Richard Gere as “Dixie” Dwyer in The Cotton Club (1984)
Vitals
Richard Gere as Dixie Dwyer, mob-connected movie star and jazz trumpeter
New York Spring, Winter 1928 to Winter 1931
Film: The Cotton Club
Release Date: December 14, 1984
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Designer: Milena Canonero
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Fraught with almost as much deadly drama behind the scenes as depicted on screen, Francis Ford Coppola’s contentious crime epic The Cotton Club was released 40 years ago last month in December 1984. From a story by Coppola, William Kennedy, and Mario Puzo, the story centers around the real-life titular Harlem nightclub that operated during Prohibition, which was first enforced across the United States 105 years ago today on January 17, 1920. The movie was received about as well as Prohibition itself, with both Oscar and Razzie nominations, four-star ratings and dead financiers.
The Cotton Club blends actual gangsters like Owney Madden and Dutch Schultz and popular musicians like Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington with fictional characters inspired by real-life figures. Richard Gere stars as “Dixie” Dwyer, a jazz musician destined for stardom as a matinee idol who shares biographical traits with the actor George Raft and alliteratively named trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke. Dixie finds himself vying against Schultz for the affections of Vera Cicero (Diane Lane), a vivacious singer reminiscent of nightclub owner “Texas” Guinan—who also inspired Gladys George’s brassy character in The Roaring Twenties.
The cast also includes a young Nicolas Cage as Dixie’s deranged brother Vincent—inspired by the Prohibition-era gunman “Mad Dog” Coll—and Gregory and Maurice Hines as tap-dancing brothers inspired by the real-life Nicholas brothers who performed at the Cotton Club during their youth.
What’d He Wear?
The Cotton Club was Francis Ford Coppola’s first collaboration with four-time Oscar-winning costume designer Milena Canonero, who would later design the costumes for Coppola’s films Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) and The Godfather Part III (1990). Canonero received a BAFTA Award nomination for her work on The Cotton Club, bringing the Prohibition era to life through the clothing.
As the stylish and confident multi-instrumentalist Dixie Dwyer, Richard Gere frequently wears tuxedoes for his performances, whether at a dingy jazz club or bringing down the house at the famous Cotton Club. From the sequences set in the late 1920s through the early ’30s, Canonero evolves Dixie’s black tie kit to reflect what was most fashionable at the time.
1920s: Single-Breasted Dinner Jacket
Though still a struggling musician when we meet him in 1928, Dixie pulls together a smart three-piece dinner suit anchored by a black wool single-breasted dinner jacket. Perfectly tailored for Gere, the ventless jacket follows a timeless style with silk-faced peak lapels that roll to a single-button closure over his natural waist. The sleeves are roped at the shoulders and finished at each cuff with three black plastic or horn buttons. In addition to the jacket’s straight flapped hip pockets, Dixie dresses the welted breast pocket with a white linen pocket square. He also frequently wears a white carnation through the buttonhole in his left lapel.
Vera’s two romantic rivals—Dutch Schultz and Dixie Dwyer—each attend the Cotton Club wearing black single-breasted, peak-lapel dinner jackets with wing collars and black waistcoats, though Dixie sports a white carnation as opposed to Dutch’s red boutonnière—perhaps hinting at the blood Dutch loves to spill vs. Dixie’s purer motives.
Waistcoats and cummerbunds are the most acceptable waist coverings with black tie, the latter developed as a cooler-wearing alternative. Since we typically see Dixie sporting his black tie during chilly New York winters, he would be comfortable in his full-backed black waistcoat, which also allows him to pull off his jacket and tie without looking too undressed during late night jam sessions at Harlem jazz clubs.
Evening waistcoats typically have a lower opening than those worn with business suits, typically in either a V-shape—as worn by Dutch Schultz (James Remar)—or the rounder U-shape worn by Dixie. Dixie’s single-breasted waistcoat has a narrow shawl collar that frames its U-shaped opening which drops below mid-chest, enhancing the bib-like effect of his stiff white shirtfront. Four black buttons close the front above a dramatic notched bottom.
