Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein on the set of Maestro (2023)
Vitals
Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein, acclaimed conductor
New York City, Summer 1977
Film: Maestro
Release Date: November 22, 2023
Director: Bradley Cooper
Costume Designer: Mark Bridges
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy 50th birthday to Bradley Cooper! The actor followed his acclaimed 2018 directorial debut A Star is Born with Maestro, chronicling the life of iconic American conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein. In addition to directing and co-writing the screenplay, Cooper starred as Bernstein opposite Carey Mulligan as his stylish, talented, and outspoken wife, Felicia Montealegre.
Maestro was frequently nominated in the Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and acting categories recognizing Cooper’s and Mulligan’s performances by award bodies including the Academy Awards, BAFTAs, Critics’ Choice, Golden Globes, and Satellite Awards.
Most of the film’s dramatic tension centers around Lenny and Felicia’s complex marriage as she contends with his sexuality, leading up to a drag-out fight at Thanksgiving 1971 when she chastised the hate in his heart and warned that he will “die a lonely old queen” if he continues on his path. Two years later, after Lenny’s triumphant performance conducting Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra at Ely Cathedral, the couple make amends as she assures him there’s no hate in his heart.
Four years later, Lenny accompanies Felicia to an appointment with her oncologist, who recommends an array of surgeries as her breast cancer may have metastasized to her lung. In the wake of this devastating news, LB recommends the couple walk home through the park rather than ride in their car, leading to a playful date recalling their youthful days at Tanglewood when they play games while sitting back-to-back.
What’d He Wear?
After dressing Bradley Cooper’s characters in Silver Linings Playbook and Licorice Pizza, two-time Oscar-winning costume designer Mark Bridges took on the task of dressing the famously fashionable Bernsteins.
The sequence following Felicia’s oncology appointment has been celebrated as a costume design highlight, not just for Lenny’s sporty tan summer suit but also Felicia’s tweed Chanel suit, which Bridges and his team—including cutter April McCoy—were able to painstakingly recreate thanks to full cooperation from the Paris fashion house. Jazz Tangcay outlined the process in her Variety interview with Bridges, who shared the significance of Felicia’s suit in the context of the scene: “I think it’s interesting when things contradict the surroundings. It speaks to me as clothes as armor and protection if she was going to get bad news.”
Lenny’s suit often appears well-tailored for him, but there are some movements—such as when he keeps it buttoned while playing his left arm around Felicia—that show significant collar gap.
Lenny’s tan suit may be one of the last times he’s dressing under Felicia’s fashionable influence, as she would unfortunately die within a year following this scene. The suit features many sporty details that elevate its interest level beyond the typical summer suit, including the jacket’s trio of inverted box-pleated pockets with slightly pointed single-button flaps, echoing the safari-influenced style of ’70s menswear. The half-belted “action back” has bi-swing shoulder pleats, a tailoring detail that widens the wearer’s range of arm movement—surely something this conductor would appreciate, even when isn’t actively conducting. A single vent extends up to just below the belt-line.
The single-breasted jacket has notch lapels, finished with appropriately sporty “swelled” edges and tapering to a two-button stance appropriately positioned over the top of Lenny’s trouser waistband. Pagoda shoulders follow the concave shape of Cooper’s shoulders. The sleeves are roped at the heads and finished with four-button cuffs.
The darted-front trousers rise high to Cooper’s natural waistline, where an extended waistband tab closes through two stacked buttons. The western-style quarter-top “frogmouth” pockets were popular on menswear through the 1960s and ’70s. The trousers also have jetted back pockets and plain-hemmed bottoms, continuing the jacket’s full fit through the legs.
Lenny holds the trousers up with suspenders (braces) that have dark-brown leather double-ears to connect around sets of buttons along the inside of his trouser waistband. With gold adjuster hardware shining from the chest, these suspenders have a wide tan center stripe, framed by narrower white stripes that separate it from the navy-striped edges.
Lenny’s light-pink cotton shirt adds a tastefully colorful degree of visual interest to this outfit, styled with a large point collar, front placket, and single cuffs that he fastens with “L.B.”-monogrammed octagonal links. The crimson-red tie is patterned in a repeating arrangement of small inverted squares—each actually comprised of four smaller white pin-dots. The wide, short tie harmonizes with the wide, era-appropriate jacket lapels and shirt collar.
