoring a daily “uniform” of smart work shirts, buttoned up, tucked in, and often layered under a sports coat.

Graysmith’s obsessive attention to his own investigation into the Zodiac Killer’s identity takes a toll not only on his personal life but also his personal style, as he descends from these neatly tucked-in shirts to messily semi-buttoned shirts untucked over old undershirts and jeans. The one constant through Graysmith’s late ’70s wardrobe is his chosen outer layer: a blue quilted down jacket.

Puffer jackets had emerged during the interwar era through the separate efforts of adventurers like Australian chemist George Finch (in the 1920s) and American entrepreneur Eddie Bauer (in the 1930s), both of whom developed coats that used feathers to create an insulated “down” layer that traps and retains warm air. Down jackets became a quick favorite for offering protection against cold and wet elements in a relatively lightweight package, especially compared to heavier woolly outerwear like pea coats. As standards of sartorial formality relaxed throughout the 20th century, the practicality of puffer jackets made them a multi-season favorite even among city-dwellers and commuters.

Graysmith’s dark blue puffer jacket has a water-resistant polyester outer shell, quilted with air pockets that create a grid-like effect over the body of the coat, occasionally marketed as “box quilting”. The hip-length coat has a silver-toned front zipper that extends up from the waist hem to neck, where the flat, long-pointed collar is finished in the same quilted polyester as the rest of the jacket. The inside of the jacket shows a lighter blue quilted polyester side, suggesting that this may be reversible.

The vertical welted-entry pocket is positioned at hand-level on each side, and the set-in sleeves are finished with dark blue ribbed-knit cuffs.

Graysmith debuts the jacket on screen when he visits Paul Avery’s houseboat in the fall of 1975. By this time, Avery has drifted from the Chronicle to the Sacramento Bee… and a bitter life of darkness of booze. Avery insults Graysmith in response to his suggestion that he write a book about the Zodiac Killer, prompting Graysmith to take it upon himself to research and draft the volume.

As this is essentially the start of Graysmith taking up the mantle of investigating Zodiac, he still retains some of his fresh semi-formality from the Chronicle newsroom, layering a taupe-brown crew-neck sweater over a red, white, and blue checked shirt.

Graysmith tries to talk Avery into re-energizing interest in the Zodiac case, but his own case falls on deaf ears.

We see more of this type of shirt as Graysmith continues his work, running between Toschi, Vallejo PD sergeant Jack Mulanax (Elias Koteas), and Napa County detective Ken Narlow (Donal Logue) as he’s set on the trail on potential suspect Rick Marshall. As several of these scenes are set in the summer, Graysmith no longer needs the sweater he wore when calling on Avery… though this is San Francisco, so the jacket remains advisable.

The navy triple-check against a white grid with a narrow red double-line overcheck suggests red, white, and blue patriotic undertones driving Graysmith’s quest for justice. The shirt has a point collar, breast pocket, button cuffs, and a front placket with white plastic buttons sewn on with navy thread. He wears the top few buttons undone, showing the top of his white crew-neck undershirt.

Graysmith tracks down Toschi to work him for more unfollowed leads.

The vignettes of Graysmith’s investigation include his arrival at Washington and Cherry streets in San Francisco on October 11, 1977, the ninth anniversary of when cab driver Paul Stine had been murdered at the northeast corner of the same location. Just missing Toschi during his annual stakeout of the site, Graysmith wears the jacket. zipped over what looks to be a light blue oxford cotton cloth shirt and his brown corduroy flat front jeans-style trousers.

Graysmith visits high-profile lawyer Melvin Belli (Brian Cox), where he’s served a plate of cookies as he waits for the attorney who had once dramatically inserted himself in the hunt for the killer. Another day, another plaid shirt: this time with a rust-and-blue check against a salmon ground, also long-sleeved with clear plastic buttons up the placket with the usual breast pocket for Graysmith’s pens. He wears the top button undone, showing the crew neck of a mustard-yellow T-shirt worn under it.

Around this point, Graysmith begins more typically wearing blue denim jeans, which appear to be Wranglers based on the occasional glimpses of a light brown leather patch against the back-right pocket. We also get a better look at his shoes, a set of functional if less-than-fashionable brown leather low shoes with a swelled moc-toe and three sets of derby-laced eyelets. His cotton lisle socks are chocolate brown, consistent with his hosiery in other scenes.

Robert Graysmith and a full plate of cookies wait for Melvin Belli.

Graysmith’s investigation into potential suspect Rick Marshall lead him to a sinister exchange with the theater organist Bob Vaughn (Charles Fleischer). By this time, the stress and darkness of his self-ordered mission has so unraveled him that it’s reflected in how he wears his clothing: wrinkled, untucked, and barely buttoned.

These scenes feature a beige shirt, also plaid like the others with its light slate-colored, white, and burgundy check pattern. The long-sleeved shirt has button cuffs that he often wears undone and rolled up, a front placket with clear plastic buttons often only partially fastened, and a breast pocket that now droops from the constantly clipped pens and pencils rotated through it.

Graysmith’s intensifying hunt for Zodiac leaves him unkempt and haggard more often than not.

Graysmith is granted a meeting with yet another long-awaited lead, Darlene Ferrin’s sister Linda (Clea Duvall), who agrees to meet with him while she’s in prison—for an unrelated crime—more than a decade after her sister was killed by Zodiac. He arrives wearing a gold shirt with a subtle tonal check, following the same standard styling as his others with the front placket and breast pocket, worn over a white T-shirt and jeans.

His meeting with Linda again points in the investigation toward Arthur Leigh Allen (John Carroll Lynch), a theory that had been held by Toschi and which would form the foundation of Graysmith’s conclusions in his book Zodiac.

The film ends on December 20, 1983, said to be the eve of when Zodiac published and two days after Allen’s 50th birthday. Graysmith arrives at the ACE Hardware location where Allen now works to allow himself an eye-to-eye encounter with the man he’s prepared to reveal to the world as a serial killer.

Under his usual dark blue puffer jacket, Graysmith wears a sky-blue cotton shirt with red-on-white shadow stripes, again sporting a red, white, and blue color scheme which may suggest his return to a mental state at the start of his search for justice… and perhaps even implying that some degree of justice will come from his work. The return to relative sanity is also presented in his again wearing his shirt tucked into his jeans, buttoned up the plain front (no placket) with just the top undone.

ACE Hardware PR rep: “This movie said we had who working for us back in the ’80s?”

The most significant timepiece in Zodiac is arguably the Zodiac-branded Sea Wolf watch worn by Arthur Leigh Allen, spotted by Toschi, Armstrong, and Mulanax to become major circumstantial evidence supporting Allen’s guilt.

Graysmith keeps time with a more commonplace watch, identified at Watches In Movies as a Timex Electric Model 84. According to Electric Watches, Timex introduced the simple but attractive Model 84 in 1965, making it very possible that our hero cartoonist would have been wearing one throughout the timeframe featured on screen. (Graysmith’s book Zodiac never refers to his own watch brand, though he does note that two Zodiac victims—David Faraday and Paul Stine—wore Timex watches, as well as the fact that Cheri Jo Bates’ killer left behind a broken Timex.)

Powered by a straight electric movement with moving coil, Graysmith’s Timex Model 84 has a gold-finished cushion case with a stainless steel back. The light gold dial has non-numeric hour markers, consisting of straight lines that are accented as larger squares at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock positions. He wears the watch on a steel expanding band that has a wide black-finished center.

Graysmith’s gold Timex reads around 6:40.

How to Get the Look

Jake Gyllenhaal as Robert Graysmith in Zodiac (2007)

Have the kind of job or lifestyle that finds you often on the move, meeting with various people, day and night, in all kinds of weather?

Robert Graysmith may not be a style icon, but he knows how to dress for this kind of work, in a lightweight puffer jacket that keeps him warm and dry without getting in the way, a shirt that can be buttoned up or tucked in for presentability with a pen always handy in the pocket, and a sturdy pair of shoes.

• Dark blue box-quilted polyester down-insulated “puffer jacket” with large collar, zip-up front, vertical welt-entry side pockets, and ribbed-knit cuffs
• Checked cotton long-sleeve shirt with point collar, front placket, breast pocket, and button cuffs
• White cotton crew-neck undershirt
• Blue denim or brown corduroy five-pocket jeans
• Brown leather moc-toe derby-laced work shoes
• Chocolate brown socks
• Gold analog wristwatch with simple gold dial (with non-numeric hour markers) on black-finished expanding bracelet

The practicality of puffer jackets ensures that they’ll never be out of style, with a range of men’s outfitters offering their takes in a Zodiac-style navy blue as of February 2022:

• Barbour Harrington Waxed Quilted Nylon Jacket in navy (Nordstrom)
• Climate Concepts Men’s Quilted Jacket with Stand Collar in navy (Walmart)
• Dobell Navy Quilted Bomber Jacket in navy (Dobell)
• Eddie Bauer StratusTherm Down Jacket in “dusted indigo” (Eddie Bauer)
• Goodfellow & Co. Lightweight Puffer Jacket in navy (Target)
• G-Star Raw Lightweight Quilted Jacket in “imperial blue” (G-Star Raw)
• J. Crew Box-quilted jacket with eco-friendly PrimaLoft® in navy (J. Crew)
• L.L. Bean Men’s Bean’s Down Jacket in dark marine blue (L.L. Bean)
• Lands’ End Men’s Insulated Quilted Jacket in “radiant navy” (Lands’ End)
• Nordstrom Men’s Shop Quilted Bomber Jacket in “navy blazer” (Nordstrom)
• Patagonia Men’s Down Sweater Jacket in “classic navy” (Patagonia)
• Polo Ralph Lauren Packable Water-Repellent Down Jacket in “aviator navy” (Polo Ralph Lauren)
• Shein Men Zip Up Quilted Coat in navy (Shein)
• Slate & Stone Quilted Puffer Jacket in blue (Nordstrom Rack)
• St. John’s Bay Men’s Water Resistant Lightweight Puffer Jacket in “signature navy” (J.C. Penney)
• SwissTech Men’s Puffer Jacket in dark navy (Walmart)
• Weatherproof Water-Resistant Quilted Puffer Jacket in “lunar blue” (Lord & Taylor)

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie and read the book by Robert Graysmith.

