Vitals

Robert Redford as “Our Man”, a resourceful aging sailor

Indian Ocean, July 2012

Film: All Is Lost
Release Date: October 25, 2013
Director: J.C. Chandor
Costume Designer: Van Broughton Ramsey

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Robert Redford was born 90 years ago today on August 18, 1936, making this the first observance of the late actor’s birthday since his death in September 2025 at age 89. One of the prolific actor’s strongest performances from the later period of his career was J.C. Chandor’s survival-at-sea thriller All is Lost, which premiered at the 66th Cannes Film Festival in May 2013 before its wider release that October.

The 76-year-old Redford is the sole actor who appears on screen—unnamed but credited as “Our Man”, a resilient and robust mariner who was sailing solo through the Indian Ocean when a shipping container crashed into his starboard side of his CAL 39, the Virginia Jean. The collision immediately destroyed the Virginia Jean‘s power and external communications, leaving Our Man completely isolated to solve the compounding problems himself without the ability to call for assistance. “All is lost here, except for soul and body, that is, what’s left of them,” Redford’s character narrates.

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What’d He Wear?

I’ve read responses from frustrated viewers with varying degrees of sailing experience who found many of Our Man’s efforts to be ill-advised or counterproductive, so I’ll reserve my own commentary for what I feel qualified to discuss: his wardrobe. Costume designer Van Broughton Ramsey may have had a pretty straightforward gig in only dressing one cast member in one basic outfit, though it was still a significant task; Robert Redford needed to be dressed functionally as a modern mariner, not cosplaying Daryl Dragon.

Our Man’s Clothes

Our Man wakes up on the morning after the collision in a distressed slate-blue cotton T-shirt that would be his base layer through the entire story. This crew-neck shirt has considerable wear and tear, specifically along the short sleeves, as well as a faded quality that suggests hours spent at the Virginia Jean‘s sunny helm.

For evenings and his eventual escape to a life raft, Our Man pulls on a beige sweatshirt detailed with a shawl collar that closes with a large two-hole button through a loop at the neck. It has the typical “kangaroo” pouch pocket over the front, with dual slanted side entries. Like many of his other clothes, the lightweight cotton shell appears distressed from considerable wear—specifically along the exposed shoulder seams and fraying sleeve edges.

From the second day onward, Our Man also layers a faded navy-blue cotton long-sleeved T-shirt over his short-sleeved tee.

Already greased and worn-in before the action begins, Our Man wears his khaki trousers in the spirit they were originally intended when servicemen returning from World War II incorporated their hardy G.I.-issue slacks into their civilian workwear. His beige cotton flat-front trousers have belt loops, side pockets, jetted back pockets, and flat-felled seams along the sides that add a comfortable, jeans-like informality down to the plain-hemmed bottoms.

After describing a series of neutral, time-tested layers, I’m almost surprised to mention the jauntiest part of Our Man’s wardrobe: a surcingle belt with a blue cloth strap embroidered with fish, closed through the front with a rounded, gold-finished single-prong buckle on a russet leather strap.

Weathering the Storm

Following descriptions of shirts and trousers that could be found in any man’s closet, Our Man’s shoes are the most purpose-driven aspect of his regular wardrobe. Styled like athletic sneakers but with siped outsoles and a 360° lacing system like classic Sperry-style deck shoes, these are West Marine Athletic Boat Shoes. Designed for sailors who wanted sneaker comfort but nautical functionality, West Marine advertised this style as a “breathable performance boat shoe [that] takes you from a wet and slippery deck to the yacht club without a second thought.”

The uppers are constructed of leather and synthetic mesh in a teal-blue, gray, and white colorway, attached to non-marking black rubber “razor-siped” outsoles cut with deep channels and screens to filter out water and debris while effectively gripping wet decks. He does not wear socks, avoiding the discomfort of wet hoisery while the drainage channels of his shoes’ EVA insoles would keep his feet relatively dry.

With a massive storm impending on the fourth day, Our Man reaches into his closet for an orange PVC-coated poly/cotton storm suit by the Swedish outdoor outfitter Grundéns, pulled on over his layered T-shirt and khaki slacks. Consisting of a hooded jacket and matching overalls, this storm suit was purpose-built for keeping its wearer relatively dry in extremely wet conditions. The thigh-length jacket has a reinforced snap-front fly, and the hood cinches with a gray drawstring. The coverall bottoms rise high over his chest with adjustable black vinyl shoulder straps that close through black plastic buckles.

Our Man’s Accessories

Viewers may take valid issue with some of Our Man’s nautical solutions, but it’s hard to find any fault with his choice of watch: a Seiko SKX175 diver on a dark navy-blue nylon NATO strap that echoes most of the timepiece’s rotating blue-and-red “Pepsi” bezel.

Identified specifically in a brand statement, the budget-friendly SKX175 is functionally identical to the global Seiko SKX009 that differs primarily with import text markings on the dial and caseback. These are powered by the 21-jewel Seiko 7S26 automatic movement with an approximate 40-hour power reserve, housed in a 42mm stainless steel case with an offset screw-down crown at the 4 o’clock position. Scratch-resistant Hardlex mineral glass crystal protects a dark-blue dial detailed with a day-date complication indicated at 3 o’clock and highly luminous Lumibrite hands and non-numeric hour markers. Perhaps most important for Our Man’s purposes, this watch is ISO certified for scuba diving with a rated water resistance of 200 meters.

