Category: White Dinner Jacket
The Lady Eve: Henry Fonda’s White Dinner Jacket
Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve (1941)
Vitals
Henry Fonda as Charles “Hopsie” Pike, brewery heir and ophidiologist
SS Southern Queen, sailing north from South America,
August 1940
Film: The Lady Eve
Release Date: February 25, 1941
Director: Preston Sturges
Costume Designer: Edith Head
Men’s Wardrobe: Richard Bachler
Background
To celebrate the birthday today of my wonderful, patient, and charming girlfriend, I’d like to highlight the elegant evening wear worn by Henry Fonda in The Lady Eve, a classic screwball comedy that I first discovered with her family. Continue reading
Bond’s White Dinner Jacket in Diamonds are Forever
Sean Connery and Lana Wood in the seventh James Bond film, Diamonds are Forever (1971), filmed and set in Las Vegas.
Vitals
Sean Connery as James Bond, British government agent
Las Vegas, Spring 1971
Film: Diamonds are Forever
Release Date: December 17, 1971
Director: Guy Hamilton
Wardrobe Master: Ray Beck
Tailor: Anthony Sinclair
Background
It’s Friday the 13th! Considered an unlucky day by some, this summer occurrence feels like just the right time to follow James Bond as he tests his own luck in a Las Vegas casino in Diamonds are Forever, the 1971 film that convinced Sean Connery to portray the British secret agent one more time.
Luck appears to be initially on 007’s side as he wins $50,000 at craps and makes the acquaintance of the voluptuous Plenty O’Toole (Lana Wood).
Inglourious Basterds: Aldo Raine’s Ivory Dinner Jacket
Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine in Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Vitals
Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine, U.S. Army OSS officer and redneck leader of the “Inglourious Basterds”
Paris, June 1944
Film: Inglourious Basterds
Release Date: August 21, 2009
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Costume Designer: Anna B. Sheppard
Brad Pitt’s Evening Attire: Giorgio Armani
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Inglourious Basterds kicks off a two-film spree in Tarantino’s filmography focused on rewriting history with violent vengeance. In this revisionist take on World War II, a band of Jewish-American military guerillas – think The Dirty Dozen meets The A-Team – is assigned the sole task of secretly but brutally fighting their way through occupied German territory, murdering any Nazi encountered in their wake. The two-year spree of these “inglourious basterds” who give the film its title ends up in a Paris movie theater on the eve of the D-Day invasion with an opportunity to take down the German high command, including Hitler himself, to end the war. Continue reading
Havana – Robert Redford’s Ivory Dinner Jacket
Robert Redford as Jack Weil in Havana (1990)
Vitals
Robert Redford as Jack Weil, smooth, cynical gambler and U.S. Navy veteran
Havana, December 1958
Film: Havana
Release Date: December 14, 1990
Director: Sydney Pollack
Costume Designer: Bernie Pollack
Background
The new year is a time of resolutions, but instead of dropping a few hundred quid on a gym membership that will be used three times until it’s finally dropped in March, invest those dollars in a perfectly tailored dinner jacket… then resolve to find the occasion in 2017 to wear it. Whether it’s to class up a night out or just to feel confident at the grocery store, you’ll be glad you made the investment!
To illustrate the impression a great dinner jacket can make, BAMF Style is delivering a double dose of Robert Redford’s formalwear leading up to the new year. (Thursday’s post analyzed his black tie ensemble in Spy Game.) In this sequence from Havana, Jack Weil (Redford) dresses to the nines for an evening meeting with Meyer Lansky (Mark Rydell) and Joe Volpi (Alan Arkin) at one of Lansky’s casinos. Continue reading
Ike’s Cream Dinner Jacket on Magic City
Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Ike Evans on Magic City.
Vitals
Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Isaac “Ike” Evans, tough and shrewd hotel owner
Miami Beach, January 1959
Series: Magic City
Episodes: “The Year of the Fin” (Episode 1.01), “Castles Made of Sand” (Episode 1.03), & “Crossroads” (Episode 2.04)
Air Dates: March 30, 2012 (Episode 1.01), April 20, 2012 (Episode 1.03), & July 12, 2013 (Episode 2.04)
Directors: Carl Franklin (Episode 1.01) & Ed Bianchi (Episode 1.03 & 2.04)
Creator: Mitch Glazer
Costume Designer: Carol Ramsey
Background
For two seasons, Magic City presented the abundantly stylish saga of the Evans family and the Miramar Playa, telling a compelling story beneath the elegant late ’50s aesthetic of long-finned cars, sharp-suited men and tightly-dressed bombshells, and ubiquitous cocktails and cigarettes. Continue reading
Bogart’s Ivory Dinner Jacket in Casablanca
Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in a 1942 studio portrait to promote Casablanca.
