Californication – Hank Wears Blue in Season 2
David Duchovny as Hank Moody in “Coke Dick & First Kick”, the sixth episode of Californication’s second season.
Vitals
David Duchovny as Hank Moody, novelist and womanizer researching a rock biography
Venice Beach, Spring 2008
Series: Californication
Episodes: “Coke Dick & First Kick” (Episode 2.06) & “Blues from Laurel Canyon” (Episode 2.11)
Air Dates: November 2, 2008 & December 7, 2008
Director: Michael Lehmann
Costume Designer: Peggy A. Schnitzer
Background
David Duchovny turns 53 today. Happy birthday to one of BAMF Style’s favorite TV lovable degenerates!
After a first season firmly establishing him as a “man in black”, Hank began to develop his palette with a more diverse wardrobe in season 2. While the base was still the same – a dark button-down or T-shirt with jeans – Hank started sporting some different stuff, perhaps in tune with his new, optimistic attitude after winning Karen back in the first season finale. Instead of just black or a dark green, Hank wears shirts in purple and blue and even a few non-solid T-shirts! Although, to be fair, he borrowed those from new buddy Lew Ashby.
What’d He Wear?
One of the more-worn new shirts in the second season is a dark royal blue button-down. Like some of his other shirts, it is a lightweight cotton that would be comfortable in the warm California sun. Plenty of stitching is visible, including on the collars, down the shoulders, and across the top of the back. The black buttons fasten down a front placket. The shirt also has a breast pocket and long sleeves, which Hank almost always wears rolled up to his elbows.
In both of the shirt’s second season appearances, in “Coke Dick & First Kick” (2.06) and “Blues from Laurel Canyon” (2.11, and also the title of an innovative John Mayall album), Hank wears the shirt with his smoking jacket, jeans, and boots.
Most of the shots will be from “Coke Dick & First Kick”, however, as “Blues from Laurel Canyon” was a much darker episode (in terms of lighting. And content too, I guess, but that wouldn’t really be too relevant in this context.)
Hank wears his shirt while at Mia’s book part (left, in 2.11) and while investigating for Lew’s biography (right, in 2.06).
Hank’s infamous smoking jacket makes its return in the previous season 2 episode, “Vaginatown” (2.05), before he again wears it when he goes knocking on Janie Jones’ door in Beverly Hills. This is the same coat from the first season and is worn well into the fourth season before Hank began phasing it out in favor of leather jackets and dark sport coats for his outerwear of choice.
The Yves St. Laurent smoking jacket is a dark chocolate brown suede blazer with a 2-button front. Hank never has the front fastened, as the jacket is worn very casually and would look strange buttoned with an untucked shirt and jeans. There is a jetted breast pocket and flapped hip pockets, as well as internal pockets for Hank’s cell phone, sunglasses, and cigarettes. Additional details include 3-button cuffs and a single rear vent.
Close shots of the jacket reveal it to actually be a corded suede. This gives the jacket slightly more structure than if it was simply suede. Examples are tough to find without looking too garish or stoner-’70s-professor-ish, but there’s currently a great gray version on eBay.
Hank gives us the cord shoulder.
(Get it, because this is where we see it’s corded suede and it’s a play on words for “cold shoulder”? Okay, I’ll stop.)
Hank’s jeans are a medium-dark wash that are only slightly lighter in color than the shirt. They are the usual 5-pocket jeans with two front pockets, a coin pocket, and two large rear pockets with no visible logos or symbols.
On his feet, Hank wears his go-to brown suede Timberland “Torrance” slip-on Chelsea boots, paired with revolving sets of black socks.
Hank wears his tried-and-true Chelsea boots. After these early seasons, Hank wore the same model of boots but in a lighter shade of brown.
Hank also wears his standard underwear, an all black pair of short boxer briefs.
Hank wakes up to Mia and good news about their novel.
Take note of Hank’s bedside table: cigarettes and Johnnie Walker. The mark of a true writer.
Hank’s accessories remain the same throughout the second season: a silver spinner ring on his right index finger and two black leather bracelets on his left wrist – one a thick snap-fastened bracelet with hexagonal studs and the other a thin braid. Hank also wears his Izod 725 sunglasses with black frames and dark brown lenses.
Hank’s accessories and bad habits are all back in full force for the second season.
Go Big or Go Home
This is the most rock-oriented season of Californication. Season six may have also dealt with the rock world, but season two – featuring Callum Keith Rennie’s great turn as legendary producer Lew Ashby – is basically rock TV. The season also was a great readaptation of The Great Gatsby, with Hank easily sliding into the role of central character Nick Carraway as Ashby played his mysterious muse in love with his lost love, modernized from Daisy Buchanan to Janie Jones (“like the Clash song“, as Hank notes.)
Hank’s greeting to Janie of “I made a mess of your bush this morning,” doesn’t exactly scream F. Scott Fitzgerald, but the sentiment is the same.
Once Karen again kicks him out, Hank resumes smoking. He is now smoking “Morley” cigarettes, the fictional brand that has been around since at least the 1960s when William Shatner co-starred with a packet on an episode of The Twilight Zone. The design has changed since then and now is a direct replica of Marlboro Red cigarettes.
Naturally, Hank is also drinking heavily to numb the pain of his most recent misfortune. A new fictional brand of Scotch pops up for Hank in the form of McManus 25-Year-Old, evidently a single malt whisky. The McManus label has clearly been placed on a Glenlivet bottle to avoid product placement. This aversion to featuring the Glenlivet is a bit odd to me, as it is clearly seen in the first episode (the 12-Year-Old bottle) and again several times in the fifth season (now 18-Year-Old bottles).
25 is pretty old for Hank, in terms of both Scotch and women.
How to Get the Look
This is an easy one!
It’s cool to dress like Hank, just be careful about going through a neighbor’s mail.
- Dark royal blue lightweight cotton button-down shirt with soft collars, visible stitching, a breast pocket, and black buttons down a front placket
- Dark brown single-breasted corded suede smoking jacket with a 2-button front, 3-button cuffs, single vent, jetted breast pocket, and flapped hip pockets – Hank’s is likely made by Yves St. Laurent, but many manufacturers make similar jackets
- Medium-dark wash blue denim jeans
- Brown suede Timberland “Torrance” slip-on Chelsea boots with black elastic side gussets
- Black socks
- Black boxer briefs
- Izod 725 sunglasses with brown lenses
- Silver spinner ring, worn on the right index finger
- Black leather bracelet with silver hexagonal and round studs, worn on the left wrist
- Thin black braided leather bracelet, also worn on the left wrist
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Buy the second season.
The Quote
There is no life without love. None worth having, anyway.
Of course, there’s also the great moment after his ignominious departure from the Jones residence…
“Who puts a fuckin’ bush there?”
Footnotes
Hank’s bracelets are available at Urban Wrist, as usual.
Morley is also favourite brand of the Smoking Man of the X-Files fame, and he is – guess what – biological father of David Duchovny’s character Fox Mulder! Kind of in-joke.
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Boots are the timberland torrance, not mt. Washington, i have the brown suede torrance boots
Thanks! I have the Mt. Washington and stupidly didn’t notice the easy difference with the tabs. I’m going through a bunch of the older Hank articles to make the fix.
Easy mistake haha, how come you haven’t done the more recent seasons?
I haven’t had much time to screencap them in full (I’m a perfectionist), but I just received season 6 and I understand season 7 was just released also, so expect to see some posts from the more recent seasons soon!
Looking forward to it! My personal favorites are in seasons 4 and 5, and I was surprised to see they brought back the suede blazer in season 7!