Vitals

Ethan Hawke as Jesse Wallace, bestselling author

Paris, Summer 2003

Film: Before Sunset
Release Date: July 2, 2004
Director: Richard Linklater
Costume Designer: Thierry Delettre

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Continuing the romantic themes after Valentine’s Day, today’s post reviews Ethan Hawke’s style in Before Sunset, Richard Linklater’s 2004 follow-up to Before Sunrise (1995) that premiered at the 54th Berlin International Film Festival (BIFF) 20 years ago this week on February 10, 2004.

Before Sunset reteamed Hawke with Julie Delpy as Jesse and Céline, set nearly a decade after the two had spent an evening wandering Vienna, planning to meet again in six months. We learn in Before Sunset that only Jesse had kept the appointment as Céline was dealing with her grandmother’s death.

In the nine years since their last meeting, Jesse has become a popular author due to his bestselling novel based on their brief encounter. The book tour brings him to Paris, where he reunites with Céline and admits that “I remember that night better than I do entire years.” Echoing their first meeting, the two spend their limited time together exploring yet another European city, discussing life and debating love from perspectives that have evolved a decade since their last encounter.

After Hawke and Delpy had contributed many of their ideas and personality into Linklater and Kim Krizian’s screenplay for Before Sunrise, they more officially collaborated with Linklater on the script for Before Sunset, even incorporating elements from their own lives into the story, resulting in an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. (Although the story was original, Academy rules inform that all sequels are considered “adapted” works.) Linklater, Hawke, and Delpy would complete the trilogy with Before Midnight (2013), set and released another nine years later.

What’d He Wear?

A decade after Before Sunrise, Jesse has matured from the leather jacket, jeans, and Chucks that were appropriate for a young American tourist whose style was rooted in ’90s grunge. Now a successful author in his 30s, Jesse dresses for this leg of the book tour in a suit and open-necked shirt—both styled with western flair that retains his youthful spirit and signals his Texan background.

Jesse’s dark-gray suit is made from a fabric more prone to wrinkling than the traditional business worsted, possibly cotton or a cotton blend that would have been cool-wearing during the extremely hot temperatures in Paris during the 15-day filming timeline in the summer of 2003.

The single-breasted jacket is uniquely detailed with straight yokes across the shoulders, no breast pocket, and welted hip pockets—rather than the traditional jetted or flapped pockets. The notch lapels end high over a three-button front, which remained trendy on men’s tailored jackets through the mid-2000s. The jacket has no rear or side vents, and the sleeves are finished with three vestigial buttons on each cuff.

Jesse wears a cream-colored western-style snap-front shirt with a small print of floral bouquets. The long-sleeved shirt has a point collar, pointed yokes over the front and back of his shoulders, and a snap-up front placket. The two chest pockets are each covered with a pointed flap that closes with a single snap, and the sleeves have triple-snap cuffs.

The suit’s matching flat-front trousers have belt loops, which go unused. The curved front pockets are similar to those found on jeans—continuing the similarities to western sportswear—but the seat features traditional button-through jetted pockets. The trousers have a comfortably full fit through the legs down to the plain-hemmed bottoms.

Jesse wears black suede plain-toe desert boots, styled with two-eyelet derby-style lacing and black crepe rubber soles—a defining feature that characterizes these specifically as desert boots rather than just suede chukka boots. He wears them with black or dark charcoal-gray socks that harmonize with his footwear and trousers.

Before Sunset reveals that Jesse has since married, with the gold wedding band on his left ring finger signaling his less-than-ideal union. He also wears a vintage-looking yellow-gold watch on his left wrist, detailed with a gold dial under tarnished crystal and secured to a black scaled leather strap.

Special Shoutout to…

Julie Delpy’s dad, actor and filmmaker Albert Delpy, who makes a brief cameo as a summertime Santa grilling outside Céline’s apartment building. His pink-on-white floral-printed shirt open over a gray tank top with baggy rust-colored linen shorts and brown leather espadrilles adheres a little more closely to how I look during the summer months than I typically care to admit.

How to Get the Look

• Dark-gray cotton-blend sport suit:
  • Single-breasted 3-button jacket with notch lapels, straight shoulder yokes, straight welted hip pockets, vestigial 3-button cuffs, and ventless back
  • Flat-front trousers with belt loops, curved front pockets, button-through back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Cream bouquet-print western shirt with point collar, pointed shoulder yokes, snap-up front placket, two chest pockets with single-snap pointed flaps, and triple-snap cuffs
• Black suede plain-toe 2-eyelet desert boots
• Black socks
• Gold wedding band
• Gold vintage wristwatch with round gold dial on black scaled leather strap

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie, the second installment in Richard Linklater’s excellent “Before” Trilogy.

The Quote

It’s okay to want things as long as you don’t get pissed off when you don’t get ’em. Life’s hard, it’s supposed to be. If we didn’t suffer, we wouldn’t learn a thing.