Sorry this one took me long, fellas. I had planned to have it up by Tuesday (timed for the “polar vortex” ooooh…) but it’s a long-ass movie with a lot of clothes. However, this should still be pretty well-timed for anyone in North America dealing with record low temperatures this winter.

Vitals

Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist, disgraced Swedish investigative journalist

Hedestad, Sweden, Winter 2006

Film: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Release Date: December 20, 2011
Director: David Fincher
Costume Designer: Trish Summerville

Background

This isn’t one of those movies you pop in just for a laugh on a summer day or to fall asleep to. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a very dark (both thematically and literally) film that’ll stick with you for days after watching. It’s long – closer to 3 hours than 2 – but the fast-paced, heart-racing sequences and the stellar acting, particularly from leads Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, make the time fly.

Craig plays Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist in some hot water after his investigation into a corrupt businessman resulted in a libel case. He is mysteriously called to the home of Henrik Vanger (the always excellent and debonair Christopher Plummer) and thrown into a dark investigation of a forty-year-old murder.

Craig does a nice job not reminding the audiences that he is James Bond. Although not a slob, his Mikael is much less appearance-driven than Bond and certainly much less of an action hero. He isn’t an anti-hero, as he is always driven by his desire to do the right thing although he often takes it too far and gets himself in trouble.

As I said, it was a very dark movie, thus most – if not all – of the images I captured had to be brightened to use here. Of course, this was David Fincher so I wouldn’t expect anything less.

What’d He Wear?

He wears a few dark suits in the beginning, which I’ll cover at some point, but Mikael spends most of the film in various layered sweaters and vests, almost always worn with an outer coat, a pair of jeans, and dark leather boots.

Since the film takes place over the course of a year (although I guess most of the action is relegated to the first few months of 2006), Mikael is seen often wearing the same clothing, but paired differently. Unlike most movies, this is a very realistic depiction of a person’s wardrobe. James Bond probably goes away for the week-long mission with six business suits, two dinner suits, and eighteen shirts, all meant to be worn once. With Mikael’s outfits, we see plenty of repetition, but it is always in different combinations depending on the weather, situation, and – likely – his laundry cycle.

A lot of help came from commenters like Brandon L., Craig Richards, Roman, and JM88. Brandon directed me to this Ask Ugeta link to answer a lot of questions about clothing brands in the film.

Thus, I think the most practical way to present the attire is to list it all out, presented in the order of its appearance, then to describe each combo by the situation.

The List

For comprehensive, illustrated information about the clothing, accessories, and personal items used by Mikael and other characters in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, check out iCollector’s listings from the September 2015 prop auction, which was an invaluable source for identifying brands in Mikael’s outfits as outlined through this post. Due to the nature of these scenes (and often the cold setting), not every worn item may have been clearly seen on screen.

Mikael wears two winter coats while in Hedestad, one for more formal occasions and the other a more casual winter coat:

• Charcoal gray tweed single-breasted 3-button overcoat from Yves Saint Laurent with notch lapels, a welted breast pocket, flapped hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and a large rear single vent (Source: iCollector)
• Gray wool down jacket with a zip front with a 5-snap placket, a 2-snap standing collar, a snap-flapped breast pocket, zip slash side pockets, tightly elasticized cuffs to keep out snow and weather, and a snap under the rear collar. This jacket is the Moncler “Cezanne” model, which is unfortunately out of production. (Brandon sent me this photo of the jacket, which shows a brand logo on the breast pocket which was evidently removed for the film.)

