Category: Sport Jackets and Blazers
The Truman Show: Jim Carrey’s Brown Plaid Jacket and Yellow Sweater
Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank in The Truman Show (1999)
Vitals
Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank, affable insurance salesman and unsuspecting reality TV star
“Seahaven Island”, Spring 1997
Film: The Truman Show
Release Date: June 5, 1998
Director: Peter Weir
Costume Designer: Marilyn Matthews
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Four days after its Los Angeles premiere, The Truman Show was released widely on this day in 1998. A critical and commercial success, the film earned three Academy Award nominations and marked a major turning point for Jim Carrey, who until then had been known almost exclusively for comedy. Though Carrey carried over elements of his elastic comic persona, his performance as Truman Burbank signaled a shift toward more serious roles, paving the way for later dramatic turns in Man on the Moon (1999) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004).
We meet 29-year-old Truman Burbank on Wednesday, May 14, 1997—the 10,909th day of his life… and the 10,909th day of a massively successful TV show secretly documenting every moment of it, 24/7. Continue reading
Don Draper’s Gray Jacket and Striped Tie for a “Zou Bisou” Birthday Surprise
Jon Hamm and Jessica Paré on Mad Men, Episode 5.01: “A Little Kiss, Part 1”. Photo by Ron Jaffe/AMC.
Vitals
Jon Hamm as Don Draper, 40-year-old remarried ad man
New York City, June 1966
Series: Mad Men
Episode: “A Little Kiss, Part 1” (Episode 5.01)
Air Date: March 25, 2012
Director: Jennifer Getzinger
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Mad Men‘s fifth season double-episode premiere “A Little Kiss” begins on Memorial Day 1966 and follows through the next weekend, when Don Draper’s new wife Megan (Jessica Paré) curiously decides to throw her husband a surprise 40th birthday party… despite knowing literally anything about him. Continue reading
The White Lotus: Walton Goggins’ Cream Tailoring in Bangkok
Walton Goggins on The White Lotus, Episode 3.08: “Amor Fati”
Vitals
Walton Goggins as Rick Hatchett, vengeful tourist
Bangkok, Thailand, Spring 2024
Series: The White Lotus
Episodes:
– “Denials” (Episode 3.06, aired 3/23/2025)
– “Killer Instincts” (Episode 3.07, aired 3/30/2025)
– “Amor Fati” (Episode 3.08, aired 4/6/2025)
Director: Mike White
Creator: Mike White
Costume Designer: Alex Bovaird
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
With Memorial Day weekend ushering in the unofficial start of summer, many gents are rotating their whites to the front of their closets.
On the latest season of Mike White’s anthological black comedy The White Lotus, costume designer Alex Bovaird contrasts the gloomy attitude of self-appointed vigilante Rick Hatchett (Walton Goggins) with an insouciant wardrobe of vibrant tropical shirts and bleached tailoring that he pulls together across the season’s final three episodes for his mission of revenge against the man he believes responsible for his father’s death: ruthless land baron Jim Hollinger (Scott Glenn). Continue reading
French Connection II: Gene Hackman’s Windowpane Jacket and Aloha Shirt
Gene Hackman as “Popeye” Doyle in French Connection II (1975)
Vitals
Gene Hackman as Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle, gruff NYPD narcotics detective
Marseille, France, Spring 1975
Film: French Connection II
Release Date: May 21, 1975
Director: John Frankenheimer
Costume Designer: Pierre Nourry
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
A lot of people may not even know they made a sequel to The French Connection. And why’s that? Because they didn’t really need to make it. But Gene Hackman’s portrayal of the profane detective “Popeye” Doyle was lightning in a bottle, and the late actor went two for two in bringing Popeye to the screen.
The French Connection‘s director William Friedkin was more reluctant than its star to get involved, citing French Connection II and follow-ups to The Exorcist as “shit… simply made to cash in on the title.” Hackman may have agreed with Hurricane Billy but was admirably never shy about admitting when a movie was simply a “money job,” as he tersely described The Poseidon Adventure to Ben Stiller when the two co-starred in The Royal Tenenbaums.
