Vitals

Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby, enigmatic millionaire and eager romantic

Long Island, New York, Summer 1925

Film: The Great Gatsby
Release Date: March 29, 1974
Director: Jack Clayton
Costume Designer: Theoni V. Aldredge
Clothes by: Ralph Lauren

Background

Today marks the 50th anniversary since the release of The Great Gatsby, directed by Jack Clayton from a screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola. This 1974 film was actually the third major adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s romantic Jazz Age novel to be brought to the big screen, following a now-lost silent film in 1926 and a 1949 update starring Alan Ladd, Betty Field, and Macdonald Carey.

The lavish 1974 version stars Robert Redford as the eponymous millionaire who amassed his wealth and flaunts it through riotous parties all in the hopes of reuniting with his erstwhile love, the now-married Daisy (Mia Farrow).

Roaring ’20s standards like “Who?” and “Whispering” filter up from the jazz band out in the garden as Nick Carraway (Sam Waterston) is nervously led by a gun-toting bodyguard into a handsome wood-paneled office, where Nick finally meets the enigmatic host. Jay Gatsby is immediately charming, but his talent for first impressions sizzles out for a very stilted encounter as Gatsby awkwardly explains that he just felt the two neighbors should meet.

Mercifully interrupted by a business phone call (“I don’t give a damn what Philadelphia wants, I said a ‘small town’. If that’s his idea of a small town, he’s no use to us.”), Gatsby recovers his wits enough to ask Nick to join him for lunch the following day.

Though The Great Gatsby received a lukewarm critical reception upon its release 50 years ago this week, it grossed nearly four times its budget and was a major cultural phenomenon, with Nelson Riddle’s Oscar-winning score and Theoni V. Aldredge’s Oscar-winning costume design reviving interest in music and fashions of the 1920s.

What’d He Wear?

In the novel and the 2013 adaptation starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jay Gatsby actually makes Nick’s acquaintance while among the guests at this early summer shindig. However, the 1974 film removes this action upstairs to Gatsby’s office where costume designer Theoni V. Aldredge still dressed our host for a Jazz Age party… even if we don’t actually observe his attendance.

Dinner suits were still evolving at the beginning of the 1920s, so many standard aspects now considered requisite of the black tie dress code were still relatively in flux. Robert Redford’s screen-worn black barathea wool dinner jacket is arguably the most ’70s-does-’20s part of his evening ensemble. The ventless dinner jacket is tailored with wide padded shoulders and lapels, coordinating with the front darts to flatter Redford’s athletic physique by crafting a strong and dashing—if somewhat anachronistic—silhouette.

The broad silk-faced peak lapels taper down to the single black horn button that Gatsby leaves undone throughout the scene as he appropriately wears a formal waistcoat underneath his jacket. The sleeves are finished with four-button cuffs that match the single black horn button on the front. The straight hip pockets have wide flaps, likely a concession to 1970s trends though some early ’20s dinner jackets still included pocket flaps before the dress code was refined to eschew them. Gatsby dresses the dinner jacket’s welted breast pocket with an elegantly simple white pocket square, arranged so that a triangle of white linen appears above the pocket.

Gatsby’s formal waistcoat is made from a black-on-black brocade silk that adds a fancy—but not overly flashy—element to his formalwear. Unlike the high-fastening vest that Leonardo DiCaprio’s Gatsby wore with his tuxedo in Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 adaptation, Redford’s waistcoat has a lower V-shaped opening—a more conventional style for the black tie dress code. The narrow shawl collar is solid black satin, subtly contrasting against the subdued pattern present throughout the body. Three black buttons are clustered along the front in a single-breasted configuration above the notched bottom.

Gatsby wears his flat gold open-faced pocket watch on a taut gold rope-like chain, strung “double Albert”-style across his midsection, clipped to the right-hand pocket with the watch itself dropped into his left-hand pocket. Later glimpsed more clearly among Gatsby’s personal effects, the watch has a round tan dial with black Arabic numeral hour indices and a second-counting sub-register at the 6 o’clock position.

Through the 1920s, the formal wing collar remained the predominant collar for evening shirts, a carryover from the more formal white tie dress code before it would be supplemented by turndown collars through the early 1930s. Gatsby evidently wears the same white cotton evening shirts with both white tie and black tie, though the soft pleated front makes it considerably more appropriate for the latter’s less formal usage. The front placket is fastened with small diamond studs, showing three between his bow tie and the buttoning point of his waistcoat.

Double (French) cuffs eventually emerged as the preferred sleeve-ends for black tie dress shirts, though Gatsby’s shirt is rigged with single cuffs—now more typically prescribed for white tie. He fastens these with gold ovular links, each mounted with a round red stone.

All this talk about black ties and white ties… let’s look at the tie itself! Gatsby wears a black satin silk bow tie, sculpted in a large butterfly (thistle) shape that harmonizes with his wide peak lapels, though this arrangement may have been ultimately more fashionable during the 1970s production timeframe than the roaring ’20s setting.

Gatsby’s formal trousers follow the enduring style that was carried over from late 19th century white tie standards, albeit with the single silk side braid reserved for black tie rather than the narrower double braid paired with white tie and tails.

Made from black barathea wool to match his dinner jacket, these trousers appear to have a flat front with straight side pockets just behind the braiding and plain-hemmed bottoms that break over the tops of his appropriately formal black patent leather oxford shoes.

Gatsby wears a pair of rings throughout The Great Gatsby. In addition to the actor’s personal silver Hopi ring on the ring finger of his right hand, Redford wears an ornate gold pinky ring on his left hand, detailed with a rich dark-green stone that evokes the light at the end of Daisy’s dock.

How to Get the Look

As a self-made millionaire during the Jazz Age, Jay Gatsby dresses fashionably for his parties in the black tie dress code seen as a more youthful (and less formal) alternative to full evening dress, with Theoni V. Aldredge’s costume design blending contemporary 1970s trends with style rooted in the roaring ’20s.

• Black barathea wool single-button dinner jacket with satin-faced peak lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 4-button cuffs, and ventless back
• Black brocade silk single-breasted formal waistcoat with low V-shaped opening, solid satin shawl collar, 3-button front, two pockets, and notched bottom
• Black barathea wool flat-front formal trousers with black satin side braid, side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• White cotton evening shirt with wing collar, pleated front, and single cuffs
  • Gold ovular cuff links with round red stones
• Black satin silk butterfly/thistle-shaped bow tie
• Black patent leather oxford shoes
• Black dress socks
• Gold open-faced pocket watch on gold chain, worn in waistcoat pocket
• Plain silver ring, worn on right ring finger
• Ornate gold ring with dark green stone, worn on left pinky

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie and, of course, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel.

The Quote

Truth of the matter is… I don’t much like parties.