The Astro Zone

The outfit’s general timelessness during the excessively trendy era of the late 1970s testifies to costume designer Casey Storm’s understanding of Graysmith’s personality; such a subdued, analytical person would care less about buying new clothes and keeping up with fads than just having a rotation of practical and well-made clothing he could cycle through over more than a decade.

Given the titular killer’s moniker, it fells appropriate to point out that these are consistent with the traits one might expect of a Virgo like Robert Graysmith, who was born September 17, 1942.

The post Zodiac: Robert Graysmith’s Blue Quilted Jacket appeared first on BAMF Style.

Johnny Cash as Tommy Brown on Columbo (Episode 3.07: “Swan Song”)

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Johnny Cash as Tommy Brown, homicidal gospel singer

From Bakersfield to Los Angeles, Spring 1974

Series: Columbo
Episode: “Swan Song” (Episode 3.07)
Air Date: March 3, 1974
Director: Nicholas Colasanto
Credited by: Richard Levinson & William Link

Background

Johnny Cash was born 90 years ago today on February 26, 1932. Following more than a decade and a half of country hits, the Man in Black riffed on his own image as the villainous guest star in the penultimate episode of Columbo‘s third season, airing just a week after his 42nd birthday. (The episode marks the second of two that were directed by Nicholas Colasanto, who may be best known for his role as “Coach” on Cheers. The director gets a subtle nod when Cash’s character refers to his arranger, “Nick Solacanto”.)

Cash guest-starred as Tommy Brown, the charismatic leader of the Lost Soul Crusaders whose superstar fandom among teenage girls—not to mention Lieutenant Columbo’s wife, apparently—seems to be a little more than I’d expect to see from a gospel singer. Either way, Tommy’s mutual affection for young women is a little too much for his wife Edna (Ida Lupino), who confronts the man she dubs “a lustful sinner” with his criminal past, from his years in prison to the statutory rape of their young band member, Maryann (Bonnie Van Dyke).

This being a Columbo episode, we know right from the start that Tommy is the one who engineered the plane crash that took Edna’s and Maryann’s deaths in a burnin’ ring of fire, so the real entertainment comes from watching the cat-and-mouse between Cash—easing comfortably into one of the few affable antagonists on the series—and his new “little buddy,” the rumpled detective so doggedly on his trail who ultimately determines that “any man who can sing like that can’t be all bad.”

Though they get off to a rocky start, Columbo and Tommy Brown develop one of the less antagonistic acquaintanceships of the series as the homespun singer seems to be one of the few villains who doesn’t treat the scrappy detective with dismissive or overly smug contempt.

What’d He Wear?

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down
Livin’ in the hopeless, hungry side of town
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime
But is there because he’s a victim of the times

I wear the black for those who’ve never read
Or listened to the words that Jesus said
About the road to happiness through love and charity
Why, you’d think he’s talking straight to you and me

— Johnny Cash, “Man in Black”, recorded 1971

Tommy Brown shares more than a few biographical details and characteristics with the real Johnny Cash, not just his stardom in the music world but also his past service in the Air Force and his fondness for black clothing. In fact, Tommy clearly “borrows” his wardrobe from the star’s own closet, as there are distinctive details that are consistent with what photo and video records show from this era in the Man in Black’s life.

At the start of the episode, Tommy wears a black knee-length belted trench coat as he arrives at the Bakersfield arena where his band will be performing that evening, though we never see the coat again after this scene.

At the start of the episode, Tommy arrives at the arena where he’ll soon be wowing an adoring crowd. The black trench coat only serves to enhance Cash’s “Man in Black” image.

Through the entire episode, Tommy cycles through identical long-sleeved shirts made of a black heavy twill, tailored to be worn untucked with short vents on each side. These shirts bear stylistic similarities to a stage-worn shirt from that same year, custom-made for Cash by Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors of North Hollywood, with more photos and details available at this Lelands auction listing.

The black shirts have a plain front (no placket) with six black sew-through buttons, including one at the neck that he always wears undone. The tall point collar is built to retrain its structure even when worn open-neck. The set-in sleeves are shirred at the shoulders and finished with two-button barrel cuffs. A horizontal yoke extends across the back, with two jetted pockets set-in on each side of the chest.

Tommy Brown’s distinctive black shirts were likely pulled right from Cash’s actual wardrobe.

Occasionally, Tommy adds a touch of color via a navy paisley-printed cotton bandanna, tied like a neckerchief under the collar of his shirt.

For a touch of country color, Brown occasionally ties a blue paisley kerchief around his neck, kept under his shirt collar.

Few can wear black shirt and pants together as authentically as Johnny Cash, and he brings this sartorial panache to Tommy’s wardrobe via his plain black flat front trousers, held up by a black leather belt that we only glimpse when the silver-toned buckle shines from his waist after he’s knocked from his stool during his first house party as a recent widow. Styled with side pockets, these trousers are tight through the leg but flare out at the bottoms, which are finished with turn-ups (cuffs).

Taking a tumble during his first soiree as a newly single man, Tommy’s belt buckle flashes from under his untucked shirt.

Apropos his cowboy attitude, Tommy wears a set of black leather plain-toe boots with calf-high shafts that close with brass-toned zippers along the inside. (As seen under his leg cast, he wears black socks, not an unexpected choice given the overall color scheme.)

As the boots are almost certainly Cash’s own footwear, they could have been made by Moresci like this pair of authentic Cash-worn ankle boots that was auctioned by Julien’s Live in December 2010.

Much like his feet inside them, Tommy Brown’s boots take some distress during the plane crash that claims his wife and mistress.

Tommy wears gold jewelry that was likely also Cash’s own personal items, including a gold necklace, an etched gold ring on the third finger of his right hand, and an elegant gold wristwatch worn on a flat gold bracelet.

This watch—which does not appear to be a Rolex, said to be Cash’s favorite watch brand—has a narrow gold case with a flat crown and a minimalist champagne-hued dial with no evident hour markers.

Tommy’s ring and watch flash from his hands as he makes his furtive final arrangements, pre-flight.

For the episode’s final act that finds Tommy preparing to go on tour, he pulls on a unique indigo-blue denim jacket that blends trucker jacket sensibilities with the cut of a chore coat. The upper portion resembles a traditional trucker jacket, with a shirt-style collar and five silver-toned rivet buttons up the front. Two set-in chest pockets are covered with a button-down pointed flap, the top of each aligning with the horizontal chest yoke. The tab sewn on the right side of the left pocket flap informs us that this was made by Levi’s, with the use of an orange tab denoting the venerated denim outfitter’s more offbeat items of the era. (You can still find ’70s vintage examples of these unique chore jackets from secondhand sites like Bidstitch and eBay.)

A pleated strip extends down from the yoke on each side to form the narrow top of the patch pocket positioned each hip, with a curved cutaway entry just above hand level. The waistband is a separate piece around the entire mid-section of the jacket, creating a belt-like effect. The back has a yoked piece that tapers out from the armholes down to the waistband, where two long double vents extend down to the hem, like a sports coat. The set-in sleeves are finished with a single-button barrel cuff, like a trucker jacket.

Tommy Brown’s denim chore jacket is no match for Columbo’s iconic rumpled raincoat.

What to Imbibe

Upon his second meeting with Lieutenant Columbo, Tommy offers “brandy or bourbon… you look more like a beer man,” before cracking open a bottle of something else for himself.

What to Listen to

Given Tommy Brown’s gospel metier, his rendition of Hank Williams’ “I Saw the Light” permeates the episode, but if you’re looking for something from the Man in Black’s classic catalog, Cash’s recording “Sunday Morning Coming Down”—penned by his pal and future co-Highwayman Kris Kristofferson—is also heard several times, first from the portable radio owned by Jeff (Douglas Dirkson) the airport mechanic and again performed live by “Tommy” at his party following his wife’s death.

The episode also marked the public debut of Cash’s signature black Martin D-35 guitar, made on request without the knowledge of the company president, C.F. Martin III. Martin had been against producing black guitars and didn’t know that his company had made one for the star until he saw it in this episode.

Whatever backlash Martin’s luthiers may have faced for crafting the one-of-a-kind guitar was likely soon quashed as the black D-35 became a staple of Cash’s public performances for two decades to follow, to the point that Martin now offers the all-black “D-35 Johnny Cash” as a tribute to the Man in Black.

Cash’s black Martin guitar gets plenty of airtime.

How to Get the Look

Johnny Cash and Ida Lupino on Columbo (Episode 3.07: “Swan Song”)

Few could follow the Man in Black’s signature style without looking like they’re trying too hard to crib from Johnny Cash.

• Black heavy twill tailored shirt with tall point collar, six-button plain front, two jetted chest pockets, side vents, and set-in sleeves with shirred shoulders and two-button barrel cuffs
• Navy-blue (with white paisley print) cotton neckerchief
• Black flat front trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• Black leather belt with silver-toned buckle
• Black leather plain-toe boots with inside-zip calf-high shafts
• Black boot socks
• Indigo-blue denim half-belted chore jacket with shirt-style collar, five silver-toned rivet buttons, two flapped chest pockets, two curved-entry patch hip pockets, single-button cuffs, and long double vents
• Gold necklace
• Gold etched ring
• Gold dress watch with minimalist champagne dial on flat gold bracelet

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the series. You can also read a fine review of the episode at Columbophile, which is an essential resource for fans of the show!

The Quote

You’re a sanctimonious hypocrite of a bible-spoutin’ blackmailer, and I’ve given you your last chance to be fair!

The post Johnny Cash on Columbo appeared first on BAMF Style.

