Vitals

Robert De Niro as Sam “Ace” Rothstein, Vegas casino executive and mob associate

Las Vegas, Spring 1973

Film: Casino
Release Date: November 22, 1995
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Design: Rita Ryack & John A. Dunn

Background

Ever have one of those days where you just feel like you’re surrounded by idiots?

Welcome to the life of Sam “Ace” Rothstein, the meticulous gambler tasked by the Chicago mob with running the Tangiers casino in Las Vegas.  Of course, Rothstein is a fictional interpretation of the real-life Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, but the issues faced by Casino‘s Ace were all too real.

Despite the complications of running a Vegas casino, Ace still found the time to be a hell of a dresser, borrowing a sartorial approach from the real-life Lefty Rosenthal to create ensembles like this creative mix of somber charcoal and bold pastel pink.

Not even inept cowboys or psychotic gangsters can cramp Ace’s style.

What’d He Wear?

Ace wears a dark suit in the same style and from the same material, likely a linen/silk blend, as the dark blue suit he wore when kicking the two cheating gamblers out of his casino earlier in the film. Though I’d originally suspected the color was charcoal, or at least a charcoal blue, I’m grateful to costume designer Rita Ryack for confirming that the actual suiting is deep navy. Ms. Ryack also shared that all of De Niro’s screen-worn suits, which were tailored by Vincent Zullo, Tommy Velasco, and Carlos Velasco, featured period-perfect colorful silk linings, which had increasingly strong patterns as the story advanced.

As one would expect of a perfectionist like Ace, his suit fits perfectly with the single button of his jacket fastening at the waist line, nicely unifying the jacket to the flat front trousers and preventing the unsightly triangle of shirt or tie material below the buttoned jacket. Beneath that, not much of Ace’s trousers are seen, although it’s reasonable to expect that they have slightly flared bottoms finished with plain hems.

The single-breasted jacket has a welted breast pocket, patch pockets on the hips, and a non-functioning single button at the end of each notched cuff. The double vents are appropriately long for the era.

The jacket’s edge-stitched peak lapels are wide with a full belly and convex break line. The edges of the lapel point to the padded shoulders that work in tandem with the single-button front to give De Niro a flatteringly powerful silhouette.

De Niro wears a lavender silk display kerchief folded into his breast pocket, puffing out to call out the shirt and tie, all made by Anto for a coordinated match… again indicative of Ace’s methodical nature.

All of Ace’s beautifully colorful shirts, ties, and handkerchiefs were made by Anto Beverly Hills, the same shirtmaker that created Lefty Rosenthal’s original bespoke shirts. In this scene, Ace wears a lavender pink soft silk shirt with a matching pink tie made from the shiny satin side of the charmeuse fabric.

The shirt has the same “1977” point collar as his other shirts in addition to a monogrammed breast pocket and “Lapidus” single-button tab cuffs. Based on these features, it likely has a plain front and epaulettes that remain unseen as Ace never removes his jacket or tie during the scene nor does he appear to wear the shirt elsewhere.

Ace’s jewelry is white gold with blue accents, from the 14-carat ring on his right pinky with an emerald cut aquamarine stone in a geometric polished shank to the 18-carat vintage Bueche Girod wristwatch with its blue square face.

Unseen through the sequence are Ace’s shoes, although Ibraheem Youssef’s poster depicts them to be pink to match his shirt, tie, and pocket square. Ace likely wore the black leather raised-heel loafers that he wears with many of his suits and sport jackets, but the pink shoes is inspired and certainly on brand with some of Ace’s louder ensembles.

How to Get the Look

By keeping his color scheme limited to two colors—one muted, one bold—Ace can get away with flashy duds like this pink-on-pink shirt and tie combo and still be taken seriously… very seriously.

• Dark navy linen/silk tailored suit, consisting of:
  • Single-breasted 1-button jacket with wide peak lapels, welted breast pocket, patch hip pockets, 1-button cuffs, and double vents
  • Flat front trousers with side pockets and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Lavender charmeuse silk dress shirt with long point collar, plain front, and single cuffs
• Lavender satin silk tie
• White gold 14-carat cuff links with half bezel set, emerald cut aquamarine stone
• Black leather horsebit slip-on loafers with silver horsebit detail and black raised heels
• Black dress socks
• Bueche Girod 14-carat white gold vintage wristwatch with blue square face
• White gold 14-carat pinky ring with emerald cut, geometric shank-set aquamarine stone
• Pink satin silk display kerchief

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

There are three ways of doing things around here: the right way, the wrong way, and the way that I do it.