Underneath his winter coats, Mikael typically wears either a cardigan sweater or a sportcoat. His sport jackets consist of:

• Gray wool single-breasted 2-button sport jacket from Costume National, tailored and styled like an orphaned suit jacket with natural shoulders, roped sleeveheads, notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, and 4-button cuffs (Source: iCollector)
• Black cotton unstructured single-breasted 2-button “blazer” from Neil Barrett, with “cran necker” notch lapels, breast pocket, flapped hip pockets, and unfastened surgeon’s cuffs (Source: iCollector)

The sweaters are:

• Charcoal chunky ribbed cardigan sweater with large shawl lapels and low button stance. It just looks like a charcoal gray in the film, but some production photos (including the one at the top of this post) give the sweater a blue-ish tint. Not as blue as the scarf, but a shade darker than his jeans. It likely is a dark charcoal blue, but it appears grayer in the film, so you can be your own judge there. It was made by Maison Martin Margiela.
• Black knit shawl-collar cardigan sweater from Paul Smith, with five-button front and no pockets (Source: iCollector)
• Charcoal merino wool shawl-collar cardigan from Ralph Lauren, with a five-button front and two pockets (Source: iCollector)
• Gray cashmere cardigan sweater with shawl collar and ribbed/elasticized cuffs. It has a knit pattern that slightly resembles that of a fisherman’s sweater.
• Dark gray cardigan wrap-sweater from Kolor Incorporated, with narrow notch lapels and two pockets (source: iCollector)
• Navy blue wool cardigan sweater from Martin Margiela,with a four-button front and black lambskin leather elbow patches (mostly unseen, source: iCollector)
• Dark gray-green cashmere v-neck long-sleeve sweater from Martin Margiela, with triple horizontal swollen seams at shoulders, elasticized cuffs, and elasticized waistband (Source: iCollector)
• Dark gray cashmere v-neck long-sleeve sweater from Ralph Lauren RRL (Source: iCollector)
• Light gray silk/cashmere blend v-neck long-sleeve sweater from Loro Piana (Source: iCollector)

Mikael also shows a fondness for vests. Since Daniel Craig is British, though, he would probably call them waistcoats. Whatever you call them, they are:

• Gray pick-and-pick (“salt and pepper”) vest from John Varvatos with a 6-button front, four welted pockets, adjustable back strap, and notched bottom (Source: iCollector)
• Charcoal gray tweed wool vest from John Varvatos with a 5-button front, four jetted pockets (two closely placed on each side), adjustable back strap, and notched bottom. The buttons here are also black, and Mikael indeed leaves the bottom button unfastened. (Source: iCollector)
• Light gray herringbone vest from DSquared2, with 7 black buttons, four welted pockets, notched bottom, and dark gray knit back with fitted waist hem (Source: iCollector)
• Navy blue cotton vest from Neil Barrett, with a closely-spaced 5-button front, four welted pockets, and notched bottom (Source: iCollector)

A few commenters have pointed out that most of Craig’s shirts in the film are lightweight cotton poplin work shirts made by the American company Save Khaki United. Although the shirts offered during the filming are no longer available, the site still has very similar and very cool shirts that Mikael would wear. Thanks to Craig Richards and JM88 for pointing this out! The shirts are featured in a Youtube video by David Zaritsky of The Bond Experience.

Most of Mikael’s shirts are very Columbo-esque wrinkled button-up shirts, including:

• Light gray casual shirt from Save Khaki with point collar, front placket with gray buttons, patch pocket with button-down pointed flap, and button cuffs (Source: iCollector and iCollector)
• Light blue casual shirt from Save Khaki with narrow two-button collar, front placket with white buttons, patch pocket with button-down flap, and button cuffs
• Navy blue casual shirt from Save Khaki with point collar, front placket with white buttons, patch pocket with button-down flap, and button cuffs (Source: iCollector)
• Light blue casual shirt from Steven Alan with narrow collar, front placket (with white buttons), plain patch breast pocket, and button cuffs (Source: iCollector)
• Navy blue casual shirt from Steven Alan with narrow collar, front placket (with white buttons), plain patch breast pocket, and button cuffs (Source: iCollector and iCollector)
• Dark green casual shirt from Hartford, with spread collar, front placket and two-button barrel cuffs (both with gray buttons), and patch breast pocket (Source: iCollector)
• Navy-and-green Black Watch plaid flannel long-sleeve shirt from Hartford, with spread collar, front placket and two-button barrel cuffs (both with white buttons), and patch breast pocket (Source: iCollector)

The company also offers t-shirts and cardigan sweaters very similar to the one worn by Dan in the flick.