Harry Belafonte as David Boyeur in Island in the Sun (1957)

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Harry Belafonte as David Boyeur, popular local politician

On the fictional Caribbean island of Santa Marta, Spring 1955

Film: Island in the Sun
Release Date: June 12, 1957
Director: Robert Rossen
Costume Design: Phyllis Dalton & David Ffolkes

Background

Tomorrow will be the 95th birthday of Harry Belafonte, the singer, actor, and activist born March 1, 1927. Belafonte has tireless worked in show business and to advance social causes since beginning his recording career in the late 1940s. Though he’s narrated documentaries and appeared sporadically in features in the decades since, his screen acting career were primarily throughout the ’50s in features ranging from the musicals that made obvious use of his singing talent to drama, sci-fi, and noir.

Belafonte co-starred with Dorothy Dandridge in his first three films, their collaborations concluding in the colorfully lush drama Island in the Sun, based on Alec Waugh’s novel of the same name. The eponymous island was said to be the fictitious “Santa Marta” in the Caribbean, though actually filmed on location in Barbaos and Grenada through the fall of 1956.

The story address race relations against a backdrop of political ambitions, romance, and eventually murder, beginning with a party at Government House, the British colonial headquarters on Santa Marta. A popular political leader and union official, David Boyeur brings his friend Margot Seaton (Dandridge), a drugstore clerk whose anxiety about not having been officially invited is satiated by the governor’s warm embrace of David, whom he affectionally calls “our home-grown revolutionary”.

David introduces Margot to Governor Templeton (Ronald Squire), whose old-fashioned morning dress depicts the range of fashions on display at the party.

While Margot flirts with one of the governor’s aides, David’s passionate belief that “one of this island’s most important fights is against tradition… this island is shackled by traditions” brings him into conflict with the moody reactionary plantation owner Maxwell Fleury (James Mason), who’s already distraught by unfounded suspicions about his wife’s fidelity and feels compelled to run for office as David’s political challenger.

What’d He Wear?

Apropos the title, it’s always sunny on this tropical island, calling for summer-friendly wardrobes. David Boyeur makes his first appearance arriving to the party, clad in a cool brown suit with a distinctively subtle iridescent sheen that suggests a blend of wool and mohair. The latter was a popular fabric among mid-century tailors seeking durable yet dressy suiting, particularly when its cooler-wearing properties would be an asset in warm climates.

David’s single-breasted suit jacket follows contemporary fashions of the ’50s with its full cut, draped chest, and wide shoulders built up with padding. The two-button stance is appropriately positioned for the top button to fasten at Harry Belafonte’s natural waist, but the narrow notch lapels roll to a higher point on the jacket as though it was a three-button, providing some harmonious balance so that the suit doesn’t look “top-heavy” on Belafonte’s six-foot tall frame. Shaped with front darts that pull in the waist, the jacket has a single back vent, straight flapped hip pockets, and a welted breast pocket that David dresses with a neatly folded white pocket square. Roped at the shoulders, the sleeves are finished with three-button cuffs.

Vividly dressed in bright orange and iridescent brown, respectively, Margot and David scrutinize the party before striding in.

David wears a white cotton shirt with a spread collar, plain front, and double (French) cuffs fastened with gold bar-type cuff links. His fashionably narrow tie is patterned in a repeating series of powder-blue, brown, and navy balaned-width repp stripes in the traditional American “downhill” direction.

David downs his rum highball while bantering with Mavis Norman (Joan Fontaine) at the Government House party.

The full cut of David’s long suit jacket and the fact that he doesn’t remove it during the scene conceals much of the trousers, but we can see the fit is consistent with the jacket and that they’re worn without a belt, likely with side adjuster tabs positioned on each side of the waistband. Almost certainly pleated in accordance with the prevailing trends of the mid-’50s, the trousers also have side pockets and turn-ups (cuffs) that break over his brown leather cap-toe derby shoes.

What to Imbibe

David orders a “rum and ginger” from the bartender during the Government House party. A simple rum and ginger ale highball may not be quite as exciting as the rum swizzles that Jocelyn (Joan Collins) has planned for the following day’s beach outing with Euan Templeton (Stephen Boyd), but it still refreshes!

As at many parties, the bar is the most popular place to be, with Mavis, David, Sylvia Fleury (Patricia Owens), Maxwell Fleury (James Mason), and Hilary Carson (Michael Rennie) gathering over drinks.

The rum and ginger ale highball shouldn’t be confused with the Dark ‘n’ Stormy, a more specific concoction of Goslings Black Seal rum and ginger beer—Barritt’s ginger beer, by the original Bermudian post-World War I formula—poured over ice and topped with lime.

How to Get the Look

Harry Belafonte as David Boyeur in Island in the Sun (1957)

Harry Belafonte’s wardrobe in Island in the Sun ranges from summer-ready dinner jackets to semi-buttoned sport shirts tucked into denim, and he dresses to impress for David Boyeur’s introduction to audiences in a fashionably tailored brown suit perfectly suitable for a sunny soiree with its cool-wearing mohair fabric that has elegant sheen making the most of the party’s natural illumination.

• Brown mohair-blend suit:
  • Single-breasted 2-button jacket with narrow notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and single vents
  • Pleated trousers with side pockets and turn-ups/cuffs
• White cotton shirt with spread collar, plain front, and double/French cuffs
  • Gold bar cuff links
• Pale-blue, brown, and navy “downhill”-directional repp-striped slim tie
• Brown leather cap-toe derby shoes

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie, also newly streaming on Criterion Channel as of February 2022.

Belafonte also recorded the title song “Island in the Sun”… not to be confused with Weezer’s much different hit single of the same name.

The Quote

That was charity, Mr. Fleury. What we want is equality.

The post Island in the Sun: Harry Belafonte’s Brown Suit appeared first on BAMF Style.

Javier Bardem as Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos (2021)

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Javier Bardem as Desi Arnaz, Cuban-born bandleader, actor, and TV producer

Los Angeles, September 1952

Film: Being the Ricardos
Release Date: December 7, 2021
Director: Aaron Sorkin
Costume Designer: Susan Lyall

Background

I grew up watching I Love Lucy, my childhood punctuated by many memories of me channeling inordinate levels of anxiety at Lucy’s antics into pacing around my grandmother’s kitchen while the decades-old drama unfolded in black-and-white from the small TV tucked on a corner countertop. Almost thirty years later, I still can recollect Lucy pitching Vitameatavegamin or stomping grapes with better clarity than anything I may have binged on Netflix over the last year.

As the real Desi Arnaz was born 105 years ago today on March 2, 1917, let’s take a look at Javier Bardem’s Academy Award-nominated performance as Desi in Being the Ricardos. (Bardem just celebrated his own birthday yesterday, born just one day shy of 52 years after Arnaz, on March 1, 1969.)

Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, Being the Ricardos fictionalizes a week in the production of Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) and Desi’s hit sitcom. Aside from flashbacks to the couple’s first decade of marriage, the action is centered through five days in September 1952, during which Lucy and Desi are bombarded with news gossip of her one-time registration with the Communist Party, his alleged affairs, and overall tumult behind the scenes of the I Love Lucy from Lucy’s frustration with the writing to the mutual resentment between co-stars Vivian Vance (Nina Arianda) and William Frawley (J.K. Simmons).

Kidman remains a top contender for Best Actress while the 94th Academy Awards odds for Best Actor don’t favor Bardem, though I found his performance effectively communicated the real Desi Arnaz’s charisma if not much physical resemblance.

For the sake of drama, Sorkin took liberties with the timelines so that the Red Scare gossip in September 1953 and production of the first-season episode “Fred and Ethel Fight” now aligned with when Lucy and Desi announced that they were expecting their second child in the fall of 1952 and were planning to defy network expectations by writing her pregnancy into the show’s narrative. Despite some of this dramatizing, Being the Ricardos maintained several incidents that really happened… including Desi’s vindication via Philip Morris chairman Alfred E. Lyons’ confidential memo giving the star carte blanche: “To whom it may concern: Don’t fuck around with the Cuban!”

The tensions come to a head on the night of Friday, September 12, as Lucy and Desi are faced with newspaper headlines declaring LUCILLE BALL A RED, threatening their careers and reputations. Fed up with being forced on the defensive, Desi takes the risk of addressing the issue head on, marching out for his regular pre-show audience warm-up—aware of the press sitting among them—with the damning newspaper under his arm… and an ace in the hole.

What’d He Wear?

Costume designer Susan Lyall dressed the cast of Being the Ricardos in a realistic mid-century wardrobe for how all would look at work and at play, not restricting them to how we’re used to seeing them in front of the cameras on  I Love Lucy. However, the scenes depicting the filming of an actual episode illustrate the extent to which Lyall and her team understood the proverbial assignment, bringing Desi Arnaz’s characteristically sharp style to colorful life.

The opening scene of “Fred and Ethel Fight”, as reimagined in Being the Ricardos (left) and as seen on the original 1952 episode of I Love Lucy (right), with the unique pattern on Ball’s shirt almost identically replicated by Kidman’s screen-worn shirt.
The “newer” apartment design was intentionally chosen over the windowless apartment seen over the series’ first two seasons, as production designer Jon Hutman explained to Architectural Digest.

Lyall shared with The Credits that the favorite of her 21 outfits designed for Desi was this vivid dark sapphire-blue suit seen during the dress rehearsal on Thursday and the following day’s taping of the episode. “It’s a mixture of mohair and wool that was very popular in the ’50s, a kind of blue that is really hard to find,” she explained. “I worked with a tailor who’s very good at fabric history.”

We only see Desi’s blue suit inside the studio, but the sheer-curtained windows allow some light in to shine off the deep sapphire-hued suiting.

Javier Bardem’s single-breasted suit jacket shares many characteristics with the one worn by Desi Arnaz while filming “Fred and Ethel Fight”, including a ventless back, notch lapels rolling to a two-button front, and straight, well-padded shoulders that project a strong silhouette, emphasized on Bardem’s suit jacket with heavily roped shoulders. The sleeves are finished with four-button cuffs (in contrast to the three-button cuffs worn by the real Arnaz.)