Lenny wears his usual brown leather plain-toe monks, mated here with tan cotton lisle socks that neatly continue the leg-line of his trousers into his shoes. The shoes each close with a single monk strap that fastens through a silver-toned single-prong buckle.
Lenny’s thick gold wedding band on the ring finger of his left hand appears wider then the typical wedding ring, likely somewhere between eight to 10 millimeters wide. He also continues wearing the hefty yellow-gold cushion-cased watch he wears throughout most of the 1970s-set scenes. I suspect the watch is an automatic Bulova from the late 1960s, with educated guesses on Reddit suggesting Bulova Accutron, Rado Conway 30, or a vintage Tudor model.
The watch features a round champagne-colored dial with gold non-numeric indices marking each hour except for 3 o’clock, which has a white-wheeled date window, and is strapped to a gold-finished Speidel Twist-O-Flex
expansion band with ridges running across the top and bottom of the links.
The abundance of photographs and video from throughout Bernstein’s life created a wealth of source material for Mark Bridges to design costumes reflecting the composer’s actual style. This tan suit may have been inspired by one that the real Lenny wore when photographed by Walter H. Scott on the Tanglewood Music Center grounds, likely around this time in the late 1970s or early ’80s.
Leonard Bernstein shares a laugh with his lifelong friend and fellow composer Aaron Copland on the Tanglewood Music Center grounds, photographed by Walter H. Scott. Lenny’s light-colored suit with its sporty inverted box-pleated pockets may have inspired Bradley Cooper’s similarly detailed screen-worn suit, though the Maestro suit features three—not four—pockets and adds flaps.
How to Get the Look
Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan in Maestro (2023)
Likely under Felicia’s fashionable guidance, Lenny incorporates ’70s trends into his tailoring such as this tan summer suit’s safari-informed pockets and the sporty bi-swing back, heightened with a colorful pink shirt and crimson tie, and grounded to his personal style by retaining his favorite gold watch and his regular brown smonk shoes.
- Tan sport suit:
- Single-breasted 2-button jacket with wide notch lapels, inverted box-pleated breast pocket (with pointed single-button flap), inverted box-pleated hip pockets (with pointed single-button flaps), 4-button cuffs, and half-belted “action back” with bi-swing shoulders and single vent
- Darted-front trousers with extended 2-button waistband, western-style quarter-top “frogmouth” front pockets, jetted back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
- Light-pink cotton shirt with point collar, front placket, and single cuffs
- Gold octagonal monogrammed cuff links
- Crimson-red tie with white 4-dot inverted square repeating pattern
- Navy, white, and tan vertical-striped cloth suspenders with gold adjusters and dark-brown leather double-ear hooks
- Brown leather plain-toe single monk-strap shoes
- Tan socks
- Yellow-gold wedding band
- Gold cushion-case automatic wristwatch with round champagne dial (with gold non-numeric hour indices and 3:00 date window) on gold double-ridged expanding band
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie, streaming on Netflix.
You can also learn more about Mark Bridges’ costume design in Maestro through the following sources:
- The Art of Costume — “Symphony of Style: The Evolution of the ‘Maestro’ Costumes with Costume Designer Mark Bridges” by Spencer Williams
- The Credits — “‘Maestro’ Costume Designer Mark Bridges on Charting the Bernstein’s Ever-Changing Style” by Hugh Hart
- From Tailors With Love — “Mark Bridges talks Maestro” by Peter Brooker
- A Little Bit of Rest — “The Menswear of Leonard Bernstein & Maestro (2023)” by Ethan M. Wong
- Offscreen Central — “‘Maestro’ – Interview with Costume Designer Mark Bridges” by Jillian Chilingerian
- Variety — “How Chanel Helped ‘Maestro’ Costume Designer Mark Bridges Recreate Iconic Tweed Suit” by Jazz Tangcay
- Vogue — “An Exclusive Glimpse Inside the Glamorous World of Maestro, Courtesy of Costume Designer Mark Bridges” by Jessica Bumpus
The post Maestro: Bradley Cooper’s Tan Sport Suit as Leonard Bernstein appeared first on BAMF Style.