Vitals

James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, Jersey mob boss and conflicted family man

New Jersey, March 2004

Series: The Sopranos
Episode: “Two Tonys” (Episode 5.01)
Air Date: March 7, 2004
Director: Tim Van Patten
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa

Background

Easter is right around the corner, so BAMF Style is taking this Mafia Monday to look at a brightly-dressed family man.

Recently inspired by The Prince of Tides (by all things), Tony decided the time was right to escalate his therapy by actually dating his therapist, Dr. Jennifer Melfi. Following up on his gift of flowers—accompanied by a gallon of Tide detergent—he is persistent in his desire to see her socially, despite her outright refusal. When finally pushed to her limits by him, Dr. Melfi lists off the things about him as a person that don’t appeal to her—including, you know, being a criminal—and he doesn’t take it well.

What’d He Wear?

Although he always had a habit of dressing nicely for his therapy sessions, the newly-single Tony softens his look when returning to Dr. Melfi in “Two Tonys” with the aim of asking her out on a date.

Tony wears a pale blue single-breasted sportcoat with a subtle windowpane overcheck. It closes with a single button at the bottom of the notch lapels; the left lapel has a stitched buttonhole. Given Tony’s hat-in-hand approach (at least until he blows up), I’m half-surprised that he didn’t stick a carnation in his lapel to impress Dr. Melfi.

Despite no carnation, he does have a light blue printed silk handkerchief—which perfectly matches his tie—puffing out of the jacket’s welted breast pocket. Tony’s jacket also has jetted hip pockets, as many of his do.

Tony’s jacket is ventless with padded shoulders, roped sleeveheads, and 4-button cuffs. This type of jacket was a Tony Soprano favorite in the later seasons, with sportcoats in all shades of blue, gray, gold, and brown showing up with the same subtle overcheck grid, style points, and tailoring details.

Tony wears a pair of light brown wool trousers with a full but straight cut through the legs. As Tony, James Gandolfini tends to wear pleated pants that are more flattering considering his considerable size, and these double reverse-pleated slacks are no exception. They have straight pockets on each side, about an inch forward from the seams. The bottoms are cuffed with turn-ups and have a short break.

Tony goes the extra step when matching his brown leather belt to his brown loafers; the belt has a gold half-oval buckle, and his dark brown crocodile Allen Edmonds “Grand Cayman” loafers (identified by my friend @tonysopranostyle) have a gold horsebit detail. His light brown ribbed dress socks continue the leg line from the trousers into his shoes.

In addition to all of the earth tones on Tony’s lower half, he wears a light ecru dress shirt with a spread collar and French cuffs fastened by gold “cluster” links. The shirt appears yellow in some of the promotional photos released with the episode, but its appearance on the show is more along the lines of ecru than the more vivid yellow.

Tony’s light blue printed silk tie both calls out the pale blue jacket while perfectly matching his display kerchief; the two were likely available as a set. The pattern alternates between a blue floral burst and a paler blue square that encapsulates a red diamond-like shape.

The same outfit is briefly seen again in “Where’s Johnny?” (Episode 5.03) during a meeting with Uncle Junior. As he wears it without a tie this time, he swaps out the light blue printed silk pocket square for a cream silk one with light blue dots.

Now a single man, Tony has cut his accessories down from five to four with the removal of his wedding ring. Now, the gold pinky ring on his right hand is his own finger embellishment; the ring has a ruby and a diamond stone. Further up the right hand, Tony wears a wide gold chain bracelet around his wrist.

On the opposing wrist, Tony wears his luxurious Rolex-Preisdent Day-Date watch. The wristwatch has a yellow gold 18-karat 36mm case, a “champagne” gold dial, and a flat three-piece link bracelet with a concealed clasp. A commentor on my last Tony Soprano post clarified for me that this is the 18238 model (rather than the 118238), evident by its polished lugs and heavier bracelet that Rolex had introduced for this model.

Tony’s final accessory remains unseen under his shirt, a gold open-link chain necklace from which a pendant of St. Anthony dangles over his white ribbed cotton sleeveless undershirt. (Note that I’d previously identified this as a St. Jerome pendant before I received a correction from BAMF Style reader Dylan Singh explaining that Tony wears the more common—and more name-appropriate—St. Anthony.)

How to Get the Look

When courting Dr. Melfi, Tony knows that she’s got more class than his usual goomahs. He dresses to impress and make himself look as affluently non-threatening as possible… a decision that he reverses by the end of the episode when he sits outside chomping on a cigar while wearing a leather jacket and cradling an AK-47* on his back patio.

• Pale blue windowpane single-breasted 1-button sport coat with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, jetted hip pockets, 4-button cuffs, and ventless back
• Light ecru dress shirt with a spread collar, plain front, and double/French cuffs
• Gold “cluster” cuff links
• Light blue printed silk necktie
• Light brown double reverse-pleated trousers with belt loops, straight side pockets, jetted rear pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• Brown leather belt with gold half-oval single-claw buckle
• Brown leather horsebit loafers
• Light brown ribbed dress socks
• White ribbed cotton sleeveless undershirt
• Rolex President Day-Date 18238 yellow gold wristwatch
• Gold open-link chain bracelet
• Gold pinky ring with ruby and diamond stones
• Gold open-link chain necklace with round St. Anthony pendant

The light blue printed silk display kerchief in Tony’s breast pocket perfectly matches his tie, a likely indication that the two were sold together.

* The “AK-47” is actually a Chinese-made Norinco Type 84S rifle, a 5.56×45 mm derivative of Norinco’s AK-47 clone.

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Buy the entire series.

The Quote

You know, forget about the way that Tony Soprano makes his way in the world, that’s just to feed his children. There’s two Tony Sopranos. You’ve never seen the other one.