Jon Hamm as Sheriff Roy Tillman on Fargo (Episode 5.02: “Trials and Tribulations”). Photo credit: Michelle Faye/FX.
Vitals
Jon Hamm as Roy Tillman, ranch-owning sheriff of Stark County, North Dakota, and “a hard man… for hard times”
North Dakota, Fall 2019
Series: Fargo, Season 5
Air Dates: November 21, 2023 – January 16, 2024
Creator: Noah Hawley
Costume Designer: Carol Case
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Celebrating his 53rd birthday today, Jon Hamm recently co-starred on the fifth season of Fargo as Roy Tillman, an “unorthodox” sheriff who runs Stark County, North Dakota with an iron fist backed by Old Testament-sounding guidance, “bound by duty, blood, and tradition,” though this—more often than not—just means bullying constituents and outsiders alike. To solidify his position, Roy doesn’t shy away from dangerous alliances, including a local militia of reactionaries that he supplies with arms and support.
Shortly after we formally make his acquaintance in the second episode, we learn that Roy is the first husband of Dot Lyon (Juno Temple), whom we saw narrowly escape from kidnapper Ole Munch (Sam Spruell) in the season premiere—a failed abduction engineered by Roy, who hired Munch and then made an enemy out of him by having his brash son Gator (Joe Keery) try to kill him.
Munch’s vendetta is hardly Roy’s only concern, as he’s also bucking visits from the FBI, inquiring why Sheriff Tillman hasn’t actually been enforcing laws other than anything from which he personally benefits. While Roy candidly explains his enforcement philosophy as “more of a let-the-orphans-fight-each-other-for-sport kinda guy,” his official response to the feds is that he’s simply a constitutional purist who has been elected by his constituents “to interpret and enforce the constitution given unto us by almighty God.”
Roy spends much of the season increasing his enemies, including the domineering collection agency CEO Lorraine Lyon (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who succinctly determines that Roy’s quest for freedom without responsibility is merely “fighting for [his] right to be a baby.”
What’d He Wear?
Consistent with his unorthodox approach to law enforcement, Roy Tillman eschews a traditional sheriff’s uniform in favor the rugged western-wear appropriate for his rancher lifestyle.
Costume designer Carol Case explained in a November 2023 interview with Gold Derby that “for Jon, we started with the image of the Marlboro Man from the cigarette ads—and even the fact that they’re cigarette ads, it kind of says a lot about who he is, right?” Hamm was enthusiastic about the approach, as Case further reported that “he didn’t shy away from the giant belt buckle. He didn’t try to shy away from the hat. He was right into it. And that helped a lot.”
The Cowboy Hat
Roy defines his silhouette with a dramatic cowboy hat, crafted from a light taupe-brown felt including the narrow self-band. The shape follows a ridge top cattleman’s style with its high crown and severely creased brim.
Sheriff Roy confers with his son Gator in “The Paradox of Intermediate Transactions” (Episode 5.03).
The Sheepskin Coat
“Sheriff Roy is a maverick, right?” Case posited to Gold Derby. “So uniforms aren’t his world. He’s like, ‘I’ll wear whatever I feel like when I feel like it.’ So it ended up, strangely, a little bit of a uniform because he always wears that sheepskin jacket. It’s just of his own making.”
Sheepskin is one of the oldest outerwear materials in existence, dating as far back as the Stone Age. The cloth is sourced from the skin of shearling lambs—tanned, processed, and dyed with the wool intact to create a soft suede-like shell with a softly piled fleece wool reverse side, resulting in a dense yet breathable fabric that has been a stalwart of workwear and military outerwear for a century.
Roy keeps his shearling coat buttoned up when he and Gator meet with Ole Munch in “The Tender Trap” (Episode 5.06).
Roy’s shearling sheepskin car coat retains the classic tan suede-like shell, detailed with the naturally cream-colored piled fleece that lines the reverse side and prominently trims all the edges, including the turned-back cuffs, shawl collar, pockets, and the large-scaled grid of seams across the jacket’s front, back, and set-in sleeves where the pieces of hide have been sewn together. The thigh-length cut keeps Roy’s upper half warm without being too bulky for his considerable time on horseback.
The coat closes with three horn-shaped antler tip toggle buttons up the front, both a performative showcase of Roy’s masculinity while also a practical method for insuring that the buttons remain fastened through the thick cloth. The two patch-style hip pockets are trimmed in the same fleece, with a thick layer of fleece across the top of each pocket. According to the costume tag in a VIP Fan Auctions listing, the custom-made coat cost $4,650.