Bardem’s jacket is tailored with a closer cut than the ’50s drape evident on the real Arnaz’s suits, with a raised button stance consistent with contemporary fashions. The welted breast pocket and jetted hip pockets differ from the patch pockets on the jacket actually worn in the episode, but Bardem’s Desi accessorizes similarly with a white linen pocket square neatly folded into the breast pocket.

“Lucy, I’m hooome!”

Bardem’s white cotton shirt reflects the uniquely incongruous detailing favored by Desi Arnaz on screen, with a widely spread button-down collar and double (French) cuffs, in addition to a breast pocket and front placket.

Choosing the formal dissonance of a casual button-down collar and dressier double cuffs indicates a wearer who has likely studied convention and made the conscious choice to carve his own preference-based sartorial path; indeed, Arnaz’s contemporaries in the FCBD realm include arguably well-informed dressers like Cary Grant, Gene Barry, Tony Curtis, and Frank Sinatra, though the style seems to have generally fallen out of favor even among these icons by the late 1960s.

Desi honors the show’s sponsorship with Philip Morris during his smoke break as Lucy reimagines the episode opening during the Thursday dress rehearsal.

Also aligned with what the real Desi Arnaz wore while filming “Fred and Ethel Fight”, Bardem wears a dark navy knitted silk tie, hanging from its oft-loosened Windsor knot like a straight and narrow strip finished with a square bottom.

Off-camera, Bardem’s Desi often pulls out his reading glasses with tortoiseshell wayfarer-shaped frames.

Desi pulls on his glasses to read a very vindicating memo from the chairman of Philip Morris.

The pleated suit trousers are held up with a black leather belt that closes through a silver-toned single-prong buckle. The trousers have side pockets, and the bottoms are finished with turn-ups (cuffs) that break over the tops of his black leather cap-toe oxford shoes. These aren’t just any oxfords though, as they have the slightly raised Cuban heels that the Santiago de Cuba-born Arnaz favored in real life.

“She was hesitant at first, knowing they’d make Bardem look taller than Arnaz,” Chris Koseluk wrote for The Credits of Lyall’s decision to use these footwear. “But they were a staple of Arnaz’s wardrobe and she felt it would help Bardem find his inner rhythm. As soon as he put them on, she knew she had made the right choice. ‘He just immediately got light on his feet and started dancing around the room,’ she says. ‘He loved them. We basically put them with every costume.'”

Note the gently raised heels on Desi’s oxfords.

Both off-screen and in character as Ricky Ricardo, Bardem follows the real Desi Arnaz’s example of staying light on jewelry and accessories, wearing only a gold wedding ring on his left hand and an elegant gold round-cased dress watch on a black leather strap.

The actual episode “Fred and Ethel Fight” provides such a great look at the real Desi’s watch that I couldn’t pass up the chance to include it here.

How to Get the Look

Javier Bardem as Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos (2021)

Earlier this year, Saks Fifth Avenue featured a number of designer-anchored outfits inspired by scenes from the movie, including a Zegna suit, Eton shirt, and David Donahue tie echoing Desi Arnaz’s suit through the final act. That may call for a steeper budget than many who aren’t the head of a major TV production company would hope to spend, but you can follow the philosophy of simple elegance driven by attractive fabrics and flattering fit.

• Dark-blue mohair/wool-blend suit:
  • Single-breasted 2-button jacket with edge-stitched notch lapels, welted breast pocket, jetted hip pockets, 4-button cuffs, and ventless back
  • Pleated trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• White cotton shirt with spread button-down collar, front placket, breast pocket, and double/French cuffs
• Navy-blue knitted silk tie
• Black leather belt with silver-toned single-prong buckle
• Black leather cap-toe oxford shoes
• Dark blue dress socks
• Tortoise-framed reading glasses
• Gold wedding ring
• Gold dress watch on black leather strap

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie, exclusively streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

The Quote

Patronize me again, and I’ll stick my hand down your throat and pull your fucking lungs out.

The post Being the Ricardos: Desi Arnaz’s Real vs. Reel Blue Suit appeared first on BAMF Style.

James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano on The Sopranos, Episode 6.15: “Remember When”

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James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, New Jersey mob boss

Miami Beach, Fall 2007

Series: The Sopranos
Episode: “Remember When” (Episode 6.15)
Air Date: April 22, 2007
Director: Phil Abraham
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa

Background

Even gangsters get to go on spring break! Of course, being gangsters, Tony Soprano’s trip to Florida with Paulie Walnuts (Tony Sirico) is less about tequila shots on the beach and more about laying low to avoid the heat after an old murder resurfaces from 1982… but the two wiseguys still get plenty of time to relax in the sun while the remaining arm of the DeMeo crime family scrambles to control any potential damage.

With their toothbrushes and respective tropical-printed shirts and white loafers packed, Tony and Paulie pile into a rented minivan for the thousand-mile road trip from Jersey to the southern tip of the Sunshine State, with a brief stop at a chain motel in Virginia that marks one of The Sopranos‘ many “before-they-were-stars” bit parts as a pre-Hamilton Lin-Manuel Miranda appears as a befuddled bellboy.

“I dunno…”

Arriving in Miami Beach, Tony and Paulie take luxurious refuge with “Beansie” Gaeta (Paul Herman), the erstwhile pizza parlor owner now using a wheelchair after he was run over by Richie Aprile (David Proval) during the second season. Even considering his mobility issues, Beansie may be the only character not enticed by the “remember when” conversations, having happily moved on to a brighter life on the beach with his wife and goomars.

Throughout it all, we see Tony’s growing frustration with the idiosyncratic Paulie Walnuts to the point where the aging capo’s carefree cackling watching a rerun of Three’s Company is enough to have the Skip considering homicide… a petty near-breaking point many can relate to, especially after spending two days in the car with someone who insists on peppering the air with inane memories, observations, and questions. (“Chevy Chase… fuck ever happened to him?”)

The tension comes to a head the following day when Tony and Paulie rent a sport fishing boat, ostensibly for a pleasure outing to celebrate Tony’s freedom after the Willie Overall hit was attributed to the late Jackie Aprile Sr., but Paulie’s personal game of “remember when” turns dark as he silently recalls the similarly set execution of their pal Pussy Bonpensiero (Vincent Pastore) at sea, not long after Beansie got an uncomfortably close look at Richie Aprile’s borrowed Ford Explorer.

No longer oblivious to the dirty looks from his boss—which can often have more dire consequences than in other workplaces—Paulie works hard to overcome his anxiety stay in the Skip’s good graces aboard the Sea Vous Play, such as cooking up a rigatoni lunch for them. But Tony, despite having just hypocritically chiding that “‘remember when’ is the lowest form of conversation,” can’t help but to needle Paulie over old grievances, such as spreading the notorious Ginny Sack joke that had almost resulted in yet another Florida mob hit years earlier. The whole time, Tony can’t help but to eye the various instruments aboard the boat that he could use to rid himself of this potential threat… or mere annoyance.

The title “Remember When” suggests the reflections on the past that permeate the episode, from the obvious references to Tony’s first hit that drives their getaway to the nostalgia of our gangsters recalling foregone days: Tony waxing poetic about the days a hotel could send up steak and Scotch before the sanitized takeovers of impersonal corporate hospitality chains, Paulie’s constant reminiscing as the aging gangster clings to the glory days of his youth, and Junior’s decline into dementia as he struggles to remember much of anything.

“To face the past is to face one’s essential nature, and ask how much one has grown or changed, or will change, and the extent to which one even can,” contextualize Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall in The Soprano Sessions. “It seems Tony and everyone else are destined to suffer a fate worse than jail or even death: being forced to confront who they really are.”

What’d He Wear?

Tony Soprano’s daily wardrobe includes many boldly patterned shirts which could arguably qualify as “vacation shirts” for most, so we know that even a fugitive getaway to Miami Beach will likely see even louder prints. In a testament to The Sopranos‘ detail-oriented production, we see Carmela (Edie Falco) actually packing the shirt that Tony would wear on the boat with Paulie, recognizable for its unmistakable and colorful design.

As Carmela packs Tony’s shirt, we get a glimpse of the Harbor Bay label—branded in white letters against a black-embroidered “HB” set against a low-contrast navy background.

My friend Gabe’s Instagram account @TonySopranoStyle identified the shirt as a product of the big-and-tall brand Harbor Bay, made of 100% rayon like many classic aloha shirts. The design is built on a multi blue-toned ground reflecting the sea and sky, broken up over the chest and under the short sleeves with the illustration of a sunset that adds warmth via the orange sky, golden sun, and brown water. The rest of the shirt is covered in an all-over print of nautical motifs like white ship’s wheels, dark blue shark fins breaking through white-tipped waves, and a dark blue large-scaled floral print down the center of the front and back.

“Old Ironsides!”

The shirt has a camp collar traditionally associated with leisure-oriented casual attire, with six dark blue buttons up the plain front (no placket), which Tony wears unbuttoned at the top to show that he’s wearing one of his usual white ribbed cotton sleeveless undershirts.

Tony contemplates whether or not Paulie will make it back to shore with him.

By this season, Tony had established his regular seaside kit of an aloha-style shirt with swim trunks and boat shoes, as seen when celebrating his birthday two episodes earlier in “Soprano Home Movies” (Episode 6.13). For his maritime outing with Paulie, he wears the same Nautica swimming trunks, made of dark navy polyester with wide blue and slate-gray stripes down each side. The embroidered text just ahead of the left stripes leaves no doubt to the manufacturer, branded “NAUTICA SURF” with the first word in white and the second in a low-contrasting blue. The trunks have a blue drawstring to tighten the fit at the waist and the inseam extends to mid-thigh.

“You know, no offense, but you ever had yourself checked for Tourette’s? … Seriously. ‘Heh-heh, heh-heh.’ It’s like you got a tic or something.”

