Vitals

Keanu Reeves as Johnny Utah, ambitious FBI agent

Los Angeles, Summer 1991

Film: Point Break
Release Date: July 12, 1991
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Costume Supervisors: Colby P. Bart & Louis Infante

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Not only was Point Break widely released 34 years ago today on July 12, 1991, but the second Saturday in July is also World Skydiving Day, so of course we’ll be following OSU quarterback-turned-FBI agent Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) as this one radical son-of-a-bitch jumps from a plane with the gang of bank-robbing surfers led by the enigmatic Bodhi (Patrick Swayze)… twice!

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What’d He Wear?

Not planning to skydive for either occasion, Johnny Utah dresses in his usual fashion while undercover with Bodhi’s gang, echoing their laidback comfort but with the more practical layers of ample button-up shirts and jeans.

Utah’s faded, full-fitting purple shirt proves to be a tactically informed choice as it fully conceals his bulletproof vest from an off-duty cop in the Security Independence Bank who puts two 9mm rounds in his chest without realizing they’d do little more damage than to daze the agent. The material is a soft microfiber, styled with a narrow point collar, seven dark tonal buttons up the plain front, two open-top breast pockets, and button cuffs.

Utah’s undershirt is a loose gray tank top, reinforced around the armholes and the wide neck-hole.

Utah wears his usual mid-blue denim Levi’s jeans, which are likely the iconic 501® Original Fit based on the cut and the button-up fly. These jeans are styled with the usual belt loops and five-pocket configuration, including an inset coin pocket in the front and two back pockets detailed with the brand’s signature arcuate stitch and red tab on the back-right pocket. He doesn’t get a chance to slip his holster on with his brown leather belt, which closes through a small silver-toned single-prong buckle.

Utah’s taupe-brown suede cowboy boots not only nod to his renegade personality but are also snug enough to reliably stay on his feet while skydiving… although the slick soles and poor ankle support wouldn’t cushion well for a landing—hardly bodhing, I mean boding, well for someone whose grievous knee injury ended his football career and is now careening toward the ground without a parachute.

Utah typically wears a blacked-out sports watch which I believe to be the “Black Coral” TAG Heuer 1000 Professional ref. 980.026, but he also doesn’t get the chance to strap it on before Bodhi coerces him into jumping with the group.

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The Guns

“Can’t have you walkin’ through those doors with your dick in your hand, right?” Bodhi paraphrases Sonny Corleone when tossing Utah an Ithaca 37 shotgun—after pumping all the 12-gauge shells out of it, of course. One of the most common shotguns among law enforcement and hunters throughout the 20th century, this pump-action shotgun was introduced by the Ithaca Gun Company in 1937 and has remained in continuous production since, with more than two million shotguns manufactured. The gang’s Ithaca shotgun has been modified for portability, with a sawed-off stock and a barrel cut down to the length of the magazine tube.

During the climactic scene on the gang’s plane, Utah gets ahold of Bodhi’s signature handgun, a Freedom Arms Model 83 single-action revolver in .454 Casull. At the time of production, the .454 Casull was the most powerful revolver round in production, as demonstrated by how brutally Bodhi’s single shot tears apart the off-duty cop’s chest.

Founded in 1978 in Freedom, Wyoming by Wayne Baker and Dick Casull, Freedom Arms was the first company to manufacture a handgun capable of firing the .454 Casull cartridge—which had been originally co-developed by Casull, Duane Marsh, and Jack Fullmer in the late 1950s. This milestone came with the introduction of the five-shot Model 83 in 1983, which can also be fitted with interchangeable cylinders to fire .45 ACP and .45 Long Colt.

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How to Get the Look

Okay, so there’s probably far more practical things to wear when jumping out of an airplane—especially if you don’t plan on bringing a parachute with you—but if you’re just looking to channel Johnny Utah’s undercover surf aesthetic, you can easily do so by layering a soft, solid button-up over a tank with broken-in Levi’s and cowboy boots.

• Purple microfiber shirt with narrow point collar, plain button-up front, two chest pockets, and button cuffs
• Gray tank top
• Mid-blue denim Levi’s 501® Original Fit five-pocket jeans with button fly
• Brown leather belt with silver-toned single-prong buckle
• Taupe-brown suede cowboy boots

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Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

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The Quote

People are dead, the ride is over.