Christopher Lee as Lord Summerisle in The Wicker Man (1973)
Vitals
Christopher Lee as Lord Summerisle, charismatic pagan cult leader
The Hebrides, Scotland, Spring 1973
Film: The Wicker Man
Release Date: December 6, 1973
Director: Robin Hardy
Costume Designer: Sue Yelland
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Hail the queen of the May!
The folk horror classic The Wicker Man is set on the fictional Hebridean island of Summerisle, where the well-meaning blockhead police sergeant Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) investigates a missing teenager’s likely death amidst the island’s annual May Day celebrations led by its magnetic leader, Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee).
Lee—who later described The Wicker Man as “the best film I’ve ever made” in an interview with Total Film magazine—had conceptualized the idea with screenwriter Anthony Shaffer, who then worked with director Robin Hardy on molding a story around ancient religions like the practices depicted in David Pinner’s 1967 novel Ritual.
Many of these practices are anchored around traditions celebrating the start of summer, observed on May 1—midway between the Spring equinox and June solstice. These May Day rituals often include floral garlands and gathered wildflowers, bonfires, dancing around a Maypole, and crowning a May Queen, all depicted during The Wicker Man‘s festival that also provides the backdrop for Lord Summerisle luring Sergeant Howie right into their intended trap:
Welcome, fool. You have come of your own free will to the appointed place. The game’s over.
What’d He Wear?
Following his turn as the May Queen, Lord Summerisle pulls on a countrified wool sports coat patterned in an olive, brown, and burgundy gun club check against a light-brown ground, detailed with tobacco-brown suede patches over the elbows and over the front right shoulder.
Defined by Alan Flusser in Dressing the Man as “an even check pattern with rows of alternating colors… woven in a two-up, two-down twill,” this pattern fits the setting as it originated as the “Coigach” district check in western Scotland before it was adopted by the American Gun Club around 1874, resulting in its current name. It thus makes sense that a Scotsman like Lord Summerisle so steeped in local tradition would wear a quintessential Scottish pattern for an occasion as significant as May Day.
Note the colors of Lord Summerisle’s gun club check—burgundy, green, and brown—against the lighter brown ground.
Lord Summerisle’s single-breasted jacket defies the extremes of early ’70s trends, either several years old or thoughtfully tailored with more timeless style in mind. The notch lapels are of a moderate width, tapering to a two-button stance positioned at Christopher Lee’s natural waistline. The shoulders are rounded with padding, framed by noticeably roped sleeve-heads, and the sleeves are finished with two-button cuffs.
The double vents and slanted flapped hip pockets are typical of sportier jackets, and he dresses the welted breast pocket with the same burgundy silk pocket square he had worn with his houndstooth tweed suit the previous day.
Lord Summerisle wears a bright yellow merino wool turtleneck, designed with a narrowly ribbed roll-neck and cuffs. He tucks the jumper into dark taupe-brown trousers with a proportional medium-high rise to Christopher Lee’s natural waist, where they’re held in place with three-button side-adjuster tabs on each side of the waistband in lieu of belt or braces—continuing the “DAKS top” style pioneered by Simpsons of Piccadilly in the 1930s.
Styled with a darted front rather than pleats or a traditional flat-front, these straight-leg trousers have gently slanted side pockets, no back pockets, and turn-ups (cuffs).
The outline of Lord Summerisle’s short-sleeved undershirt is visible through his turtleneck’s set-in sleeves.
Lord Summerisle’s athletic trainers may seem dissonant with his somewhat dressier sport jacket and slacks, though they suit the seaside setting and allow him more comfortable maneuverability while navigating the island’s rocky terrain and completing Sergeant Howie’s role in their sacrifice. A smarter precursor to today’s “dress sneakers” (a style often criticized by the “menswear guy” @dieworkwear on Twitter), Lord Summerisle’s derby-laced appear to have black leather uppers and flat white rubber outsoles with five or six sets of eyelets for the flat white woven laces.
Lord Summerisle wears all of his jewelry on his left hand, including a plain bangle bracelet aside his plain gold dress watch that has a round white dial and dark brown leather strap. On his left pinky, he wears a gold ring that has a black-filled surface.
Also worthy of mention is Lord Summerisle’s costume as the May Queen, consisting of a lacy purple dress worn atop his turtleneck and trousers and a dark-brown Cher-length wig.
The blog Sheffield Gothic includes an essay entitled “The Devil Wore a Yellow Turtleneck and Trainers, or, Finding Fear in ‘The Wicker Man’” that—in addition to being a fine brief look at the film’s strengths, recognizes the intentionality of Sue Yelland’s costume design in giving the horror of The Wicker Man a relevance driven by contemporary verisilimitude: “For me, as ridiculous as it looks, the fact that Lord Summerisle sends Howie to the wicker man dressed in a bright yellow turtleneck and trainers, leading the swaying chant as it burns, only adds to that horror.”
How to Get the Look
Christopher Lee as Lord Summerisle in The Wicker Man (1973)
Lord Summerisle unites heritage with function for his May Day attire, combining his more modern turtleneck and sneakers with a traditionally Scottish gun club check sports coat.
- Light-brown gun club check wool single-breasted 2-button sport jacket with tobacco-brown suede patches on elbows and right shoulder, narrow notch lapels, welted breast pocket, slanted flapped hip pockets, 2-button cuffs, and double vents
- Yellow merino wool turtleneck
- Dark taupe-brown darted-front trousers with 3-button “DAKS top” side-adjuster tabs, gently slanted side pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
- Black leather derby-laced sneakers with flat white woven laces and white rubber outsoles
- Gold wristwatch with round white dial on dark-brown leather strap
- Gold bangle bracelet
- Gold pinky ring with black-filled surface
- Burgundy silk pocket square
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie.
The Quote
Come, it is time to keep your appointment with the Wicker Man.
The post The Wicker Man: Christopher Lee’s Checked Jacket and Turtleneck on May Day appeared first on BAMF Style.