When Paul A. Sperry took inspiration from his dog’s paws to develop herringbone-siped soles back in the 1930s, it was expressly for the purpose to develop non-slip footwear that could keep wearers upright on wet and slippery boat decks. Over the decades to follow, Sperry Top-Siders found a substantial following both on both sea and shore, particularly among the collegiate set though they prevailed as a predominant shoe of ’80s yuppie culture, as reflected by their prominence on the cover of Lisa Birnbach’s tongue-in-cheek 1980 volume The Official Preppy Handbook.

Leave it to Tony Soprano to reserve his boat shoes—alternately known as deck shoes—to be worn only when on the deck of a boat, stepping aboard the Sea Vous Play in the same tan top-siders that he’d worn during his birthday weekend with the Bacalas. The uppers are a hybrid of full-grain leather and perforated side panels that enhance breathability—similar to the current Sperry Billfish model—following the usual moccasin-style construction with three-eyelet derby lacing and the deck shoe’s characteristic side-lacing system.

Tony climbs to the Sea Vous Play‘s helm.

Rather than paring down his jewelry as he’s occasionally done at the past when he’s had maritime violence on his mind, Tony wears his full complement of gold jewelry and accessories. Around his neck, he wears his usual thin gold open-link necklace with a gold pendant depicting St. Jerome. From his right hand, his father’s gold ring with the diamond and ruby bypass-set stones shines from his pinky while his wrist is dressed with a gold bracelet that @tonysopranostyle describes as resembling “a Cuban curbed link chain and an Italian Figaro link chain with a twist.” He wears his gold wedding band on the ring finger of his left hand.

Finally, the Skip signals his leadership with an 18-karat yellow gold Rolex Day-Date “President”, so named for the signature three-piece semi-rounded link “Presidential” bracelet that was introduced in tandem with the Day-Date in the late 1950s and has been associated with the U.S. executive branch thanks to famous wearers like Lyndon Johnson. Tony wears a ref. 18238 Day-Date with a champagne gold dial, marked with the model’s signature curved day-of-the-week window across the top and a date window at the 3:00 position. (As of March 2022, you can pick up your own Rolex Day-Date President from 1999, the same year The Sopranos debuted, at FarFetch.)

Rigatoni à la Paulie!

What to Imbibe

What goes better with a seagoing meal of rigatoni à la Paulie than beer? Tony’s beer remains covered by a koozie, but context clues via the contents of his and Paulie’s packed cooler suggests that he’s drinking a Heineken, as those are the only cans among the bottles of Corona and Stewart’s root beer… the latter of which was Paulie’s request.

A cooler full of beer… and root beer, for Paulie, though Tony considers whether that baseball bat or knife would better serve his ultimate purposes for Paulie.

How to Get the Look

James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano on The Sopranos, Episode 6.15: “Remember When”

Tony Soprano’s style may be considered too loud or gauche for some readers—particularly the vast majority of whom have no connection to organized crime—but the colorful nature and motifs of this rayon shirt in “Remember When” are appropriate for a celebratory day spent on the water, especially when worn with the decidedly functional swim trunks and deck shoes that happen to coordinate with the otherwise chaotic blues and browns of his shirt, respectively.

• Blue multi-tone maritime-motif and orange sunset-print rayon short-sleeve shirt with camp collar, plain front, and side vents
• Dark navy polyester swim trunks with blue and slate side stripes
• Tan leather 3-eyelet moc-toe boat shoes with perforated side panels
• White ribbed cotton sleeveless undershirt
• 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 series, available on Blu-ray and streaming on HBO Max.

The post Tony Soprano’s Nautical Vacation Shirt in “Remember When” appeared first on BAMF Style.

Daniel Craig as James Bond, armed with a Walther PPK in No Time to Die (2021)

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Daniel Craig as James Bond, retired British secret agent

Sea of Japan, Spring 2020

Film: No Time to Die
Release Date: September 30, 2021
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Costume Designer: Suttirat Anne Larlarb

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

What happens to the hero after he rides off into the sunset?

Aside from the occasional epilogue featuring James Bond and his lady du jour, we hadn’t really received much of an answer until No Time to Die, Daniel Craig’s fifth and final movie as the stylish super-spy. On the 00-7th of March—which is Craig’s birth month, as the actor turned 54 five days ago—let’s revisit how his tenure ended after the martinis stopped being shaken.

Nominated for three Academy Awards and five BAFTAs, No Time to Die brought the Craig era to a daring, explosive climax that I felt was a fittingly poignant conclusion to the specific arc of his characterization of agent 007, paying tribute to its literary and cinematic forebears, specifically On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The finale finds Bond in full commando mode, and thus I enlisted the help of my friend Caleb who runs the excellent Commando Bond Instagram and blog pages and channeled his inner Geoffrey Boothroyd (IYKYK) to help me navigate the world of the various firearms that equip the final mission undertaken by Craig’s Bond.

Just as Daniel Craig fired a Walther PPK at the screen to kick off Casino Royale with a new spin on the franchise’s traditional “gunbarrel sequence”, so does he conclude it with a similar in-narrative gunbarrel during the battle at a secret island lair.

“James Bond… history of violence, license to kill,” summarizes Lyutsifer Safin (Remi Malek), the dangerous terrorist established as Bond’s mortal adversary. “Vendetta with Ernst Blofeld, in love with Madeleine Swann. I could be speaking to my own reflection.”

While a few previous Bonds had hinted at some continuity between adventures, Daniel Craig’s five movies were the first to feel more serialized as the events connected—with varying degrees of success—that led to the events of No Time to Die. Having found and lost love with both the late Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) and now Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), whom he believes betrayed him, Bond hangs up his shoulder holster to retire from the service to live a life of pleasant solitude in Jamaica, perhaps modeled after the example set by his literary mastermind, Ian Fleming.

Of course, two hours of watching Bond fishing in a tattered T-shirt would hardly thrill, so the former agent is drawn back into service by his old CIA pal Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), who connects him with the charming rookie agent Paloma (Ana de Armas) in the hopes of retrieving the rogue scientist Dr. Obruchev (David Dencik). One marvelously entertaining sequence in Cuba and one tragic death later, Obruchev has escaped and Madeleine has been coerced by Safin to engineer the death of the imprisoned Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz). Realizing that he was never betrayed by Madeleine, Bond dashes off to Norway to find her living with a five-year-old daughter, Mathilde (Lisa-Dorah Sonnet), who’s curiously the same age as the amount of time that’s passed since he last saw Madeleine… give or take nine months.

Following a morning making breakfast for Madeleine, Mathilde, and her omnipresent stuffy Dou-Dou, Bond’s fleeting minutes of domestic bliss are interrupted by the arrival of SPECTRE killer Logan Ash (Billy Magnussen) and his hard-driving henchmen, accompanied by their boss Safin, who kidnaps Madeleine and Mathilde even after Bond mows down Ash and the rest. Despite his retired status, Bond gains the assistance of M (Ralph Fiennes), Q (Ben Whishaw), Miss Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), and the new 007—Nomi (Lashana Lynch)—who offers to accompany him on his mission after requesting that M redesignate Bond as 007.

Bond and Nomi take flight in Q’s “stealthy bird” glider, charging toward the explosive climax at Poison Garden Island, a mid-century complex that Safin commandeered from Blofeld located on a secret island in an area Q identifies as “disputed waters between Japan and Russia,” setting the stage for a final act that echoes Ian Fleming’s ending to the novel You Only Live Twice. (Rather than the contested area mentioned, the island seen on screen was actually among the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic.)

Dr. Obruchev’s warning that the two are embarking on a suicide mission grows increasingly prescient when Bond is called out to Safin, prompting him to hand Nomi the controller to the explosives they planted and ordering: “If I don’t come back, blow it all to shit.”

After saving his family—a word he uncomfortably mouths to himself after introducing Madeleine and Mathilde to Nomi—Bond observes that the entire island is a manufacturing plant for the deadly nanobots powering Safin’s bioweapon against the world, and he orders that the Royal Navy deliver an immediate missile strike to destroy it… even if he doesn’t have the time to leave first. Despite M’s protestations regarding a “diplomatically complex” situation growing, Bond sticks to his virtuous goals: “if we don’t do this, there’ll be nothing left to save.”

“I have to finish this… for us,” Bond tells Madeleine with a kiss as he loads her into a boat with Mathilde and Nomi to make a safe getaway. “I’ll just be a minute.”

What’d He Wear?

For this final act, Bond dresses in a tactical outfit that feels already established as an iconic outfit of the Craig era, the combined result of its ubiquity in the film’s marketing, its significance within the movie itself, and its overall “cool factor”. The buzz around No Time to Die meant plenty of advance coverage and speculation about the outfits for months—even years—before they were finally actually seen on screen in context, with this being a particularly anticipated costume.

As usual, Bond Suits is the first place to read expert analysis of 007’s attire, with plenty of other excellent sources like Iconic Alternatives, James Bond Lifestyle, From Tailors With Love, and The Bond Experience continuing to provide in-depth insights into the clothing, accessories, and gadgets of Bond’s world and wardrobe.

In fact, the look inspired my friend Caleb to combine his passions for firearms and Bond into @CommandoBond, his informative Instagram account—and now blog!—that expertly and illustratively details the crossroads of Bond’s firearms and fashion sense.

The Commando Sweater

When Bond and Nomi board the RAF plane where a pajama-clad and gadget-laden Q awaits, Bond is still wearing the white henley he’d worn in Norway under his corduroy duster, but he’s supplemented it with the additional of tactical clothing and gear presumably provided by MI6 to support his combat mission.

Particularly given Commander Bond’s naval background, the commando sweater and cargo pants look like they could indeed be government or military issue, but their actual provenance was a close collaboration between costume designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb and London-based knitwear outfitter N.Peal to develop a look specifically for Daniel Craig to wear in No Time to Die, following the sweaters they provided for Craig to wear in Skyfall and Spectre.

Dressed in navy blue combat gear with their issued watches and weaponry (thanks to Q, lurking behind them), Nomi and Bond prepare to descend on Safin’s secret island.

