Glengarry Glen Ross: Ricky Roma’s Cream Pinstripe Silk Suit
Al Pacino as Ricky Roma in Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
Vitals
Al Pacino as Ricky Roma, ace real estate closer
New York (or maybe Chicago…), September 1992
Film: Glengarry Glen Ross
Release Date: October 2, 1992
Director: James Foley
Costume Designer: Jane Greenwood
Background
This is a big week for iconic actor birthdays! Today is the 77th birthday of Al Pacino, born April 25, 1940 in New York.
After a dormant post-Scarface career through most of the ’80s, Pacino shot back onto the screen in the following decade, returning to the part that made him famous as Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part III and taking on the role of confident and cut-throat real estate salesman Richard Roma in Glengarry Glen Ross from a screenplay adapted by David Mamet of his own Pulitzer- and Tony-winning 1984 play.
The ultimate closer, Roma has no need to be in the office while the rest of his colleagues are being berated by the gold Rolex-wearing “motivational speaker” sent by their corporate office. Roma has his own style, balancing a temperament that can range from smooth to explosive as he manages to close a large sale to a drunken bar mate (Jonathan Pryce) over drinks.
Pacino’s portrayal of the ruthless but loyal Ricky Roma led to a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at that year’s Academy Awards, the same year that he won Best Actor for Scent of a Woman.
What’d He Wear?
Ricky Roma stands out from his fellow neutral-toned salesmen in a flashy take on a “summer power suit” for a long night at the local bar closing deals over Cutty Sark. Roma is clearly a fashionable guy, as his suit suffers from putting trendy before timeless, but his outfit can serve as inspiration for reinterpretation 25 years later in the form of an ensemble like this.
You’d think a guy doing as well as Ricky Roma would drink something higher shelf than Cutty Sark, but hey, the guy likes what he likes.
Roma’s suit is cream silk with a subtle white pinstripe. You need look no further than the vast suit jacket if you’re looking for examples of the worst in ’90s sartorial excess: everything about this large and loose jacket is elongated, from the length itself to the long lapels down to the low buttoning point where Roma’s suit jacket closes on only one of the six buttons.
The jacket otherwise maintains the usual style points of a double-breasted suit jacket with sharp peak lapels, a welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, and a ventless back. There are four buttons on each cuff. The trousers are pleated and worn with a slim dark leather belt that has a small gold-toned single-prong buckle.
Ricky Roma: a man made for his era.
Roma wears a navy silk shirt with a front placket and squared button cuffs. It’s miraculous that Roma doesn’t remove his jacket, because you know that shirt is unflatteringly billowing out over the waistline.
The burgundy tonal-grid silk tie coordinates nicely with the red color scheme of the China Bowl restaurant where the salesmen drown their sorrows. It is tied long with a small four-in-hand knot buried under the leaves of the shirt’s slim point collar.
Two of my all-time favorite actors, Al Pacino and Jack Lemmon, sharing the screen as The Closer and The Loser.
On his right pinky, Roma flashes a yellow gold ring with a triple stone set up of a diamond, ruby, and diamond.
If that’s not enough to signal that this guy is a closer, his left wrist is adorned by a gold Rolex DateJust wristwatch with a white dial and a two-tone Jubilee bracelet.
His clothes are all silk, his jewelry is all diamonds and gold, and he has to go flashing a wad like that at the bar? We get it, Ricky Roma, you’re doing well for yourself.
Rolex watches are clearly a big deal in the Glengarry Glen Ross universe as the aggressively arrogant Blake (Alec Baldwin) proudly flashed his yellow gold Day-Date as an indicator of his status.
How to Get the Look
A hot shot closer like Ricky Roma puts fashion and luxury before function and legacy, sporting a contemporary summer suit with stylish potential that is undone by its deference to early ’90s trends.
- Cream silk pinstripe suit:
- Double-breasted 6-on-1-button jacket with peak lapels, welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, 4-button cuffs, and ventless back
- Pleated trousers with belt loops
- Navy blue silk shirt with slim point collar, front placket, and squared button cuffs
- Burgundy tonal-grid silk tie
- Slim dark leather belt with small gold-toned square single-prong buckle
- Yellow gold pinky ring with two diamonds and a ruby
- Rolex DateJust gold wristwatch with white dial on a two-tone Jubilee bracelet
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Buy the movie.
The Quote
You ever take a dump made you feel like you’d just slept for twelve hours?
Footnote
Following The Departed on Saturday, this is the second BAMF Style post in a row to feature a film where Alec Baldwin offers a brief but memorable appearance.
To be flashier he could have worn a navy shirt with double cuffs and gold cufflinks. With a trimmer cut of suit this outfit would be on trend in 2017.
LOVE this movie, and Al Pacino as Ricky Roma in particular. This was definitely a performance worthy of an Oscar, especially compared to his Oscar-winning performance as Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman, which was about as far from nuanced as you can get. Not to mention how good everyone else in this was as well. I hadn’t really thought about the clothes in this movie until your post, but they definitely help to tell the story.
The grey suit he wears to the office the next day is honestly more interesting and has a much more timeless fit.