Vitals

Cary Grant as Philip Shayne, smooth, sophisticated, and suave investment executive and “perfect gentleman”

Bermuda, Spring 1962

Film: That Touch of Mink
Release Date: June 14, 1962
Director: Delbert Mann
Tailor: Cardinal Clothes (credited “for Cary Grant’s suits”)

Background

After being first splashed, then swept, off her feet by the charming tycoon Philip Shayne (Cary Grant), unemployed Manhattanite Cathy Timerblake (Doris Day) finds herself accepting his impromptu invitation to join her for a summery respite in Bermuda. “Nowhere else in the world an you see beaches with pink sand,” Philip promises.

Having purchased every seat on a Pan Am passenger jet to Bermuda, Philip is there to meet her as she deplanes, chauffeuring her in his 1961 Citroën roadster to their luxurious suite at the Victoria Hotel, which is doubled on screen by the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica. Cathy tries to allow herself to enjoy the glamorous getaway, but she feels judged everywhere she goes by everyone she sees.

What’d He Wear?

“During summer I’ve taken to wearing beige, washable poplin suits,” Cary Grant explained in his sartorial advice column included in the winter 1967/68 issue of GQ. “They’re inexpensive and, if kept clean and crisp, acceptable almost anywhere at any time, even in the evening. Also, the coat can be worn with gray flannels at the seashore or in the country…”

Grant appears to be following his own advice in That Touch of Mink, sporting a beige summer-weight sports coat for his trip to Bermuda. Constructed from a light cotton gabardine, this single-breasted sport jacket has a high-fastening three-button front, with the three buttons spaced widely apart to look proportional on Cary Grant’s tall, 6’2″ frame. Particularly in his later films like Charade, Grant’s habit of buttoning only his lower jacket buttons emerged, seen here when he only fastens the lower two on his beige jacket.

The jacket has a single vent, full chest, and rounded front skirt opening that cuts away at the lowest button. The patch pockets on the hips are rounded on the bottom and covered with flaps, and there is no breast pocket. There are two non-functioning buttons spaced apart on the cuff of each sleeve.

Throughout That Touch of Mink, Philip Shayne maintains a base layer of office-appropriate dress: white or blue dress shirts, a tie, and the trousers from one of his conservatively colored business suits, allowing for situational variance by taking off his suit jacket when it’s not needed and replacing it either with contextually appropriate top layers whether it’s a comfortable navy cardigan when not taking visitors at his office or this beige sports coat in Bermuda.

In Bermuda, Philip wears a pale blue cotton shirt with a point collar and double (French) cuffs. While the shirt would still be appropriate for the office, the blue color dresses it down to a level of informality appropriate for the context while also flattering Grant’s suntanned complexion. Philip wears a slate gray silk tie in a four-in-hand knot. (Though a brief continuity error during a scene in the hotel hallway appears to show Grant wearing a white shirt and gray silk tie.)

As suggested earlier, Philip’s dark gray single forward-pleated trousers are likely orphaned from the business suit he wore on the day that he met Cathy. Assuming that these trousers do belong to that opening scene suit, they would be fitted with the actor’s preferred buckle-tab side adjusters, or “side loops” as Grant described them to GQ, and they exhibit the same sheen indicative of the possibility of a mohair/wool blend. The legs are tapered down to the plain-hemmed bottoms which break high over his shoes.

“The moccasin type of shoe is, to me, almost essential and especially convenient when traveling, since they can be easily slipped off in the airplane or car,” offers Grant in the same article, and his jet-setting Philip Shayne exemplifies the actor’s own advice with the slip-ons he wears during his tenure in Bermuda. When bringing Cathy back to the hotel, he appears to be wearing dark burgundy tassel loafers and light gray socks.

While not changing the rest of his clothes, Philip evidently freshened up his footwear for his carriage ride around town with Cathy, as he’s now sporting a pair of charcoal suede tassel loafers with mid-gray socks.

Months after the couple’s uncomfortable interlude in Bermuda, Philip’s summery outfit makes a reprise for the movie’s epilogue, albeit with a warm yellow shirt and tie, as Philip walks with Cathy and their baby—and Philip’s neurotic associate Roger (Gig Young)—through Central Park, where they run into Roger’s therapist, Dr. Gruber (Alan Hewitt).

Interestingly, Philip’s choice of a yellow point-collar shirt and a coordinating gold micro-textured silk tie offers more of a holiday-friendly aesthetic than the businesslike blues and grays when he was actually in Bermuda. Perhaps this colorful sartorial direction signals the character’s more laidback demeanor after settling down and beginning a family with Cathy?

The Car

Philip Shayne’s preferred wheels for motoring through Bermuda is a “Panama beige” 1961 Citroën DS 19 Décapotable Usine Chapron, the roadster model of the iconic DS 19 that set a new standard for the French automotive industry.

Citroën introduced the DS 19 in 1955, kicking off a groundbreaking two-decade production run that immediately grabbed attention for its futuristic design that looked—as structuralist philosopher Roland Barthes wrote in 1957—as though it had “fallen from the sky”. This aerodynamic design was the result of a collaboration between Italian sculptor Flaminio Bertoni and French aeronautical engineer André Lefèbvre. The DS 19 was also considered a technological triumph for innovations like Paul Magès’ hydropneumatic self-leveling suspension that included an automatic leveling system for providing a smooth driving experience over rough or uneven terrain as well as its power steering and the “semi-automatic” transmission that still required shifting by hand but without the need of a manual clutch.

Over its twenty years and three generations of production, Citroën sold 1,455,746 DS 19 automobiles in various configurations from sedans and wagons to convertibles like the roadster introduced in 1961, the very model driven by Cary Grant in That Touch of Mink.

1961 Citroën DS 19 Décapotable Usine Chapron

Body Style: 2-door roadster

Layout: front-engine, front-wheel-drive (FWD)

Engine: 116.7 cu. in. (1.9 L) Citroën inline-four cylinder

Power: 76 hp (57 kW; 78 PS) @ 4500 RPM

Torque: 103 lb·ft (139 N·m) @ 3000 RPM

Transmission: 4-speed manual with automatic clutch

Wheelbase: 123 inches (1325 mm)

Length: 189.8 inches (4820 mm)

Width: 70.5 inches (1790 mm)

Height: 57.1 inches (1450 mm)

You can read more about the Citroën DS 19 driven in That Touch of Mink, with registration plates P3129, at IMCDB or find specs about the model itself at Automobile Catalog.

How to Get the Look

As a debonair tycoon played by Cary Grant, Philip Shayne elegantly balances his conservative business wear with resort-appropriate garb, dressed and ready for both a touristy ride through Bermuda or an impromptu business meeting.

• Beige summer-weight cotton gabardine single-breasted 3-button sport jacket with notch lapels, straight flapped hip pockets, spaced 2-button cuffs, and single vent
• Pale blue cotton shirt with point collar and double/French cuffs
• Slate gray silk tie
• Dark gray mohair/wool single forward-pleated suit trousers with buckle-tab side adjusters, side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Charcoal suede moc-toe tassel loafers
• Gray socks

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

A gentleman always allows the lady to undress first.