The Shirts
“The Tragedy of the Commons” (Episode 5.01) briefly introduces us to Sheriff Roy while leading his family in a pre-dinner prayer on his ranch. During this brief vignette, he wears a well-cut brown herringbone silk shirt with a large semi-spread collar, front placket, three-button cuffs, and two patch-style chest pockets that close with a single button through a gently pointed flap. According to the description in a VIP Fan Auctions listing, the shirt was made by Oikos Shirts, an Ontario-based bespoke shirtmaker established in 2012 by Alex Yiannakakos. Though there’s no yoke detailing across the front, the back features a single-pointed western yoke.
This is the sole appearance for both this smart-looking shirt and his monogrammed bolo tie, an ornately etched nickel-and-gold oval with a “T” monogrammed in the center and the requisite black braided leather tie-strings with their pointed aiguillettes hanging straight down over the shirt’s front placket.
Our first look at Sheriff Roy Tillman, dressed for dinner in a silk shirt and bolo tie in “The Tragedy of the Commons” (Episode 5.01).
Roy gets a more prominent introduction in the next episode, “Trials and Tribulations” (Episode 5.02), which also establishes his everyday dressing pattern of western-informed, two-pocket work shirts—often made by Ralph Lauren—with his shearling coat and jeans.
In “Trials and Tribulations”, Roy wears a white, blue, and gray shadow plaid mid-weight cotton shirt that a VIP Fan Auctions listing confirms was indeed made by RRL Ralph Lauren. The shirt’s pattern is a repeating series of large squares, framed by a charcoal-gray graph-check, each gradating from blue in the lower-left corner to white in the upper-right corner.
The shirt features many western-informed details like its pointed shoulder yokes, snap-front placket, and snap-closed pockets and cuffs, though the two chest pockets are uniquely asymmetrically shaped. Each pocket and its respective narrow flap slants down toward the center of the shirt, where the flap closes through a single button and the pocket itself is mitred, unlike the sharper corner on the opposing outer end.
Roy settles a family dispute in “Trials and Tribulations” (Episode 5.02).
“The Paradox of Intermediate Transactions” (Episode 5.03) begins with Roy meeting his son Gator at a gas station to determine how to dispose of Gator’s deceased partner—the latest victim in Ole Munch’s fresh vendetta against the Tillman family and deputies.
During the brief scene, Roy is almost entirely illuminated by the red lights of Gator’s truck, making it difficult to discern any specific colors in his dark plaid flannel shirt or the henley he layers underneath it. The shirt follows typical western work shirt with its snap-front placket and two flapped chest pockets.
In a subsequent scene, Roy returns home to the Tillman ranch wearing one of the few shirts that he wears more than once over the course of Fargo‘s fifth season, seen in “The Paradox of Intermediate Transactions” (Episode 5.03), “Insolubilia” (Episode 5.04), and “Blanket” (Episode 5.08).
This brown cotton shirt is characterized by contrasting beige stitching that frames the collar, pockets, plackets, and cuffs, with the additional detail of a western-embroidered star along the outside of each double-snap cuff. These cuffs, front placket, and the gently pointed two chest pocket flaps all close with flat gunmetal-toned snaps.
The VIP Fan Auctions listing informs that this shirt was made by Ryan Michael, a Kennesaw, Georgia-based western label established by designer Michael Ryan and Fred Rowan. In a 2015 profile of the brand for Cowboys & Indians, Dana Joseph writes of Ryan Michael’s dedication to its craft: “The discipline carries through on every detail, including the unique dying and finishing. ‘Garments are assembled and then dyed, creating uniqueness in the seams.’ That’s what gives the signature weathered look and achieves the vintage quality Ryan Michael is known for — ’like something you grabbed out of your grandpa’s closet.'”
By the end of “Insolubilia” (Episode 5.04), Roy is dressing for revenge in a blue denim snap-front shirt and black Wrangler jeans, diverging from his usual blue jeans, presumably to avoid overly matching.
Made by RRL Ralph Lauren according to a VIP Fan Auctions listing, this indigo-blue cotton denim shirt has the usual western-pointed yokes and snap-front placket, though the two chest pockets are covered with double-pointed, double-snap “sawtooth”-style flaps. Each sleeve has triple-snap cuffs and an additional snap to close the gauntlet.
