Tony Soprano’s Brown Tattersall Sportcoat
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano on The Sopranos (Episode 6.11: “Cold Stones”)
Vitals
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, New Jersey mob boss
New Jersey, Fall 2007
Series: The Sopranos
Episodes:
– “Moe n’ Joe” (Episode 6.10, dir. Steve Shill, aired May 14, 2006)
– “Cold Stones” (Episode 6.11, dir. Tim Van Patten, aired May 21, 2006)
– “Walk Like a Man” (Episode 6.17, dir. Terence Winter, aired May 6, 2007)
– “The Second Coming” (Episode 6.19, dir. Tim Van Patten, aired May 20, 2007)
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa
WARNING! Spoilers (and a rather graphic screenshot) ahead!
Background
I’ve received several requests this year alone to focus on some of the style worn by Tony Soprano in the show’s latter years, particularly this brown tattersall sport jacket he wears across the two-part final season. It’s a nice look to keep in mind as fall progresses here in the Northern Hemisphere.
What’d He Wear?
A few episodes sprawled across the latter portion of The Sopranos‘ last season feature Tony Soprano wearing a brown wool sport jacket finely checked in a black, red, and navy tattersall pattern. This color variety gives Tony plenty of options for choosing a shirt that coordinates with the sportcoat.
Tony’s single-breasted jacket has notch lapels that roll to a high two-button front. The jacket also has a welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, and four-button cuffs best seen during his therapy session in “Moe n’ Joe” (Episode 6.10), though there appears to be some discrepancy with the cuff buttons in later episodes.
Tony should take notes from his consigliere Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt) and wear his jacket open as the high buttoning point isn’t very flattering when worn closed. Of course, fastening the front keeps it from flapping around on what appears to be a rather windy day.
In both “Moe n’ Joe” (Episode 6.10) and “Cold Stones” (Episode 6.11), Tony wears a navy-blue dress shirt with a front placket stitched very close to the edges. The buttons on the placket and on the cuffs are black plastic, and the shirt has a breast pocket. He wears the top button undone with no tie.
“Moe n’ Joe” (Episode 6.10): Navy shirt that would reappear in the following episode, “Cold Stones” (Episode 6.11).
The brown tattersall jacket doesn’t make another appearance for six episodes when it reappears several times in “Walk Like a Man” (Episode 6.17), first with an autumnal russet red-orange tonal-striped shirt with a shine that suggests silk or a high-twist cotton. It has a breast pocket and button cuffs, but—unlike the navy shirt—it has a plain (no placket) front.
“Walk Like a Man” (Episode 6.17): Russet red-orange tonal-striped shirt.
Tony has also upgraded his look in “Walk Like a Man” with a series of pocket squares, beginning with this muted jacquard silk kerchief with a pattern in silver and gold.
Tony counters the frivolity of his fancy pocket square with a disapproving frown.
Later in “Walk Like a Man”, Tony wears another shiny shirt though in a shade of olive brown. Like the other, it has a plain front, button cuffs, and is worn with the top button undone. He also is wearing a different pocket square, patterned in navy, maroon, and gold printed silk.
“Walk Like a Man” (Episode 6.17): Olive brown shiny shirt.
The jacket’s final appearance is its most dressed up. In “The Second Coming” (Episode 6.19), Tony wears his brown tattersall jacket and dark brown trousers with a French blue cotton shirt with a moderate point collar and double (French) cuffs with flat gold cuff links.
Not only is it the outfit’s only appearance with cuff links but also with a tie as Tony wears a dark brown silk tie covered in an abstract pattern resembling small off-white seashells and bronze lines.
Production photo of James Gandolfini and Robert Iler at A.J.’s therapy session in “The Second Coming” (Episode 6.19). Note the two-button cuffs of Tony’s jacket; is this a different jacket than the identical one with four-button cuffs in the first half of the season, or…?
Although he cycles through a series of differently colored shirts with this jacket, he always wears a pair of chocolate brown worsted wool trousers with double forward pleats and turn-ups (cuffs). Gandolfini was known to wear trousers from Italian fashion house Zanella on the show, particularly the later seasons, and it’s likely that these trousers are made by Zanella as well.
Tony wears a dark brown leather belt with a squared single-prong buckle with these trousers in their first two appearances in the first half of the sixth season; by the final half of the sixth season, he appears to be wearing suspenders rather than a belt to hold up these trousers, at least when wearing the outfit with a tie in “The Second Coming” (Episode 6.19).
