John Travolta as Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction (1994)
Vitals
John Travolta as Vincent Vega, laidback mob hitman and self-described “Elvis man”
Los Angeles, Summer 1992
Film: Pulp Fiction
Release Date: October 14, 1994
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Costume Designer: Betsy Heimann
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Pulp Fiction was released 30 years ago today on October 14, 1994, establishing Quentin Tarantino’s trademarks like a nonlinear narrative, many references to older movies and TV, and even the “trunk shot” from the POV of an open car trunk.
In addition to establishing Tarantino as a serious filmmaker after his impressive debut Reservoir Dogs, the movie also revitalized John Travolta’s career. The actor received an Academy Award nomination for his performance as Vincent Vega, the canonical brother to Michael Madsen’s psychotic killer Vic Vega—aka “Mr. Blonde”—in Reservoir Dogs.
After a prologue set later in the day (as we eventually learn), Pulp Fiction begins with Vincent and the similarly dressed Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) riding in Jules’ yellow 1974 Chevy Nova. Recently returned from Europe, Vincent marvels about Amsterdam hash bars and French translations of McDonald’s menu items before springing it on Jules that he’s been asked by their boss, the fearsome gangster Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) to “take care of” his wife Mia (Uma Thurman) while Marsellus is out of town. Jules shares a few words of caution regarding other men’s misadventures related to the young Mrs. Wallace, resulting in the two partners bickering about the respective sensuality of foot massages.
The banter goes on hold once these two professionals arrive at their destination—a shabby apartment where “three or four” young punks have holed up with Big Kahuna burgers, a .357 “hand cannon”, and a stolen briefcase and its mysterious contents.
What’d He Wear?
During Pulp Fiction‘s pre-production phase, costume designer Betsy Heimann met with Tarantino at Barney’s Beanery in L.A. to discuss how they would dress the characters. As she later shared with Emma Hope Allwood for Dazed, it was here that Heimann conceptualized continuing her costume design for the professional crooks in Reservoir Dogs into Pulp Fiction:
I said to Quentin, I think Vincent and Jules are Reservoir Dogs too. I wanted a really short collared, very tight-fitted suit on Sam Jackson because Jules is like a preacher. And on John as Vincent, I wanted a linen, rumpled suit because he’s a mess with the long hair and the earrings and I wanted him to have the same outfit that he’s been sleeping in, been living in. I think one of the reasons that the look from Reservoir Dogs was so popular is because it’s so hard to imitate, each one of those guys has a different silhouette that was for their character and their body type.
“I felt that Jules was like a preacher and so I wanted to do a smaller, very tight-to-the neck collar on him. Quentin liked that idea… then I thought that Vincent was more of a mess and so I suggested a linen suit so that it could get all wrinkled and rumpled and kind of add to the laissez-faire quality of his character,” costume designer Betsy Heimann explained to Cheryl Wischhover for Fashionista.
Off-duty, Vincent maintains his cowboyish persona in Western-informed casualwear like a leather-collared sports coat by Agnès B., bolo tie, black Levi’s jeans, and a long duster-style raincoat. However, maintaining Marsellus Wallace’s sense of professional sartorial standards requires a black suit. Vincent’s linen suit serves the narrative purpose of contrasting his more rumpled demeanor—especially when compared to the more polished Jules—but it also makes sense that a less fashion-focused man would opt for a fabric that could wear more comfortably in the heat of an action-packed summer day in L.A.
The single-breasted suit jacket reflects contemporary fashions of the 1990s with a boxy and full fit, padded shoulders with roped sleeveheads, ventless back, and straight jetted hip pockets. The jacket also has a welted breast pocket, and the sleeves are finished with three vestigial cuff-buttons. Notch lapels roll to a two-button stance proportionally positioned over Travolta’s natural waist.
Vincent and Jules both wear pleated trousers as this was a prevailing trend of the early ’90s. Vincent’s trousers are styled with single forward pleats on each side, on-seam side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms. They rise to below his waistband, sagging throughout the morning due to his demeanor and the weight of his full-sized pistol. Vincent’s black leather belt closes through a gold-toned squared single-prong buckle.