Mikael wears both t-shirts and henleys as undershirts:

• A medium-gray short-sleeve t-shirt.
• A plain white short-sleeve t-shirt.
• A gray long-sleeve henley with four white buttons.
• Blue long-sleeve henley shirt with four silver-toned buttons, from Rag & Bone (Source: iCollector)
• Navy blue thermal long-sleeve henley shirt with four navy plastic buttons, from Vince (Source: iCollector)
• Light blue crew-neck short-sleeve t-shirt, identified as a James Perse “Standard (Source: iCollector)
• Light blue-gray crew-neck long-sleeve t-shirt, identified as a James Perse “Standard” (Source: iCollector and iCollector)

Mikael has a preference for jeans, although he sports a pair of casual trousers from time to time. The belt situation varies, but when he wears one it is a dark brown leather belt with a dulled silver rectangular clasp. His pants include:

• Dark blue denim jeans, made by Scotch & Soda in their “Ralston” slim and straight cut. (According to this link and a briefly-seen logo during the climax.) The bottoms are usually cuffed about an inch.
• Gray denim jeans with a button-fly, also Scotch & Soda “Ralston” (Source: iCollector and iCollector)

Mikael wears laced leather boots, a wise choice for stomping around in the snowy winters of Sweden, often with gray woolen socks according to the costumer’s tags on most outfits. According to the Ask Ugeta link above:

[Mikael] also had a great pair of caramel color boots he wore a lot that I also loved; they were like an ankle oxford. These were by Crockett & Jones which you can get at Barneys, or if you’re in NYC or London they have their own stores. He also wore a black leather round toe lace up ankle boot by Fiorentini & Baker and a grey suede lace up boot by Costume National.

Things might look pretty repetitive here, so if you’re looking for a scene in particular, scroll ’til you find it. I wanted to be thorough here, but that can also mean boring. Hopefully the screenshots will liven things up a bit. Here we go!

The Breakdown

When he first meets with Henrik in Hedestad, around Christmas 2005, he wears the charcoal tweed YSL overcoat over the gray Costume National sport jacket, light gray button-up Save Khaki shirt worn untucked, gray pick-and-pick John Varvatos 6-button vest (source: iCollector), dark blue Scotch & Soda jeans with a belt, and black leather boots. He accessorizes (and keeps himself warm) with a thick charcoal blue and gray striped wool scarf from Jil Sander (source: iCollector), worn in most of his outdoor scenes in Hedestad.

He also wears his Omega watch and his Mykita acetate glasses, both of which I will discuss at the bottom of this section.

After meeting with Henrik, Mikael goes back to the Millennium magazine office and sees Erika. Not much is seen below the waist here, but he definitely wears the chunky charcoal cardigan and a blue Rag & Bone long-sleeve henley shirt with four silver-toned buttons.

Mikael returns to Hedestad, this time to stay for the investigation. He alights from the train wearing his gray wool down jacket, the striped wool scarf, his dark jeans, black leather boots, and – naturally for Dan – his Omega watch. We don’t see anything under the coat since the next scene is him in his pajamas, but we do see an additional outerwear accessory: a dark gray tobbogan (“beanie”) hat. Interestingly, it is this cold with him wearing a hat, scarf, and insulated winter coat, but he wears no gloves? Is this just a Swedish thing or what?

The next day, Mikael meets with Henrik. It is just as cold as the previous day, but he wears his more formal charcoal overcoat with the charcoal blue and gray striped scarf.

Mikael returns to his computer to get some invetsigating done. He wears the chunky charcoal cardigan, a gray t-shirt, and the charcoal tweed John Varvatos vest. He is also sporting his Mykita acetate glasses.

When Mikael meets with retired detective Morrell, he wears the charcoal YSL overcoat, his light gray Save Khaki button-up shirt with flapped pocket (source: iCollector), dark blue Scotch & Soda jeans, and black Fiorentini & Baker boots. He again wears his Omega watch and the Mykita glasses. There is a newly seen item here, a dark gray-green cashmere pullover sweater from Martin Margiela with unique shoulder detailing on each side of the v-neck opening (source: iCollector). He only wears it in this scene and towards the end when talking to Erika.

