David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma (2014)
Vitals
David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jr., iconic civil rights activist
Alabama, January to March 1965
Film: Selma
Release Date: December 25, 2014
Director: Ava DuVernay
Costume Designer: Ruth E. Carter
Background
Since 1986, Martin Luther King Jr. Day has been observed on the third Monday of each January since President Ronald Reagan signed Rep. Katie Hall’s proposed bill into law. Though King was actually born on January 15, 1929, “MLK Day” follows the pattern of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act that designates several American federal holidays to be permanently observed at the start of the workweek, like Presidents Day and Memorial Day.
Nominated for Best Picture at the 87th Academy Awards, Ava DuVernay’s 2014 drama Selma chronicles the events leading up to the famous Selma-to-Montgomery marches in March 1965, organized by nonviolent activists to protest the widespread denial of Black Americans exercising their constitutional voting rights.
Against violent local counterprotests that turned deadly, Dr. King and the march organizers persisted; the third, final, and ultimately successful march began wth 8,000 people at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma and ended four days later with approximately 25,000 people gathered at the steps of the State Capitol Building where King delivered his “How Long, Not Long” speech.
Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King leading the march into Montgomery in March 1965.
While Selma has been understandably acclaimed for how faithfully it depicts real-life events, Jordan Zakarin explained for Yahoo! that Dr. King’s actual speeches—which remain the property of his estate—were licensed to DreamWorks and Warner Bros. for an intended biopic. With those unavailable, DuVernay replayed King’s actual speeches and crafted new language that maintained the same essence of his famous oratories, then sent them to actor David Oyelowo. In addition to learning these lines, Oyelowo researched his subject’s vocal patterns and even studied the regional impact of his accent.
“He had very specific rhythms when he’s giving speeches, they’re almost like symphonies. There’s a very clear structure when you’re listened to them time and again,” Oyelowo explained to Zakarin. “For his accent, he’s from Atlanta, but his accent has a lot of Boston in it because he spent formative years there—this is work I did with a dialogue coach who helped me put this together. He was a preacher, but he didn’t want to be old school like his dad—he also liked big words, so that would punctuate his speeches.”
What’d He Wear?
“King was an elegant man and also very modest. He was a fine dresser but not ostentatious,” costume designer Ruth E. Carter explained to Below the Line. “So I worked really hard to play him down and also give him that little bit of the elegance that I noticed in the research.”
Carter frequently dressed David Oyelowo as Dr. King in a handsome navy suit with a subtle sheen, suggesting either silk or mohair blended with wool. This suit appears at least four times throughout the course of Selma, including during the climactic march and DuVernay’s depiction of the “How Long, Not Long” speech on the steps of the capitol building.
The suit has a single-breasted jacket with the “half clover” notch lapels that were fashionable through the early-to-mid 1960s, so named for the rounded corners on the lower portion of each notch that resemble clover leaves. Dr. King’s lapels roll to a two-button stance over Oyelowo’s waist. The jacket has a welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, double vents, and three-button cuffs.
His habit of keeping his jacket buttoned covers much of the detail of King’s flat-front trousers, aside from their appropriate rise to the waist so that the jacket’s buttoning point cleanly separates the shirt-and-tie top half from the trousers. The trouser bottoms are finished with turn-ups (cuffs), just like the real Dr. King’s trousers during the events of March 25th, breaking over the tops of his hiking boots.
While dressier shoes like derbies, oxfords, and even some loafers or boots would be more congruous with a suit in most contexts, a multi-mile peace march is the sort of exception that would allow for a suited gentleman to wear hiking boots. Oyelowo sports brown leather moc-toe hiking boots—again following the historical example of the real Dr. King, whose boots were laced up through four sets of metal eyelets and three sets of speed hooks (as seen in the above photo and in closer detail here.)
King almost exclusively wears solid white cotton shirts with his suits and ties, all to assure that his nonviolent civil rights movement would maintain a dignified and respectable appearance. Oyelowo’s shirts as King are styled with narrow spread collars, breast pockets, and double (French) cuffs. All of his ties are fashionably straight and narrow, typically held in place with a silver bar.