And so Hackman reprised his Academy Award-winning role for French Connection II, released fifty years ago today on May 21, 1975. The sequel—which indeed does not include the definite article “The” in the title—picks up the action shortly after its predecessor, with NYPD narc Doyle still on the trail of the elusive and urbane drug kingpin Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey), who absconded to his native Marseille after the events of The French Connection. Continue reading
Rosemary’s Baby: John Cassavetes’ Light Blue Summer Sport Jacket
John Cassavetes and Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s Baby (1968). Photo by Paul Slade.
Vitals
John Cassavetes as Guy Woodhouse, ambitious actor
New York City, Summer 1965
Film: Rosemary’s Baby
Release Date: June 12, 1968
Director: Roman Polanski
Costume Designer: Anthea Sylbert
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy Mother’s Day! In honor of one of cinema’s most infamous pregnancies, today’s post looks at the enduring style of Rosemary’s Baby—Roman Polanski’s 1968 adaptation of Ira Levin’s best-selling horror novel, which had been published less than six months before filming began.
Though the film’s fashion legacy largely belongs to Mia Farrow’s iconic pixie cut and stylish wardrobe as the titular Rosemary Woodhouse, her on-screen husband Guy—a struggling actor played by John Cassavetes—also exhibits a sharp and understated sense of style. Continue reading
A Matter of Life and Death: David Niven’s Houndstooth Jacket
David Niven in A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Vitals
David Niven as Squadron Leader Peter David Carter, charismatic Royal Air Force pilot
Southern English Coast, Spring 1945
Film: A Matter of Life and Death
Release Date: November 1, 1946
Directed by: Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
Costume Designer: Hein Heckroth
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Powell and Pressburger’s marvelous Technicolor fantasty-romance A Matter of Life and Death begins eighty years ago today, “the night of the second of May, 1945.”
Less than a week until the German surrender that effectively ended the European theater of World War II, a Lancaster bomber is returning through the fog over the English Channel after a Royal Air Force mission over Germany that resulted in the aircraft’s terminal damage. His radio operator dead and the rest of the crew bailed out on his orders, the poetic Squadron Leader Peter David Carter (David Niven) sits alone at the controls, communicating to the charming U.S. Army Air Forces technician June (Kim Hunter), who attempts in vain to reassure the pilot while he offers his own reassurance that he isn’t afraid to meet whatever awaits him:
Hello, June, don’t be afraid. It’s quite simple—we’ve had it, and I’d rather jump than fry. After the first thousand feet, what’s the difference? I shan’t know anything anyway. I say, I hope I haven’t frightened you… you’ve got a good voice, you’ve got guts, too! It’s funny, I’ve known dozens of girls—I’ve been in love with some of them—but an American girl who I’ve never seen, who I never shall see, will hear my last words. It’s funny. It’s rather sweet! June, if you’re around when they pick me up, turn your head away.
With his own parachute damaged and the Lancaster hurtling toward a fiery fate, Peter stoically accepts the inevitability of death (“I’ll be a ghost and come and see you! You’re not frightened of ghosts, are you? It’d be awful if you were.”) and relays a few final messages for June to pass along to his mother and sisters before bailing from the craft. Continue reading
Niagara: Joseph Cotten in Shades of Gray
Joseph Cotten as George Loomis in Niagara (1953)
Vitals
Joseph Cotten as George Loomis, former sheep rancher and Korean War veteran
The Canadian side of Niagara Falls, Summer 1952
Film: Niagara
Release Date: January 21, 1953
Director: Henry Hathaway
Costume Designer: Dorothy Jeakins
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One of 20th Century Fox’s biggest box-office hits of 1953, Niagara is one of the most accessible movies to be described with the seemingly oxymoronic “color noir,” blending elements of dark film noir with stunning three-strip Technicolor, photographed by cinematographer Joseph MacDonald.
