Vitals

Jack Nicholson as J.J. “Jake” Gittes, world-weary private investigator and ex-policeman

Los Angeles, Fall 1948

Film: The Two Jakes
Release Date: August 10, 1990
Director: Jack Nicholson
Costume Designer: Wayne A. Finkelman

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

I had only just turned one when The Two Jakes was released 35 years ago today on August 10, 1990, so I can’t say whether anyone was really asking for a sequel to Roman Polanski’s 1974 neo-noir masterpiece Chinatown. What I can say is that there’s been surprisingly steady interest from BAMF Style readers in how Jack Nicholson’s wardrobe evolved from Anthea Sylbert’s Oscar-nominated designs for the 1930s-set Chinatown to suit the sequel’s setting in the fall of 1948.

In addition to Nicholson reprising his role as L.A. private eye J.J. “Jake” Gittes, the second titular Jake is local businessman Julius “Jake” Berman (Harvey Keitel), who initially hires Gittes to catch his wife Kitty (Meg Tilly) having an affair. During Gittes’ sting, Berman fatally shoots his wife’s paramour—his own business partner Mark Bodine (John Hackett)—though it’s unclear whether this was premeditated or spontaneous. After convincing his old police frenemy Lou Escobar (Perry Lopez, also returning from Chinatown) that he shouldn’t be charged as an accomplice to the killing, Gittes returns to his office to find Bodine’s hysterial widow Lillian (Madeleine Stowe) waiting.

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What’d He Wear?

In Chinatown, J.J. Gittes cycled through natty three-piece suits in summer-weight colors and fabrics—the sole exception being a tan textured tweed sport jacket worn with pale slacks and a golden tie—during his investigation, always topped with a fedora.

A decade later in The Two Jakes‘ post-World War II L.A., only the latter element remains consistent as Gittes is rarely seen without a fedora (even on the golf course), though his wardrobe follows the contemporary menswear trends toward informality as he more frequently dresses in sport jackets and slacks—his two briefly worn double-breasted suits appearing as the exception rather than the rule.

Of course, the tailoring and details have also been updated for the late 1940s, with broader lapels and fuller cuts that adhere to both post-war “Bold Look” styling and accommodate the now middle-aged Nicholson’s stouter silhouette. While I typically love a wide lapel, the notch lapels on most of Nicholson’s single-breasted jackets are too exaggerated for my taste, with the exception being the more subdued notch lapels on the tweed sports coat he wears during the fatal sting.

The fabric is a plain-woven Donegal tweed, characterized by the contrasting warp and weft—here in black and ivory, creating a warm light-gray finish—and the slubby irregular flecks of differently colored thread that have given this tweed its distinctive texture since it was first handwoven by the weavers in County Donegal, Ireland.

Framed with padded shoulders and roped sleeveheads that keep the ventless jacket hanging roomily around Nicholson’s frame, the single-breasted jacket’s lapels taper to a two-button front with a lower stance just below Nicholson’s natural waist. The sleeves are finished with three “kissing” cuff-buttons, and the patch pockets over the breast and hips are appropriately sporty for the dressed-down jacket.

Gittes generally maintains a degree of professional decorum with his shirts and ties, though this is an exception as he dresses more comfortably to hole up in a hotel room while surveilling Kitty Berman’s tryst, wearing a black softly knit merino wool long-sleeve polo-style pullover shirt with a three-button top that he keeps fastened to the top.

He balances the jacket with then-fashionable full-fitting trousers, styled with double reverse pleats that maintain roominess through the hips down to the full-break bottoms, which are finished with turn-ups (cuffs). The trousers are a warm shade of gray that harmonizes with the jacket while calling out the warmth of the tweed’s ivory weft. He holds them up with a narrow belt made of smooth black leather, echoing his shirt color but contrasting against his shoes—though this broken “rule” is generally a non-issue, as his untucked shirt hem covers the belt unless he’s in motion.

Gittes doesn’t wear the black-and-white split-toe spectator shoes that visually unite him with the similarly appointed Berman during their first meeting, instead opting for the dark-brown leather full-brogue wingtip derby shoes that he later wears for golf—appropriate enough here, as he kills time (until Berman kills Bodine) by putting into an overturned tumbler.

Gittes rotates through a couple of fedoras in The Two Jakes, here wearing one made from a lighter gray felt with a classic pinched crown and self-edged brim, styled monochromatically with a nearly matching dove-gray grosgrain band.

He also wears his usual black acetate-framed sunglasses, designed with a large, quasi-“cat-eye” that foreshadows the iconic Wayfarer frame that Bausch & Lomb would develop for Ray-Ban early in the following decade.

In other scenes, Gittes clearly wears a gold dress watch, though it’s not clear if he wears it under the knitted cuffs of his black long-sleeved shirt during this sequence.

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The Gun

Not one of his own, but Gittes gets ahold of a classic snub-nosed .38 when he disarms Berman after the shooting. Berman’s lawyer, Cotton Weinberger (Eli Wallach) describes it as a “two-inch Smith & Wesson revolver, registered in the name of the dead man, Mark Bodine, on behalf of B&B Homes,” which Gittes then elaborated to Kitty was “a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson police special with a two-inch barrel.”

Based on the weapon’s appearance and the five-round cylinder, it’s almost certainly a Smith & Wesson Model 36 “Chiefs Special”, which looks like an era-correct handgun but would have still been slightly anachronistic for the fall 1948 setting as it wasn’t formally launched until Smith & Wesson introduced it at the 1950 International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) convention, where a vote was held to name the new revolver—so, of course, those in attendance voted on the name “Chiefs Special”.

Even after the company switched to numbering its models later in the decade, the “Chiefs Special” name would live on in the legacy of the redubbed Model 36 and other Smith & Wesson firearms.

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What to Imbibe

Gittes requests some Scotch upon meeting Lillian in his office, and it’s likely the same bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label—spied in his office bar—that he uses to fill his glass later that evening. Crafted from a blend of 12-year-old whiskies, Johnnie Walker Black Label is a considerably more premium liquor than the lower-shelf Old Crow bourbon that Gittes kept in his office for mid-day drinks in Chinatown.

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How to Get the Look

The aged and weary J.J. Gittes of 1948 isn’t as bound by sartorial decorum as he had been just over a decade earlier, finding comfort within baggy post-war tailoring that can occasionally pair well over a soft knit long-sleeved polo shirt.

• Light-gray Donegal tweed single-breasted 2-button sport jacket with notch lapels, patch breast pocket, patch hip pockets, “kissing” 3-button cuffs, and ventless back
• Black merino wool knitted long-sleeved polo shirt with three-button top
• Gray wool double reverse-pleated trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• Black leather narrow belt
• Dark-brown leather wingtip derby brogues
• Gray felt fedora with light-gray grosgrain band and self-edged brim
• Black acetate-framed oversized wayfarer-style sunglasses

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Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie. But you should absolutely check out Chinatown!

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The Quote

You can’t trust a guy who’s never lost anything.