Leo’s Charcoal Jacket and Gray Flannels in Miller’s Crossing

Albert Finney as Leo O'Bannon in Miller's Crossing (1990)

Albert Finney as Leo O’Bannon in Miller’s Crossing (1990)

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Albert Finney as Liam “Leo” O’Bannon, Irish Mob-connected political boss

Upstate New York, Fall 1929

Film: Miller’s Crossing
Release Date: September 21, 1990
Director: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Costume Designer: Aude Bronson-Howard

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Following an assassination attempt that he foiled with his Thompson artistry, small-town political boss Leo O’Bannon summons his troops to his office. One of said troops, Hammett-esque anti-hero Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne) uses the opportunity to earn the ire of his boss by revealing his affair with Leo’s main squeeze, Verna (Marcia Gay Harden).

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Willi Cicci in The Godfather

Joe Spinell as Willi Cicci in The Godfather (1972)

Joe Spinell as Willi Cicci in The Godfather (1972)

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Joe Spinell as Willi Cicci, slick Corleone mob family “button man”

New York City, August 1955

Film: The Godfather
Release Date: March 15, 1972
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Designer: Anna Hill Johnstone

Background

When the boss says push the button on a guy, I push the button, see, Senator?

Today’s #MafiaMonday post focuses on one of the more celebrated minor characters of The Godfather, Corleone family enforcer Willi Cicci, who stands out with his slick sense of style and laidback demeanor. Imagine if Dean Martin had grown a mustache and joined the mob… that’s Willi Cicci for ya.

Cicci best gets the opportunity to explain his short yet memorable role in The Godfather when testifying in front of a Senate committee in the film’s sequel. When we first meet him in The Godfather, Cicci is getting a shave in a hotel barbershop with an unflappable, can’t-be-bothered attitude that may trick first-time viewers into thinking he is one of the many targets that Michael Corleone has marked for death on this transformative day for the New York Mafia.

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Cary Grant’s Green Pajamas in Charade

Cary Grant in Charade (1963)

Cary Grant in Charade (1963)

Vitals

Cary Grant as Brian Cruikshank (aka Peter Joshua, Alexander Dyle, or Adam Canfield), U.S. Treasury agent

Paris, April 1963

Film: Charade
Release Date: December 5, 1963
Director: Stanley Donen

Background

Take your relaxing Saturday a step further during Cary Grant’s birthday weekend with a tasteful loungewear ensemble and a charming Archie Leach classic like Charade, one of the legendary actor’s final films before his retirement and the only one for which he was nominated for both a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe.

After yet another death in Paris, Reggie Lambert (Audrey Hepburn) and a man she now refers to as “Adam Canfield” are mustered from their sleep by the industrious Inspector Grandpierre (Jacques Marin), setting the two back on their search for the film’s MacGuffin in the middle of the night. Continue reading →

Cary Grant’s Navy Worsted Suit in An Affair to Remember

Cary Grant as Nickie Ferrante in An Affair to Remember (1957)

Cary Grant as Nickie Ferrante in An Affair to Remember (1957)

Vitals

Cary Grant as Nicolò “Nickie” Ferrante, playboy socialite

Onboard the SS Constitution in the North Atlantic, December 1956

Film: An Affair to Remember
Release Date: July 2, 1957
Director: Leo McCarey
Executive Wardrobe Designer: Charles Le Maire

Background

Happy birthday to Cary Grant, the charming maverick who personifies the intersection of style and screen during the golden age of both. The erstwhile Archie Leach defined men’s style for the better part of the 20th century and his timeless sartorial sensibilities live on through his charismatic performances on screen and, most specifically, via the advice he outlined for This Week magazine (and reprinted in GQ) in the 1960s.

Simplicity, to me, has always been the essence of good taste.

– Cary Grant on style, 1962

One of Cary Grant’s most stylish, romantic, and iconic roles was artistic playboy Nickie Ferrante in An Affair to Remember. Continue reading →

Nucky Thompson’s Charcoal Brown Windowpane Suit

Steve Buscemi and Kelly Macdonald on Boardwalk Empire (Episode 1.09: "Belle Femme")

Steve Buscemi and Kelly Macdonald on Boardwalk Empire (Episode 1.09: “Belle Femme”)

Vitals

Steve Buscemi as Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, corrupt Atlantic City politician and bootlegger

Atlantic City, January 1920

Series: Boardwalk Empire
Seasons: 1 – 2
Air Dates: September 19, 2010 – December 11, 2011
Creator: Terence Winter
Costume Designer: John A. Dunn
Tailor: Martin Greenfield

Background

In less than two hours, liquor will be declared illegal by decree of the distinguished gentlemen of our nation’s congress… to those beautiful ignorant bastards!

