Vitals

Joe Pesci as Nicky Santoro, sadistic mobster

Las Vegas, Spring 1973 to Fall 1980

Film: Casino
Release Date: November 22, 1995
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Design: Rita Ryack & John A. Dunn

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

After multiple requests to expand my sartorial focus on Casino from Robert De Niro’s colorful tailoring as Ace Rothstein to Joe Pesci’s mobbed-up fits, today’s post finally zeroes in on Pesci’s style as the volatile Nicky Santoro.

Just as costume designers Rita Ryack and John A. Dunn went to exhaustive lengths to make sure Ace’s wardrobe reflected the real Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, considerable attention went to aligning Nicky Santoro’s style with his real-life counterpart, Chicago gangster Tony “the Ant” Spilotro, who was killed alongside his brother Michael forty years ago this week on June 14, 1986.

---

What’d He Wear?

Casino‘s costume design may subvert some expectations by dressing Joe Pesci’s hotheaded gangster Nicky Santoro in a slightly more subdued wardrobe than the meticulous Ace Rothstein’s coordinated pastel tailoring. Nicky’s more supporting role within Casino‘s already episodic structure doesn’t lend itself to spending too much time with anyone of his costumes, though one of his most frequent and prominently worn pieces is a two-toned blazer in a large-scaled gray-on-charcoal birdseye weave. While the prominently patterned cloth is typical of sports coats, I’d argue the jacket also qualifies as a blazer with its metal buttons.

Nicky’s smart birdseye blazer follows a conventional design with little that dates it to the 1970s, including notch lapels of a moderate width that roll high over the two black-filled gold-finished shank buttons. The sleeves are a tad long, finished with three matching buttons on each cuff. Double vents extending up to Pesci’s natural chest are shaped to gently flare the rear skirt. Lined with a scarlet satin-finished lining, the jacket has straight flapped hip pockets and a welted breast pocket that Nicky always dresses with a black silk pocket square to match his shirts.

Nicky first wears the blazer over a soft black knitted polo-style shirt with a three-button top, keeping the first two buttons undone to reveal the hefty gold twisted rope-chain necklace with its large diamond-monogrammed “NS” pendant.

Nicky wears another black shirt under the blazer when he threatens banker Charlie Clark (Richard Riehle) at Ace’s home, resulting in a long-overdue argument between the frenemies. This shirt has a large point collar, a front placket with black buttons, and double (French) cuffs that he fastens with gold links.

Nicky’s plain black darted-front trousers provide a harmonious contrast with the grayscale patterned jacket. The beltless waistband has a wide extended tab that closes through a hidden hook, sans belt, braces, or side adjusters. The western-style full-top “frogmouth” front pockets were common on 1960s and ’70s men’s tailoring, supplemented here by jetted back pockets. Consistent with ’70s silhouettes, the trousers are slightly flared below the knees, with plain-hemmed bottoms that break over the tops of Nicky’s black leather cap-toe oxford shoes.

Nicky’s matte black acetate-framed sunglasses through this era follow a sporty design that was common through the late 1970s into the ’80s, with oversized square amber-tinted lenses.

Unlike Ace with his rotation of watches to fit every outfit, Nicky only prominently wears two wristwatches over the course of Casino. Before transitioning to a flashier yellow-gold watch during the early 1980s-set sequences, he wears this white-gold watch with its vintage-styled round white dial boasting black Roman numeral hour indices on an ornate woven-textured matching bracelet.

Even in more businesslike tailoring, Nicky’s hand would be naked without a pinky ring. On his right hand, he wears a substantial gold ring with a large diamond—or, more typical of costume jewelry, cubic zirconia—encircled on a crown setting of smaller diamonds.

---

How to Get the Look

• Gray-on-charcoal birdseye-woven single-breasted blazer with notch lapels, 2 black-filled gold buttons, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and long double vents
• Black soft-knit 3-button polo shirt or black button-up shirt with point collar and double/French cuffs
• Black darted-front trousers with beltless waistband, full-top “frogmouth” front pockets, jetted back pockets, and slightly flared plain-hemmed bottoms
• Black leather cap-toe oxford shoes
• Black socks
• Black matte acetate-framed sunglasses with oversized square amber-tinted lenses
• Gold rope-chain necklace with diamond-monogrammed pendant
• Gold solitaire diamond pinky ring
• White-gold watch with round white dial (with black Roman numeral hour indices) on woven-textured bracelet

---

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

---

The Quote

You know, I think you got the wrong impression about me. I think in all fairness, I should explain to you exactly what it is that I do. For instance, tomorrow morning I’ll get up nice and early, take a walk down over to the bank, and walk in and see and if you don’t have my money for me, I’ll… crack your fucking head wide open in front of everybody in the bank. And just about the time that I’m coming out of jail, hopefully, you’ll be coming out of your coma. And guess what? I’ll split your fucking head open again. ‘Cause I’m fucking stupid. I don’t give a fuck about jail. That’s my business. That’s what I do. And we know what you do, don’t we, Charlie? You fuck people out of money and get away with it.