For dinner with Martin Vanger and his wife, Mikael wears his dark overcoat and scarf when outside. His dinner attire is a black unstructured Neil Barrett blazer, the light gray button-up shirt from Save Khaki with flap breast pocket, dark blue Scotch & Soda jeans, and dark brown Crockett & Jones oxford boots.

Soon after, Mikael is talking to another Vanger when Cecilia stops by his shack. For this visit, he wears the dark charcoal cable-knit Martin Margiela cardigan, a dark green Hartford long-sleeve shirt, a light blue-gray James Perse long-sleeve t-shirt, dark blue Scotch & Soda jeans, his black Fiorentini & Baker boots, and his Mykita glasses. (Source: iCollector)

Evidently in a mood to keep talking to the Vanger kids, Mikael heads off to see Anita via plane. For the plane ride, he wears a soft gray cashmere cardigan sweater, a light gray button-up shirt from Save Khaki, and a light gray t-shirt, all paired with the gray pick-and-pick John Varvatos 6-button vest, dark blue Scotch & Soda jeans, and brown suede Crockett & Jones chukka boots. (Source: iCollector)

His trusty Omega is on his left wrist, and he also whips out his Mykita glasses from time to time. When he steps off the plane and goes to see Anita, he is wearing his charcoal YSL overcoat and the striped scarf.

When he gets back to Hedestad, Erika visits him. He is wearing his Moncler gray down jacket, the dark gray toboggan, the charcoal blue and gray striped scarf, and the same gray cashmere sweater and light gray t-shirt from his trip to see Anita. He is wearing a dark button-up shirt (likely navy or green) with white buttons and a dark gray pair of flat front trousers, perhaps feeling more formal with his main squeeze in town.

Mikael the photographer treks into the city to document some of the locations where Harriet had spent her last known day. (The photo at the top of this post is a production still from this scene.) Mikael is wearing his chunky dark charcoal cardigan, the charcoal blue and gray striped scarf, the charcoal tweed John Varvatos vest, dark blue Scotch & Soda jeans, and black leather Fiorentini & Baker boots. His shirt is a light blue version of the light gray button-up shirt he’s worn so much of in the film. Naturally, he also wears his Mykita glasses.

Mikael’s daughter comes to visit him after his adventure in the city. After she leaves, Mikael knocks back some Cragganmore with Dirch Frode. During this whole sequence, he wears the chunky dark charcoal cardigan, a light gray t-shirt, gray pick John Varvatos 6-button vest, dark blue Scotch & Soda jeans, and black leather boots. He also wears his Mykita glasses and Omega watch. When outside, his outerwear is the gray wool Moncler down jacket, his dark gray toboggan, and the charcoal blue and gray striped scarf.

After Mikael discovers that Lisbeth Salander has been investigating him, he goes into Dragan “Serbian Guy from ER” Armansky’s office wearing the black knit shawl-collar Paul Smith cardigan, the charcoal gray tweed wool John Varvatos vest, gray denim Scotch & Soda button-fly jeans, and a light blue casual Steven Alan button-up shirt. (The whole outfit is featured here on iCollector.)

When he finally goes to meet Lisbeth Salander for a memorable scene in her apartment, he wears the black unstructured blazer from his dinner with Martin, paired with a gray scarf, the light gray herringbone DSquared2 vest (source: iCollector), dark blue Scotch & Soda jeans worn with a dark brown leather belt, and a navy long-sleeve button-up shirt with white buttons.

Mikael heads back alone to the Vangers’ island, wearing his dark charcoal overcoat, light blue wrinkled button-up shirt, a white t-shirt, the light gray 7-button vest, and dark blue Scotch & Soda jeans, again with the dark brown leather belt. Not clearly seen is the dark gray “button-less” cardigan from Kolor that he appears to be wearing as well (source: iCollector). The black leather Fiorentini & Baker boots appear to be his footwear of choice here.