Roy considers his next move in “Insolubilia” (Episode 5.04).
From “The Tiger” (Episode 5.05) through the start of “The Tender Trap” (Episode 5.06) and again in “Linda” (Episode 5.07), Roy wears a beige cotton flannel shirt with a brown multi-check, characterized by a prominent large-scaled brown grid-check framed by narrower brown stripes against a faded brown gradient shadow. Unlike his collection of snap-front shirts, this shirt has off-white plastic two-hole buttons fastening the front placket, cuffs, and the two pointed flaps over the patch-style chest pockets.
“Well, son, I’m not sure I can negotiate with a man named after a breakfast pastry.”
Roy’s fondness for solid brown shirts reappears with yet a third shirt, this time made in a pinwale corduroy cotton by Levi’s (according to, you guessed it, a VIP Fan Auctions listing—though the listing erroneously, but understandably, describes it also being the shirt as Roy leads the pre-meal prayer in the first episode.) This shirt can be visually distinguished from the Oikos shirt in the first episode by this corduroy (not silk) shirting and its narrower spread collar.
This corduroy shirt has dark brown plastic four-hole buttons fastening the front placket, cuffs, and the two mitred-corner pocket flaps over the two mitred-corner chest pockets (which further distinguish it from the Oikos shirt with its pointed flaps).
Finally, when Roy calls in the militia to lead his deputies’ last stand at Tillman Ranch in “The Useless Hand” (Episode 5.09) and “Bisquik” (Episode 5.10), he wears a classic light-blue woven chambray cotton work shirt by Ralph Lauren. The front placket, both chest pocket flaps, and single-button cuffs all close with off-white plastic two-hole buttons.
Careful, Roy…!
The Jeans
The Tillmans are a Wrangler denim family, led by Roy who exclusively wears jeans made by the North Carolina-based brand. Even Roy’s devoted third wife Karen (Rebecca Liddiard) wears Wrangler jeans, observed when we glimpse the branded leather patch over the back-right pocket in the aftermath of her confrontation with Dot in “The Useless Hand” (Episode 5.09).
Aside from the few times he wears black jeans—during the pre-dinner prayer in “The Tragedy of the Commons” (Episode 5.01), at the end of “Insolubilia” (Episode 5.04), and with his sports coat in “Blanket” (Episode 5.08)—Roy wears dark indigo-blue denim jeans, arranged in the classic five-pocket configuration and branded with the sharp “W”-shaped stitches over the back pockets that had been a brand trademark since the 11MWZ (soon to be renamed 13MWZ) was introduced in 1947.
“I’m wranglin’ things,” Roy explains to Odin Little (Michael Copeman) in this scene in “The Paradox of Intermediate Transactions”—which is exactly what we would expect of a man who regularly wears Wrangler jeans.
Roy holds up his jeans with a russet-brown tooled leather belt, rigged for duty with the usual lawman’s accoutrements of a badge holder, a matching open-top pistol holster (on his right side for a strong-side draw), and matching pouches for his handcuff and a spare magazine, both positioned at the center-right side of his back. By the final episodes, he’s also added a black leather knife sheath to the front right side.
The pièce de résistance of Roy’s setup is his large nickel rectangular belt buckle, ornately carved with bronze accents and with the same gold “T” monogram bisecting a gold square as seen on his bolo tie in the first episode. According to that outfit’s VIP Fan Auctions listing, the four-inch buckle was custom-crafted by the Canadian-based Olson Silver Company.
While oversized belt buckles have a long legacy among ranch style, the overly macho Sheriff Roy likely also appreciates that his flashy buckle draws eyes toward his manhood.
The Boots
Roy regularly wears round-toed cowboy boots, cycling between black leather mid-calf Ariat boots (when wearing his black jeans) and dark brown leather boots (when wearing his blue jeans).
The snow has fallen on Tillman Ranch by the time he’s calling in the militia for help in “The Useless Hand” (Episode 5.09), so he’s swapped out his usual cowboy boots for heavy-duty winter work boots from the Idaho-based Hoffman Boots, identified by the outfit’s VIP Fan Auctions listing.