One of the drawbacks of trouser cuffs is that you may sometimes be surprised to find a mobster’s bloody tooth tucked away.
With an outfit centered around earth tones like this, Tony naturally opts for brown shoes that are best seen in the outfit’s final two appearances. In “Walk Like a Man” (Episode 6.17), his cognac brown leather shoes appear to be cap-toe oxfords with closed lacing.
Two episodes later, in “The Second Coming” (Episode 6.19), we get a good look at his similarly colored shoes that are now split moc-toe derbies with five open-laced eyelets for the dark brown laces. Both times, Tony is wearing dark brown ribbed cotton lisle socks.
Reviewing the many auctions of clothing worn from The Sopranos, one consistent brand of footwear that emerged from Tony (as well as other characters) was Allen Edmonds, the legendary American shoemaker that has cobbled for every U.S. President since Millard Fillmore in the early 1850s. It’s fitting that Tony Soprano, with a Rolex President to match his presidential role in the mob, would also wear the shoe of choice for U.S. presidents. The nearest approximation from Allen Edmonds’ current lineup that would match Tony’s footwear here is the MSP Split-Toe Blucher in walnut brown, currently available for $295.
Tony Soprano doesn’t frequently wear an overcoat in the show’s final season, but his violent visit to Coco and Butchie in “The Second Coming” (Episode 6.19) calls for a villainous black wool topcoat with a Prussian-style collar and a four-button single-breasted front.
After rising to the top as boss of the Jersey Mafia, Tony typically delegates this type of rougher work to his underlings. When his family is involved, however, all bets are off.
As mentioned, Tony continues to wear the status symbol of his power, an 18-karat yellow gold Rolex Day-Date “President” ref. 18238 on his left wrist. The watch has a gold dial and is worn on the distinctive gold “President” bracelet that lends the watch its moniker.
That tooth I mentioned… were you wondering how it got there? Wonder no longer.
(Apologies for the graphic screenshot, but this really is one of the better closeups of Tony’s Rolex President!)
The rest of Tony’s jewelry is all gold as well, from the yellow gold chain-link bracelet on his right wrist to the rings on his fingers. In addition to the plain gold wedding band on the third finger of his left hand, he also wears a pinky ring on his right hand with a ruby and diamond stone.
Gold jewelry gleams from Tony’s wrists and fingers as he waxes in Dr. Melfi’s office about his “rotten, fuckin’ putrid genes.”
Though it remains unseen (or barely glimpsed) during these scenes, Tony also is known to wear a gold open-link chain necklace with a pendant of St. Anthony. (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.)
The Gun
For his vicious assault on Coco in “The Second Coming” (Episode 6.19), Tony arms himself with a blued steel “snub nose” revolver with a two-inch barrel and a five-round cylinder. It’s never seen very clearly, but it’s more than likely a Smith & Wesson Model 36 “Chiefs Special” revolver.
It’s not business, it’s personal.
How to Get the Look
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano on The Sopranos (Episode 6.10: “Moe n’ Joe”)
Tony Soprano has amassed a variety of stylish sportcoats by the final season of The Sopranos, and he deploys this particular jacket with skill by pairing it with solid shirts that coordinate with the colors that make up the jacket’s subtle tattersall check pattern.
- Brown tattersall check single-breasted two-button sportcoat with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 4-button cuffs, and single vent
- Solid color button-up dress shirt with breast pocket
- Chocolate brown worsted wool double forward-pleated trousers with turn-ups/cuffs
- Dark brown leather belt with squared steel single-prong buckle
- Cognac brown leather 5-eyelet moc-toe derby shoes
- Dark brown ribbed cotton lisle socks
- White ribbed cotton sleeveless undershirt
- Rolex Day-Date “President” 18238 chronometer watch in 18-karat yellow gold with champagne-colored dial and “President” link bracelet
- Gold open-link chain bracelet
- Gold pinky ring with ruby and diamond stones
- Gold wedding band
- Gold open-link chain necklace with round St. Anthony pendant
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the entire series.
The Quote
So… after all is said and done, after all the complainin’ and the cryin’ and all the fuckin’ bullshit… is this all there is?
I don’t think Jimmy G in the 6th season would fit in a jacket that he wore in earlier seasons lol.