In mid-April 2006, Henrik is hospitalized and Salander finally arrives to help Mikael with the investigation. He heads to the hospital to visit the family in his gray cashmere cardigan, a medium gray t-shirt, his dark charcoal overcoat, and the charcoal blue and gray striped scarf.

Mikael runs some mostly photo-related errands wearing his dark charcoal cardigan, gray pick-and-pick vest, and dark wash jeans. The new item here is a gray long-sleeve henley. The standard items here are the Mykita eyeglasses and his stainless Omega watch.

The action really starts picking up when Mikael is shot at! For this, he wears a newly-seen charcoal merino wool shawl-collar Ralph Lauren cardigan with a five-button front with a light blue-gray long-sleeve t-shirt from James Perse, dark blue Scotch & Soda jeans, and black leather Fiorentini & Baker derby-laced ankle boots. (Source: iCollector)

The next day, Mikael goes to meet Martin and Frode at the Vanger office. His outerwear is the YSL charcoal overcoat, dark gray tobbogan cap, and the charcoal blue and gray scarf. Inside the office, he sheds his layers and wears the gray cashmere sweater, dark casual button-up shirt with white buttons, medium gray t-shirt, dark blue jeans, and black laced leather boots.

After this, we get to the climatic day as Mikael faces off against the film’s big villain! If you want a spoiler, highlight this: Martin Vanger. If you didn’t want a spoiler, I hope you didn’t highlight that…

In this sequence, Mikael wears his dark charcoal YSL overcoat. Since it’s getting slightly warmer, probably around late April or early May around this time, he isn’t wearing a sweater or a vest. Instead, he layers a navy-and-green Black Watch plaid flannel button-up shirt from Hartford over a navy blue thermal henley from Vince (source: iCollector).

Mikael wears his dark blue Scotch & Soda jeans without a belt as well as his brown Crockett & Jones boots and Mykita acetate glasses. (The costume tag seen at iCollector calls for a belt, black boots with “gray fleck wooley” socks, and a crew-neck undershirt; evidently, some costuming changes were made before the scenes were filmed.)

Chances are, it’s gonna be tough for me to avoid spoilers here, so read with caution if you haven’t seen the film. Mikael (he lives, yay!) takes a return flight to Anita wearing a gray-ish unstructured overcoat with peak lapels and surgeon’s cuffs. I can’t tell much about this coat, as it’s only seen in one shot. He also wears a dark long-sleeve casual button-up shirt with black buttons.

When he goes to confront Anita with the truth, he shows up on her doorstep at night wearing a dark charcoal gray wool peacoat (evidently this coat from Yves Saint Laurent) with this newly-seen gray plaid cashmere Loro Piana scarf, paired with dark blue Scotch & Soda jeans and his chestnut brown Crockett & Jones oxford boots. According to the costumer’s tag, he wears these items with a navy Martin Margiela cardigan with black elbow patches (source: iCollector) over a navy Save Khaki button-up shirt, dark blue Scotch & Soda jeans, chestnut brown Crockett & Jones oxford boots.

When talking with Anita in the park, he is wearing the black cotton Neil Barrett unstructured blazer with its lapels up against the scarf. Unseen beneath it is a light gray Save Khaki button-up shirt with a flapped breast pocket, light gray silk and cashmere blend v-neck sweater from Loro Piana, and navy cotton vest also from Neil Barrett. (Source: iCollector)

For Henrik’s reuniting with Anita/Harriet, things finally get back to normal for me sartorially as Mikael wears his charcoal cardigan, light blue wrinkled Save Khaki shirt, long-sleeve gray henley, gray Scotch & Soda jeans, and Omega watch.

Later, possibly around June 2006, Mikael is talking to Erika. He wears the light blue wrinkled shirt under the dark pleated-shoulder sweater worn for the Morrell interview. He appears to also have a thin dark-colored cardigan over this whole affair. Mikael’s accessories here are his loyal Mykita glasses and Omega watch. A production photo shows that he is also wearing his dark jeans.

