Vitals

David Duchovny as Hank Moody, borderline alcoholic and womanizing college professor, née novelist

Venice Beach, Fall 2009

Series: Californication
Episode: “The Land of Rape and Honey” (Episode 3.02)
Air Date: October 4, 2009
Director: Bart Freundlich & David Von Ancken
Costume Designer: Peggy A. Schnitzer

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Midterms are in full swing for fall semester college students, so BAMF Style is taking a look at Californication‘s Hank Moody making his brief foray into the world of academia. Frankly, the show’s third season is where it started to lose my interest with broader humor that seemed more focused on being zany and raunchy than relatable. (For example, a brooding student’s suicide attempt is seemingly written in—and quickly written off—as an excuse for Hank to pontificate and spout a few one-liners and find out that one of his hot students is also a stripper.)

…but now I’m pontificating! “The Land of Rape and Honey” (eek, that episode title!) is the most we see of Professor Hank Moody in action—before using his job to get some action—and, of course, he kinda sucks at it.

What’d He Wear?

Hank Moody doesn’t dress any differently than usual when working his brief professorial shift, sporting dark button-up shirts and dark jeans typically accompanied by his trademark olive needlecord smoking jacket and Chelsea boots.

The olive brown smoking jacket re-emerges in this episode, having been briefly replaced by a darker and heavier version in the third season premiere. It is the same familiar thin-corded, single-breasted 2-button jacket that Hank’s been wearing since his introduction in the first episode. Edge swelling is present throughout from the notch lapels to the welted breast pocket and straight flapped hip pockets. It has a single back vent and 3-button cuffs.

Hank wears this comfortable black lightweight cotton button-up shirt in many third season episodes (“Wish You Were Here”, “Zoso”, “Comings and Goings”, and the climactic finale in “Mia Culpa”), always with the button cuffs undone and rolled partially up his forearms. It has a plain front with no placket and no pocket. It is distinctive with its slim, soft collar, reinforced stitched seam across the horizontal back yoke, and the easily-wrinkled material that suggests the possibility of a cotton-linen blend.

It takes a wedding, a funeral, or extreme physical activity to get Hank Moody in anything but jeans, so a few hours slumped behind a desk each day would hardly be enough to get him to wear anything but “the people’s fabric”. His dark blue denim jeans in this scene may or may not be from the New York designer Earnest Sewn, which definitely made some of Hank’s jeans as confirmed by the ScreenBid auction of Californication costumes and props in July 2014.

You may not realize it at first glance, but Hank actually wears a different pair of brown Chelsea boots than his usual Timberland Torrance model in this scene. Identified by BAMF Style reader Mark as Blundstone footwear, these boots have dark brown oiled leather uppers with lighter brown elastic side gussets, brown-stitched quarter seams, and black soles.

Though not clearly seen, Hank is probably wearing his usual black socks and black boxer briefs. During Hank’s tussle with Dean Koons in “Comings and Goings” (Episode 3.11), the white-lettered Calvin Klein logo can be seen on the black waistband of his boxer briefs.

Hank’s usual jewelry and accessories are also on full display as he gesticulates wildly, doling out unsolicited romantic advice and solicited (but unappreciated) career advice. On his right index finger, he wears his silver ring with two rows of silver “teeth” embedded in the ring’s black ridge.

The familiar faded black leather stud bracelet is snapped to Hank’s left wrist with its silver hexagonal studs and a single round stud over the snap. It is supplemented by a black woven leather braid, tied in a permanent knot on the same wrist. Replicas of both bracelets are available at Urban Wrist.

What to Imbibe

It makes sense that a metal fan like Hank Moody would idle his office hours time by enjoying Lemmy’s favorite cocktail, Jack and Coke… or, um, “Jake” and Coke since the show used the fictional lookalike: Jake Danzel’s Old No. 2 Kentucky Whiskey.

The opportunistically transparent “Jake Danzel’s” is a label offered by Earl Hays Press, one of several prop houses that provides products for movies and TV shows that want to avoid product placement for legal or financial reasons. This can range from beverages, cigarettes, and food to newspapers, magazines, and medicines. Interestingly, although the show goes to these lengths to avoid the actual brand, Hank still refers to “killing that bottle of Jack” after Jackie—the aforementioned student/stripper—makes a late night visit with two friends and a bottle of Jake Danzel’s in “The Apartment” (Episode 3.08).

In this episode, however, Hank pours his whiskey straight into the cola can for himself and offers the bottle to his jaded student to wash down the disappointing news that the young man may not be such a great writer, after all.

How to Get the Look

Hank’s new boots offer a slight twist on his usual “uniform” and his trademark smoking jacket is less out-of-place in this mahogany-paneled university setting than his usual world of beaches and dive bars.

• Olive brown thin-corded single-breasted 2-button smoking jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and single vent
• Black lightweight cotton shirt with soft collar, plain front, and rolled-up button cuffs
• Dark blue denim jeans with long, thin belt loops and five-pocket layout
• Dark brown oiled leather Blundstone slip-on Chelsea boots with brown side gussets and black rubber soles
• Black tube socks
• Black Calvin Klein boxer briefs
• Silver black-ridged ring, worn on the right index finger
• Black leather bracelet with silver hexagonal and round studs, snapped on the left wrist
• Black woven leather braided bracelet, tied on the left wrist

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the show. I think the first two seasons are the best and variations of this look show up in basically every episode, but this particular outfit with the slightly different Chelsea boots only shows up in the third season.

The Quote

The world doesn’t need any more lame vampire fiction.