Vitals
Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine, cynical “gin joint” manager and former arms dealer
Casablanca, Morocco, December 1941
Film: Casablanca
Release Date: November 26, 1942
Director: Michael Curtiz
Background
Although remembered today as one of the greatest romances to grace the screen, the Los Angeles Times‘s Bob Strauss was most accurate when he declared Casablanca a “near-perfect entertainment balance” of comedy, romance, and suspense. In fact, the movie has become so ingrained as a romance classic that few recall just how badass it actually is.
Take the leading man: Rick Blaine. Played by Humphrey Bogart (which already lends plenty of BAMF credibility), Rick is more cynical than any of the private eyes that Bogie ever played on screen. He owns a bar with an illegal gambling den and maintained a successful side racket of running guns to Ethiopia, in addition to packing his own pistol on most occasions.
When Ilsa, the love of his life, walks back into his bar after nearly two years, he takes to the bottle… and he does so with gusto. The bitter Rick refuses to help Ilsa’s crusading resistance leader husband, to which she responds by drawing her own gun. After sorting out conflicted feelings, old flames, and a bullet or two in the gut of a Nazi, Rick finally manages to find closure with his old love while paving the way for further shady business ventures. The end.
With just over a week left until Valentine’s Day, Rick Blaine provides a classic, dapper look sure to make your special lady swoon on this most hated of holidays. Good luck, fellas. Continue reading
Indiana Jones’ White Dinner Jacket
Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984).
Vitals
Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, adventurer and archaeology professor
Shanghai, Summer 1935
Film: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Release Date: May 23, 1984
Director: Steven Spielberg
Costume Designer: Anthony Powell
Background
For the first Indiana Jones post on BAMF Style, one might expect to see the iconic leather jacket, fedora, and bullwhip costume. However, Indy’s first chronological appearance in the original trilogy is at the outset of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom when Indy dons his finest duds to meet with Shanghai crime boss Lao Che at the hopping Club Obi Wan. Continue reading
Patrick Redfern’s White Dinner Jacket
Two years ago, I broke down the great off-white dinner jacket worn by Sean Connery in Goldfinger. For your end-of-summer fancy soiree (which I assume you’re hosting), the white or off-white dinner jacket should always be an option.
Nicholas Clay as Patrick Redfern in Evil Under the Sun (1982).
Vitals
Nicholas Clay as Patrick Redfern, philandering Latin teacher
A remote Mediterranean island, Summer 1937
Film: Evil Under the Sun
Release Date: March 5, 1982
Director: Guy Hamilton
Costume Designer: Anthony Powell
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
1982’s Evil Under the Sun is a lavish adaptation of Agatha Christie’s 1941 novel, jumping on the popularity of its successful predecessors Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile by stacking together a star-studded cast, dressing them up in expensive period costumes, and dropping them into a murder mystery in an exotic locale. Continue reading
Catch Me If You Can: Frank’s White Dinner Jacket
Hey, guys, remember how last year in the week leading up to Valentine’s Day we had the Week of Weddings? Well, it’s back with hopes of bringing you some of the more manly posts out there to have the word “wedding” in them.
Leonardo DiCaprio as a furtive Frank Abagnale, Jr. in Catch Me If You Can (2002).
Vitals
Leonardo DiCaprio as Frank Abagnale, Jr., aka “Frank Conners”, a young doctor lawyer con artist
New Orleans, Summer 1966
Film: Catch Me If You Can
Release Date: December 25, 2002
Director: Steven Spielberg
Costume Designer: Mary Zophres Continue reading
Don Draper’s White Dinner Jacket
Don Draper’s approach to a white dinner jacket, typically reserved for summer, defines the attitude of a lighthearted and classy celebration. Take heed for any New Year’s Eve celebrations this week.
Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men (Episode: “The Gold Violin”)
Vitals
Jon Hamm as Don Draper, Madison Avenue ad man with a dark past
New York City, July 1962
Series: Mad Men
Episode: “The Gold Violin” (Episode 2.07)
Air Date: September 7, 2008
Director: Andrew Bernstein
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
Background
We’ve seen Don Draper at work and at play. But when he’s invited to a soiree at the Stork Club one warm Monday night, Draper channels James Bond and pulls out his summer dinner jacket.
By “The Gold Violin”, the seventh episode of the second season, Draper has engaged in a full affair with the wife of entertainer Jimmy Barrett. His professional life is on the rise and, as evidenced by his Cadillac, he’s “arrived”.
However, the party at the Stork Club proves to be a bad decision and marks the beginning of the end for Don and trophy wife Betty. Continue reading