Finally, around Christmas 2006, Mikael is watching the news with the Millennium staff. He is wearing his gray cashmere knit cardigan, the light gray herringbone 7-button vest, the dark navy button-up shirt with white buttons, dark gray Scotch & Soda jeans, black laced boots, and his Mykita glasses, which dangle from his face.

Well, that was an adventure.

The Accessories

Mikael has three accessories that he wears nearly all the time. One, which he is never seen without, is a silver pendant on a thin silver chain throughout the film. I don’t know the significance of this, and I have yet to actually read the books (I know, I know!) so I don’t know if it were mentioned there.

Since Dan Craig is an Omega man, his watch in the film is an Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Chronometer 231.13.39.21.06.001. It has a 38.5 mm round stainless steel case, a teak-gray dial with a domed scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, and a black leather strap. If you’re interested, check out Omega’s site and see what you can get.

Mikael also wears a very cool set of eyeglasses, a pair of Mykita Collection No. 2 “Helmut” acetate eyeglasses with brown tortoiseshell (“Peridot”) frames.

The Pajamas

Just for shits and giggles, and since he spends a good bit of time in them, let’s quickly talk about Mikael’s pajamas. He wears a set of dark red and blue flannel pajamas with a button-up top and elastic-waisted bottoms. Since it’s cold as heck, he wears light gray wool socks and almost always has an undershirt, whether it’s a navy blue thermal henley (this one!) or a gray t-shirt. He often wears his dark charcoal cardigan over the pajamas, even sleeping in it. For pajama investigations, he puts on the Mykita glasses, and when he has to step outside, he wears a pair of black leather boots with orange lining over his gray-and-cream woolen socks.

Go Big or Go Home

For a badass movie that takes no prisoners, Mikael is a pretty mild-tempered character. He is more like Daniel Craig’s pragmatic gun-hating drug dealer from Layer Cake than James Bond and is very dedicated to his work and doing a good job. While this may land him in hot water when he goes too far, it also endears him to women and friends.

Speaking of badass, the title sequence immediately sets the stage for the disturbing film, with a rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and vocals from Karen O. of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

The Product Placement Gods have also made it very easy to replicate Mikael’s style. In addition to the clothes above, you can nab a 2nd generation Apple MacBook Pro and hook it up to a Lacie d2 Quadra external hard drive and an Epson Stylus Office BX320FW printer and – voila! – you’ll be able to solve forty-year-old murders!

He also smokes Marlboro Reds, but the Philip Morris folks frown on product placement and probably aren’t too crazy about his habit of buying a pack just to smoke one cigarette and toss the rest away.

Was anyone else surprised by all the Apple product placement in a Sony movie? Sure, they gave Mikael (and Lisbeth) a Sony Ericsson Cybershot phone and a black flat screen Sony TV, but using an Apple computer was a pretty big surprise. If you’re gonna fill your cabinet like Mikael, have some nutella and Felix Rårörda Lingon jam on hand. Now when it comes to booze…

What to Imbibe

Mikael himself keeps Cragganmore 12-Year-Old single malt Scotch whisky in his home on the Vanger grounds, drinking it neat when Dirch Frode visits.

When he heads to Martin’s household, first for a social visit, he drinks a glass of Château Clinet red wine from Pomerol with Martin and his wife.

When he returns a few months later, for a decidedly more sinister visit, he is offered a glass of Mackmyra Brukswhisky, a very appropriately-placed Swedish single malt whisky. Due to the bottle, many people mistake this for Bruichladdich (which is also awesome), but it is indeed Mackmyra.

Mikael also chugs vodka when he needs it, pouring two mini-bottles for a double vodka on the plane and drinking straight from the bottle after he is shot at.

Thanks to blog commenter Roman, who has identified the “bathtub” vodka as the Swedish brand Vanlig, which I was unfamiliar with before this post. The mini-bottles on the plane are likely Absolut, another Swedish brand to keep things regionally accurate.

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

The last time I reported on something without being absolutely sure I lost my life savings.