Terence Stamp as Wilson in The Limey (1999)
Vitals
Terence Stamp as David Wilson, hardened English professional criminal
Los Angeles to Big Sur, California, Fall 1998
Film: The Limey
Release Date: October 8, 1999
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Costume Designer: Louise Frogley
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The Limey was released 25 years ago today on October 8, 1999, months after its debut at the 52nd Cannes Film Festival. Terence Stamp stars as the titular Englishman, a crook known simply as Wilson*, who arrives in Los Angeles to investigate his own suspicions after his daughter Jenny’s death in a mysterious car accident.
As Wilson connects a web that includes Jenny’s record producer boyfriend Terry Valentine (Peter Fonda) and his shady chief of security Jim Avery (Barry Newman), he reflects on his estranged relationship with Jenny, having spent most of her life behind bars. Director Steven Soderbergh and editor Sarah Flack employ unorthodox editing techniques to weave these memories into the narrative, using flashbacks from Ken Loach’s 1967 direcotrial debut Poor Cow to show a younger Stamp as Wilson, interacting with his wife and daughter before his imprisonment.
Jenny’s friends—ex-con Ed Roel (Luis Guzmán) and her voice coach Elaine (Lesley Ann Warren)—assist Wilson on his path for revenge, which leads him from Los Angeles to Valentine’s idyllic beach house perched on the cliffs of Big Sur.
*A letter addressed to him shown on screen suggests his full name is David Wilson.
What’d He Wear?
After changing out the dark micro-checked suit from his arrival, Wilson adopts a more action-oriented wardrobe, crafted by costume designer Louise Frogley to be both practical and understated with functional pieces that reflect his no-nonsense determination as he seeks justice from L.A. to Big Sur.
Wilson’s primary outerwear is a black-on-charcoal plaid Harrington jacket, a timeless piece with roots in mid-20th century menswear. Originally designed by Baracuta as a lightweight golf jacket in the 1930s, the style gained its iconic nickname in the 1960s when Ryan O’Neal popularized it as Rodney Harrington in Peyton Place.
Known for its blend of functionality and casual cool, the Harrington jacket is defined by its two-button standing collar and straight-zip front, with raglan sleeves allowing ease of movement—perfect for Wilson’s more action-packed scenes. Wilson’s jacket also features pointed tabs on the cuffs with adjustable button closures and open side pockets, where he keeps wire-cutters in the left pocket—a subtle yet practical detail that underscores his calculated mindset and readiness.
Underneath the Harrington, Wilson rotates between two shirts. When infiltrating the drug trafficking warehouse, he wears a charcoal slightweight cotton shirt designed with a front placket, breast pocket, and one-button mitred cuffs.
Later in the film, Wilson changes into a black-and-gray horizontal-striped polo shirt, detailed with a gray-piped black collar and a three-button placket.
A nod to the iconci American style that has outfitted rebels for decades, Wilson wears black denim Levi’s jeans with the traditional five-pocket layout, including the arcuate stitched-back pockets with the signature “red tab” sewn along the back-right pocket. The self-cuffed bottoms add a slightly personal touch to this utilitarian look, and he holds the jeans up with a black edge-stitched leather belt that closes through a silver-toned single-prong buckle.
Wilson’s footwear consists of black calf leather plain-toe derby shoes, polished enough to hint at a more refined side to his otherwise rugged attire, but still practical for his urban and rural pursuits. His white socks are a small but striking detail against the rest of his darker wardrobe. Paired with his black Levi’s jeans, which are self-cuffed at the bottoms, the look channels a rockabilly rebel-style edge that harkens back to how bad boys may have dressed in Wilson’s youth.
On his wrist, Wilson sports a practical gold-finished steel watch with a round white dial and a date window at 3:00, secured by a matching expanding band, further solidifying his functional, no-frills approach to both his wardrobe and his mission. He also continues wearing his gold wedding band on his left hand.
The Guns
Shortly after Wilson’s arrival in Los Angeles, Ed brokers a meeting for him to buy guns—literally under the table—from two teenage arms dealers. His primary weapon is a stainless steel Smith & Wesson Model 686, which was introduced in 1981 as part of Smith & Wesson’s line of L-framed double-action revolvers, all chambered for the powerful .357 Magnum cartridge.
