Robert Redford’s Flight Jacket as The Great Waldo Pepper
Robert Redford in The Great Waldo Pepper (1975)
Vitals
Robert Redford as Waldo Pepper, daring stunt pilot
Midwest United States, Summer 1926 through Spring 1928
Film: The Great Waldo Pepper
Release Date: March 13, 1975
Director: George Roy Hill
Costume Designer: Edith Head
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One year after portraying the titular Great Gatsby, Robert Redford starred in The Great Waldo Pepper as the fictional eponymous aviator—loosely inspired by several real-life daredevil flying aces of the Roaring ’20s—making it a fitting focus ahead of National Aviation Day tomorrow.
Born 89 years ago today on August 18, 1936, Redford was one of the biggest stars of the 1970s, thanks in part to his performances opposite Paul Newman in George Roy Hill’s hit comedies Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and The Sting (1973). Released 50 years ago this March, The Great Waldo Pepper reunited Redford with Hill for a more lighthearted counterpoint to the actor’s contemporaneous political thrillers like Three Days of the Condor (1975) and All the President’s Men (1976).
We first meet barnstormer Waldo Pepper in the summer of 1926, landing his bright yellow Standard J-1 in a Nebraska field to sell plane rides to curious locals. “If you really hate it, I’ll give you a second ride free,” he assures one reluctant passenger. When rival barnstormer Axel Olsson (Bo Svenson) tries muscling in on his territory, Pepper sabotages Olsson’s plane so its wheels spin off (“a little change in the program, folks!”) and finds a way to profit from Olsson’s inevitable splashdown in a nearby pond.
On a date with Mary Beth McIlhenney (Susan Sarandon), Pepper again encounters Olsson, who exposes Pepper’s exaggerated claim of having flown against German ace Ernst Kessler (Bo Brundin) during World War I. The two strike a reluctant partnership in aerial showmanship, performing stunts with Pepper’s plane. But when one of these stunts results in Mary Beth’s death, Waldo is grounded, leaving his engineer friend Ezra Stiles (Edward Herrmann) to take over the daredevilry. Sadly, Stiles dies following a fiery crash attempting the first-ever “outside loop” in their newly built Sky Streak during the Muncie Air Show.
What’d He Wear?
Waldo Pepper wears an array of brown leather throughout the movie, from an ahead-of-its-time sport jacket to a long flying coat worn over the World War I uniform he dons for a Hollywood production. However, his primary flight jacket is a brown lambskin blouson with a shirt-style collar and eight horn four-hole buttons up the front—including two closely spaced on the front portion of the waistband. The jacket has two low-slung patch pockets with single-button pointed flaps, finished with ribbed-knit cuffs and waistband.
Aviators of the era often wore scarves to keep warm in open cockpits. These were typically made of silk, which offered soft protection against chafing while doubling as a non-abrasive cloth for wiping goggles clear. White silk was practical—easy to find, easy to launder, and free from dye transfer—yet it also became symbolic of the dashing early-20th-century flyer, an image embodied by Pepper in his creamy white silk scarf, fringed at the ends and fluttering in the slipstream.
Barnstormers like Pepper favored simpler flight helmets over the bulkier, communications-equipped headgear used by military or commercial fliers. His lightly lined helmet has a soft dark-brown leather shell shaped to his head, with ear flaps tapering to a strap that fastens under his chin with a single-prong buckle. His silver-framed goggles, mounted to a brown elastic strap, loop through button-down tabs at the back of the helmet to stay secure during flight.
Pepper’s gloves match his helmet in dark brown leather, their gauntlet-length cuffs extending over the wrists to ensure no skin is exposed to the wind.
During these initial scenes, Pepper wears a white silky shirt under his flight outfit. While this shirt could have theoretically existed in the summer of 1926, it reads more anachronistically contemporary to the 1970s with its long-pointed collar—exaggerated by Redford wearing the top few buttons of the wide placket undone—and a trim, flattering cut through the body. The shirt also has a breast pocket with a horizontal yoke and barrel cuffs with a single button positioned high on each cuff, toward the wrist.
