Murray Hamilton as Mayor Larry Vaughn in Jaws (1975)
Vitals
Murray Hamilton as Larry Vaughn, ineffective mayor of Amity Island
Amity Island, July 1974
Film: Jaws
Release Date: June 20, 1975
Director: Steven Spielberg
Costume Design: Louise Clark, Robert Ellsworth, and Irwin Rose
Background
Today would have been the 101st birthday of Murray Hamilton, the marvelous character actor whose talents were perhaps best showcased as the hopelessly stubborn mayor of Amity Island, the fictional New England beach town being terrorized by a great white shark in Steven Spielberg’s iconic 1975 blockbuster Jaws.
Born March 24, 1923, Hamilton steadily built a career out of making the most from smaller roles in films like Anatomy of a Murder (1959), The Hustler (1961), and Seconds (1966) before his arguably most prominent role as the cuckolded Mr. Robinson in The Graduate (1967). Hamilton’s charismatic performance as the misguided mayor of Amity Island in both Jaws and its 1978 sequel Jaws 2 resulted in @adamgoodell’s much-memed tweet highlighting the importance of political accountability:
What’d He Wear?
I won’t deny that the most notable piece from Mayor Vaughn’s wardrobe is arguably the anchor-detailed jacket he wears multiple times throughout Jaws and even has its own Facebook page dedicated to it. An easy runner-up from the mayor’s closet would be the colorfully striped blazer he dons for the back-to-back celebrations of the premature capture of the tiger shark he proclaims to have been preying on Amity Island’s beaches, followed by reopening said beaches on the fourth of July… only for disaster to strike again.
The jaunty blazer is patterned with a series of light-blue, tan, indigo, and olive hairline-width stripes against a white ground, sporadically arranged but often in sets of four that look like wider solid stripes. Likely made from cotton, polyester, or a blend of both, the single-breasted blazer has the requisite wide lapels that were trendy through the mid-1970s, with a welted seam following the outline—including the notches—about a half-inch in from the edges. The wide flaps over the slanted hip pockets are similarly detailed. The blazer’s narrowly welted breast pocket follows an unconventional slant out toward the armhole.
Metal buttons are often cited as a defining characteristic of blazers, and Vaughn’s whimsically striped jacket is no exception with its two closely positioned silver shank buttons on the front, matching the single silver shank button decorating each cuff. The blazer has padded shoulders and roped sleeveheads that strengthen the mayor’s silhouette, and the long double side vents extend up to Murray Hamilton’s natural waist.
Mayor Vaughn’s colorful jacket may not align with the traditional image of a blazer, but I believe it qualifies due to the metal buttons, the striped cloth reminiscent (but not identical to) regatta wear, and sporty pockets.
Under his blazer, Mayor Vaughn wears a red-and-white oxford cotton shirt that presents like a light pink, chaotically not calling out any of the multiple colors represented on his blazer. The shirt has a fashionably long button-down collar, front placket, and button cuffs. The wide dark-navy textured tie follows the girthy trends of the ’70s, as demonstrated by its oversized four-in-hand knot.
Note the Omega logo on the watch bracelet worn by the reporter—a cameo appearance by Peter Benchley, who wrote Jaws‘ source novel—as he interviews the beaming Mayor Vaughn.
Mayor Vaughn’s dark-blue trousers coordinate with the blue striping in his jacket. Possibly the same slacks that he wore with his anchor-detailed sport jacket, these flat-front trousers have side pockets and a full, straight cut through the legs down to the gently flared plain-hemmed bottoms. The full break of the bottoms drape over the tops of his brown leather apron-toe loafers, each detailed with a vestigial strap across the vamp.
On his left wrist, Mayor Vaughn wears a plain stainless steel watch on a black leather strap, with a round white dial detailed only with simple silver non-numeric hour indices.
Mayor Vaughn checks in with two constituents to ensure that their pleasure on the beach will correlate to two more votes for him in the next election. (Given Amity Island’s unchanged political landscape in Jaws 2, it worked.)
How to Get the Look
Murray Hamilton as Mayor Larry Vaughn in Jaws (1975)
While Mayor Larry Vaughn shows much of the grandstanding behavior associated with the position, he refreshingly eschews the uniformity of the political wardrobe—instead ruling the beaches of Amity Island in bold sporty jackets like this colorfully striped blazer with a pink oxford shirt and chunky tie on a fateful fourth of July.
- Blue, tan, indigo, and olive hairline-striped-on-white single-breasted 2-button blazer with wide notch lapels, slanted welted breast pocket, slanted flapped hip pockets, 1-button cuffs, and long double vents
- Light pink oxford cotton shirt with large button-down collar, front placket, and button cuffs
- Dark-navy textured tie
- Dark-blue flat-front trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
- Brown leather apron-toe strap loafers
- Steel watch with a round white dial on black leather strap
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie and read Peter Benchley’s source novel.
The Quote
Amity, as you know, means friendship…
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