Our Man wears a decorative brown woven leather bracelet with a silver-toned magnetic clasp and a thinner bracelet threaded in hot-pink (occasionally split into slate, navy, and slate sections), both on his left wrist. Also on this hand, he wears a thick silver ring with a raised oval turquoise stone and black filling. (A few shots of this ring show the turquoise set against a flat squared face, suggesting an alternative stunt-worn ring.) Redford also wears his usual silver banded ring with its small black-filled etching on his right ring finger, which he described as a gift received from a Hopi tribe in 1966 that he has worn in nearly every movie he’s made since then.

We don’t know much about Our Man, but these small personal items give us a glimpse into his personality; he may be a grandpa or a father of young children who gifted him that colorful woven bracelet, and the turquoise-set ring suggests a connection to the Southwest.

When brushing up on Celestial Navigaton for Yachtsmen by Mary Blewitt, Our Man wears a set of black-framed reading glasses with narrow rectangular lenses.

Abandon Ship!

After the storm thrashes the Virginia Jean, Our Man finally abandons his CAL 39 after grabbing some essentials like food, water, and a wide-brimmed straw hat to protect him against the sun and the fashion police. Constructed of a wide woven natural straw, the hat has a tall, pinched crown—double-banded with woven teal cord—and a wide brim.

One of the few items of clothing that Our Man brings aboard his life raft is a light-blue oxford cotton shirt, which he wears as an outer layer against yet another storm. The shirt follows the century-old design since Brooks Brothers introduced this now-Ivy staple around the turn of the 20th century, with a button-down collar, front placket, button cuffs, and a breast pocket that also shows some fraying along the edge. The oxford cloth consists of blue and white basket-woven threads for a classic light-blue presentation, with beige buttons providing a sportier contrast than the traditional faux-pearl white plastic buttons found on dressier OCBDs.

Our Man wears an orange rain slicker in his life raft, which differs from the Grundéns storm jacket as the shell appears to be a more conventional rainproof polyester. It also has a straight-zip front, long vertical zip-up pockets on each side, and black Velcro closures to reinforce the hood and cuffs.

Another piece of Our Man’s life raft kit includes a long frayed cotton kerchief in a blue-and-beige swirling pattern. He uses it for a variety of purposes, including dampening it and tying it around his neck to keep cool under the intense sun of an open raft in the Indian Ocean.

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What to Imbibe

After an S.O.S. call attempt on the third day fails, Our Man braces himself witha few stiff belts of Four Roses bourbon. Four Roses has followed many contemporary bourbons’ examples by introducing premium varieties into its lineup, but Our Man opts for the classic 80-proof whiskey: an affordable stalwart like his Seiko diver.

The Four Roses brand was likely trademarked in the late 1880s, decades before its Spanish Mission-style distillery was built in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, in 1910. Four Roses survived Prohibition with its reputation intact among hard drinkers as seen in movies like Gun Crazy (1950), Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), and Rocky (1976) and enjoyed with ginger ale by Raymond Chandler’s pulp private eye Philip Marlowe in the 1942 novel The High Window. However, its prevalence in the U.S. began to wane after the label was purchased by Seagrams in 1943. Seagrams ultimately discontinued Four Roses sales in the U.S., focused primarily on the growing European and Asian markets.

A series of early 21st century acquisitions landed Four Roses in the hands of the Japanese holding company Kirin, who not only revived Four Roses’ bourbon presence in the Americas but expanded the brewery and launched an exclusive lineup (beginning with Small Batch Select) while maintaining the budget-friendly basic bourbon that had made Four Roses so popular a century earlier.

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How to Get the Look

Our Man wears a realistically worn-in wardrobe of nondescript cotton layers and khakis that would be as comfortable landside as when desperately repairing a doomed sailboat at sea, supplemented by function-informed gear from a trusty Seiko diver to a waterproof storm suit.

• Slate-blue faded cotton crew-neck short-sleeved T-shirt
• Navy-blue faded cotton crew-neck long-sleeved T-shirt
• Beige cotton long-sleeved sweatshirt with single loop-button shawl collar and kangaroo-style front pocket
• Light-blue oxford cotton long-sleeved shirt with button-down collar, front placket, breast pocket, and button cuffs
• Beige cotton flat-front trousers with belt loops, side pockets, jetted back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Fish-embroidered blue cloth surcingle belt with russet leather front strap and gold-finished rounded single-prong buckle
• Teal-blue, white, and gray athletic boat shoes with leather/synthetic mesh 360°-laced uppers and non-marking black rubber razor-siped outsoles
  • West Marine Athletic Boat Shoes
• Silver inscribed Hopi ring
• Black-filled silver ring with raised oval turquoise stone
• Brown woven leather bracelet with silver-toned magnetic clasp
• Hot-pink woven bracelet with slate, navy, and slate-woven sections
• Seiko SKX175 (SKX009) automatic dive watch with 42mm stainless steel case, rotating blue-and-red “Pepsi” bezel, blue dial with luminous hands and markers and 3 o’clock day-date complication, and navy nylon NATO strap
• Blue-and-beige swirl-printed cotton neckerchief

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Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

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The Quote

Thirteenth of July, 4:50 p.m. I’m sorry. I know that means little at this point, but I am. I tried, I think you would all agree that I tried. To be true, to be strong, to be kind, to love, to be right. But I wasn’t. And I know you knew this. In each of your ways. And I am sorry. All is lost here, except for soul and body, that is, what’s left of them, and a half day’s ration. It’s inexcusable really, I know that now. How it could have taken this long to admit that I’m not sure, but it did. I fought ’til the end. I’m not sure what that is worth, but know that I did. I have always hoped for more for you all. I will miss you. I’m sorry.