The action is set at picturesque Niagara Falls—specifically on the Canadian side, though the American side became New York’s first state park 140 years ago today when Governor David B. Hill signed legislation creating the Niagara Reservation on April 30, 1885. The tradition of newlyweds journeying to Niagara Falls dates back to at least 1801, when Aaron Burr’s daughter Theodesia joined her new husband Joseph Alston at the falls.
The destination’s self-dubbed reputation as the “Honeymoon Capital of the World” inspired producer Charles Brackett, who co-wrote the script for Niagara with Richard Breen and Walter Reisch. The story centers around the honeymooning Cutlers—Ray (Max Showalter) and Polly (Jean Peters)—who arrive at the Rainbow Cabins, only to find their reserved suite still occupied by George Loomis (Joseph Cotten) and his sultry wife Rose (Marilyn Monroe), who explains to the couple that George was recently discharged from an Army mental hospital. Continue reading
The Departed: Jack Nicholson’s Seersucker Sport Jacket
Jack Nicholson as Frank Costello in The Departed (2006)
Vitals
Jack Nicholson as Francis “Frank” Costello, sadistic Irish-American mob boss
Boston, Spring 2007
Film: The Departed
Release Date: October 6, 2006
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Designer: Sandy Powell
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
With 12 Academy Award nominations (and three wins), today’s birthday boy Jack Nicholson remains the most-nominated male actor in Oscar history. Following a prolific career that began in the late 1950s, Nicholson delivered one final characteristically intense performance in The Departed (2006), his first—and, given his decades-long retirement from acting, only—collaboration with director Martin Scorsese. Continue reading
The Great Gatsby at 100: Warner Baxter’s Monogrammed Blazer as Gatsby
Warner Baxter as Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby (1926)
Vitals
Warner Baxter as Jay Gatsby, mysterious millionaire
Long Island, New York, Summer 1926
Film: The Great Gatsby
Release Date: November 21, 1926
Director: Herbert Brenon
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s generation-defining novel of the Jazz Age, was first published by Scribner’s 100 years ago tomorrow on April 10, 1925. While it’s often claimed that the novel flopped on release, Gatsby was actually fairly well received; the real tragedy is that Fitzgerald died in 1940 believing his greatest work had been forgotten. One can only wonder how he’d have reacted knowing that, decades later, Gatsby’s yellow touring car would become the subject of countless high school essays on symbolism.
The novel’s rich themes and lush imagery have inspired multiple screen adaptations, the best-known being the lavish 1974 and 2013 versions starring Robert Redford and Leonardo DiCaprio, respectively. Less prominent are the 2000 made-for-TV version starred Toby Stephens as the doomed millionaire and a curiously sanitized 1949 adaptation with noir regular Alan Ladd in the title role. But the story’s screen legacy actually dates back much earlier—nearly to the novel’s initial publication.
Just a year after Gatsby hit shelves, George Cukor’s stage adaptation premiered on Broadway in February 1926. Famous Players—Lasky Corporation and Paramount Pictures purchased the rights and adapted it into a silent film that same year, with writers Becky Gardiner and Elizabeth Meehan shaping the screenplay. Continue reading
The Wind That Shakes the Barley: Cillian Murphy’s Olive Irish Tweed Jacket
Cillian Murphy in The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)
Vitals
Cillian Murphy as Damien O’Donovan, Irish Republican Army soldier
County Cork, Ireland, 1920 through 1921
Film: The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Release Date: June 23, 2006
Director: Ken Loach
Costume Designer: Eimer Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Last year on March 17, I commemorated St. Patrick’s Day by watching The Wind That Shakes the Barley, a fictional chronicle of two brothers from County Cork during the Irish conflicts of the early 1920s. Cork native Cillian Murphy stars as Damien O’Donovan, who joins a local Irish Republican Army flying column led by his brother Teddy (Pádraic Delaney).
The brothers fight alongside each other during the Irish War of Independence, but the circumstances of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and Irish Free State deepen the divide between the increasingly radical Damien and more pragmatic Teddy as the two find themselves on opposing sides of the subsequent Irish Civil War. Continue reading
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