Casino – De Niro’s Mint Green Fleck Blazer

Robert De Niro as Sam "Ace" Rothstein in Casino (1995)

Robert De Niro as Sam “Ace” Rothstein in Casino (1995)

Vitals

Robert De Niro as Sam “Ace” Rothstein, Vegas casino executive and mob associate

Las Vegas, Fall 1980

Film: Casino
Release Date: November 22, 1995
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Design: Rita Ryack & John A. Dunn

Background

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, a feast day that finds many people celebrating with Jameson and green clothing whether they have any Irish heritage or not.

Robert De Niro’s father was half Irish, so that’s all the excuse BAMF Style needs to explore one of his loud green outfits as the impressively attired Las Vegas executive Sam “Ace” Rothstein in Casino. Continue reading →

Michael Caine’s Navy RAF Blazer as Alfie

Michael Caine as Alfie Elkins in Alfie (1966)

Michael Caine as Alfie Elkins in Alfie (1966)

Vitals

Michael Caine as Alfie Elkins, charming part-time car service driver and full-time cad

London, Summer 1965

Film: Alfie
Release Date: March 24, 1966
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Wardrobe Supervisor: Jean Fairlie
Tailor: Douglas Hayward

Background

Make a married woman laugh and you’re halfway there with her.

Right off the bat, we learn that the titular Alfie Elkins is no gentleman.

Although he had already featured in several major British films through the ’60s, it was his Academy Award-nominated breakthrough role in Alfie that led Michael Caine to global stardom. Continue reading →

Magic City: Ben the Butcher in Black

Danny Huston as Ben "the Butcher" Diamond in "...And Your Enemies Closer", episode 2.07 of Magic CIty (2012-2013)

Danny Huston as Ben “the Butcher” Diamond in “…And Your Enemies Closer”, episode 2.07 of Magic City (2012-2013)

Vitals

Danny Huston as Ben “the Butcher” Diamond, sadistic and volatile Miami gangster

Miami Beach, spring 1959

Series: Magic City
Episodes:
– “Castles Made of Sand” (Episode 1.03, dir: Ed Bianchi, aired April 20, 2012)
– “Time and Tide” (Episode 1.08, dir: Ed Bianchi, aired June 1, 2012)
– “Crossroads” (Episode 2.04, dir: Ed Bianchi, aired July 12, 2013)
– “World in Changes” (Episode 2.05, dir: Simon Cellan Jones, aired July 19, 2013)
– “…And Your Enemies Closer” (Episode 2.07, dir: Simon Cellan Jones, aired August 2, 2013)
Creator: Mitch Glazer
Costume Designer: Carol Ramsey

Background

In these waning weeks of spring, some folks may be anxious to get an early start to summer fun, so light up a Habanas Partagas cigar and head for a warm weekend retreat – or at least a Sunday in the sun – in the spirit of Magic City‘s baddest antagonist. Continue reading →

And Then There Were None: Lombard’s Tuxedo

Aidan Turner as Philip Lombard in And Then There Were None (2015)

Aidan Turner as Philip Lombard in And Then There Were None (2015)

Vitals

Aidan Turner as Philip Lombard, adventurer and ex-mercenary

Devon, England, August 1939

Series Title: And Then There Were None
Air Date: December 26-28, 2015
Director: Craig Viveiros
Costume Designer: Lindsay Pugh

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

As we get closer to St. Patrick’s Day, BAMF Style is focusing on another Irishman, Aidan Turner, the Dublin-born actor who many are suggesting as a possibility for taking over the James Bond mantle as the prospects of Daniel Craig’s return seem dwindling.

Of course, an important aspect of the 007 role is how well an actor sports a dinner suit, so we’re checking out the period black tie ensemble that Turner wore as Philip Lombard in the BBC’s 2015 miniseries And Then There Were None. Continue reading →

Bond in Brioni – The Navy Suit in GoldenEye

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, armed with an AKS-74U, in GoldenEye (1995)

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, armed with an AKS-74U, in GoldenEye (1995)

Vitals

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, sophisticated British secret agent

St. Petersburg, Russia, April 1995

Film: GoldenEye
Release Date: November 13, 1995
Director: Martin Campbell
Costume Designer: Lindy Hemming

Background

I’ve been featuring a number of looks from the James Bond series lately, but I would hate to let that get in the way of the 00-7th of March! Since we’re celebrating St. Patrick’s Day this month, it seems obvious to me that we should also be celebrating the Irish actor who delivered his own brand of debonair charm to the role of 007.

In his inaugural outing, GoldenEye, Pierce Brosnan’s Bond is relaxing in the pool of his St. Petersburg hotel when he is cornered by the alluring assassin Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen). Bond gets the upper hand – among other parts – and convinces Xenia to introduce him to the mysterious syndicate behind the disappearance of a missing satellite. Continue reading →

Steve McQueen’s Harrington Jacket as Thomas Crown

Steve McQueen as Thomas Crown in The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)

Steve McQueen as Thomas Crown in The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)

Vitals

Steve McQueen as Thomas Crown, millionaire playboy and heist mastermind

Salem, New Hampshire, Summer 1968

Film: The Thomas Crown Affair
Release Date: June 19, 1968
Director: Norman Jewison
Costume Designer: Alan Levine

Background

In 1968’s The Thomas Crown Affair, the titular millionaire is every bit the sportsman that you’d expect a Steve McQueen character to be. A brief scene shows Crown spending his weekend recreationally gliding a Schweizer SGS 1-23H through the skies over Salem… although it was actually local pilot Roy McMaster who rode in the cockpit during the actual scenes in flight.