Following the example set in Reservoir Dogs of white shirts being dramatically stained with red blood, Jules and Vincent each wear white shirts and narrow black silk ties with their suits. As opposed to Jules’ neat and fussy tab collar, Vincent’s white cotton poplin shirt has a plain point collar as well as a front placket, breast pocket, and button cuffs.
Vincent’s footwear is another distinguishing characteristic as he wears the same monk shoes as he later does with his bolo tie and leather-collared jacket. Each black leather upper is styled with a cap toe and a single strap that closes through a silver-toned single-prong buckle. He also wears black narrow-ribbed dress socks.
Vincent’s preferred bathroom reading is the 1965 spy novel Modesty Blaise by Peter O’Donnell, based on his comic strip character of the same name.
Vincent wears a small yellow-gold plain hoop earring in his right ear.
The first post-credits shot in Pulp Fiction introduces us to Vincent and Jules riding in the latter’s yet-unbloodied ’74 Nova.
Vincent wears a quartz-powered Timex “Q” watch, specifically ref. 989502, which sold for $59.95 in the late 1970s (according to a 1977 catalog posted on Reddit.) Though this stainless steel 38mm-cased watch appears to have a plain black dial on screen, the Julien’s Live auction listing for Travolta’s screen-worn watch reveals the red marbleized dial under the faceted crystal. This “Red Nebula” dial features silver non-numeric indices marking each hour except for 3 o’clock, which has the white-wheeled day-date double window. The “Q” logo is positioned just below the dual 12 o’clock markers.
Instead of the stock steel center-clasp bracelet, Vincent wears his Timex on a black Fossil-branded leather strap that closes over his left wrist through a silver-toned single-prong buckle. The watch was touted as water-resistant… but not blood-resistant.
Vincent makes the case for why even criminals should follow the four primary rules of gun safety—always keep your firearm pointed in a safe direction, treat all guns as if they’re loaded, keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot, and always be sure of your target and what’s beyond it—as he manages to violate all four in a tragic split-second. On that note…
The Gun
While agreeing with Jules that “we should have fuckin’ shotguns” for their morning mission, Vincent checks the load in his Auto-Ordnance M1911A1. With its chrome plating and pearl grips, the pistol cosmetically resembles Jules’ nickel-plated Star Model B, though—as affirmed by the dialogue—Jules carries a 9mm pistol while the slide markings and bore of Vincent’s screen-used pistol confirm his is chambered for the larger .45 ACP cartridge.
The Auto-Ordnance Corporation was created during World War I by General John T. Thompson, inventor of the Thompson submachine gun that grew famous through the roaring ’20s as the “Tommy gun” or “Chicago typewriter”. Despite the association, it wasn’t until World War II that Auto-Ordnance actually began producing mil-spec M1928A1, M1, and M1A1 Thompsons at its Bridgeport, Connecticut production plant.
The company’s offerings expanded to include copies of other World War II-era firearms like the M1 Carbine and the stalwart M1911A1 pistol, the latter virtually indistinguishable from earlier mil-spec models except for the slanted grooves on each side of the slide—as opposed to the straight vertical grooves on conventional 1911 pistols. Since then, many other companies have built their 1911s with slanted grooves as well.
How to Get the Look
John Travolta as Vincent Vega in a publicity photo fro Pulp Fiction (1994). His costume appears to be the same, though his 1911 is a standard blued model with wooden grips and straight grooves as opposed to the chromed and pearl-gripped Auto-Ordnance he used on screen.
Vincent Vega’s black suit, white shirt, and black tie may appear identical to his fellow criminals across the Tarantino-verse, but costume designer Betsy Heimann worked within these parameters to craft a style representative of his more cowboyish personality, from the rumpled texture of his linen suiting to the monk shoes.
- Black linen suit:
- Single-breasted 2-button jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and ventless back
- Single forward-pleated trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
- White cotton poplin shirt with point collar, front placket, breast pocket, and button cuffs
- Black leather belt with gold-toned single-prong buckle
- Black leather cap-toe single-monk strap loafers
- Black narrow-ribbed dress socks
- Stainless steel Timex “Q” ref. 989502 quartz watch with red-marbleized black dial (and 3 o’clock day-date window) on black textured leather strap
- Gold mini-hoop earring
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie.
The Quote
You play with matches, you get burned.
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