Category: What to Wear to the Office
Walter Matthau’s Navy Striped Suit in Charade
Vitals
Walter Matthau as Carson Dyle, posing as CIA administrator Hamilton Bartholomew
Paris, April 1963
Film: Charade
Release Date: December 5, 1963
Director: Stanley Donen
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today commemorates the 99th birthday of the great Walter Matthau, the New York-born actor and comedian. After playing heavies in movies like the Elvis vehicle King Creole (1958) and his self-directed Gangster Story (1960), Matthau got a chance to exercise his versatility and comedic chops with a delightfully duplicitous role in Stanley Donen’s romantic comedy thriller Charade (1963).
Jimmy Stewart’s Brown Tweed Sports Coat in Vertigo
Vitals
James Stewart as John “Scottie” Ferguson, former San Francisco detective
San Juan Bautista, California, Fall 1957
Film: Vertigo
Release Date: May 9, 1958
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Costume Designer: Edith Head
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Let’s wrap up this week’s commemoration of Alfred Hitchcock’s 120th birthday with another exploration of the style in Vertigo, now considered one of the Master of Suspense’s masterpieces though it may have been overlooked during his lifetime and resulted in the end of his successful collaborations with James Stewart.
First Man: Neil Armstrong’s Gun Club Check and Omega
Vitals
Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong, NASA astronaut and former U.S. Navy pilot
Houston, Texas, August 1962 through March 1966
Film: First Man
Release Date: October 12, 2018
Director: Damien Chazelle
Costume Designer: Mary Zophres
Background
In addition to being my 30th birthday, today is also the 50th anniversary of when Neil Armstrong became the first person to step onto the surface of the Moon at 02:56:15 UTC on July 21, 1969, six hours after he and Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle as part of the Apollo 11 spaceflight, a mission also manned by command module pilot Michael Collins.
Last year, Damien Chazelle directed Ryan Gosling in First Man, a biopic focused on Neil Armstrong’s life and career through the 1960s from the tragic death of his young daughter Karen to his triumphant first steps on the Moon… “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Continue reading
Don Draper’s Gray Plaid for Summer, Part 2: 1970
Vitals
Jon Hamm as Don Draper, somewhat less mysterious advertising creative director
New York City, Summer 1970
Series: Mad Men
Episodes:
– “Severance” (Episode 7.08), dir. Scott Hornbacher, aired 4/5/2015
– “The Forecast” (Episode 7.10), dir. Jennifer Getzinger, aired 4/19/2015
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Ten years after Don Draper (Jon Hamm) walked the halls of Sterling Cooper in a gray-blue plaid summer suit, let’s see how the ad man updated his look for the summer of 1970.
As Monday’s post highlighted a suit worn in the eighth and tenth episodes of Mad Men‘s first season, this post looks at a similar suit worn in the eighth and tenth episodes of the seventh and final season as the late spring of 1970 extended into the summer.
Don Draper’s Gray Plaid for Summer, Part 1: 1960
Vitals
Jon Hamm as Don Draper, mysterious advertising creative director
New York City, Summer 1960
Series: Mad Men
Episodes:
– “The Hobo Code” (Episode 1.08), dir. Phil Abraham, aired 9/6/2007
– “Long Weekend” (Episode 1.10), dir. Tim Hunter, aired 9/27/2007
– “Six-Month Leave” (Episode 2.09), dir. Michael Uppendahl, 9/28/2008
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy first full week of June! As the weather warms up, let’s take a look at comfortable yet appropriate dressing for the summer workplace with a few cues from the dapper Don Draper. Continue reading
Don Draper’s Taupe Plaid Sport Jacket
Vitals
Jon Hamm as Don Draper, advertising creative director and whiskey aficionado
All around the United States, Summer 1968 through Summer 1969
Series: Mad Men
Episodes:
– “For Immediate Release” (Episode 6.06), dir. Jennifer Getzinger, aired 5/5/2013
– “The Better Half” (Episode 6.09), dir. Phil Abraham, aired 5/26/2013
– “Time Zones” (Episode 7.01), dir. Scott Hornbacher, aired 4/13/2014
– “The Strategy” (Episode 7.06), dir. Phil Abraham, aired 5/18/2014
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
WARNING! Spoilers ahead! Continue reading
Jimmy Stewart’s Blue-Gray Flannel Suit in Vertigo
Vitals
James Stewart as John “Scottie” Ferguson, former San Francisco detective
San Francisco, Fall 1957
Film: Vertigo
Release Date: May 9, 1958
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Costume Designer: Edith Head
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
In the spirit of yesterday, March 12, being deemed Alfred Hitchcock Day, not to mention being one week away from the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, even if the weather itself can’t make up its mind…
For those whose offices call for jackets and ties, dressing for work during these transitional weather periods can be a challenge, balancing professionalism with comfort in the context of an uncertain weather forecast. As San Francisco detective “Scottie” Ferguson in Vertigo, James Stewart provides a solution.
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Renzo and the Rolls

Marcello Mastroianni as Renzo with a 1963 Rolls-Royce in Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Ieri, oggi, domani) (1963)
Vitals
Marcello Mastroianni as Renzo, Italian writer
Milan, Italy, October 1963
Film: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
(Italian title: Ieri, oggi, domani)
Release Date: December 19, 1963
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Costume Designer: Piero Tosi
Background
Car Week continues with a focus on a classic Italian comedy released 55 years ago this month.
After four movies together in the 1950s, Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren reteamed in 1963 for Vittorio De Sica’s Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow—released in Italy as Ieri, oggi, domani—a stylish anthology about life, love, and lust. The film is split into three segments that each star Loren and Mastroianni as a different couple.
The second segment, “Anna”, is the shortest of the three and stars Loren as an industrialist’s glamorous wife—dressed to the nines in Christian Dior—as she is forced to choose between her husband’s Rolls-Royce and her unassuming lover Renzo (Mastroianni).
Vertigo: Jimmy Stewart’s Brown Suit and White DeSoto
Vitals
James Stewart as John “Scottie” Ferguson, former San Francisco detective
San Francisco, Fall 1957
Film: Vertigo
Release Date: May 9, 1958
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Costume Designer: Edith Head
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Let’s kick off the winter edition of BAMF Style’s semi-annual (or is that bi-annual) Car Week where I take an additional look at what these well-dressed characters are driving.
Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock’s noir-esque 1958 thriller and the last of his four collaborations with James Stewart, finds the actor behind the wheel of a white DeSoto coupe as he follows Kim Novak’s character around San Francisco from her Nob Hill apartment and the Podesta Baldocchi flower shop to Mission Dolores and their fateful meeting at Fort Point on the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge. Continue reading
Don Draper’s Brown Striped Suit for Thanksgiving 1960
Vitals
Jon Hamm as Don Draper, mysterious advertising creative director
New York City, Spring to Fall 1960
Series: Mad Men
Episodes:
– “Ladies Room” (Episode 1.02), dir. Alan Taylor, aired 7/26/2007
– “New Amsterdam” (Episode 1.04), dir. Tim Hunter, aired 8/9/2007
– “Shoot” (Episode 1.09), dir. Paul Feig, aired 9/13/2007
– “The Wheel” (Episode 1.13), dir. Matthew Weiner, aired 10/18/2007
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
Background
This particular suit makes sporadic appearances across the masterful debut season of Mad Men, AMC’s much-acclaimed drama set in the world of American advertising in the 1960s.









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