The Model 686 is distinguished by its stainless steel frame, compared to the blued steel of the similar Model 586. Though standard models featured a six-shot cylinder, Smith & Wesson introduced the Model 686 Plus in 1996, which added an extra round for a seven-shot cylinder. Wilson carries the standard six-shot version, still fitted with the stock Gonçalo alves hardwood grips that were replaced by black rubber Hogue grips in 1994.
Barrel lengths ranged from a compact 2.5 inches to a sizable 8 inches, offering various configurations for different needs. Despite his being fitted with the shortest 2.5” barrel, the Model 686 still weighed in at over two pounds, making it a solid and formidable weapon for Wilson’s mission.
After the warehouse thugs disarm Wilson of his Model 686, which they mock as his “big, dangerous gun!”, he pulls a Colt Mustang from the rear of his waistband to confont them. This is the same subcompact pistol we had earlier seen him purchase from the two teenage gun dealers.
In 1983, Colt introduced a down-scaled .380 ACP variation of its venerable M1911A1. Three years later, they simplified the design with a shorter slide, grips, and 2.75″ barrel, marketing this new version as the Mustang. Both pistols retained the 1911’s single-action trigger and short-recoil operation, along with many cosmetic similarities. However, the Mustang’s reduced dimensions limited its magazine capacity to five rounds. To address this, Colt initially developed the longer-gripped Mustang Plus II, which added two extra rounds to the magazine capacity. In the ’90s, Colt modified the Mustang’s magazine springs, allowing the standard version to accommodate six rounds.
Colt dominated the “pocket 1911” market for two decades until competitors like Kimber, SIG-Sauer, and Springfield Armory began introducing their own 1911-inspired subcompact pistols chambered in .380 ACP and 9x19mm Parabellum.
While preparing for the final confrontation against Valentine and Avery at Big Sur, Wilson loads—and presumably attacks them—with a nickel-plated Beretta 84FS “Cheetah” pistol. It’s not clear if this is meant to be another pistol he obtained for his revenge or if it’s the result of a continuity error meant to represent the Mustang, which could look somewhat similar to a layperson.
Beretta launched the compact Series 81 models of blowback-operated semi-automatic pistols in 1976, eventually expanding into more than a dozen iterations differing based on caliber, capacity, barrel length, and trigger operation. The series was eventually nicknamed the “Cheetah”, consistent with the Beretta models nicknamed after big cats like the later Bobcat, Cougar, Jaguar, and Tomcat models. The appearance and frame markings clearly indicate that Wilson’s Beretta is one of the double-action .380 ACP models, with its 13-round double-stack magazine narrowing this down to the Model 84 rather than the single-stack Models 83 and 85.
The slide-mounted decocker indicates that this is the “FS” version introduced at the beginning of the 1990s in tandem with the same updates made to the 9mm full-size series of Model 92 serivce pistols. Additionally, the 81FS, 84FS, and 85FS pistols were also occasionally produced with a nickel finish like Wilson’s pistol, which is undoubtedly a Beretta 84FS.
The brief shot is lit sharply enough to clearly show the markings on the slide, frame, and magazine, which clearly indicate that it is a “CAL.380” Beretta, appropriately loaded with the “CAL. 9 Short / 380 Auto” magazines—indicating the alternate “9mm Short” nomenclature for .380 ACP ammunition.
How to Get the Look
Terence Stamp as Wilson in The Limey (1999)
Wilson’s costume in The Limey reflects a philosophy of understated pragmatism and timeless rebellion. His plaid Harrington jacket, black Levi’s, and hardy derbies blend rugged utility with nods to mid-century Americana, subtly evoking the rebellious bad boys of his youth while appropriately suiting his mission of revenge.
- Black-on-charcoal plaid “Harrington jacket” with two-button standing collar, straight-zip front, raglan sleeves with button-fastened pointed-tab cuffs, side pockets, and open hem
- Charcoal cotton long-sleeved shirt with front placket, breast pocket, and 1-button mitred cuffs
- Black denim Levi’s jeans with belt loops, five-pocket layout, and self-cuffed bottoms
- Black edge-stitched leather belt with silver-toned single-prong buckle
- Black calf leather plain-toe derby shoes
- White ribbed cotton crew socks
- Gold wedding ring
- Gold-finished steel watch with round white dial (and 3:00 date window) on gold-finished expanding band
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie.
The Quote
You’ve got to make a choice: when to do something and when to let it go. When it matters and when it don’t.
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