Per its nomenclature, Dixie’s waistcoat appropriately keeps his waist covered for a smooth transition to his black wool trousers. These forward-pleated trousers feature the requisite black silk galon down each side seam to the plain-hemmed bottoms, which break over the tops of his black leather lace-up shoes.
Dixie evidently wore his own dinner suit for his Hollywood screen test.
The only element of Dixie’s black tie ensemble that varies through these late 1920s-set sequences is the tie itself. First, he wears a black silk diamond-ended bow tie before transitioning to the butterfly-shaped one which resembles the one he would also wear with his double-breasted dinner jacket. Since he always wears wing collars that keep the tie fully exposed, Dixie smartly wears self-tying neckwear that lack the adjusters or clips of pre-tied bow ties.
Dixie prefers the most formal-looking variation of the white evening shirt, styled with a neckband to attach a collar, a stiff front bib rather than the pleats which detail the front of many evening shirts, and single cuffs rather than double (French) cuffs. Indeed, the details are more consistent with shirts often worn with full “white tie” evening dress rather than black tie.
Dixie always opts to wear a stiff white wing collar, which attaches to the neckband with gold studs—one through the back, and one through the front—as seen when he wears the collar undone during the jam session where he’s recruited to play Dutch’s party. He also wears two silver-trimmed black onyx squared studs on the shirt’s front bib. Often, studs and cuff links match, but Dixie foregoes this convention by wearing round gold links.
Though sun-protective eyewear had existed in various forms for centuries, modern sunglasses emerged during the early 1920s, standardized at the end of the decade when Foster Grant developed injection molding technology that resulted in the first inexpensive mass-produced sunglasses. Worn on the beaches of both American coasts, sunglasses became associated with Hollywood stars like actors and musicians. Likely the latter appealed to Dixie, who wears his round tortoise-framed sunglasses even while playing night gigs indoors.
Through these sequences set in the late ’20s, Dixie sports the same taupe fedora and woolen knee-length overcoat with his tuxedo as he does with lounge suits. Made from a heavy dark-gray herringbone tweed, the coat has swelled-edge peak lapels that roll to a double-breasted front in a 6×3-button arrangement. The tailored coat has a welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, and an additional flapped ticket pocket on the right side, and the sleeves are finished with four “kissing” cuff-buttons. The ventless coat has a half-belted back, secured with a button at each end of the belt.
The Dwyer boys’ night out at the Cotton Club, sporting topcoats over their tuxedoes.
After Dixie begins attaining some degree of success, he begins wearing a gold ring that swells out to show a black onyx facing, shining from his right ring finger.
Dixie accompanies Vera on trumpet as she croons “Am I Blue?” to her nightclub audience. This is actually after his return from Hollywood, so he’s wearing a different dinner jacket, which you’re about to read about…
1930s: Double-Breasted Dinner Jacket
Dixie returns to New York in 1930 after reaching some degree of Hollywood stardom with a leading role in the gangster movie Mob Boss. He strides through Vera’s new club wearing the newly fashionable double-breasted dinner jacket, waving his hand to fans in a half-salute not unlike Paul Muni’s similarly dressed character in Scarface (1932).
There are Scarface parallels everywhere for those with the eyes to see. While Gere’s mannerisms and double-breasted dinner jacket echo Paul Muni in the title role, Dixie Dwyer’s character was arguably inspired by George Raft—standing to Muni’s right in the Scarface screenshot.
Like Dixie’s earlier dinner jacket, the cloth is also a smooth black wool with black satin-faced peak lapels, though all the buttons are also covered in the same black silk. The lapels roll to a square 4×2-button double-breasted arrangement, which Dixie often wears with both buttons fastened. The straight shoulders are slightly wider than his previous jacket, consistent with early ’30s tailoring, and the sleeves are finished with three-button cuffs. The jacket otherwise follows the same details, including the appropriately ventless back, straight flapped hip pockets, and a welted breast pocket. Dixie continues his practice of decorating his jacket with both a white linen pocket square and white carnation through his left lapel.
