Vitals

Robert Wagner as Dan Bigelow, horny public relations agent

San Francisco, Summer 1974

Film: The Towering Inferno
Release Date: December 14, 1974
Director: John Guillermin
Costume Designer: Paul Zastupnevich

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

I recently saw a tweet clowning on Robert Wagner’s ignominious death in The Towering Inferno that again got me thinking about the style in this char-studded—er- star-studded ’70s disaster epic.

Wagner portrays Dan Bigelow, chief of public relations for the 138-story Glass Tower, designed by architect Doug Roberts (Paul Newman) for developer James Duncan (William Holden) to be the world’s tallest building. As The Towering Inferno‘s title suggests, this honor would be short-lived as it catches fire just before its dedication ceremony on the fourth of July. Despite this, the owners’ hubris push on with a dedication party in the tower’s upper floors as the fire spreads below.

Bigelow joins his secretary Lorrie (Susan Flannery) down on the 65th floor for a private party of their own, only to be trapped by another fire spreading through the offices. Partly to blame for the spread as he stressed the electrical system by powering on all of the tower’s lights during the dedication ceremony, Bigelow faux-heroically drapes himself in a towel to charge through the flames and “be back with the whole fire department” only to immediately be fatally consumed by the inferno.

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What’d He Wear?

In the spirit of The Towering Inferno‘s creative approaches to black tie from William Holden’s red dinner jacket to Richard Chamberlain’s brown tuxedo, Robert Wagner’s tuxedo as Dan Bigelow is a brighter and more vibrant navy-blue wool than the more formal midnight-blue traditionally reserved for men’s evening-wear. Even under the dimmer 65th floor office light, the lustrous suiting reflects a stronger sheen than I’d expect from standard barathea, suggesting a wool-mohair blend.

Dan’s dinner jacket reflects the disco-era experimentation with unorthodox colors and cuts for evening-wear, as it incorporates conventional business suit styling with dressier affectations. The notch lapels stretch laterally to an era-informed breadth, finished with a darker blue velvet-faced collar to distinguish this as formalwear. These lapels end relatively high, several inches above the raised two-button stance that Wagner wears fully fastened. Both front buttons and the three smaller buttons on each cuff are covered in the same cloth as the rest of the jacket.

The jacket is cut with straight shoulders, a clean chest, and suppressed waist to flatter Wagner’s six-foot frame. The skirt retains its full squared profile in the front, cut with long double vents along the sides. To this point, all of the details have reflected 1970s tailoring excess, though I was surprised that Dan’s dinner jacket retained the classic straight jetted hip pockets rather than adding flaps as found on even the more convention-informed tuxedoes during the decade. He keeps the welted breast pocket unadorned.

Following his assignation with Lorrie, Dan re-dresses in his eggshell-white evening shirt with its super-’70s long point collar and metal studs up the front placket, flanked by four narrow pleats on each side. He fastens the double (French) cuffs with gold-backed links detailed with shining blue stones. He harmonizes with his hefty shirt and jacket collars by tying on a wide butterfly-shaped black silk bow tie.

Made from the same lustrous blue wool-forward fabric as his jacket, Dan’s flat-front formal trousers are styled with the requisite side galon stripe—though I haven’t seen it in enough detail to discern if it’s the classic silk or perhaps even velvet to match the jacket’s collar. He foregoes a waist covering like waistcoat or cummerbund, relying on the full coverage of his two-button jacket. The trousers flare gently below the knees, and the bottoms are plain-hemmed over the tops of his black patent leather self-strap loafers.

Thanks to his voluminous ’70s sleeves, we hardly get a good look at Bigelow’s wristwatch while he’s wearing it. But after his unfortunate passing, his watch is recovered and identified by the personalized “DAN BIGELOW” etched on the stainless steel backing of the gold-plated case. The watch’s mixed-metal bracelet hangs on to the bottom set of lugs, evidently broken from the top set during Dan’s demise.

Based on the Jubilee-style bracelet and waterproof case but without seeing more of the watch, I suspect he wore a Rolex Datejust, which would’ve suited his interest in wearing recognizable prestige on his wrist. If so, this wouldn’t be the only Rolex in The Towering Inferno as Steve McQueen more prominently wore his own stainless ref. 5512 Submariner as fire chief Michael O’Hallorhan.

During a brief earlier scene in Duncan’s office ahead of the jubilee, Dan wears a muted light-brown herringbone lounge suit with a sporty two-button jacket cut with wide cran necker (Parisian) lapels and Western-style pointed flaps over the breast and hip pockets. He maintains tonality with his slightly lighter mottled brown shirt and a forest-green twill tie.

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How to Get the Look

Even wearing natural fibers like wool, mohair, and cotton in the polyester-friendly ’70s wasn’t enough to save Dan Bigelow from his fiery fate in The Towering Inferno.

• Navy-blue wool/mohair-blend tuxedo:
  • Single-breasted 2-button jacket with velvet-faced notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and long double vents
  • Flat-front trousers with velvet side galon and flared plain-hemmed bottoms
• Eggshell-white evening shirt with large point collar, front placket, narrow-pleated bib, and double/French cuffs
• Black silk wide butterfly-shaped bow tie
• Black patent leather self-strap loafers
• Gold-plated steel Rolex Datejust wristwatch with mixed-metal Jubilee bracelet

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Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

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The Quote

(after multiple people have already died and their deaths are certain) Nobody’s going to die.