This vignette also featured Steve McQueen sporting casual outerwear that was also a real-life favorite of his: a classic Harrington jacket. Continue reading →

Casino Royale: Bond’s Floral Printed Shirt in Madagascar

Daniel Craig as James Bond in Casino Royale (2006)

Daniel Craig as James Bond in Casino Royale (2006)

Vitals

Daniel Craig as James Bond, swaggering and brash British government agent

Madagascar, July 2006

Film: Casino Royale
Release Date: November 14, 2006
Director: Martin Campbell
Costume Designer: Lindy Hemming

Background

To celebrate Daniel Craig’s 49th birthday today, BAMF Style is looking back to his “birth” in the Bond franchise in Casino Royale, exploring the scrappy summer attire during the dangerous first mission that Craig’s Bond took as a 00 agent.

After the globe-trotting double kills that led to James Bond’s eligibility for 00 status, Bond finds himself in Madagascar, working with bright-eyed and bushy-tailed MI6 agent named Carter (Joseph Millson) as they conduct surveillance on a bombmaker named Mollaka. The eager Carter’s inability to fit in compromises their identities, and Bond is forced to chase after Mollaka while Carter languishes in a mongoose pit.

Unfortunately for 007, Mollaka is played by French freerunner Sébastien Foucan, a parkour pioneer who sees the various cranes, walls, and heights as no obstruction to his getaway. Unfortunately for Mollaka, this Bond doesn’t rely on an arched eyebrow or a well-timed witticism to get the job done…this Bond runs through walls, dammit! Continue reading →

Bond’s Unique Charcoal Striped “No Cigar” Suit

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in The World is Not Enough (1999)

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in The World is Not Enough (1999)

Vitals

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, sophisticated British secret agent

London, November 1999

Film: The World is Not Enough
Release Date: November 8, 1999
Director: Michael Apted
Costume Designer: Lindy Hemming

Background

February 27 is National Cigar Day according to some, and – while it may not be recognized universally – it’s always nice to have an extra reason to relax with your favorite cigar.

Like Roger Moore before him, Pierce Brosnan eschewed the cigarettes favored by the literary (and, at one point, cinematic) James Bond in favor of cigars. Both actors preferred cigars in real life as well, and it’s been recorded that Moore frequently received several thousand pounds worth of Montecristo cigars during his outings as 007.

In The World is Not Enough, Brosnan’s Bond returns from his action-packed trip to Bilbao for what should be a quiet day at the office that begins, as usual, by casually flirting with Miss Moneypenny (Samantha Bond). Continue reading →

Sean Connery’s Brown Corduroy Jacket in The Untouchables

Sean Connery as Jim Malone in The Untouchables (1987)

Sean Connery as Jim Malone in The Untouchables (1987)

Vitals

Sean Connery as Jim Malone, tough and honest Chicago beat cop

Chicago, September 1930

Film: The Untouchables
Release Date: June 3, 1987
Director: Brian De Palma
Costume Designer: Marilyn Vance

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

The Untouchables is a highly entertaining⁠—yet highly fictionalized⁠—saga of the successful legal campaign to bring down Al Capone’s criminal enterprise that terrorized Chicago through the 1920s with an all-star cast including Robert De Niro as Capone himself.

Eliot Ness had made a name for himself in the final years of Chicago’s beer wars as a relentless Prohibition agent, and he would use his fame decades later to pen The Untouchables, a memoir in which he credits himself with practically single-handedly sending Capone to prison. In real life, Ness’ raids were indeed disruptive, but it was the work of modest investigators U.S. Attorney George E.Q. Johnson and IRS agent Frank Wilson that eventually led to the charges that successfully convicted Capone. Continue reading →

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) – Solo’s Blue Teal Windowpane Suit

Henry Cavill as Napoleon Solo in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

Henry Cavill as Napoleon Solo in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

Vitals

Henry Cavill as Napoleon Solo, smooth CIA operative

Berlin and Rome, Spring 1963

Film: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Release Date: August 2, 2015
Director: Guy Ritchie
Costume Designer: Joanna Johnston

Background

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is one of the more stylish films released in recent years, transporting audiences back to the oft-romanticized height of Cold War spying in mid-’60s Europe. The movie reboot serves as a prequel for the popular TV show, which starred Robert Vaughn and David McCallum as American spy Napoleon Solo and KGB operative Illya Kuryakin, respectively.

Henry Cavill’s interpretation of Solo retains much of the easygoing efficiency and sophistication originated by Vaughn in the role, and I left the theater wishing I was heading directly to the shop of Timothy Everest, who tailored Cavill’s distinctive and debonair suits for the film.

For my inaugural Solo post, in response to requests from readers Noel and Andrew, I am choosing to focus on a flashy suit that gets plenty of screen time. Continue reading →