Vitals

Alec Baldwin as Adam Maitland, hardware store owner and model hobbyist

Connecticut, Spring 1987

Film: Beetlejuice
Release Date: March 30, 1988
Director: Tim Burton
Costume Designer: Aggie Guerard Rodgers

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Beetlejuice is a spooky season favorite for many, so even if the concept of Alec Baldwin crashing his car feels a little too real for a certain tree in the Hamptons, let’s celebrate Halloween with newlydeads Adam and Barbara Maitland.

Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara (Geena Davis) are looking forward to a stress-free sojourn in their small-town Connecticut home when their two-week staycation becomes a 125-year haunting after dying when their Volvo station wagon crashes through the side of the covered Winter River Bridge.

Intent on driving out the incoming Deetz family—yuppies Charles (Jeffrey Jones) and Delia (Catherine O’Hara) and their “strange and unusual” daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder)—the Maitlands are finding little help from afterlife administrators and become increasingly tempted to call in the services of the boorish bio-exorcist Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton).

---

What’d He Wear?

The circumstances of Adam’s death keep him wearing the same casual plaid flannel shirt, red T-shirt, and khakis that he died in—a smart reminder to always dress for that sweet blend of comfort and presentability, even on the smallest errand, lest you be trapped for eternity in a mustard-stained hoodie and basketball shorts.

Adam’s shirt is a high-contrasting white-and-black buffalo plaid cotton flannel, softly pilling to suggest frequent wear. This block-checked pattern has a centuries-old heritage as the Clan Gregor’s “Rob Roy MacGregor” tartan when rendered in red and black, which has transferred to an association with American lumberjacks which may have informed costume designer Aggie Guerard Rodgers’ decision to assign one to Adam, who owns a hardware store.

It follows the typical work-shirt design, with a spread collar and two non-matching chest pockets that are each covered with a gently pointed single-button flap. Black buttons up the front placket match those on the pocket flaps and cuffs. A small, white-lettered black tag sewn along the right side of the left pocket informs us that Adam wears a shirt from Levi’s. This classic American denim and workwear brand introduced black tabs around the 1960s to differentiate its “STA-PREST” line from traditional red-tab jeans, eventually expanding black tabs to other items—like shirts—through the ’80s.

What’s black-and-white and red all over? Alec Baldwin’s torso in Beetlejuice!

Adam wears a red cotton undershirt that adds an contrasting pop of interesting color against the black-and-white plaid flannel, while also taming Baldwin’s mane of chest hair from under his open-neck shirt. Only the crew-neck top can be seen on screen, though set photography reveals the T-shirt to have short sleeves and a chest pocket.

By the ’80s, khaki trousers had transformed from World War II-era G.I. workwear to a men’s wardrobe staple. Adam’s khaki cotton slacks follow a common design for the ’80s, with slanted “quarter-top” side pockets, jetted back pockets, an additional coin pocket set-in on the right side, and plain-hemmed bottoms.

Adam cinches his outfit with a tan surcingle belt that has a brown leather front fittings which fasten through a gold-toned single-prong buckle. These belts have an equestrian lineage which was co-opted by Ivy Leaguers through the 20th century and, in turn, became a yuppie style staple during the ’80s.

Adam’s dark-brown leather wallabee-style shoes reinforce his relaxed yet refined approach to dressing. Derby-laced through two sets of eyelets positioned closely over the instep, the split moc-toe uppers echo the Sioux Grashopper and Clarks Wallabee ankle boots that originated in the 1960s, though Adam’s shoes have black leather or hard rubber soles as opposed to the Grashopper/Wallabees’ signature crepe soles. He wears them with gray melange socks, possibly wool—or at least woolly-looking.

Adam’s eyeglasses have large gold-toned squared frames, reinforcing his meticulous persona as he peers through the lenses at his perfectly scaled model of Winter River. He keeps the rest of his accessories as simple, meaningful, and utilitarian, wearing a gold wedding band on his left ring finger and a gold wristwatch with a round white dial on a russet-brown leather strap.

---

How to Get the Look

If your untimely death keeps you generally confined to one outfit for eternity, you could do considerably worse than Adam Maitland’s relatively timeless suburban-dad style: a plaid flannel shirt over a red pocket tee, tucked into khakis held up with a surcingle belt and worn with wallabees.

• Black-and-white buffalo-check cotton flannel long-sleeved shirt with spread collar, front placket, two chest pockets (with single-button flaps), and button cuffs
• Bright-red cotton short-sleeved T-shirt with crew-neck and breast pocket
• Khaki cotton flat-front trousers with belt loops, quarter-top side pockets, right-side coin pocket, jetted back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Tan surcingle belt with brown leather front strap and gold-toned single-prong buckle
• Dark-brown leather split moc-toe 2-eyelet derby-laced Grashopper/Wallabee-style shoes
• Gray melange socks
• Gold-toned square-framed eyeglasses
• Gold wedding band
• Gold wristwatch with round white dial on russet leather strap

This easy look should still look great on most people…

---

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

---

The Quote

Barb, honey… we’re dead. I don’t think we have very much to worry about anymore.