In the first episode of Boardwalk Empire, Enoch “Nucky” Thompson raises a glass to toast the ratification of the Volstead Act, a constitutional ban on the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States, effective at midnight on January 16, 1920, exactly 98 years ago today. Continue reading →

Bogart’s Workwear in To Have and Have Not

Humphrey Bogart as Harry Morgan in To Have and Have Not (1944)

Humphrey Bogart as Harry Morgan in To Have and Have Not (1944)

Vitals

Humphrey Bogart as Harry Morgan, cynical fishing boat captain

Fort-de-France, Martinique, Summer 1940

Film: To Have and Have Not
Release Date: October 11, 1944
Director: Howard Hawks

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Today in 1957, the world lost one of the most iconic actors of the classic Hollywood era with the death of Humphrey Bogart at the age of 57. In the last days of his life, Bogie was surrounded by friends and loved ones like Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Frank Sinatra, and his loving wife, Lauren Bacall.

Bogie and Bacall had first met 14 years earlier when she was making her debut in To Have and Have Not, an adaptation of what director Howard Hawks considered to be the worst of Ernest Hemingway’s novels that would translate to the screen as a war romance full of wit, style, and intrigue in the tradition of Casablanca, the film that had cemented Bogart’s stardom two years earlier. Continue reading →

John Wayne’s Jump Jacket in Donovan’s Reef

John Wayne as Michael "Guns" Donovan in Donovan's Reef (1963)

John Wayne as Michael “Guns” Donovan in Donovan’s Reef (1963)

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John Wayne as Michael “Guns” Donovan, island saloon owner and U.S. Navy veteran

French Polynesia, December 1963

Film: Donovan’s Reef
Release Date: June 12, 1963
Director: John Ford
Costume Designer: Edith Head

Background

A decade after John Wayne traveled to Hawaii to play the titular anti-communist agent in Big Jim McLain, the actor returned for the production of Donovan’s Reef, a more lighthearted and less politically motivated film and the final of Duke’s many cinematic collaborations with prolific director John Ford.

Donovan’s Reef is set during the holidays in French Polynesia where ex-Navy gunner’s mate Michael “Guns” Donovan operates a saloon on the fictional island of Haleakaloha. Continue reading →

American Gigolo: Camel Double-Breasted Jacket

Richard Gere as Julian Kaye in American Gigolo (1980)

Richard Gere as Julian Kaye in American Gigolo (1980)

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Richard Gere as Julian Kaye, high-price L.A. escort

Los Angeles, Spring 1980

Film: American Gigolo
Release Date: February 8, 1980
Director: Paul Schrader
Costumer: Bernadene C. Mann
Costume Coordinator: Alice Rush
Richard Gere’s Costumes: Giorgio Armani

Background

“The worlds of cinema and fashion are very close, the one constantly communicating with the other,” wrote Sophia Loren in her recent memoir, Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. “Richard Gere knows something about this, having been the first to introduce Giorgio to the world by wearing Armani fashions from head to toe in American Gigolo.” Continue reading →

Bond’s Gray Pinstripe Suit in Die Another Day

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in Die Another Day (2002)

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in Die Another Day (2002)

Vitals

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, suave British government agent

London, Winter 2002

Film: Die Another Day
Release Date: November 20, 2002
Director: Lee Tamahori
Costume Designer: Lindy Hemming

Background

I received a request for this outfit from Die Another Day which, for all of its shortcomings as a James Bond adventure, featured Pierce Brosnan’s 007 in elegant tailored clothing that is always worthy of discussion. Given the extreme chill in the air for the 00-7th of January today, it felt appropriate to explore his luxurious and layered business-wear upon arriving in London and reconnecting with his MI6 allies at the agency’s secret satellite station in an abandoned Underground tube station at Vauxhall Cross. Continue reading →

Rusty’s Brown Coat in Ocean’s Twelve

Brad Pitt as "Rusty" Ryan in Ocean's Twelve (2004)

Brad Pitt as “Rusty” Ryan in Ocean’s Twelve (2004)

Vitals

Brad Pitt as Robert “Rusty” Ryan, hotel owner and international thief

En route Amsterdam, November 2004

Film: Ocean’s Twelve
Release Date: December 10, 2004
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Costume Designer: Milena Canonero
Pitt’s Costumer: Bruno de Santa

Background

Bomb cyclone. Polar vortex. Whatever you call it, the frigid cold is here in the north, and you’d be well-advised to prep for it by bundling up and/or getting out of town. (Readers in the Southern Hemisphere, my frosty self envies you!)

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