Dixie’s white evening shirt appears similar to the ones he wore in the earlier sequences, also with a wing collar buttoned to the neckband and silver-trimmed black studs up the stiff front bib. He never removes the dinner jacket on screen, so I can’t discern if the sleeves are finished with single or double cuffs. His black self-tying bow tie is in the traditional butterfly (thistle) shape.
The full wrap of a double-breasted dinner jacket negates the need for an additional layer of waist covering, so Dixie likely foregoes a cummerbund or waistcoat as he properly keeps his dinner jacket buttoned anytime he is on screen. This also covers many details of the trousers, though we can tell they have the requisite silk-striped side galon and are finished with plain-hemmed bottoms.
Backstage at the Cotton Club, we get a good look at Dixie’s black patent leather cap-toe oxfords, naturally worn with black dress socks. Especially with patent leather uppers, non-brogued black oxfords are traditionally acceptable footwear with black tie.
Fellas, that’s when you know she really likes you.
He also swaps out his original brass rectangular-cased watch on a dark leather strap for a dressier all-gold watch with a long tonneau-shaped case and beige dial on a gold expanding band.
Dixie’s outerwear also evolves to be dressier, with a black silk top hat, gray dress gloves, and a fur-collared charcoal wool coat. This knee-length coat features a shawl collar of soft dark-brown fur, rolling to a 6×2-button double-breasted front. The set-in sleeves are finished with four-button cuffs, and the coat features a welted breast pocket and straight flapped hip pockets.
Dixie and Vera are framed with his Mob Boss poster—featuring Dixie himself aiming a pistol in Vera’s direction—between them.
For his return to New York after the release of Mob Boss, Dixie wears a cream silk scarf printed with black squares filled with small black dots.
How to Get the Look
Richard Gere and Diane Lane in The Cotton Club (1984)
Even before finding fame, Dixie Dwyer approaches the black tie dress code with smart, formal sensibilities, opting for the dressiest stiff-fronted evening shirt and appropriately wearing a self-tying bow tie with his wing collar. And whether sporting a single-breasted dinner jacket in the roaring ’20s or a fashionable double-breasted dinner jacket in the early ’30s, he always complements his evening-wear with a white carnation and pocket square.
- Black wool single-breasted/single-button or double-breasted/4×2-button dinner jacket with satin-faced peak lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and ventless back
- White cotton evening shirt with detachable stiff wing collar, stiff front bib (with two black-faced silver square studs), and single cuffs (with round gold links)
- Black silk butterfly/thistle-shaped bow tie
- Black patent leather cap-toe oxford shoes
- Black dress socks
- Black silk top hat
- Charcoal wool knee-length overcoat with dark-brown fur shawl collar, 6×2-button double-breasted front, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 4-button cuffs, and ventless back
- Cream silk scarf printed with dot-filled black squares
- Gray dress gloves
- Gold ring with black onyx setting
- Gold dress watch with tonneau-shaped case, beige dial, and gold expanding band
- White linen pocket square
FYI: Prop Store has auctioned a black double-breasted Bermans & Nathans dinner jacket claimed to be Gere’s screen-worn jacket from the 1930s scenes. Indeed, the overall appearance is similar to Dixie’s costume, but—in addition to the missing bottom right vestigial button (which is a common casualty after decades of storage)—the pocket flaps are silk-faced, the buttons are uncovered, and the sleeves are finished with four (rather than three) buttons. The tag is clearly printed “COTTON CLUB” (with “R. GERE” seemingly added later in purple ink), so it’s possible that this jacket was indeed tailored for the film but worn by a different character and mistaken for Dixie’s jacket due to the similarities with this one.
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