Bond’s sweater echoes the “wooly pully” jumpers that originated with the British Army during World War II, eventually adopted by other branches and nations around the world. In Peter Brooker and Matt Spaiser’s From Tailors with Love, N.Peal creative director Adam Holdsworth recalls that the impetus was when Larlarb “had seen a vintage military commando sweater” and worked with N.Peal to individualize it into something “useful that… harked back to his military past, but it had to be timeless and of the moment.”

“I wanted to refer back to his naval background, but with a twist,” Craig explained in an exclusive interview with David Zaritsky of The Bond Experience. “It had to look like a uniform that he’d sort of gathered over the years. We used a couple of references of Special Forces, but older special forces—like from the ’50s—as opposed to the guys now who are suited up with the flak jackets… I wanted a silhouette that said something a bit more… this is the gear he keeps at home, and when it’s time to go to business he gets it out of the wardrobe and that’s what he sticks on.”

I’ve long been a proponent of commando sweaters, having picked up a secondhand USMC-issued crew-neck “woolly pully” when I was in high school that still fits me 15 years later, a testament to the quality, strength, and structure of the fabric… and not necessarily to my abysmal diet or exercise routine! My sweater’s tag includes the designation “sweater, man’s, knitted wool olive green, U.S. Marine Corps, shade 2247” and wears comfortably over T-shirts or collared shirts, as it’s the wool is a bit too itchy—and time-consuming to effectively wash—for me to wear it over bare skin. (Click here to see your humble author wearing said USMC sweater in a decidedly more collegiate context, circa December 2009.)

Craig’s screen-worn sweater was designed to be both combat-ready and comfortable, made from a blend of 90% superfine Merino wool and 10% cashmere, the latter apropos N.Peal’s specialty. In his Bond Suits post about the outfit, Matt Spaiser explains that the fabric blend was a “good choice because merino wool makes this tougher than a sweater that has a higher amount of cashmere, but the 10% cashmere can still be felt in the hand.”

In addition to the more luxurious fabric, the sweater departs from modern mil-spec gear with its wide boat-neck that N.Peal describes as “consistent with maritime clothing designed to reflect Bond’s close association with the Royal Navy.” A matching drawstring “shock cord” has been threaded through the collar, with the two ends hanging down from the front of the sweater.

The couple that wears N.Peal knitwear together stays together… at least until he loads her and their daughter into a boat to aid their escape from a doomed island that’s been secretly producing nanobots for a deranged megalomaniac to wage biochemical war against the world.

Commando sweaters are often associated with original olive green fabric—particularly appropriate for ground forces—though several branches like the Royal Navy issue them in navy blue, an appropriate choice for No Time to Die given the function (a former naval commander’s mission at sea) and the form (flattering Daniel Craig’s blue eyes). The ribbed body of the sweater also flatters Craig’s physique, highlighting that—even at five years retired and on the other side at 50—Bond is still in fighting shape. “The actual ribbing of the sweater had to have a specific level of definition and the shape of it had to make him look good,” Holdsworth explained in an interview for From Tailors with Love.

One of the key characteristics of commando-style sweaters are the canvas patches sewn over shoulders and elbows, both to prevent these high-tension areas from wearing out while also preventing friction burns from straps like those on Bond’s S.O.Tech gear bag or his Mk 18 Mod 0 carbine. “They wanted it in a quality cotton twill; just finding those things are incredibly difficult,” Holdsworth explained of the process to source the canvas taping for these patches. “[We found] a real cotton twill … and then custom dyed it to the shade they wanted.” Ultimately, Holdsworth recalled that approximately thirty of these “figure-hugging” jumpers were made for the production.

Note the unique shape of Bond’s wide boat-neck opening (with the pointed sides overlapping the tops of his dark suspenders under the sweater), the double ends of the drawcord hanging from the neck, and the canvas patches over the shoulders and elbows.

You can purchase the N.Peal “007 Ribbed Army Sweater” from FarFetch and N.Peal. (Unlike Bond, you probably won’t need 30 of them.)

Read more about the N.Peal sweater at From Tailors With Love, Iconic Alternatives, and James Bond Lifestyle.

The Henley Shirt

After the first part of his mission on Safin’s island, Bond pulls of his commando sweater and drapes it around Mathilde, telling her “it’s going to get very cold out, so I want you to have this,” also giving his young daughter a memento of the father she never got to know for more than a day.

The gesture reveals that Bond’s base layer is the same eggshell-white long-sleeved henley shirt that he had worn under his corduroy duster in Norway. Made from a soft, slubbed jersey-knit cotton, this henley from American fashion label Rag & Bone has a reinforced woven placket with three recessed metal buttons, each intentionally designed for an aged effect with the white paint worn away on the edges.

In this case, Bond’s “wear-and-tear in the field” results in significant wear-and-tear to his clothing, as seen by the rip over the left shoulder on his off-white henley shirt.

You can purchase the Rag & Bone henley from Nordstrom.

Read more about the Rag & Bone henley at From Tailors With Love and James Bond Lifestyle.

The Suspenders

Bond holds up his tactical trousers with a set of wide dark gray suspenders (braces), made by N. Peal in a blended fabric of 97% cotton and 3% elastane, the latter adding enough stretch to adapt to his significant level of activity on the island while also expanding enough to secure the recovered Dou-Dou.

The suspenders that N. Peal markets as “007 Braces” have dark brass hardware, including the front and back adjusters and waistband clips. Bond reinforces their connection to his trousers with short tan leather straps hooked on the lower front adjusters, presumably buttoned along the inside of his trouser waistband. (At From Tailors With Love, Pete Brooker shares that he learned the braces were actually sewn onto the trousers to keep them in place during the rigors of the action-heavy sequence.)

Bond tests the limits of his suspenders’ strength during heavy action on Poison Garden island.

You can purchase the N.Peal “007 Braces” from FarFetch and N.Peal.

Read more about the suspenders at James Bond Lifestyle.

The Tactical Trousers

As with the sweater, costume designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb collaborated with N.Peal to develop Bond’s combat trousers, marking a departure from the brand’s usual focus on knitwear and cashmere. With their abundance of tabs, zips, snaps, and straps, these tactical pants may look out of place in any other situation, though they’re perfectly suited for Bond’s mission here and non-00s may benefit from wearing them for rugged outdoor pursuits like camping or hiking.

Made of dark gray cotton, these flat front trousers have eight long, heavy-duty belt loops that button closed just under the belt line, with three evenly spaced on each side of the front and two closely spaced in the back. Despite these, Bond foregoes a belt in favor of the aforementioned suspenders, which are reinforced by an integral tan strap that loops from inside the waistband on each side of the front, matching the short tan tab that passes through a gunmetal buckle rigged just behind the forward-most belt loop on each side of the front. The trousers have a button-up fly with two small buttons to close at the top and a two-button squared waistband tab.

Larlarb explained to N.Peal that the trousers “would need to have a tactical functionality, with pockets dimensioned and positioned for specific props,” hence the abundance of storage. Each side pocket closes with a zipper up a set-in vertical opening. A gusseted cargo pocket over the left thigh closes with a double-snap flap… concealing another intricate system of snapped straps—a gray horizontal cotton strap over a brown vertical leather tab—that cover three brown leather loops resembling those used for bullet cartridges. Farther down the right leg, the trousers boast what appears to be a knife sheathing system with two dark gray velcro straps sewn onto the outside of the right calf, positioned just below a snap-closing flap with a slot inset on the flap. The seat lacks pockets, but has a curved seam echoing classic cavalry trousers and those favored by equestrians.

Both trouser legs are finished at the bottom with a gunmetal zipper that zips up to open and down to close, tightening the fit over the legs with a double-snap closure to secure the hems.

You can purchase the N.Peal “007 Combat Trousers” from FarFetch and N.Peal.

Read more about the trousers at From Tailors With Love, James Bond Lifestyle, and N.Peal.

Production photo of Bond, stripped down to his shirt sleeves and suspenders as he opens the blast doors to allow the Royal Navy’s missiles to destroy the island.

Bond wears a wide, heavy-duty black nylon belt over his hips, with CNC-machined black anodized aerospace aluminum quick-release buckles that James Bond Lifestyle identified as the “Epoch” model made by the recently formed American company Carbon Tactics.

The belt is too wide for his trouser loops, but he wears it more like a utility belt, with an additional black leather pouch on the left hip and a drop-leg tactical holster for his MI6-issued SIG-Sauer P226 pistol. Luckily for Mr. Bond, several of Safin’s henchmen carry the P226 as well, so he’s able to holster their commandeered pistols after losing his own.

I’ve seen the all-black polyester UTG Extreme Ops 188 identified as the holster that Bond wears on his right thigh in No Time to Die, albeit with the buckles on the double black-and-gray striped straps replaced with the Carbon Tactics “Epoch” instead. (Though unavailable as of March 2022, this holster—and many like it—can often be found at an affordable price on Amazon.)

Luckily, plenty of Bond’s gear is water-resistant… but is it DNA-coded nanobot-resistant?

Everything Else

Appropriate for the combat-ready nature of Bond’s mission, Portland, Oregon-based bootmaker Danner redesigned their sturdy 8″ Tanicus duty boots specifically for Craig to wear in No Time to Die, marketed to the public as the Danner 007 Tanicus and “built on the same platform we designed for demanding military use.”

The all-black uppers are constructed of rough-out full-grain sueded leather with their durable 1000 Denier nylon Cordura® for additional protection, extending up the eight-inch shafts. The boots lace up through five sets of eyelets over the instep, then four sets of speed hooks up the shaft, with a stretch “lace garage” pocket at the top of the tongue to keep the loose lace ends out of the wearer’s way. The custom Vibram® outsoles have pentagonal lugs.