Roy appears to wear the Hoffman Thinsulate Lineman Pac boots, advertised as “the boot of choice for lineman working in mild weather conditions.” The boots have seven-ounce brown oil-tanned leather uppers that rise 10 inches over the calves, derby-laced through three sets of brass eyelets, seven sets of speed hooks up the shaft, and an additional set of eyelets around the top. The leather uppers are triple-stitched, glued, and sealed to dark-brown waterproof bottoms constructed of polyester and polyamid incorporated into the rubber, with 200 grams of thinsulate insulation against the weather. The claw-lug soles are designed to provide excellent traction, particularly crucial as these are intended for linemen.
Most Hoffman boots feature kilties extending from the front of the lace panels, though these appear to have been removed on Roy’s boots.
Roy’s method of only half-lacing his boots up the speed hooks wouldn’t do him much good as a lineman, but even firmly tied boots wouldn’t help him keep his footing when facing this particular scenario in “The Useless Hand” (Episode 5.09).
Everything Else
For the Stark County sheriff debate debacle in “Blanket” (Episode 5.08), Roy dresses up his usual attire by pulling on a western-styled sports coat over the contrast-stitched brown snap-front shirt and his black jeans.
Constructed from a muted dark-brown plaid polyester (according to the VIP Fan Auctions listing), the single-breasted two-button jacket boasts some distinctive ranch-informed style elements like the pointed flaps over the hip pockets, a long single vent as found on hacking jackets, and the two sets of curved rope “smiles”—positioned with two on each side of the chest extending down from the shoulder and two across the back, following the arch of the curved back yoke. These short ropes are secured to the body of the jacket at each end with a black leather triangular patch.
In addition to getting three debtors to legally change their names to “Roy Tillman” ahead of the election, Danish Graves also impressively managed to dress the trio almost identically to the incumbent Sheriff Roy’s tan cowboy hat, muted brown plaid sports coat, and brown work shirt. How would Danish have known what Roy was planning to wear?
For heavier-duty work, Roy occasionally pulls on black leather work gloves, likely the same Wind River brand gloves that were auctioned by VIP Fan Auctions with the blue chambray shirt and jeans worn by Jon Hamm’s stunt double in “The Useless Hand” (Episode 5.09).
It all comes down to this: backed by a desperate militia that he armed with police weaponry, Roy faces down the feds who have gathered around Tillman Ranch in “The Useless Hand” (Episode 5.09).
Roy’s wristwatch is perhaps surprisingly refined given the demonstrative ruggedness in the rest of his style. The stainless 40mm case with its black dial and black leather strap recalls the elegant Omega De Ville that Jon Hamm had worn as Don Draper across the final three seasons of Mad Men, though—based on the lettering at the top of its dial—I suspect this watch to be a Tissot. The round black dial features luminous non-numeric hour indices and either lacks a date complication or has an understated date window as seen on the Tissot Gentleman Powermatic 80 Silicium.
Also on his left hand, Roy wears his wedding ring, a mitred brushed silver band with a diagonal-ridged brushed gold band around its center. Of course, this isn’t the most talked-about ring that Hamm wore on Fargo…
Last but not least, perhaps the most discussed aspect of Roy’s wardrobe this year were the nipple rings that gleam from his chest as Roy greets two FBI agents as he soaks in an outdoor bath in “Trials and Tribulations” (Episode 5.02) before emerging from the bath, nude from the cowboy hat down, and takes his time wrapping a towel (emblazoned with his own face) around his lower half.
Christina Radish began Collider‘s December 2023 interview with Hamm by asking about the rings, which the actor stated were “baked into the script and I signed off on it immediately… but I will say the experience of having one’s nipples covered in a gooey latex and a prosthetic applied is really one for the books.”
“Does my discussin’ matters of state in moist repose bother you?”
Hamm further contextualizes that the surprising affectation communicates to the viewer that Roy “enjoys the comforts of life, he enjoys what makes him happy, and he is beholden to no one on this earth, really, to explain that to anybody. It’s a very powerful position to be in, in that world of being comfortable with yourself, and he is very comfortable lording that power over others.”
The Guns
As expected from an old-fashioned lawman, Sheriff Roy’s primary sidearm is a stainless or nickel-plated M1911A1 semi-automatic pistol rather than the Glocks his uniformed deputies carry. Roy carries his belt-holstered 1911 in “condition one”—locked and cocked with a round in the chamber, the hammer pulled back, and the thumb safety on.
