Tagged: Upstate New York
Wake Up Dead Man: Daniel Craig’s Tweed Suits as Benoit Blanc
Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc in Wake Up Dead Man (2025). Photo by John Wilson.
Vitals
Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, Southern private detective and “proud heretic”
Upstate New York, Spring 2025
Film: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Release Date: November 26, 2025
Director: Rian Johnson
Costume Designer: Jenny Eagan
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy 58th birthday to Daniel Craig! Born March 2, 1968, the actor followed his five-film tenure as James Bond with the recurring role of Southern-fried detective Benoit Blanc in three Knives Out movies to date including his latest release, Wake Up Dead Man, which premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival two months before its limited release in American theaters the week of Thanksgiving 2025. Continue reading
Severance: Milchick’s White Winter Gear at Woe’s Hollow
Tramell Tillman as Seth Milchick on Severance (Episode 2.04: “Woe’s Hollow”)
Vitals
Tramell Tillman as Seth Milchick, devoted Lumon Industries floor manager
“Dieter Eagan National Forest”, Winter 2024
Series: Severance
Episode: “Woe’s Hollow” (Episode 2.04)
Air Date: February 7, 2025
Director: Ben Stiller
Creator: Dan Erickson
Costume Designer: Sarah Edwards
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Now more than midway through its second season, Severance fans know shit’s about to get real when Milchick pulls up in a turtleneck. Whether it’s spinning defiant jazz for our first on-screen music dance experience (MDE) or asserting his power after a promotion, Milcheck’s roll-necks are his defining sartorial signature to distinguish him from the everyday short-sleeved white shirts and ties he wore in his lower supervisory position.
“I really wanted to tap into this ten-toes-down, more locked-in character, this energy that he has,” Tramell Tillman explained of his character to Killian Faith-Kelly for GQ UK ahead of the second season premiere. “His hair is more quaffed. He’s no longer in the short-sleeve shirts and the tie anymore. Now he’s wearing turtlenecks. His clothes are a bit darker. His approach is darker. I think he’s enjoying this new place of leadership that he’s in.”
One of the most chilling episodes—if you’ll forgive the pun—illustrates Milchick’s leadership style as he hosts the first-ever Outdoor Retreat and Team Building Occurence (ORTBO) for the four troublesome macrodata refiners: Mark S. (Adam Scott), Helly R. (Britt Lower), Dylan G. (Zach Cherry), and Irv B. (John Turturro). Continue reading
Goodbye, Columbus: Neil’s Light-Blue Polo
Richard Benjamin with Ali MacGraw in Goodbye, Columbus (1969)
Vitals
Richard Benjamin as Neil Klugman, listless library employee and Army veteran
Westchester County, New York, Summer 1968
Film: Goodbye, Columbus
Release Date: April 3, 1969
Director: Larry Peerce
Costume Designer: Gene Coffin
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
This springtime casual Friday feels like an appropriate time to address another request to cover Richard Benjamin’s style from Goodbye, Columbus, released 55 years ago this week on April 3, 1969, just two days after Benjamin’s co-star Ali MacGraw celebrated her 30th birthday. Continue reading
Odds Against Tomorrow: Harry Belafonte’s Heist Turtleneck
Harry Belafonte in Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)
Vitals
Harry Belafonte as Johnny Ingram, nightclub entertainer-turned-bandit
Upstate New York, Spring 1959
Film: Odds Against Tomorrow
Release Date: October 15, 1959
Director: Robert Wise
Costume Designer: Anna Hill Johnstone
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today is the first anniversary of Harry Belafonte’s March 1, 1927 birthday since the multi-talented entertainer’s death last April at the age of 96. In addition to a singing career that popularized Calypso music around the world and his tireless activism, Belafonte acted on screen in more than a dozen films spanning over 65 years.
One of Belafonte’s standout performances is also from one of the coolest movies of the 1950s: Odds Against Tomorrow. This Robert Wise-directed film noir features Belafonte as Johnny Ingram, a New York nightclub entertainer whose gambling addiction leads to his recruitment into an upstate bank heist with ex-cop David Burke (Ed Begley) and bigoted career crook Earl Slater (Robert Ryan). Continue reading
Get Out: Chris’ Plaid Jacket, Henley, and Hoodie
Daniel Kaluuya as Chris Washington in Get Out (2017)
Vitals
Daniel Kaluuya as Chris Washington, Brooklyn photographer
Upstate New York, Spring 2016
Film: Get Out
Release Date: February 24, 2017
Director: Jordan Peele
Costume Designer: Nadine Haders
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy birthday to Daniel Kaluuya, who received his first Academy Award nomination for Jordan Peele’s directorial debut Get Out, released on Kaluuya’s 28th birthday seven years ago today.