When King’s team first arrives in Selma around January 1965 to scope its potential as a site for their upcoming demonstrations, he wears a repp silk tie widely “downhill”-striped in blue, ivory, and navy.
Returning home, he wears the same navy suit and white shirt but with a navy tie patterned with muted blue dots following downhill stripe directions.
When King and more than 200 other activists are arrested at the Dallas County Courthouse in Selma, he wears the same blue suit and white shirt but with a uniquely patterned black-to-ivory gradient tie that has a single black shadow stripe in the “uphill” direction midway on the blade.
King holds this tie in place with a stickpin—rather than his usual silver bar. The stickpin isn’t the only anomalous aspect of this outfit, as King’s white shirt is also short-sleeved.
Production photo depicting King’s mugshot from the Selma arrest on February 1, 1965—though his board dates the event to January 6th. The date line was cut off in the final film.
Nearly two months later, King is at the forefront of the thousands of marchers arriving in Montgomery from Selma for the successful completion of their third march attempt and his “How Long, Not Long” speech. Selma depicts King wearing a beige tie with two-toned monochromatic awning stripes in the “downhill” direction, alternating between matte and satin silk.
In realistically bringing King to the screen, Selma dresses David Oyelowo’s left wrist with a solid gold watch that reflects the Rolex Datejust which the real Dr. King wore throughout the ’60s, as chronicled by Danny Milton for Hodinkee—covering both the real King and Oyelowo’s depiction. Selma dramatizes the conflict between King and President Lyndon B. Johnson (Tom Wilkinson), who also favored a gold Rolex; as depicted on screen, LBJ’s Rolex was an 18-karat Day-Date on the iconic “President” bracelet—apropos his then-role as 36th President of the United States.
While it’s difficult to ascertain if Oyelowo’s screen-worn watch is indeed a ref. 1601 Datejust like King preferred, its yellow-gold case, matching “Jubilee”-style bracelet, and champagne dial echo its details and design. He also wears a gold wedding band on his left ring finger.
King typically wears a black wool knee-length topcoat that has narrow peak lapels, breaking high over the three-button single-breasted front. The coat has side pockets, a single vent, and two-button “turnback” cuffs. He coordinates the coat to his hat, a black felt trilby with a black grosgrain band.
Andrew Young (André Holland), Ralph Abernathy (Colman Domingo), King, and James Orange (Omar Dorsey) wear smart, distinctive outerwear. Note that, since King isn’t marching, he wears the conventional black leather cap-toe six-eyelet oxfords with his suit and coat. Photo credit: Atsushi Nishijima.
The blog Hollywood Movie Costumes & Props features some photos of Selma‘s costumes—including this dark-blue suit worn by Oyelowo—when they were on display at ArcLight Hollywood.
How to Get the Look
David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma (2014)
The real Martin Luther King Jr.’s penchant for smart suits and ties with his gold Rolex—and, when the situation requires it, hiking boots—is well-represented on screen in Selma by costume designer Ruth E. Carter and actor David Oyelowo.
- Navy-blue wool-and-mohair suit:
- Single-breasted 2-button jacket with “half clover” notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and double vents
- Flat-front trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
- White cotton shirt with spread collar, breast pocket, and double/French cuffs
- Beige two-toned “downhill”-striped silk tie
- Silver tie bar
- Brown leather moc-toe derby-laced hiking boots
- Black wool single-breasted 3-button topcoat with peak lapels, side pockets, 2-button “turnback” cuffs, and single vent
- Black felt trilby with black grosgrain band
- Gold wedding ring
- Rolex Datejust ref. 1601 yellow-gold watch with champagne dial and gold Jubilee-style bracelet
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie.
The Quote
When will we be free? Soon and very soon, because no lie can live forever.
The post Selma: David Oyelowo’s Navy Suit as Martin Luther King Jr. appeared first on BAMF Style.