Designed by John Browning and first produced by Colt, the 1911 design was refined in the mid-1920s with the M1911A1 that included a shorter trigger, longer grip-safety spur and shaved hammer spur, and curved mainspring housing. The latter is evident on Roy’s pistol, though it has a more modern skeletonized hammer and rear target sights that differentiate it from the classic mil-spec M1911A1.
Roy’s pistol falls from his hand in “The Useless Hand” (Episode 5.09), giving us a clear look at “MILITARY 1911A1-1” etched on the right side of the slide. However, the “pistol” appears to be a realistic-looking resin or rubber replica to be used for this level of non-firing stunt work.
In “Blanket” (Episode 5.08), the Lyon family’s lawyer Danish Graves (Dave Foley) confronts Roy in his ranch office about the reality of losing the upcoming sheriff’s election, to which Roy responds with a grunt by drawing a nickel-plated Remington Model 1875 Army revolver from his desk.
Remington launched the Model 1875 as an improvement to its earlier Model 1858 percussion revolvers. Chambered for .44- and .45-caliber rounds, the Remington 1875 was the firm’s first foray into revolvers that could fire metallic cartridges, intended to compete with the popular Colt Single Action Army which has since been immortalized in Western lore as the “Peacemaker”. Despite the Remington 1875’s reputation for reliability and sturdiness, it failed to penetrate Colt’s two-year headstart in securing military contracts.
Remington Model 1875 revolvers can be easily visually differentiated from competitors by the tapered web under the barrel, a design holdover from the Model 1858. As Remington had only produced this model from 1875 through 1889, the condition of Roy’s revolver suggests that he likely carries a modern reproduction by Uberti or Cimarron Firearms.
“If you’re so smart… then why are you so dead?”
When Roy senses an intruder in his home in “Insolubilia” (Episode 5.04), he arms himself with a Remington Model 870 Police Magnum shotgun to inspect the house.
Popular among law enforcement, military personnel, and civilians, this classic pump-action shotgun was introduced in 1950 as an improvement upon Remington’s earlier Model 31. Nearly three quarters of a century later, Remington has produced more than 11 million Model 870 shotguns in various configurations, barrel lengths, and gauges, though Roy wields a classic blued 12-gauge police model with wooden furniture and a 14-inch barrel that doesn’t extend far past the end of the magazine tube.
How to Get the Look
Jon Hamm as Sheriff Roy Tillman on Fargo (Episode 5.06: “The Tender Trap)
Self-branded as “a hard man for hard times,” Sheriff Roy Tillman knows the impact of a traditionally masculine image that he cultivates with his ranch-appropriate western gear, including a dramatic cowboy hat, shearling coat, blue jeans, oversized belt buckle, and sturdy boots.
- Tan sheepskin shearling thigh-length car coat with fleece-lined shawl collar, three antler horn toggle buttons, fleece-topped patch-style hip pockets, and
- Long-sleeved two-pocket western-style work shirts in brown or blue, solid or plaid
- Dark-blue denim Wrangler jeans with belt loops and five-pocket configuration
- Russet-brown tooled leather belt
- “T”-monogrammed nickel, brass, and bronze oversized rectangular belt buckle
- Russet-brown leather open-top belt holster for 1911-style pistol
- Dark-brown leather mid-calf cowboy boots
- Light taupe-brown felt cattleman’s-style cowboy hat
- Black leather work gloves
- Silver wedding ring with gold-centered band
- Stainless steel automatic watch with round black dial on black leather strap
- Nipple rings
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the series, currently streaming on Hulu.
Footnotes
Newspapers run photos of Sheriff Roy Tillman dressed similarly in a cowboy hat and plaid shirt but with a tan Carhartt-style zip-up work jacket that he never actually wears on screen, perhaps reserving that for warmer weather than depicted during the fall-to-winter setting of Fargo‘s fifth season.
The byline in this November 2019 issue of the Western Times Examiner shown in “Insolubilia” (Episode 5.04) is credited to reporter Carol Case—which is actually the costume designer’s name!
Though Roy himself only makes a brief appearance at the end of “Linda” (Episode 5.07), he and his traditional costume of cowboy hat, shearling coat, plaid shirt, and jeans are prominently represented in Dot/Nadine’s marionette-illustrated flashback to how she ended up in her situation.
The Quote
Does my discussin’ matters of state in moist repose bother you?
The post Fargo, Season 5: Jon Hamm’s Shearling Coat and Ranchwear as Sheriff Roy Tillman appeared first on BAMF Style.