Alan Alda in The Four Seasons (1981)
Vitals
Alan Alda as Jack Burroughs, married lawyer
Connecticut, Fall 1980
Film: The Four Seasons
Release Date: May 22, 1981
Director: Alan Alda
Costume Designer: Jane Greenwood
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The start of each new season this year tends to send me back to The Four Seasons for content. Written and directed by Alan Alda, this 1981 comedy follows three couples on their seasonal group trips as they navigate their own complicated relationships.
Alda stars as Jack Burroughs, stably centered in a marriage with Kate (Carol Burnett), who typically plans each vacation. The fall trip follows the Burroughses and their four friends up to Connecticut for Parents’ Weekend with two of their daughters who are enrolled in the same college, resulting in a hyper-competitive soccer game which reveals a deeper conflict within the group, from Jack’s anger at the womanizing Nick (Len Cariou) to Kate’s resentment at having to plan each trip.
What’d He Wear?
Jack builds a presentably sporty look to play soccer, consisting of a sweatshirt, jeans, and sneakers, but with the added element of a button-up shirt under his sweatshirt: the ’80s suburban dad update of that 1958 photo shoot featuring Paul Newman in a white OCBD under a V-neck sweatshirt on the beach. The outfit ultimately suits Jack’s character; comfortable enough to get down and dirty playing sports with his friends but still pretentious enough that he needs a visible shirt collar.
The light-blue shirt is subtly patterned with a mini white graph-check, styled with a handsomely shaped spread collar that he wears flat outside the shirt, a button-up front placket, and button cuffs. His mid-gray melange crew-neck sweatshirt proves its worth when it’s covered with grass stains upon his and Kate’s return to their room.
Rather than letting the shirt tails hang freely, Jack tucks the shirt into his dark indigo-blue denim Wrangler jeans—identifiable as such with the trademark “W”-shaped stitching across both back pockets and the dual branding tags over the back-right: the yellow-lettered black tag sewn over the seam and a light-brown leather patch at the top of the pocket. Though the five-pocket layout and zip fly reflect Wrangler’s classic rigid 13MWZ “Cowboy Cut” jeans, these jeans have a gently flared boot-cut (like the 945 model) and a degree of stretch demonstrated during the game which suggest a potential cotton/polyester blend.
Jack holds up these jeans with a smooth brown leather belt that closes with a single-prong buckle and, when he lets them drop, we see a set of white-striped, pale-blue cotton boxer shorts.
The most suitable part of Jack’s wardrobe for the soccer game are his “antique brown” leather Nike sneakers, styled with a low profile and low-contrasting brown swoosh logos against the sides. Based on these details and the curved leather toe-cap overlays, they are almost certainly the Nike Le Village: a more casual, all-leather offshoot of the iconic Cortez concept that was introduced in the late 1970s. The same model was more prominent featured several years earlier on Starsky and Hutch, worn by both of its titular hero cops.
We only get a few brief glances at the wristwatch on Jack’s cuff under his shirt and sweatshirt sleeves, but he almost certainly continues wearing his stainless-cased dress watch with its mirrored gold minimalist dial and smooth black leather band.
How to Get the Look
Alan Alda in The Four Seasons (1981)
Jack curates a presentably sporty look to play soccer in a gray sweatshirt over a collared shirt, dark Wrangler jeans that can move with him down the field, and brown leather Nike sneakers. In truth, it may be a more comfortable fall fit to watch soccer rather than to play it.
- Light-blue and mini white graph-check shirt with spread collar, front placket, and button cuffs
- Gray melange crew-neck sweatshirt with set-in sleeves
- Dark indigo-blue denim boot-cut jeans with five-pocket layout and zip-fly
- Wrangler
- Brown leather belt
- Brown leather sneakers with tan leather swoosh logos, curved leather toe-cap overlays, and gum soles
- Nike Le Village
- Pale-blue and white-striped cotton boxer shorts
- Stainless steel dress watch with mirrored gold minimalist dial on smooth black leather strap
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie.
The Quote
Just stop it right there—I have a very bad temper, don’t make me use it!