The 007 Tanicus boots are almost identical in design to Danner’s standard model, albeit with a moisture-wicking mesh lining (rather than the “Danner Dry” waterproof lining) that contributes to the 007 Tanicus’ relatively reduced weight of 39 oz. per pair while offering enhanced breathability, aided by two perforated grommets on the inner side of each boot.

Read more about the sold-out boots at Danner, the 007 Store, and James Bond Lifestyle.

Bond’s Danner boots are perfectly suitable for rescuing Dou-Dou.

When Bond and Nomi take off in the glider, he pulls on a pair of Vuarnet Edge 1613 sunglasses that are also evidently an off-screen favorite of Daniel Craig. Bond had debuted Vuarnet sunglasses with the unique Glacier model for his skiing scenes in Spectre, followed by the more conventionally framed Legend 06 model seen earlier in No Time to Die when we catch up with the retired Bond in Jamaica.

James Bond Lifestyle reports that the specific screen-worn model is the VL1613 0002 1622, indicating dark gunmetal frames with gray polarized lenses, overlaid with black acetate rims. The quasi-futuristic approach to classic aviator frames befits their use in a scene of Bond taking flight, particularly in more experimental technology like Q’s folding-wing glider.

You can purchase Vuarnet Edge 1613 sunglasses from Amazon, Backcountry, and Vuarnet.

Read more about these sunglasses at From Tailors with Love and James Bond Lifestyle.

Back in the saddle again…

Given Omega’s association with Bond now lasting over a quarter of a century, considerable thought went into co-designing the timepiece that would dress Bond’s wrist. “When working with Omega, we decided that a lightweight watch would be key for a military man like 007,” Daniel Craig explained in Omega’s official announcement. “I also suggested some vintage touches and color to give the watch a unique edge.”

The resulting product is the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M Co-Axial Master Chronometer, worn on both a NATO strap (210.92.42.20.01.001) and metal “shark mesh” or “Milanese” bracelet (210.90.42.20.01.001). Both the 42mm case and the mesh bracelet were made from lightweight yet durable Grade 2 Titanium that also offers a tactical advantage given its resistance to corrosion and to reflecting light.

Q provides an additional tactical advantage to the watch when Bond returns to MI6’s service, gadget-izing the Seamaster to contain “a limited-radius electromagnetic pulse” designed to “short any circuit in a hard-wired network if you can get close enough.”

Bond: And how strong is it?
Q: It’s, uh, fairly strong.
Bond: “Fairly strong”? What’s that mean?!

Bond does get the opportunity to show Primo the Omega, subsequently blowing the henchman’s mind. One wonders if Primo had the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of the “tropical brown” aluminum used for the undirectional rotating bezel and the dial, offering yet another weight-saving feature in addition to being an attractive alternative to the usual black and blue dials of Bond’s divers. The hours are indicated by luminous non-numeric markers, with a “broad arrow” just above the 6:00 marker that James Bond Lifestyle reports was “used by British Armed Forces and visible on some vintage watches issued and owned by the British Ministry of Defense (especially the W.W.W. watches from the Second World War).”

The watch is powered by Omega’s self-winding Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 8806 movement with a power reserve of 55 hours and resistant to magnetic fields reaching 15,000 gauss. In addition to the screw-in crown, the Seamaster has a helium escape valve extending from the side at the 10:00 position.

You can purchase the No Time to Die Omega from Amazon and Omega.

Read more about this watch at James Bond Lifestyle and check out The Bond Experience‘s video review.

Tactically geared in his commando sweater, state-of-the-art Omega, and combat gloves, Bond approaches his latest enemy.

Bond also wisely wears a pair of black lightweight tactical gloves, specifically designed to allow for air circulation and with special inserts that allow the wearer to operate touch-screen devices using their index finger and thumb. According to James Bond Lifestyle, these are the relatively inexpensive Mil-Tec gloves, made from a fast-drying blend of 70% nylon and 30% elastane over the backs and 60% polyamide and 40% polyurethane on the palms. As they were designed for a tactical purpose rather than warmth, they are ventilated through the palms and fingers and extend only to the wrist, where a black hook-and-loop closure can adjust the fit.

You can purchase Mil-Tec gloves from Amazon.

Read more about the Mil-Tec gloves at James Bond Lifestyle.

The Guns

MI6 outfits Bond for substantial combat on Safin’s island with an Mk 18 Mod 0 carbine, rigged with a suppressor and optics, with a carry strap to be worn over his shoulder—making the case for the commando sweater’s reinforced shoulder patches.

The Mk 18 Mod 0 was developed by the U.S. Navy as a close-quarters battle receiver (CQBR) variant of the M4A1 Carbine, which itself was a shortened variant of the M16A2 selective-fire assault rifle. The modularity of the M16 platform allowed for relatively easy replacements of its long barrel with a system that blends the portability of a submachine gun with an intermediate cartridge, in this case combining a 10.3-inch barrel with the M16’s standard 5.56x45mm NATO ammunition.

For more context into Bond’s Mk 18 Mod 0, I turned to Caleb from @CommandoBond, who provided the following insights to be published here:

Bond utilizes a single point sling, connected at the base of the receiver, a holographic sight which appears to be an airsoft replica of an EoTech 512, offset iron sights (which, for some reason, are both on his quad rail, severely limiting his sight radius), a fixed A2 front sight post, and an incredibly long suppressor. While it certainly checks all the boxes for “tacti-cool” points, this setup does miss the mark a bit in my book. Offset irons are really meant to be a backup sight system for someone running a magnified optic, like a 1-6 scope or a Trijicon ACOG. Bond’s holographic sight has no magnification, meaning that he could just as easily run a fixed or folding rear sight behind the optic to accomplish the goal of having a back-up sights in the event of the optics failure. What also makes the case for a rear sight versus an offset pair is the fixed front sight, which is rendered more or less moot without it. In any case, its great to see Bond running a carbine.

One other thing that is really great—and in my opinion makes up for the carbine’s clunky setup—is Bond’s linked 30-round magazines. Daniel Craig was quoted saying that he really didn’t want to go all tactical with this look; he wanted something that allowed Bond to be functional without a flak jacket. His linked magazines allow him to carry additional ammunition without wearing a full kit. I would also hazard a guess that additional magazines were stored in his sling bag. But even if that isn’t the case, once things go crazy, we see Bond recovering magazines off of dead henchmen, which honestly made me really happy. Typically we get the usual “Hollywood unlimited capacity magazine” treatment. Not here. While his magazines seem to be depicted to hold more than 30 rounds, we at least get to see Bond realistically replenishing his limited stock on screen, and that is a major victory for me.

Having recovered his Mk 18 Mod 0 after Safin ordered him to drop it on the floor, Bond fights his way out of the lair to lead Nomi and his family to relative safety. The addition of a suppressor makes the weapon longer than its relatively compact 10″ barrel would suggest, but that just illustrates how much unwieldier a fuller-length carbine or rifle would be when affixed with a suppressor in the same scenario.

After very visibly disarming himself of his Mk 18 Mod 0 carbine and his holstered sidearm, Bond appears to be totally weakening to Safin’s domineering tactics… only for his “apologetic” crouch to be a ruse that allows Bond to better access his Walther PPK, which he swiftly produces to quickly fire three expertly placed rounds that take out Safin’s three guards in the room, though he isn’t fast enough to take out Safin, who absconds through a trapdoor with Mathilde.

German firearms manufacturer Walther developed the PPK in the early 1930s as a more compact variation of their PP (Polizeipistole), and the small blowback pistol grew to international fame as the favored sidearm of Ian Fleming’s fictional secret agent James Bond, first in the novels followed by the movies as Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan all holstered the .32-caliber PPK.

Daniel Craig fleetingly used a Walther PPK during the pre-credits sequence of his first Bond movie, Casino Royale, before the larger and more modern Walther P99 was established as his weapon of choice in the movie. By the following film, Quantum of Solace, Craig’s Bond had reverted to the smaller and more iconic PPK, which became his go-to carry piece for the rest of his tenure.

Caleb from @CommandoBond put considerable research into identifying the blued PPK carried by Daniel Craig in No Time to Die, ultimately determining that his handgun was actually a Walther PPK made under license by American manufacturer Smith & Wesson, made clear by the extended beavertail and dovetail sight. (This came as delightful news for me, as my PPK is also a post-recall Smith & Wesson-produced model—albeit a stainless steel .380.)

“Bond carries the pistol at the appendix inside the waistband (AIWB) position,” Caleb clarified to me. “This puts the pistol just to the right of his center-mass, giving Bond solid access to the firearm in nearly any position, including while bent double in Safin’s lair. With Bond’s full kit in mind, this is a perfect place to conceal a backup pistol. His drop leg holster and S.O. Tech Sling bag put a 3 o’clock or 4 o’clock position essentially out of commission, and his fitted trousers and high boots do the same for ankle carry. AIWB is currently one of the most popular carry positions due to its ease of concealment for handguns of any size; look to how Bond casually conceals his Browning Hi-Power in Jamaica. With an untucked cover garment, whether it’s a Tommy Bahama silk shirt or a commando sweater, one’s firearm easily disappears in AIWB carry and still has sub-second accessibility.”

Having cleared the room of threats, Bond stands with his PPK ready as he’s reunited with Madeleine.

The SIG-Sauer P226 emerged as one of Bond’s preferred pistols when facing heavier combat than his smaller-caliber, lower-capacity Walther PPK could handle. Swiss manufacturer SIG-Sauer designed the P226 to enter the XM9 Service Pistol Trials hosted by the U.S. Army when seeking a replacement for the venerable M1911A1 in the early 1980s. Though it wasn’t selected for that purpose, the P226 made a favorable impression on the firearms world—and would indeed be adopted by U.S. Navy SEALs—and has since spawned a host of offspring in varying sizes, triggers, and ammunition.

The British Army and Royal Air Force are among the many military forces around the world to have widely issued the P226 and P226R (modified with an accessory rail) for use, providing a real-life gateway for the weapon’s entry into the Bond-iverse as an authorized MI6 duty sidearm. We first see Craig’s Bond arm himself with a P226, taken from an MI6 guard in Quantum of Solace before using it through the final sequence, and another appears when he’s giving Madeleine a quick firearms lesson in Spectre.