Peele won the Oscar for his original screenplay, centered around Brooklyn photographer Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) joining his new girlfriend Rose Armitage (Allison Williams) to meet her parents Dean (Bradley Whitford) and Missy (Catherine Keener) for the first time. Continue reading
Get Out: Chris’ Blue Denim Neckband Shirt
Daniel Kaluuya as Chris Washington in Get Out (2017)
Vitals
Daniel Kaluuya as Chris Washington, Brooklyn photographer
Upstate New York, Spring 2016
Film: Get Out
Release Date: February 24, 2017
Director: Jordan Peele
Costume Designer: Nadine Haders
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
As today (October 23) has been newly declared National Horror Movie Day, today’s post looks at one of my recent favorites of the genre, the 2017 psychological thriller Get Out.
Filmed in only 23 days from his own Oscar-winning original screenplay, Jordan Peele’s directorial debut follows Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya), a levelheaded black photographer from Brooklyn who accompanies his new girlfriend Rose Armitage (Allison Williams) upstate to meet her family for the first time. Continue reading
Magnificent Obsession: Rock Hudson’s Summer Norfolk Jacket and Toweling Polo
Rock Hudson as Bob Merrick in Magnificent Obsession (1954)
Vitals
Rock Hudson as Bob Merrick, conscience-stricken millionaire and ex-medical student
Brightwood, New York, Spring 1949
Film: Magnificent Obsession
Release Date: August 4, 1954
Director: Douglas Sirk
Costume Designer: Bill Thomas (gowns)
Background
German-born director Douglas Sirk and actor Rock Hudson had collaborated on nine movies throughout the 1950s, though their association may be best remembered for a trio of lush Technicolor melodramas beginning with Magnificent Obsession, released 68 years ago this month in August 1954. Continue reading
Mad Men: Don Draper’s Casual Picnic Clothes
Jon Hamm and January Jones on Mad Men (Episode 2.07: “The Gold Violin”)
Vitals
Jon Hamm as Don Draper, affluent ad man and Korean War veteran
Ossining, New York, Summer 1962
Series: Mad Men
Episode: “The Gold Violin” (Episode 2.07)
Air Date: September 7, 2008
Director: Andrew Bernstein
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Following yesterday’s observance of National Picnic Day, I wanted to focus on one of my favorite on-screen picnics. Midway through the second season of Mad Men, the Draper family spends part of a sunny Sunday afternoon bringing a Norman Rockwell painting to life.
By mid-century standards, advertising executive Don Draper (Jon Hamm) appears to illustrate the American dream, providing for his beautiful wife Betty (January Jones) and their two children and having just acquired a sleek new Cadillac that—as was pitched to him—indicates that he’s “already arrived.” Life looks easy for the family, reclining with nary a care in the world as The Pentagons serenade them from the Coupe de Ville’s radio with their dulcet 1962 B-side “I’m in Love”.
Betty: We should do this more often.
Don: We should only do this.
Nightmare Alley: Bradley Cooper’s White Tie and Tails
Bradley Cooper as Stanton “Stan” Carlisle in Nightmare Alley (2021)
Vitals
Bradley Cooper as Stanton “Stan” Carlisle, opportunistic carny-turned-nightclub mentalist
Buffalo, New York, Winter 1941
Film: Nightmare Alley
Release Date: December 17, 2021
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Costume Designer: Luis Sequeira
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
On the eve of the 94th Academy Awards, I wanted to revisit the “golden era” style of quadruple-nominee Nightmare Alley, Guillermo del Toro’s evocatively photographed adaptation of William Lindsay Gresham’s novel of the same name. Continue reading
It’s a Wonderful Life: Jimmy Stewart’s Barleycorn Tweed Suit
James Stewart and Donna Reed in It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
Vitals
James Stewart as George Bailey, reluctant banker
Bedford Falls, New York, Spring 1932
Film: It’s a Wonderful Life
Release Date: December 20, 1946
Director: Frank Capra
Costume Designer: Edward Stevenson
Background
Released 75 years ago today, It’s a Wonderful Life has become an enduring Christmas classic… almost by accident! Based on Philip Van Doren Stern’s self-published novella The Greatest Gift, the movie had been relatively well-received at the time of its release, even earning five Academy Award nominations including one for Best Picture, but it would be overshadowed by the epic blockbuster The Best Years of Our Lives that told the story of servicemen returning from World War II.
Despite being a personal favorite of director Frank Capra and star Jimmy Stewart, It’s a Wonderful Life seemed destined for obscurity as just another “old movie” when a clerical error prevented proper renewal of the copyright. Though small royalties were still owed as it was derived from Stern’s story, TV stations leapt at the chance to air high-quality, low-cost seasonal programming, launching It’s a Wonderful Life to its status as a perennial favorite for holiday viewers by the 1980s.
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