Follow me on Instagram (@BAMFstyle), Twitter/X (@BAMFstyle), and Facebook…and feel free to write to me directly: TheSartorialBAMF@gmail.com. (I’m admittedly not great at checking this email address, but I’ll keep trying!)
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Wanna see what I’ve been watching? Follow my Letterboxd!
What does BAMF stand for?
When I started this site in my early 20s, I needed to come up with some unique name for it. Not every outfit would necessarily be iconic or famous, and I wanted to incorporate a unique word that would give the site its own identity. Knowing I’d be focusing on style and particularly that worn by heroes (and the occasional well-dressed villains) of movies and TV, I impulsively bestowed this blog with the name BAMF Style, inspired in part by the inscription on Samuel L. Jackson’s wallet in Pulp Fiction. (In the back of my mind, it could also stand for “Best Action Movie Fashions”, though it didn’t take long before I was writing about much more than exclusively the action genre.)
Quite a few years later, it feels puerile but has built some equity so, stuck with the name and a few years of what I’d humbly and hopefully call maturity, I’m retconning the use of “BAMF” in this context to the slightly less profane or presumptuous Badass Men’s Fashion… though I still wish I had come up with a different name back when I was 23! (Other candidates? Best Attire and Menswear in Film? I could use a hand here!)
About Me
I’m a 34-year-old guy and aspiring writer with a fondness for muscle cars, movies, mezcal, and Scotch. If you really like the blog, feel free to send me a bottle. Or a ’69 Charger R/T.
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- The Icon's Closet: 5 Items You Need from Steve McQueen
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- The Icon's Closet: Paul Newman
- The 20 Best Men's Pea Coats, Car Coats, Walker Coats, and Overcoats
- The 12 Best Stores for Affordable Men's Fashion for the Guy on a Budget
- 5 Options for Your First Nice Pair of Dress Shoes
- Uniqlo Now Offers Free Hemming Alterations for Jeans Bought Online
- 9 Menswear Myths Debunked
- Update the Look: An Outfit from a 1931 Cagney Film Makes a Sharp Smart Casual Look for the Office
- The Brands of Bond
- How Everyday Clothing Was Influenced by Military Style: A Visual Timeline
- Time Will Tell: What 6 Watches Communicate About Movie and TV Characters
- Our 15 Favorite Outfits from Daniel Craig's James Bond
- The Casual Man's Tweed: Corduroy is One of the Best Things You Can Do with Your Fall Style – How to Wear, History, + Picks
- 5 (Surprising) Style Lessons from Elvis Presley
- What To Look For In A Dive Watch That Commands Attention (Without Sacrificing Affordability)
FAQs
I’m honored that I actually need to add an FAQ section, but many of you are frequently asking questions so here we go:
About Me — FAQs
I tried to organize them in many odd ways - PowerPoints that led to PDF lookbooks, sorted spreadsheets, galleries of images on my hard drive - until I finally decide to create a web portal. I had considered making it private at first; just something for me to use as a reference when trying to dress myself. I started by writing about my favorite outfits: the North by Northwest suit, the Bullitt tweed sport jacket and rollneck, the Three Days of the Condor tweed jacket and sweater, and the cool looks of international spies from Bond to Bourne.
Then, I realized I was having fun writing it. The aspiring writer in me told me that I finally touched on something that other people might be interested in reading, so I took a chance on going public with a blog. A blog, of all things!
It seemed like an online need to be filled; there are tailoring sites, costuming sites, etc., but there didn't seem to be a one-stop aggregated shop that summed up the total style - from suits and shoes to cocktails and cars - of the characters I loved with detail and accuracy. I felt strange about starting because I had no real expertise: I was still unclear about the distinction between blazers and sport jackets and I didn't know a blucher from a balmoral from a- well, you get it. All of my suits were, at one point, off the rack—often, off the Goodwill rack—and I just wanted to learn more.
Plus, I had always had that vision of myself as a writer. This blog is far from being Ulysses, but it's nice to have this as an outlet and an intersection of what I know and what's fun for me to write about. I also wanted to challenge myself to keep up with regular content and continue to drive my brain.
- Develop a general posting schedule to have something fresh up every 2-4 days. This is in the form of an Excel spreadsheet where I also track every single suggestion and request that I get as well as who requested it and when.
- Watch the movie or TV show in question, screenshotting every angle and detail and keeping in mind the images that would look best in a post. Even if I don't end up using all the screenshots (and I rarely do), I would hate to be writing the post and then realizing "shit, I have no idea how many buttons are on his sleeve!" When I do this, I make sure that I am screenshotting every potential BAMF-worthy outfit that a certain character wears. This often doubles the length of time it takes to watch something. If there are three characters I'm screenshotting over the course of a two-hour movie... I will need plenty of whiskey and sleep by the end of it.
- Research as much as I can.
- Write and build the post, usually by recapping my notes from when I watched the movie or show (which could have been years earlier!) and strenuously looking at every detail of the screenshots I've taken. Each post has a general flow, which might be adapted slightly depending on the topic. I am usually either writing posts the night before I have it scheduled to go up... or I find myself months ahead of schedule and able to enjoy a social life. Guess which one happens more frequently!
If you suggested a TV show, I am always hesitant to post about outfits until I've seen the show (or the character's appearance on it) in its entirety. There has been plenty of demand for long-running shows like 24, Billions, Magnum, P.I., Miami Vice, and Suits. I certainly plan on getting to them, but I hate to say that it won't be for quite some time. I would hate to put up a post about a jacket that Don Johnson wears then, a few days or months later, be watching another episode to see him wearing it with another combination or a detail that I've missed. It would make me feel very itchy. (Update! I was diagnosed with OCD in the spring of 2019. That explains the itchiness.)
All that said, if you're feeling extra motivated to see your suggestion covered on BAMF Style, feel free to send me a tip (and make sure you mention the character, movie/TV show, or clothing you'd like to see!)
But, hey, if we have such similar interests, I bet we'd be good friends!
I've also recently become a big fan—in case you haven't been able to tell—of the em dash.
- Annie Hall (1977)
- The Big Lebowski (1998)
- Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
- Goodfellas (1990)
- A Night to Remember (1958)
Disclaimers
All photos used are either production photos available on the internet or screenshots captured by me to illustrate a point. If I use a quote or learn information from another source, I will give credit where it’s due as well as provide a link to the original source.
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