Speaking of firearms lessons, please enjoy the additional context provided by @CommandoBond below:

In both Spectre and No Time to Die, the variant utilized by Bond is the P226R, which is a Picatinny-railed version of the pistol. It makes a lot of sense that the more modern Bond would have a penchant and familiarity with this handgun, as both the Special Air Service and Special Boat Service—with whom Bond served during his tenure in the Royal Navy—issue the P226. This alloy-framed pistol is hammer-fired, and sports a decocking lever rather than a manual safety. This mechanism also makes the P226 a great companion to the PPK, as both have a double action/single action (DA/SA) capability—the PPK’s manual safety also functions as a decocker—meaning that, for both of Bond’s handguns, the first shot has a longer and heavier trigger pull as an additional safety feature, with proceeding shots being far faster and with a shorter reset. This dual system does take some additional getting used to, and this would certainly be something Bond would train around.

Bond gears up with this P226R while on the RAF plane en route to Safin’s island, suggesting that it’s yet another government-issued pistol, perhaps provided by MI6 or the RAF. He wears it very accessibly—and visibly—in the drop holster strapped to his right thigh. As Safin can see Bond carrying it, he asks him to drop it… but he remains unaware of Bond’s more furtively stored PPK. Once Bond regains the upper hand, he re-holsters the discarded P226 and uses it for some extended combat to follow. After he runs out of ammunition during a stairwell fight, he runs into some luck as many of Safin’s henchmen are armed with P226 pistols, so he can just take and holster theirs as needed.

Bond makes a show of the fact that he’s removing his P226… all with the knowledge that he’s keeping his PPK tucked away and ready for use as needed.

The weapon that ultimately was selected from the XM9 Service Pistol Trials was the Beretta 92F, designated for U.S. military service as the “M9”. As with most military weapons, the M9 has undergone several improvements since it first entered service in the 1980s, including the development of the Beretta M9A3, introduced in 2014.  (In a curious reversal of history, the U.S. military rejected the Beretta M9A3 in favor of the polymer-framed SIG-Sauer P320, but the M9A3 remains for sale on the civilian market.)

The M9A3 expands on the improvements made for the M9A1 variant, including modifications to better accommodate differently sized hands, a threaded barrel, and a full MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail with thicker trigger guard for mounting lights, as Safin utilizes with the addition of a fore-light under the barrel. In addition to the classic black, the M9A3 is also available in the tactical finishes of olive drab or “flat dark earth”, as selected for Safin’s Beretta. Black controls like the angled decocker, grip screws, hammer, trigger, and removable front and rear tritium night sights provide a dark contrast against the pistol’s sandy khaki slide, frame, and grips.

After their brawl, Bond picks up Safin’s M9A3 from the water and uses it to execute him: partially to complete his mission but also in revenge for poisoning his blood against his family.

After decades of Bond’s creative disposal of his enemies ranging from compressed-gas inflation to literally pushing them into outer space, he resorts to the tried-and-true method of shooting Safin with his own handgun.

Although it’s certainly not the small .25-caliber pistol that Ian Fleming described in the first half-dozen novels, it’s perhaps suitable that the last on-screen kill of Daniel Craig’s James Bond uses a Beretta, the same Italian manufacturer that Fleming had chosen for the literary 007’s original armament before it would be swapped out for his now-signature Walther PPK.

Read more about the firearms of No Time to Die at IMFDB.

How to Get the Look

As costume designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb summed up to N.Peal: “From the closet of each and every Bond film there always emerges a memorable, informal look that combines a modern take on utility with the character’s effortless and refined style.”

Daniel Craig as James Bond in No Time to Die (2021)

Daniel Craig ends his tenure as James Bond dressed appropriately for his final mission in No Time to Die in a military-inspired “commando sweater”, cargo pants, and boots that—unlike, say, the Harrington jacket, polo, and jeans from Quantum of Solace—are a little too “tacti-cool” for everyday civilian wear, but the pieces themselves can be stylish components of a unique and comfortable casual look.

• Navy-blue ribbed merino wool/cashmere “commando” sweater with drawstring-threaded boatneck and canvas patches over shoulders and elbows
  • N. Peal 007 Ribbed Army Sweater
• Eggshell-white slubbed jersey-knit cotton long-sleeved henley shirt with 3-button placket
  • Rag & Bone Classic Slim Fit Henley
• Dark gray cotton flat front tactical combat trousers with button-down belt loops, zip-up side pockets, snap-flapped gusseted left-thigh pocket, corner-snap right-calf pocket, and zip-up/double-snap hems
  • N. Peal 007 Combat Trousers
• Dark gray cotton/elastane suspenders with brass adjusters and waistband clips
  • N. Peal 007 Braces
• Wide black nylon utility belt with quick-release black anodized aluminum buckles
• Black suede-and-nylon Cordura® 8″ military-style tactical boots with five-eyelet/four-speed hook lacing and Vibram® pentagonal lug outsoles
  • Danner 007 Tanicus
• Omega Seamaster Diver 300M Co-Axial Master Chronometer 210.90.42.20.01.001 titanium 42mm-cased self-winding watch with “tropical brown” aluminum dial and rotating bezel on titanium mesh bracelet
• Vuarnet Edge 1613 sunglasses with gunmetal aviator-style frame, black acetate rims, and gray polarized lenses
• Black synthetic tactical gloves with touch-screen fingers and adjustable cuffs

How About That Ending?

I warned about spoilers above, but—seriously—don’t read on unless you either already know or are ambivalent about the ending to No Time to Die!

With Dou-Dou by his side, Bond faces his fate.

With Daniel Craig’s input, the filmmakers made the controversial choice for James Bond to die at the end of No Time to Die… perhaps rendering the title somewhat moot, as the 163-minute runtime offers plenty of time for the former agent to meet his demise.

Reactions to this decision was mixed from fans, with some feeling betrayed by the death of their seemingly immortal character while others (including me) applauding what felt like appropriate closure for Craig’s more introspective characterization of James Bond.

Some criticism levied at the ending suggested that this was not Ian Fleming’s Bond (and one wonders what these audiences thought of Roger Moore dressed as a clown in Octopussy), though readers may recall that Fleming had brushed with Bond’s mortality on several occasions, first at the conclusion of the novel From Russia with Love which finds 007 staggering into unconsciousness after being stabbed by Rosa Klebb’s poison-tipped shoe… leaving his fate ambiguous. Unlike No Time to Die, which promised viewers that “James Bond will return,” Fleming found himself besieged with frustrated fans who hoped that wasn’t the end of his literary creation. As described by Fergus Fleming in The Man with the Golden Typewriter:

But if he had been hoping to use From Russia with Love to step off the Bond treadmill, he had chosen the wrong moment. Enthusiasm for 007 was gathering apace and, as letters flowed in from a disappointed readership, it seemed that he had little option but to continue.

Following several more literary missions and his life-changing marriage that left him almost instantly widowed, Fleming’s Bond evolves into a more cynical fatalism that intertwined the character’s ending with that of his creator, as Ian Fleming died in August 1964, months after completing the novel You Only Live Twice that—combined with his posthumously completed The Man with the Golden Gun—drove much of No Time to Die‘s pathos and conclusion. The death of Bond’s new wife Tracy in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service has left him a self-destructive shell by You Only Live Twice, in which a simple assignment in Japan devolves into a desperate revenge mission against his mortal enemy Blofeld, now living at a remote castle that cultivates exclusively poisonous vegetation in its “Garden of Death”, an obvious model for the Poison Garden that would enrapture both Bond and his deceased nemesis in its explosive end at the finale of No Time to Die.

And truly, how else would we expect James Bond to die? Such an adrenaline addict would hate to grow old, and it serves his oft-stated raison d’etre that he was not above self-sacrifice, whether in the name of “the things I do for England” or the family he had spawned after leaving the service. Like so many mythic heroes of the old west, it serves the legend of James Bond that he would be determined to die with his proverbial (and literal, thanks to Danner) boots on. This philosophy is summed up when Ralph Fiennes’ M eulogizes the late agent with a passage from Jack London, which had also appeared in the novel You Only Live Twice as Mary Goodnight’s submission for Commander Bond’s obituary:

The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.

I found some interesting parallels between Bond’s on-screen death in No Time to Die and the real-life ending of Sidney Reilly, the Russian-born spy often cited as one of Ian Fleming’s inspirations for the Bond character. After a life shrouded in mystery, often spying on behalf of the British and their allies (and enemies), the middle-aged Reilly had returned to Soviet-controlled Russia, the country that had sentenced him to death in absentia for his role in attempting to overturn the Bolshevik government seven years earlier. Formerly driven by alternating forces of duty and greed, Reilly seemed now strictly ideological in his determination to challenge the Soviets… but his idealism was met with betrayal and capture, and it’s widely reported that he was executed in November 1925, following weeks in captivity. (There are theories that Reilly’s 1925 “death” was actually cover for his defection, but I’ll keep my commentary to the accepted facts.)

Like Bond in No Time to Die, Reilly had aged into his 50s by this point, was no longer on active duty, and appeared more focus on his romantic life (whether his latest wife was his third or fourth remains murky.) Both Bond and Reilly may have had the option to enjoy lives in quiet retirement, but both felt compelled to return to dangerous situations that led to their deaths. In both cases, their deaths were narratively positioned as sacrifices that served a greater good: the real-life Reilly’s capture and execution exposed the GPU’s fake anti-Bolshevik organization, The Trust (as emphasized in the 1983 mini-series Reilly, Ace of Spies), and Bond’s death on Poison Garden island prevented him from endangering his family while also ensuring the island’s destruction.

Some may disagree with my appreciation for how No Time to Die ended Craig’s tenure (which is fine!), but at least all 007 fans can count on the four words across the screen as the credits wrapped:

James Bond Will Return

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

You have all the time in the world.

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