The horseback and motorcycling influence on early flight style continued to the trousers, as Pepper frequently wears flying breeches—similar to an equestrian’s knickerbockers. Particularly full-fitting through the legs and thighs, Pepper’s khaki cotton gabardine breeches have belt loops (for his brown leather belt), slanted front pockets, jetted back pockets, and lace-up bottoms to keep the hems close around the legs when tucked into his flying boots.
Like so much of early flight gear, Pepper’s smooth russet leather boots were designed for both warmth and protection—fastened with traditional oxford-style closed lacing over the instep and with snug shafts extend up over each calf to straight-top openings.
Later, Pepper transitions to wearing a blue mottled chambray shirt that feels a touch more harmonious with the rugged nature of his outfit and activity. The shirt has a long point collar, button cuffs, and a front placket with contrasting white buttons.
During these scenes, Pepper wears more conventional taupe flat-front trousers, styled with belt loops, side pockets, and turn-ups (cuffs) rather than the tapered, lace-up bottoms that he tucks into boots.
This is likely due to his different footwear, now sporting a set of dirty black-and-white high-top sneakers which appear to be vintage Converse All Star basketball shoes—perhaps chosen for their comfort and the traction they’d offer for stuntwork that takes him out onto the wings of an open-cockpit plane. Consistent with this generation of “Non-Skids” first sold in 1917, Pepper’s shoes have white or off-white canvas uppers framed by black rubber toe-caps and outsoles. The nine sets of eyelets are reinforced through black leather panels that fully extend along the curve of each blucher.
The black patches on the inside of each ankle were an early Converse high-top hallmark before these were updated for their Chuck Taylor association in the 1920s.
Grounded from flight after Mary Beth’s death, Waldo attends the Muncie Air Show in the summer of 1928 wearing his flight jacket and boots with breeches, albeit dressed somewhat more sportily with the addition of a black necktie and soft tan six-panel newsboy cap.
Roy Hobbs, before was Roy Hobbs.
His cotton gabardine breeches echo the style of his earlier-seen khaki ones, though the color is a darker slate-gray. His flying boots also echo the earlier-seen russet boots, though the uppers are a darker brown leather with five-eyelet lacing atop each calf-high shaft.
Pepper still dressed to fly during the Muncie Air Show, where he rushes to the aid of his injured friend Ezra Stiles following his crash.
As spotted in most of his filmography after the late 1960s, Redford continues wearing the personal etched silver ring that he explained to Stephen Galloway for The Hollywood Reporter was given to him by Hopis in 1966.
How to Get the Look
Robert Redford in The Great Waldo Pepper (1975)
Waldo Pepper exemplifies the roaring ’20s barnstormer in his blend of practical and protective flight gear—anchored by a brown leather blouson, white silk scarf, breeches, and smooth leather calf-high boots. You can update the look for today while staying true to the classic aviation legacy by swapping the breeches and boots for taupe slacks and dirty Converses.
- Brown lambskin leather flight jacket with shirt-style collar, eight-button front, two patch pockets with single-button pointed flaps, and ribbed-knit cuffs and waistband
- White silky or blue chambray long-sleeved shirt with long-pointed collar, front placket, and button cuffs
- Khaki cotton gabardine flying breeches with belt loops, slanted front pockets, jetted back pockets, and lace-up bottoms
- Brown leather belt
- Russet leather flying boots with oxford-laced insteps and calf-high shafts
- White silk scarf with fringed ends
- Dark-brown leather flying helmet with ear flaps and buckle-fastened chin-strap
- Silver-framed flight goggles on brown elasticized strap
- Dark-brown leather gauntlet gloves
- Silver etched Hopi ring
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie.
The Quote
When you die and Saint Peter says to you, “Hey, when were you happiest down there?” you‘re gonna say, “Well, it was okay the day I got married, and I didn’t mind much the day I first fell in love. But seein‘ the sky with the Great Waldo Pepper, that beats ’em all.”
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